Some people saw a deer on ice that could not move. They called the fire people to help. The fire people went on their hands and knees to get to the deer. They pulled the deer off the ice and saved it. Many people have seen the video of this and liked it.

The fire people were very careful to not scare the deer. They moved slow and were very nice to the deer. They worked hard and got the deer off the ice. The fire people help many people and animals too. They are very brave and kind, and people are happy about what they did for the deer.

Original news source: Firefighters crawl to rescue deer stuck on frozen lake (BBC)

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Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– Charades
Instructions: Divide the class into two teams. Give each team a list of actions or scenarios related to the article (e.g. “fire people rescuing deer,” “deer stuck on ice,” “people calling for help”). One person from each team will act out the action or scenario without speaking, while their team members try to guess what it is. The team that guesses correctly earns a point.

– News Summary
Instructions: Have the class read the article silently, then ask them to summarize the main points in their own words. Encourage them to use simple sentences and vocabulary. After a few minutes, have a few students share their summaries with the class.

– Opinion Poll
Instructions: Write a simple question related to the article on the board (e.g. “Do you think the fire people did a good job?”). Have students raise their hand to indicate their opinion, and count the number of hands for each option. Write the tally on the board and discuss why different students have different opinions.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Divide the class into pairs. Give each pair a list of vocabulary words from the article (e.g. “deer,” “fire people,” “ice”). One person from each pair will choose a word and draw a picture of it, while their partner tries to guess what the word is. Encourage students to use simple drawings and gestures to communicate the meaning of the word.

– Speed Summarizing
Instructions: Divide the class into small groups. Give each group a set of sentence strips with key points from the article (e.g. “deer stuck on ice,” “fire people rescue deer,” “people happy about rescue”). Each group must work together to arrange the sentence strips in the correct order to summarize the article. The first group to correctly arrange the sentence strips wins.

Comprehension Questions:

1. What did some people see on the ice that couldn’t move?
2. Who did they call for help?
3. How did the fire people get to the deer?
4. What did the fire people do to save the deer?
5. Why were the fire people careful with the deer?
6. What did the fire people do for many people and animals?
7. How do people feel about what the fire people did for the deer?
Go to answers ⇩

Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

Some people saw a (1)______ on ice that could not (2)______. They called the fire people to help. The fire people went on their hands and knees to get to the deer. They pulled the deer off the ice and saved it. Many people have seen the video of this and (3)______ it.

The (4)______ people were very careful to not scare the deer. They (5)______ slow and were very nice to the deer. They (6)______ hard and got the deer off the ice. The fire people (7)______ many people and animals too. They are very brave and (8)______, and people are happy about what they did for the deer.
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Discussion Questions:

Students can ask a partner these questions, or discuss them as a group.

1. What did the fire people do when they saw the deer on the ice?
2. How do you think the deer felt when it couldn’t move?
3. Have you ever seen a deer before? What did it look like?
4. Do you think the fire people were nice to the deer? Why or why not?
5. How do you think the deer felt when the fire people saved it?
6. Do you like watching videos of animals? Why or why not?
7. Have you ever seen a fire truck before? What did it look like?
8. How do you think the fire people felt after they saved the deer?
9. Do you think the fire people are brave? Why or why not?
10. How would you feel if you saw a deer stuck on the ice?
11. Do you think it’s important to help animals? Why or why not?
12. What would you do if you saw an animal in trouble?

Individual Activities

Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. deer
2. ice
3. move
4. fire people
5. video
6. scare
7. nice
8. brave

Meanings:
(a) People who help when there is a fire or emergency
(b) An animal with antlers that lives in the forest
(c) To make someone feel afraid or frightened
(d) Frozen water that is very slippery
(e) To be very courageous and not afraid of danger
(f) To be kind and friendly to someone
(g) A moving picture that you can watch on a screen
(h) To change position or go from one place to another
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Multiple Choice Questions:

1. Who did the people call to help the deer on the ice?
(a) The police
(b) The fire people
(c) The doctors
(d) The teachers

2. How did the fire people move to get to the deer?
(a) On their feet
(b) On their bikes
(c) On their cars
(d) On their hands and knees

