INSPIRATIONAL STORIES FOR TEENAGERS:

MOST BEAUTIFUL HEART

One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that
he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley.
A large crowd gathered hurriedly and they all admired his heart
for it was perfect.
There was not a mark or a flaw in it.
Yes, they all agreed it was the most beautiful heart they had ever
seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his
beautiful heart.
An old man appeared in front of the crowd and said, "Why - your heart is not
nearly as beautiful as mine."
The growing crowd and the young man looked at the old man's heart. It was
beating strongly but full of scars. It had places where pieces had been removed and
other pieces put in but they did not fit quite right and there were several jagged edges.
In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing.
A furious woman stared at the old man and thought, How could he say his
heart is more beautiful? The young man looked at the old man's heart and saw its
state and laughed. "You must be joking," he said. "Compare your heart with mine.
Mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears."
"Yes," said the old man, "Yours is perfect looking but I would
never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom
I have given my love. I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them
and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty
place in my heart but because the pieces aren't exact, I have some
rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared.
Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away and the other person hasn't
returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges. Giving love is taking
a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love
I have for these people too and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I
have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?"
The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked
up to the old man, reached into his perfect and beautiful young heart, and ripped a
piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands.
The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from
his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man's heart.
It fit but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.
The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful
than ever, since love from the old man's heart flowed into his.
They embraced and walked away side by side.

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ACTIVITY 1: PLAIN JANE CHARADE
GRAMMAR: PARTS OF SPEECH (ADJECTIVE / NOUN / VERBS /ADVERB)

A simple explanation for the students:

Adverbs & Adjectives:

- Most Adverbs modify verbs.

Example: The adverb 'loudly' modifies 'plays' in the sentence 'The band plays loudly'.
- Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns.
Example: The adjective 'loud' modifies 'music' in the sentence 'The music is loud'.
- You can often form an adverb by adding 'ly' to an adjective.

Instructions:
i. Have the students play a simple charade game portraying the words below.
ii. Divide the class in 3 smaller groups.

iii. One student from each group will take turn to do the charade.

iv. The person doing the charade is not allowed to speak. All clues should be
given in action form. The rest of the group members would have to guess
the right words. If they guess it right, the group will get 2 points.

v. If the group does not get it right, the other groups can try guessing. One
point will be given for the right answer.

ADJECTIVES NOUNS VERBS ADVERB

1. ferocious lion eat hungrily

2. old man appeared suddenly
3. growing crowd looked excitedly
4. furious woman stared angrily
5. young man stood silently
6. large crowd gathered noisily

ACTIVITY 2: FIND A PARTNER!

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Now, can you find more adjective + noun and adverb + verb pairs?

NO ADJECTIVE NOUN
1 YOUNG MAN
2 LARGE CROWD
3 OLD MAN
4 GROWING CROWD
5 SEVERAL JAGGED EDGES
6 DEEP GOUGES
7 FURIOUS WOMAN
8 OLD MANS HEART
9 EMPTY PLACE
10 MY HEART
11 ROUGH EDGES
12 EMPTY GOUGES
13 HIS CHEEKS
14 HIS PERFECT AND BEAUTIFUL YOUNG HEART
15 TREMBLING HANDS
16 OLD SCARRED HEART
17 YOUNG MANS HEART
18 SOME JAGGED EDGES

NO VERB ADVERB
1 GATHERED HURRIEDLY
2 BOASTED LOUDLY
3 WAS BEATING STRONGLY
4 STOOD SILENTLY
5 FIT PERFECTLY

ACTIVITY 3: BEAUTIFYING JANE!

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Purpose: To illustrate the use of adverbs and adjectives in making sentences more
descriptive; to see where adverbs and adjectives are normally placed in sentences.

Position of Adjectives
They can appear before or after nouns.
e.g:
1. The short boy is Amir. 2. Is this bag expensive?
(adj) (n) (n) (adj)

They can appear after certain verbs. (be, look, feel, taste, smells, seem,
appear)
e.g:
1. Brad is handsome. 2. This food smells terrible.
(v) (adj) (v) (adj)

Position of Adverbs

USAGE EXAMPLES
Initial-position (at the beginning of a 1. Immediately, the girls started
sentence) running.
2. Suddenly, Asha burst out laughing.
3. Hurriedly, everyone left the room.
Mid-position (in the middle of a sentence, 1. We seldom go to the beach.
before a verb) 2. Mr Lee often camps in the jungle.
3. Sally always wakes up late.
End-position (at the end of a sentence) 1. James drives carefully.
2. Linda slammed the door angrily.
3. The children sang happily.

Using each sentence as a basis, form a new, more descriptive and interesting sentence.
Try adding adjectives to noun and adverbs to verbs.

Example:
The girl went to the store.
The lazy girl went slowly to the store.
The lazy girl went to the store slowly.
Slowly, the lazy girl went to the store.

1. The frightened man walked stealthily in the woods.

2. The boisterous boys were playing football energetically.
3. The angry principal came noisily into the room.
4. The timid girls worked quietly on the computer.
5. It started to rain heavily, and the unhappy children went inside the tent reluctantly.
6. The surprised students reacted strangely to seeing the bears.
7. As soon as the hardworking boy finished his homework, he was able to watch TV
contentedly.
8. Surprisingly, Megan won the tough game.
9. The diligent students read books seriously.
10. Unhappily, my parents ate the tasteless food in the school cafeteria.

