Coyote and Road runner

Print off copies of the following worksheet for each student:

coyote-and-road-runner-worksheet.doc

Start by using the clip to introduce students to the two protagonists (Coyote and Road Runner). Find out if they are familiar with them.

Play the clip as far as the boomerang scene and pause it (1 minute, 56 seconds).

Ask students if they can guess what happens next. Write any new language on the board and then give out copies of the worksheet (see above). Students have to decide which of the two outcomes on the worksheet is the real one. Any unknown language can be explained through gesture.

Possibility one:

Coyote throws the boomerang but Road Runner throws a second boomerang which hits Coyote on the back of the head. Road Runner runs away. Coyote is just about to chase Road Runner when his own boomerang returns and hits him on the back of the head a second time.

Possibility two:

Coyote throws the boomerang. The boomerang hits Road Runner on the back of the head and knocks him out. Coyote jumps up and down on Road Runner and then cooks him by blowing him up with dynamite.

Let everyone compare answers before playing the clip and letting them see what happens.

Next, play the clip as far as the school crossing scene (2 minutes, 18 seconds).

Again, ask students to guess what happens next in their own words and write new language on the board. Then refer them to the worksheet and ask them to choose the correct outcome.

Possibility one

Road Runner thinks that Coyote is a child crossing the road and stops to let him past. Coyote grabs Road Runner, jumps up and down on him and then cooks him by blowing him up with dynamite.

Possibility two

Road Runner runs past Coyote and knocks him to the ground. Road Runner then returns. He is dressed as a school girl and holds a sign that says, “ROAD RUNNERS CAN’T READ”.

Again, let students compare answers before playing the clip and letting them see what happens. Repeat this whole process for the rock scene (pause at 3 minutes, 13 seconds).


Possibility one:

Coyote pulls out the key stone. The rock falls on top of Road Runner and crushes him. Coyote grabs Road Runner, jumps up and down on him and then cooks him by blowing him up with dynamite.

Possibility two:

Coyote pulls out the key stone. The rock falls the wrong way and lands on top of Coyote. It crushes him. Road Runner runs past and says, “Meep meep!”

Finally, for the surprise ending, repeat the process for the false tunnel scene (pause clip at 3 minutes, 35 seconds).

Possibility one:

Miraculously, Road Runner passes through the tunnel. Coyote doesn’t understand this and tries to copy Road Runner. Unfortunately for Coyote, it doesn’t work for him. He runs into the rock. This knocks him out and he falls to the ground.

Possibility two:

Road Runner runs into the rock. This knocks him out and he falls to the ground. Coyote jumps up and down on him and then cooks him by blowing him up with dynamite.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Notes:

1.The worksheet has been uploaded on Word for Windows. This will allow you to change it in any way that you like.
2.For a follow up activity, you could create a gap fill in which all the third person singular forms of the verbs (for example) are missing.
3.Another idea for a follow up activity is to ask students to choose pieces of language that they think would be most useful. One possible way of doing this was discussed here (see steps 7, 8 and 9).
4.If you don’t have access to a computer in class, make use of the images in the worksheet (if you do this, the scenes will require a bit of explanation on your part). Later, email the clip to your students so that they can watch it at home.
5.During the reading/discussion stages, it might be better to use stills from the clip and play the video later once the worksheet has been completed. Stills can be obtained using the screen capture function on your computer (click here for more). A pdf of the stills used in this posting can be downloaded below.
6.The activity can be introduced using photographs of the real animals.

coyote-road-runner-stills.pdf