Name:... Date:... Tchang and the Pearl Dragon (from Dragon Tales by Andy Blackford Oxford TreeTops Myths and legends) Read page 25 and answer the following questions. 1. Tchang and the Pearl Dragon is a myth. What is a myth and what are the features of a myth? 2. Remembering that this is a myth what do you think might happen to Tchang in the story? 3. Write down the adjective used to describe: a. The lake... b. The cottage... 4. How do you think that Tchang felt and why? 5. Find China on a map and draw the shape of the country here. www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30912 Page 1 of 14
Read pages 26-27 and answer the following questions. 6. Why didn t Tchang see the dragon? 7. The dragon felt sorry for Tchang. This makes the dragon sound kind. Design your own kind dragon and label its features. 8. Change this description of a fierce dragon to a description of a kind dragon by changing the underlined words. The fierce dragon swept down from the mountaintop. Its red eyes glared and its scaly wings made it look like a vampire bat. The... dragon... down from the.... Its... eyes... and it s... wings made it look like a.... www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30912 Page 2 of 14
Read pages 28-29 and answer the following questions. 9. Find four phrases from the story so far that show that Tchang and his mother were very poor and hungry. Copy them out below. 1.... 2.... 3.... 4.... Read pages 30-31 and answer the following questions. 10. Name three other stories when the main character goes on a journey. 1.... 2.... 3.... 11. Imagine that you are Tchang. Write a short diary entry for the day of the journey before he meets Ai-Li and the day when he meets her. www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30912 Page 3 of 14
Read pages 32-33 and answer the following questions. 12. How many days had Tchang travelled for by the end of page 33? 13. What did the old man want Tchang to ask about? 14. In which direction did he travel? 15. Which words describe the river? 16. How did Tchang feel when he got to the river? 17. Do you think that the dragon that he saw in the water will turn out to be kind or dangerous? Why? 18. Do you think that Tchang is brave? Why? 19. Add the punctuation to these sentences from the story. boy he called you look worn out come inside and rest youre a good boy to undertake such a difficult journey said the old man www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30912 Page 4 of 14
Read pages 33-35 and answer the following questions. 20. Write a description of the setting shown in the picture. 21. Was Tchang right to accept help from the dragon? Why? 22. Which four things does Tchang need to remember to ask? 1.... 2.... 3.... 4.... 23. What do you think will happen next?...... www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30912 Page 5 of 14
Read pages 36-37 and answer the following questions. 24. Why do you think that the author of the story made it so difficult for Tchang to get from his house to the palace? 25. How does the author make the Great Wizard seem intimidating? 26. How many steps were there to get to the palace? 27. What happened when Tchang pulled the bell rope? 28. Now that Tchang can only ask three questions which three should he choose and why? Circle your answers. His Ai-Li s The Old Man s The dragon s www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30912 Page 6 of 14
Read pages 38-41 and answer the following questions. 29. What did the dragon need to do to be able to fly?...... 30. What did the dragon do to help Tchang?.... 31. What was the weather like as Tchang went on to the old man s hut?.... 32. What did the water do?.... 33. Based on what has happened so far in the story what do you think will happen when Tchang sees Ai-Li?.... Read pages 42-43 and answer the following questions. 34. In which other traditional stories do two people marry without really knowing each other? See if you can name at least three..... 35. What had happened to Tchang s mother while he had been away?.... www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30912 Page 7 of 14
Read pages 44-45 and answer the following questions. 36. The story has a happy ending. Give three pieces of evidence from the story that told you that. 1.... 2.... 3.... 37. Write a short newspaper article about Tchang s safe return and happy life. headline picture text text www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30912 Page 8 of 14
Tchang and the Pearl Dragon - Answers Page 25 1. Tchang and the Pearl Dragon is a myth. What is a myth and what are the features of a myth? A myth is a traditional story that is set in the past and often has magic in the story. It has a happy ending. Some myths explain something. 2. Remembering that this is a myth what do you think might happen to Tchang in the story? Ideas could include: He could meet a magical person or creature. He could end up happy at the end. He could go on a quest or voyage. 3. Write down the adjective used to describe: The lake: deep, blue. The cottage : little. 4. How do you think that Tchang felt and why? Answers include Disappointed because he hadn t caught any fish. Hungry because he hadn t caught any fish. Tired because it says Wearily, he packed away his rod and trudged back 5. Find China on a map and draw the shape of the country here. www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30912 Page 9 of 14
