Unit 4- BELIEVE IT OR NOT !
A DOG’S STORY - HACHIKO
Sandy
Sandy is my dog. She is three years old. I can call her “she” because Sandy is a member of our family. It took us a while to bring a dog to our home. At first I didn’t agree to let any pet come into our house. The kids didn’t give up. They forced us to go to “Rishon Loves Animals” every Saturday. They petted all the dogs there and kept dreaming about their own dog. Finally, or should I say, lucky them, we brought Sandy, a white Labrador puppy to our home. Since that day, my husband and I have taken care of all her needs (no one else does it…)and she gives us love and smiles in return…
A Movie Review
For years, Hachiko used to wait at Shibuya train station for its master, a professor at the University of Tokyo. Even after the professor died, the dog went to the station to wait for his master every afternoon for a decade until he finally died.
Tokyo residents were so moved that they built a statue of Hachiko at the station, which remains a popular rendezvous spot for Japanese today. He was also the hero of Japanese children's books.
The dog's story turned into a 2009 Hollywood film, "Hachi: A Dog's Story," starring Richard Gere – a remake of a 1987 Japanese movie.
Let’s watch the film!
Unusual Animals
Explore and find out:
Which animal is the tallest animal on land?
Which kind of dog is the largest?
Which kind of bird is the smallest?
Which kind of animal is the loudest?
Add more questions of your own and be prepared to ask your classmates.
Animal Therapy
Research shows that animals have a positive effect on peoples’ physical and mental health. Animals are used as “therapy animals" to help different groups of people, such as old or sick people. People of all ages enjoy petting the animals and sometimes this positive experience helps them feel better and even communicate more with other people around them. Therapy animals have a lot of success with young children in hospitals.
Find out more about “animal therapy” by searching the Internet and present it to the class as a PowerPoint presentation.