3. What did the fire people do to the deer?
(a) Pulled it off the ice
(b) Pushed it into the water
(c) Scared it away
(d) Ignored it

4. How did the fire people treat the deer?
(a) They were mean to it
(b) They ignored it
(c) They were very nice to it
(d) They scared it

5. What did the fire people do for many people and animals?
(a) Scared them
(b) Ignored them
(c) Helped them
(d) Hurt them

6. How did people feel about what the fire people did for the deer?
(a) Sad
(b) Happy
(c) Angry
(d) Scared

7. What did many people see and like?
(a) The video of the deer being scared
(b) The video of the deer being ignored
(c) The video of the deer being hurt
(d) The video of the deer being saved

8. How would you describe the fire people?
(a) Brave and kind
(b) Mean and scary
(c) Lazy and rude
(d) Ignorant and selfish

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True or False Questions:

1. People are unhappy and upset for what the fire people did for the deer.
2. Some people saw a deer stuck on ice and called for help.
3. The fire people stood on their hands and knees to reach the deer.
4. They carefully pulled the deer off the ice.
5. The fire people came to harm the deer.
6. The fire people work hard and help many people and animals.
7. Many people have watched a video of this and liked it.
8. The fire people were very aggressive and scared the deer.
Go to answers ⇩

Write a Summary:

Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.

Writing Questions:

Answer the following questions. Write as much as you can for each answer.

1. What did some people see on the ice that couldn’t move?
2. Who did they call to help the deer?
3. How did the fire people get to the deer?
4. What did the fire people do to make sure they didn’t scare the deer?
5. Why are people happy about what the fire people did for the deer?

Answers

Comprehension Question Answers:

1. What did some people see on the ice that couldn’t move?
They saw a deer on the ice that couldn’t move.

2. Who did they call for help?
They called the fire people for help.

3. How did the fire people get to the deer?
They went on their hands and knees to get to the deer.

4. What did the fire people do to save the deer?
They pulled the deer off the ice to save it.

5. Why were the fire people careful with the deer?
They were careful with the deer so they wouldn’t scare it.

6. What did the fire people do for many people and animals?
They help many people and animals.

7. How do people feel about what the fire people did for the deer?
People feel happy about what the fire people did for the deer.
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Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) deer
(2) move
(3) liked
(4) fire
(5) moved
(6) worked
(7) help
(8) kind
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Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. deer
Answer: (b) An animal with antlers that lives in the forest

2. ice
Answer: (d) Frozen water that is very slippery

3. move
Answer: (h) To change position or go from one place to another

4. fire people
Answer: (a) People who help when there is a fire or emergency

5. video
Answer: (g) A moving picture that you can watch on a screen

6. scare
Answer: (c) To make someone feel afraid or frightened

7. nice
Answer: (f) To be kind and friendly to someone

8. brave
Answer: (e) To be very courageous and not afraid of danger
Go back to questions ⇧

Multiple Choice Answers:

1. Who did the people call to help the deer on the ice?
Answer: (b) The fire people

2. How did the fire people move to get to the deer?
Answer: (d) On their hands and knees

3. What did the fire people do to the deer?
Answer: (a) Pulled it off the ice

4. How did the fire people treat the deer?
Answer: (c) They were very nice to it

5. What did the fire people do for many people and animals?
Answer: (c) Helped them

6. How did people feel about what the fire people did for the deer?
Answer: (b) Happy

7. What did many people see and like?
Answer: (d) The video of the deer being saved

8. How would you describe the fire people?
Answer: (a) Brave and kind
Go back to questions ⇧

True or False Answers:

1. People are unhappy and upset for what the fire people did for the deer. (Answer: False)
2. Some people saw a deer stuck on ice and called for help. (Answer: True)
3. The fire people stood on their hands and knees to reach the deer. (Answer: False)
4. They carefully pulled the deer off the ice. (Answer: True)
5. The fire people came to harm the deer. (Answer: False)
6. The fire people work hard and help many people and animals. (Answer: True)
7. Many people have watched a video of this and liked it. (Answer: True)
8. The fire people were very aggressive and scared the deer. (Answer: False)
Go back to questions ⇧