OVERVIEW
Kids Readers Notes
Summary of the story:
Coco: The Story of Dante
Dante is a stray dog who lives in the countryside on
an old farm. After some time, there’s nothing left to
eat, so he leaves the farm to find food in a nearby
town. In the town cemetery, he meets some cats
and dogs and they play together. However, he is still
hungry and he follows the smell of food to the town
market. There, he meets a boy called Miguel, who
becomes his friend.
Some people in the town like him and they give him
food. Other people, like Miguel’s grandmother, don’t
like him. Miguel’s grandmother shouts at Dante and
he runs away from her. He is sad because he can’t
find Miguel. But in the end he finds Miguel and they
are both happy to be together again.
The characters
Dante, a stray but lovable dog with brown eyes and
big ears, who loves food
Miguel, a 12-year-old Mexican boy. He loves music
and playing the guitar.
Grandmother, Miguel’s grandmother. She doesn’t
like street dogs like Dante.
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Pearson English Teacher’s
Summary of the movie: Coco
Miguel is a Mexican boy. He dreams of being a
musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz, a famous
musician who is now dead. Unfortunately, his family
have banned music because many years ago his
great-great-grandmother was abandoned by her
husband, also a musician.
One day, Miguel steals Ernesto’s guitar. When he
plays it, he finds himself in the Land of the Dead.
He finds out he cannot leave the Land of the
Dead until he receives a blessing from a deceased
relative. He meets a charming man called Hector,
who says he knows Ernesto. They find Ernesto, but
it turns out that Ernesto is a bad man, who killed
Hector. Miguel then finds out that Hector is actually
his great-great-grandfather. Hector blesses Miguel,
who returns to the Land of the Living. When the
family find out the truth about Hector’s death, they
end the ban on music.
Background information
The Story of Dante is an extension story from the
Disney-Pixar animated movie Coco. The movie was
released in 2017. It was directed by Lee Unkrich
and Adrian Molina. Lee Unkrich had the original
idea for the movie because of his interest in the
Mexican Diá de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).
Characters from other Disney-Pixar movies, such as
Finding Nemo, Toy Story, and Monsters Inc. can be
seen in the background of Coco.
Did you know …?
Dante is a type of dog called a
Xoloitzcuintli (or Xolo for short). It is
the national dog of Mexico. Xolo dogs
don’t have hair on their body. They
also often have missing teeth, which
is why Dante’s tongue is seen hanging
out of his mouth.
 Level and Title Information

LEVEL 1 Global Scale of English level: 10–27

CEFR level: <A1–A1
Lexile measure: 210L
Type of English American
GRAMMAR Grammar focus: There is/are Quantifiers: some/any
Function: Talking about what food there is
Examples from the story: He drinks some water.
There are no friends here.
There’s some food here.
There are some nice people in the town.
Here’s some bread.
Here’s some meat.
Here’s some water.
VOCABULARY Key story words: a ears hello run
again eyes here sad
and food hungry see
bad friend it smell
be from like some
big garden listen teacher
boy get meat there
bread good nice they
brown guitar no this
cat happy people town
dog have pet water
drink he play where
Sounds, exclamations: Mmmmm Shoo!
Woof!
Picture Dictionary words: bread guitar people town
food meat smell water
friends
PHONICS Phonics focus and letter-sounds: Consonants with similar sounds: initial + final
Cc
Gg
Phonics words cake garden
cat girl
VALUES Value: Positivity
Key lesson: Stay positive.
Key words: bad good
friend no
FIND OUT Subject area: PSHE
Topic: Healthy food choices
Big Question: What foods are healthy?
Key words: bread for
butter french fries
cake fruit
chocolate good
cheese healthy
dinner party
fish treat
food(s) vegetables

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 TEACHING NOTES Pearson English Teacher’s
Kids Readers Notes

Before You Read Activity 2 (pages 4–7)