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Language related Activities:
ACTIVITY 1: (SONG) TAKE ME TO YOUR HEART
(Michael Learns To Rock)
Listen and fill in the missing words. Also choose the correct words in bold.
Hiding from the ____ and snow/slow
Trying to _____but I won't let ____
Looking at a crowded/clouded _______
Listening to my own _______ beat
So many people all around the _______
Tell me where do I find _______ like you girl
(Chorus)
Take/make me to your heart take/make me to your _____
Give me your hand/heart before I'm old/cold
Show me what love is - haven't got a clue/crew
Show me that wonders can be true/through
They say nothing/something lasts forever
We're only here ______
Love is now or never
Bring me far _____
Take me to your heart take me to your ______
Give me your hand/heart and hold me
Show me what love is_be my guiding _____
It's easy take me to your heart
________ on a mountain _____
Looking at the moon through a clear blue ______
I should go and see some _______
But they don't really/ready comprehend
Don't need too much talking/walking without saying ______
All I need is someone/no one who makes/takes me wanna sing/think
(Chorus)

ANSWERS:

Hiding from the rain and snow

Trying to forget but I won't let go
Looking at a crowded street
Listening to my own heart beat
So many people all around the world
Tell me where do I find someone like you girl
(Chorus)
Take me to your heart take me to your soul
Give me your hand before I'm old
Show me what love is - haven't got a clue
Show me that wonders can be true
They say nothing lasts forever
We're only here today
Love is now or never
Bring me far away
Take me to your heart take me to your soul
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Give me your hand and hold me
Show me what love is_be my guiding star
It's easy take me to your heart
Standing on a mountain high
Looking at the moon through a clear blue sky
I should go and see some friends
But they don't really comprehend
Don't need too much talking without saying anything
All I need is someone who makes me wanna sing
(Chorus)
Michael Learns to rock
VOCABULARY:

1. Whats the opposite of the following words?

a) Someone - no one
b) Nothing - everything

Adjectives opposites
a) true - false
b) high - low
c) easy - difficult/hard
d) clear - dark
e) old - young

2. Which word in the song means UNDERSTAND? comprehend

3. Which word in the song means NEVER END? forever
4. Which word means TOO MANY PEOPLE IN ONE PLACE? crowded

EXPRESSIONS:

5. Which expression means HAVE NO IDEA? Havent got a clue

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ACTIVITY 2: THE MIMING GRAMMAR GAME
1. This activity is perfect for medium to large groups of students and above
because it gets the students up and out of their seats.
2. The game is simple. Each group will take turn to play the game.
3. The chosen student from a group will mime the action, from the teachers list,
in the form of the adverb.
eg: The adverb is "slowly", the request is "pretend to eat dinner", the chosen
student mimes the action of eating dinner very slowly.
4. The other students from the group must guess the correct adverb from the
action performed.
5. The person doing the charade is not allowed to speak. All clues should be
given in action form. The rest of the group members would have to guess the
right words. If they guess it right, the group will get 2 points.
6. If the group does not get it right, the other groups can try guessing. One point
will be given for the right answer.

THE TEACHERS LIST:

1. sleep RESTLESSLY
2. brush your teeth QUICKLY
3. growl like a tiger FEROCIOUSLY
4. clean the board FURIOUSLY
5. talked to the teacher LOUDLY
6. perform jumping jack EXCITEDLY
7. slam the door ANGRILY
8. write on the board NEATLY
9. sing The ABC Song HAPPILY
10. wait for the bus IMPATIENTLY
11. walk SLOWLY
12. dance GRACEFULLY
13. smile BROADLY
14. fight BRAVELY
15. attack VIOLENTLY
16. apologise SINCERELY
17. laugh JOYFULLY
18. knock the door SOFTLY
19. sway GENTLY like a coconut tree
20. stand SILENTLY

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ACTIVITY 3: BEAUTIFYING JANE AGAIN!
After dinner, young Sarah went immediately to her room. She changed into
her pyjamas and took out her book. She lay on her bed and opened the book. The
house was quiet. Her parents had gone to bed. She heard footsteps. They came up the
stairs. She put her book down and crept to the door. She opened the door and looked
out, but saw nothing. She shut the door and switched off the light. She sat on her bed
and listened. There were no other sounds.
She opened her door and ran to her parents room. She banged on the door and
her father opened it. Her tears flowed and she was shivering. Her father hugged her
and asked her what was wrong. She told him what had happened. He laughed and
hugged her. Then he told her that he had come up after getting a drink.

SAMPLE ANSWER:

After dinner, young Sarah went immediately to her room. She quickly
changed into her cotton pyjamas and took out her story book. She lay contentedly on
her comfortable bed and hurriedly opened the book. The huge house was quiet. Her
parents had gone to bed. Suddenly, she heard footsteps. They came slowly up the
stairs. She put her interesting book down and crept silently to the bedroom door. She
opened the door gently and looked out, but saw nothing. She shut the door quickly
and switched off the light. She sat on her bed and listened carefully. There were no
other sounds.
She opened her door and ran to her parents room. She banged hard on the
door and her father opened it. Her hot tears flowed fast and she was shivering. Her
father hugged her tightly and asked her what was wrong. She told him what had
happened. He laughed softly and hugged her lovingly. Then he told her that he had
come up after getting a drink.