Pages 26-27 6. Why didn t Tchang see the dragon? He didn t see the dragon because the pearl flashed brightly in the sun and dazzled him. 7. The dragon felt sorry for Tchang. This makes the dragon sound kind. Design your own kind dragon and label its features. Various answers 8. Change this description of a fierce dragon to a description of a kind dragon by changing the underlined words. Various answers Pages 28-29 9. Find four phrases from the story so far that show that Tchang and his mother were very poor and hungry. Copy them out below. 1. His mother was working in the garden which was just a patch of dried up dirt. 2. This land is dried up and dead. 3. We don t have a thing to eat. 4. He and his mother slaved all day trying to scrape together enough to stay alive. 5. Things were getting worse and worse. 6. There were no longer any fish in the lake and very little grew in the barren soil. 7. Ask him why we are so very, very poor when we work so very, very hard. 8. He carried only a few scraps of bread wrapped up in a handkerchief. www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30912 Page 10 of 14
Pages 30-31 10. Name three other stories when the main character goes on a journey. Various answers 11. Imagine that you are Tchang. Write a short diary entry for the day of the journey before he meets Ai-Li and the day when he meets her. Various answers Pages 32-33 12. How many days had Tchang travelled for by the end of page 33? 49 x 3 = 147 days 13. What did the old man want Tchang to ask about? The old man wanted him to ask why his lemon tree didn t bear fruit. 14. In which direction did he travel? He travelled West. 15. Which words describe the river? The river was fast, deep and wide. 16. How did Tchang feel when he got to the river? He felt worried / disappointed / like the journey was a failure because he didn t think that he could cross the river. 17. Do you think that the dragon that he saw in the water will turn out to be kind or dangerous? Why? Kind because it had tiny wings, it had a pearl in its forehead, it looks gently in the picture. 18. Do you think that Tchang is brave? Why? He is brave because he has been on a long and difficult journey. He isn t afraid of the dragon. www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30912 Page 11 of 14
19. Add the punctuation to these sentences from the story. Boy! he called. You look worn out! Come inside and rest. You re a good boy to undertake such a difficult journey, said the old man. Pages 33-35 20. Write a description of the setting shown in the picture. Various answers 21. Was Tchang right to accept help from the dragon? Why? Yes It was the only way he could get across the river. The dragon seemed kind. 22. Which four things does Tchang need to remember to ask? 1. Why he and his mother are so poor when they work hard. 2. Why Ai-Li didn t speak. 3. Why the lemon tree doesn t bear fruit. 4. Why the dragon can t fly. 23. What do you think will happen next? Various answers Pages 36-37 24. Why do you think that the author of the story made it so difficult for Tchang to get from his house to the palace? To make the story more interesting / to make it more of a challenge. www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30912 Page 12 of 14
25. How does the author make the Great Wizard seem intimidating? He was in a mighty hall. He was on a throne. He glared down at Tchang. The Wizard shouted HAH He would only answer three questions. 26. How many steps were there to get to the palace? A million. 27. What happened when Tchang pulled the bell rope? A flock of eagles rose squawking into the air. 28. Now that Tchang can only ask three questions which three should he choose and why? Circle your answers. Various answers His Ai-Li s The Old Man s The dragon s Pages 38-41 29. What did the dragon need to do to be able to fly? The dragon needed to do something really kind and generous. 30. What did the dragon do to help Tchang? The dragon took Tchang across the river and gave him the pearl. 31. What was the weather like as Tchang went on to the old man s hut? The weather was cold because it was winter and there was snow on the ground. 32. What did the water do? The water made all of the trees burst into flower. www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30912 Page 13 of 14
33. Based on what has happened so far in the story what do you think will happen when Tchang sees Ai-Li? Various answers Pages 42-43 34. In which other traditional stories do two people marry without really knowing each other? See if you can name at least three. e.g. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel 35. What had happened to Tchang s mother while he had been away? While he was away Tchang s mother had cried so much that she had gone blind. Pages 44-45 36. The story has a happy ending. Give three pieces of evidence from the story that told you that. 1. Tchang s mother could see again. 2. The lake was full of fish. 3. A forest of flowers grew in the garden. 4. Tchang, his mother, Ai-Li and their children lived for many long and happy years. www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2018 30912 Page 14 of 14