Refer to the relevant activity page in The Story of Match the sentences.
Dante reader.
GSE Learning Objectives
Activity Reading: Can understand basic phrases in short,
simple texts.
Read and say.
Writing: Can write simple phrases with
appropriate spacing between words.
GSE Learning Objectives
Reading: Can demonstrate understanding of
Teaching tips: Read out the sentence beginnings
a word by matching it to a picture.
and endings before students match them. Students
Speaking: Can describe someone’s physical
should refer to the story as they do this activity.
appearance using one or two words.
Note that although there is more than one way
to match some of the items grammatically, there
Teaching tips: Read each sentence out with both
is only one way to match them with the correct
options first.
meaning.
Support: Show a picture of a cat and dog for
Support: Do the first one together.
item 1. Smile as you say Dante is happy. Look sad
Stretch: In their notebooks, students write out the
as you say Dante is sad.
correct ending for each sentence beginning.
Stretch: Make it a listening task.

Activity 3 (pages 8–10)

While You Read and Listen
Refer to the Photocopiables, pages 1–2.
Activity 1 (pages 1–3)
Write the words.
GSE Learning Objectives
Reading: Can understand basic phrases in short,
simple texts.
Writing: Can write some familiar words.
Teaching tips: Read the words in the word box and
check students understand them. Students should
refer to the story as they do this activity.
Support: Give students the two answers for items
1 and 2, but jumbled, and the two answers for
items 3 and 4, but jumbled, so they only have to
choose from two answers for each item.
Stretch: Have students cover the word box and try
to complete the sentences from memory.
Say. Then draw lines to match.
GSE Learning Objectives
Reading: Can recognize simple words and
phrases related to familiar topics if supported by
pictures.
Teaching tips: Say the name of each food or drink
first and have students repeat it.
Support: Encourage students to look back at the
pictures in the story to help them.
Stretch: Have students recall what each person
says when they give Dante the food: Here’s some
bread / water / meat. See if they know the names
of any of the jobs shown: teacher, butcher, baker.

