Work with students in a small group to come up with a chronological list of the important events in the article. Then have them record themselves retelling what happened, using the list as a guide.
In the 1960s, two young Australians bought a lion cub from a London department store—and an incredible interspecies friendship began. Paired with an original poem from Rebecca Kai Dotlich, this amazing true story explores our relationship with wild animals.
Learning Objective: Students will identify the theme that connects a nonfiction article and a poem.
More About the Story
Skills
Theme, vocabulary, text features, inference, text evidence, key details, interpreting text, setting, narrative writing
Complexity Factors
Purpose
“The Wild Life of Christian the Lion” recounts the journey of a young lion from captivity in a department store to freedom in Kenya, thanks to two men determined to return the animal to a natural life. “Wild Home" is a poem expressing the idea that lions should be free.
Structure
The first text is mainly a chronological narrative of the lion’s life. The poem has nine non-rhyming lines.
Language
The article includes some challenging academic and domain-specific vocabulary (e.g. betray, predator, captivity). The poem has challenging vocabulary dealing with a lion's African habitat (e.g. acacia, kapok, savanna).
Knowledge Demands
The article takes place in London and Kenya.
1. Preparing to Read
Preview Text Features and Vocabulary (20 minutes, activity sheet online)
2. Close Reading
Read and Unpack the Text (45 minutes, activity sheet online)
Read the article as a class or in groups. Then have groups answer the close-reading questions.
Read the poem as a class and discuss the close-reading questions. Explain that acacia and kapok are types of trees that grow on the African savanna—or open grassland with scattered trees.
Discuss the critical-thinking questions as a class.
“The Wild Life of Christian the Lion”
"Wild Home"
3. Skill Building
Featured Skill: Theme
Distribute our theme activity, which will guide students to analyze the theme in both texts and prepare them to respond to the writing prompt on page 19.
Show a YouTube Video Show students the original footage of John and Ace’s reunion with Christian in an early viral YouTube video. Find it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=md2CW4qp9e8. (Be sure to preview the video for inappropriate ads or comments.) Follow up with a discussion of whether the article and video changed students’ ideas about animals, and if so, how.
Work with students in a small group to come up with a chronological list of the important events in the article. Then have them record themselves retelling what happened, using the list as a guide.
Have students research the life of lions in captivity compared with those living in the wild. Ask them to work in groups to share their findings, then hold a debate on the pros and cons of keeping lions in zoos.
Have students make a list of words to describe Christian in the photo on page 15. Provide support as necessary. Words might include sweet, furry, lovable, calm, etc. Do the same with the photo at the bottom of page 18.
Have small groups read the article, imagining they are Ace and John. Ask them to pause at the end of each section to discuss their thoughts and feelings about Christian, and what motivates their actions.