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 Activity 4 (pages 11–14)
Match the words to the pictures.
GSE Learning Objectives
Reading: Can recognize simple words and
phrases related to familiar topics if supported
by pictures.
Teaching tips: Students cut out and paste each
sentence under the correct picture. Point out that
the pictures are in the same order as the story.
Support: Put students into pairs to do the activity.
Stretch: Students read aloud each sentence when
they have pasted them in order.
After You Read
Refer to the relevant activity pages in The Story of
Dante reader.
Activity 1
What happens first, second, and third?
GSE Learning Objectives
Reading: Can recognize ordinal numbers up to
20 written as a word.
Teaching tips: Check students understand first,
second, third.
Support: Find each picture in the story as a
class first.
Stretch: Students order the pictures from memory.
They find the page number of each picture.
Activity 2
Read and say Yes or No.
GSE Learning Objectives
Reading: Can understand simple sentences,
given prompts.
Teaching tips: Read the sentences out loud first.
Students should refer to the story as they complete
this activity.
Support: Do the first sentence as a class. Give
students the page number where they will find the
answer to each item.
Stretch: Make it a listening task.
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After You Read Topics, Themes,
and Activities
The following topics and themes are found in the
story. In most cases, the related activities are best
done after reading the story with the class. However,
in some cases, an activity can be done before
reading the story as an introduction to the topic.
Some activities have accompanying photocopiable
activity sheets. See Photocopiables, pages 3–5.
1 Adjectives
There are different adjectives in the story that
describe how Dante is feeling. Look through the
story with the students and find the adjectives
(hungry, happy, sad). Brainstorm other adjectives
that students know that can describe how you feel,
e.g., hot, cold. Write them all on the board.
Activity: Feelings
Aim: To look at the meanings of different adjectives;
to practice showing feelings
Materials: Colored pens, scissors, copies of activity
sheet Feelings
• Mime one of the adjectives on the board to
the class. Students put their hand up to guess,
saying: You’re (happy). The first student to
guess correctly chooses another word to mime.
Continue until all students have had a turn to
mime a word.
• Hand out an activity sheet to each student.
Students create and draw an emoji to represent
each adjective.
• Students work in pairs. They cut up their sheets
into cards and place them face down. They play
Pairs by taking turns to turn over two cards.
If the cards match, they keep the pair. They
continue until all the cards are paired.
GSE Learning Objectives
Speaking: Can say how someone is feeling using
single words, if guided by questions or prompts.
 2 Friendship
Dante and Miguel are best friends. Ask Who is your
friend? Elicit the names of some of the students’
friends. Write sentences on the board about friends,
using language students know, e.g. My friend listens.
My friend plays. My friend is happy. My friend is nice.
Read out each sentence. Students do thumbs up if
they agree about their friend.
Activity: Friendship Paper Chain
Aim: To talk about friends; to build on
presentation skills
Materials: Colored pens or pencils, scissors, string,
glue, copies of activity sheet Friendship Paper Chain
• Hand out one activity sheet to each student.
• Show the students where to fold the lines.
Students fold the sheet and cut out the chain
of three people.
• They draw and color themselves in the middle.
They then think of two good friends and draw
them on each side.
• Students present their friendship chain to the
class, saying This is me. This is my friend Cristina.
This is my friend Marco.
• Tell students they are going to display their
friendship chains in a row, like the Mexican
decorations in the picture on page 6.
• Paste the friendship chains onto the string in a
row to create one long friendship chain. Hang
the chain (or make two chains if you have a very
large class) across the classroom.
GSE Learning Objectives
Speaking: Can introduce themselves using a
basic phrase (e.g. ‘My name’s …’).
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3 Pets
Dante becomes Miguel’s pet. Write Pets on the
board. Brainstorm some names of common pets
that students know (cat, dog, bird, fish). Help them
with the names of other common pets, e.g. rabbit.
Activity: Class Pet Survey
Aim: To talk about pets; to make a tally chart; to
build on presentation skills
Materials: Colored pens or pencils, copies of activity
sheet Class Pet Survey
• Write on the board I have a pet. I have a (cat).
Underneath write I don’t have a pet.
• Hand out a copy of the tally chart to each
student. Students draw a picture of a fish and a
rabbit in the relevant spaces.
• Draw the tally chart on the board.
• Demonstrate by saying, I have a (cat). Show
students how to draw a dot in the cat row. Invite
a student to go next. If they don’t have a pet,
they say, I don’t have a pet. Make sure everyone
marks a dot in the correct row. Continue around
the class.
• If a student has a pet that is not on the list,
help them with the name in English, but have
students draw a dot in the “Other” row.
• At the end, have pairs of students count the
dots in each row and write the number in the
total column.
• Students can talk about the results, saying,
e.g. Five people have a cat.
GSE Learning Objectives
Speaking: Can talk about personal possessions
(e.g. toys, pets), using simple language.
 Picture Dictionary
The Picture Dictionary presents some key words
needed to understand the story. (See the Overview
for the full list of key story words.) The Picture
Dictionary can be used in a number of ways:
• To pre-teach key words before students read
the story. These pages can be used to present
the words, or to check the meaning of words
after a vocabulary game or activity designed
to pre-teach the words. Alternatively, the pages
themselves can be used for games and activities.
• To teach key words while students are
reading or listening to the story. When a key
word occurs in the text, the teacher can stop
reading and have the students go to the Picture
Dictionary pages to find the word and check
understanding.
• To consolidate learning after students read
the story. These pages can be used alongside
the photocopiable flashcards in games and
activities. Added practice helps to move words
from short-term to long-term memory.
• To check the spelling of key words. Students
can refer to these pages to check their spelling
of words as they work independently on activities.
This helps to develop good study habits.
These Teacher’s Notes provide photocopiable
flashcards that can be copied, cut out, and used in
games and activities. See Photocopiables, pages 6–8.
Flashcard game: Bingo
• Each student draws a 3x3 grid on a piece of
paper. In each square of the grid, they write one
of the picture dictionary words.
• Place one set of cards in a pile face down. Turn
over the card and say the word. Students cross
it off. Once they have made a line (vertically,
horizontally, or diagonally), they raise their hand.
Continue until you have read all the words.
• You can play the game again with a new grid.
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Phonics
At levels 1–3, the phonics focus is on sounds
(phonemes): being able to read and pronounce the
letter-sounds within words and phrases. In most
cases, the letter-sounds have been grouped to
practice similar sounds, such as l and r, or voiced
and unvoiced sounds such as b and p.
At levels 4–6, the phonics focus is on letter
combinations (graphemes): being able to read and
spell letter combinations which share the same
sound, for example, the long vowel sound “a” /ā/:
ay, a_e, ai; or word endings with similar letters, such
as -ire and -ure.
For each letter-sound:
• Present the letter-sound by saying the sound
several times and having students repeat it.
• Write the letter on the board. Point to it and have
students say the sound.
• Show a phonics picture card, or the picture from
the reader. Say the word and have students
repeat it.
• Write the corresponding phonics word on the
board. Point to it and have students say it.
• Underline the letter-sound within that word and
have students say the sound, and then say the
whole word a few times.
For the rhyme, tongue twister, or poem:
• Present the rhyme, etc. in short chunks.
• Have students listen a few times before they
attempt to say it.
• Write it on the board and have students come
up and underline the focus letter-sounds within
the words.
• Have students practice saying all or part of the
rhyme, etc. in pairs.
These Teacher’s Notes provide photocopiable
phonics picture cards and word cards that can be
copied, cut out, and used to present the phonics
letter-sounds and to practice them in games and
activities. See Photocopiables, page 9.
 Phonics Presentation
Say the sounds. Read the words.
GSE Learning Objectives
Listening: Can hear the initial sound in
simple words.
Reading: Can identify the initial sound in
simple words.
Speaking: Can say the sounds of the alphabet
if supported by pictures.
Writing: Can copy individual letters.
Teaching Tips: See if the students can call out
any words that begin with c or g, such as car, coat,
cold, color, cow, game, garden, good, grandmother.
Have students put a finger on their throat as they
say each sound. Encourage them to notice how their
throat vibrates when they say g but not when they
say c.
Phonics Rhyme
Say the rhyme.
GSE Learning Objectives
Listening: Can recognize words or phrases
that are repeated in a short dialog or poem.
Reading: Can identify the initial sound in
simple words.
Speaking: Can recite a short, simple rhyme
or chant.
Teaching Tips: Clap along in time with the rhyme
to help students with the rhythm and stress.
Support: Divide the class into four groups and have
each group say just one line each.
Stretch: See if students can say the rhyme from
memory. See if they can find and say the pairs of
rhyming words (cat / hat, boat / coat).
Values
The Values comic strip takes a theme from the
story that demonstrates a universal value, such as
kindness. Students explore a key lesson around
that value and then connect it to their own lives.
The comic strip format can be used for role plays
and, in many cases, key words can be substituted to
personalize the role plays.
For this lesson:
• Show the comic strip and say the title.
Ask questions to set the scene: Who’s this?
Where are they? etc.
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• Read or listen to the whole comic strip as
students follow along with their finger, or point to
who is speaking.
• Read, or play, each line of dialog separately and
have students repeat it, chorusing as a class
and individually. Focus on the pronunciation of
any tricky words, rising and falling intonation,
and sentence stress. Have fun practicing these
features of spoken English with the children.
• When the students are familiar with the dialog,
close books and role play the scene with the
whole class, or in groups. If space allows, get
students standing and doing actions.
• Finally, do the role play again, this time
substituting keys words in the dialog for other
words chosen by the class. (Note: Most, but not
all, of the comic strips can work in this way.)
These Teacher’s Notes provide a photocopiable
version of the comic strip with the text removed,
which can be copied, cut out, and used in role plays
and activities. See Photocopiables, page 10.
GSE Learning Objectives
Speaking: Can respond to a simple question
with a gesture (e.g. a shake of the head) or yes/
no answer.
Positivity: Stay positive.
Teaching tips: Have students listen and do thumbs
down if the person isn’t Dante’s friend and thumbs
up if they are.
Support: Have students work in pairs and role play
just one interaction.
Stretch: Have students work in groups of five and
act out the whole dialog, with actions.
Connect: Connect to the key lesson of staying
positive by getting students to practice doing
something until they succeed. Demonstrate to the
class how to pat your head and rub your tummy at
the same time. Invite a student to try. If they don’t
manage it at first, introduce the phrase, Oh, no!
When they succeed in doing it, introduce the phrase,
Hooray! That’s good!
Students work in pairs and take turns to practice
patting their head and rubbing their tummy.
Encourage them to keep trying until they manage it
and to say to each other, Hooray! that’s good!
Note: if your students can already do this, they can
try a different task, such as standing on one leg for
20 seconds, with or without their eyes shut.
 Find Out
The Find Out section links a theme from the story
to core subject areas, such as science, history,
geography, social science, P.E., arts and crafts, ICT,
and design and technology. The heading poses a
“Big Question” for students to discover as they read
and talk about the content.
Students can show what they have learned, or
find out more, about the topic by doing the project
activity. They get the chance to communicate and
collaborate as they work on their project in small
groups, and use critical thinking and creativity. If
the classroom has access to the Internet, students
can use it to research aspects of their project and
build digital and information literacy. The aim is that
students develop their presentation skills as they
present their projects to the class.
For this lesson:
• Pre-teach the key words.
• Look at the photos across the spread and ask
questions about what can be seen and what
students think or know about the topic. Read the
Big Question.
• Read or listen to the text. Break longer texts into
smaller sections and check comprehension as
you go along.
• Read the Big Question again and get students’
answers and ideas.
• Do the project to consolidate what students have
learned or to find out more about the topic.
Big Question: What foods are healthy?
Story link: This topic takes a look at foods that are
healthy. In The Story of Dante, Dante arrives in the
town because he is hungry and looking for food.
Background information: The U.S. has a healthy
eating initiative called MyPlate. It shows a plate of
food divided into four segments, which represent
how much of each food group (fruit, vegetable,
grain, and protein) we should eat every day. There is
a separate dairy section to the side. It emphasizes
the importance of making small changes to improve
our diet, such as swapping to low sugar foods, and
eating more whole grains.
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Project: My Plate Poster
Aim: To learn the names of the different food
groups and healthy foods that belong in those
groups; to build presentation skills
Materials: Pictures of healthy foods for each food
group: different fruit and vegetables; healthy grains
such as brown rice, bread, and pasta; protein, such
as chicken, other meat, and fish; and dairy, such
as milk, butter, and cheese; a large piece of poster
paper, glue; poster putty; colored pens
• Write My Plate on the board and underneath
draw a large circle divided into four segments.
Label each segment with the relevant food
group: fruit, vegetable, grain, protein. Draw and
label a circle to the side for dairy. Say the names
as you do so and have students repeat them.
• Show one picture of food that goes in each
segment, saying the name as you do so.
Students repeat the name and point to the place
on the plate where it goes. Stick it in the correct
segment and write the name underneath.
• Present the rest of the food pictures, saying the
names and having students repeat them. Stick
them to the side of the plate and write the
names underneath.
• Divide the class into five groups and assign each
group a food segment. Groups take turns to
come up to the board and take the pictures of
the food that belong in their segment.
• Next, draw a large circle on the poster paper and
divide it into four segments. Draw a slightly smaller
circle to the side to represent dairy. Label the
segments with the food groups. Make sure there is
plenty of room for students to stick their pictures.
• Each group takes turns to stick their pictures in
the correct segment and label them.
• The groups take turns to present their segment,
saying, This is fruit. There are apples, bananas,
and oranges.
GSE Learning Objectives
Reading: Can understand the relationship
between words from the same vocabulary set
(e.g. colors, foods, classroom objects).
Writing: Can label simple pictures related to
familiar topics by copying single words.
Speaking: Can name everyday objects in their
immediate surroundings or in pictures, if guided
by questions or prompts.
 ANSWER KEY Pearson English Teacher’s
Kids Readers Notes

Before You Read Phonics

Activity Phonics Rhyme

1 b, 2 a In the garden, there’s a cat.
There’s a girl in a hat.
In the garden, there’s a boat.
There’s a girl in a coat.
While You Read and Listen

Activity 1 (pages 1–3)

1 eyes, 2 big, 3 garden, 4 friends

Activity 2 (pages 4–7)

1 c, 2 d, 3 a, 4 b

Activity 3 (pages 8–10)

1 B, 2 C, 3 A

Activity 4 (pages 11–14)

1 B, 2 A, 3 D, 4 C

After You Read

Activity 1
1 B, 2 C, 3 A

Activity 2
1 Yes, 2 No, 3 Yes, 4 Yes, 5 No, 6 No

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