THE INVENTION OF SHOES

Learning outcomes
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
● list the comic characters and express what makes them comical.
● describe the humour in the farcical situation.
● identify the exaggeration to make the story funny.
● compare the sensible tanner with the rest of the characters.
● express the tanner’s ability to be calm in the face of opposition.
● identify direct and indirect objects.
● identify strong and weak forms of words and use them in sentences.
● write paragraphs using the right format.

Pre-reading
● What is the difference between invention and discovery?
● Why would anyone want a pair of shoes when everyone was used to walking barefoot in those
days?
● Can you refer to the pictures on the first page and say what the story will be about?

Understanding the Text problem. But they could not think of any because
crops could not be grown if they got rid of the soil.)
Play the text in parts, on the screen. / Ask students
to read the text in parts. / Read the text in parts. Discuss:
Pause to check comprehension. Do you think this is a comical story? Why do you
think so?
Once upon a time…what use are you?
What kind of a king do you think was Hobu?
Ask students: So they thought some more…replace it with mud.
What was King Hobu’s problem? Why was he angry
with his minister, Gobu Rai? How did he threaten Ask students:
them? How did everyone respond to King Hobu’s What did they do to get rid of the dust? Did the
warning? (Gobu Rai was worried. He wondered how sweeping help to clean the kingdom? Explain what
he could solve the king’s problem. The pundits and happened. (No, it did not. It only raised the dust to
the courtiers were frightened of the king’s fury. The cover the whole kingdom, even the king’s face and
cooks stopped cooking and everyone in the palace chest. People could not open their eyes. They choked
was weeping.) How did Gobu Rai try to solve and coughed. No one could see the sun because of the
the problem? (He gathered together scientists, dust.) Why was the king upset over this? How did
mechanics and scholars to find a solution to the king’s they try to clear the dust? (Twenty-one lakh

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 water-carriers poured water to wash away every (The chief tanner, an old man, suggested that the
speck of dust.) What was the outcome of such an king should cover his feet with leather to keep them
action? (Soon the ponds and lakes filled with mud. No from getting dirty.) Why did Gobu Rai suggest that
boats could go on the river. Water creatures died and the tanner should be imprisoned? (The king felt
land creatures could hardly walk on the slush. Shops silly that they should have broken their heads over
were closed and there was no buying or selling. The the problem if the solution was so simple.) How did
people became ill with cough and cold.) What did the the tanner save himself? (The tanner made a neat
king have to say to this? (He said the men were fools pair of shoes for the king before the king could decide
to make things worse by replacing dust with slushy whether to punish him or forgive him.) Did the king
mud.) like the shoes? (Yes, he did, because they kept his feet
warm and clean.)
Discuss:
Appreciating the Text
Do you think the people are as silly as the king? How
does their behaviour make the story comical? What In this children’s story, the chief tanner is the
are the features that make a story a comedy? hero. He is wise and practical-minded and finds a
solution that serves the purpose. He knows his job
Seventeen lakh fifty thousand brooms; twenty-one
and is confident enough to show that his solution
lakh—Why has the writer used specific numbers?
(The writer wants to project a comical picture by using would solve the problem despite the opposition in
the court.
such unrealistic large numbers. The numbers portray
an exaggerated picture.) Set in contrast against this one wise man is the
king and his courtiers. They may be powerful but
Note: The writer has employed the use of
they are stupid people thinking up impractical
Hyperbole in the story to create a larger-than-life
ways that make the situation worse.
effect.
They are presented as comical characters:
Once again, everyone gathered… shall be ruined.
● The King is comical because he is fussy about
Ask students getting his feet dirty and sets the whole
kingdom to find a solution to his problem.
Why has the writer used the word ‘great’ to
describe the minds of these people? (He uses this ● The minister, Gobu Rai, is comical because he
word to suggest comically that they were no better does not want to lose face. He pretends to
than fools.) have had the same idea as the tanner though
we know he did not.
What were the other suggestions to protect the ● The humour in the children’s story is through
king’s feet from getting dirty? (Some suggested exaggeration:
carpets to cover the earth, some others suggested
that the king should stay indoors.) Did the king like ● Seventeen lakh fifty thousand brooms and
staying indoors? Why? (He said it was indeed a good twenty-one lakh water-carriers are hyperbolic
idea but not very practical as he would not be able to descriptions to give an impression of the
govern his kingdom well while staying indoors.) grand plans to rid the earth of dust, all
because the king does not want to get
Then, taking matters…And so was the earth. his feet dirty. Odd numbers like seventeen
What was the king’s suggestion to keep his feet lakh and twenty-one lakh are funny in their
from getting dirty? (He suggested that the whole pretension to provide an authentic count of
earth should be covered with a leather blanket to brooms and water carriers.
protect it from dust.) How did his subjects respond ● The earth filling with dust and slush are
to his idea? (They were very impressed and sent for exaggerated because they are seen from the
the best tanners and tried to find the leather to cover point of view of the king who thinks whatever
the earth.) Who solved the problem and how? he does affects the whole world.

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 ● The problem is a small one given an ● The solutions are ridiculous, worsening the
exaggerated importance to give due respect problem by raising dust or making slush.
to the king.

Post-reading
Which part of the story did you enjoy the most? Explain why you liked it.
What can we learn from the tanner who made the first pair of shoes?
Have you or anyone you know ever been calm and done the right thing when everyone else was
tensed up? Share with class.

Grammar and Usage direct objects and indirect objects

Recap subject and predicate done in earlier classes.
Write this sentence on the board: Jerin baked a cake.
Ask students to:
● identify the subject. (What / who is it about?) Jerin
● identify the verb. baked
● Who / what is receiving the action? a cake

Explain to the class that:

● the receiver of the action in a sentence is called the object of the sentence.
● the object of the sentence is always a noun or a pronoun.
Write these sentences on the board:
● The teacher distributed the notebooks.
● I slept soundly.
Ask students:
Do both the sentences have objects in them? (No, the second sentence has no object. Soundly is not a
noun. The action slept does not pass on to a noun. )
Provide a few more sentences and ask students to identify the object in each sentence.
I sharpened my pencil. (pencil)
The cat broke the vase. (vase)
The dog carried the ball away. (ball)
The bird sang sweetly. (no object)
Proceed to direct and indirect objects.
Now write these sentences:
Mala baked me a cake.

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 Ask students to
● identify the object or direct object in the sentence (Who / What is receiving the action?). cake
● identify who or what receives the direct object. me
Explain that, in the given sentence cake is the direct object and the receiver of the direct object is
called the indirect object.
Usually the indirect object comes first. But in some sentences like the following one, it may come after
the direct object.
She baked a cake for me.

Words in Use strong and weak forms

Write these sentences on the board:
The man ate the food.
The man devoured the food.
Ask students to explain the difference between the two sentences.
Elicit that the verb in the second sentence tells that the man ate due to a lot of hunger, while the first
sentence just says that the man ate the food.
Explain that though the two verbs (ate and devoured) have similar meanings, the second verb is strong
while the first verb is weak.
Write a few pairs of words and ask students to identify the strong and weak words in each pair.
look –stare; jump–leap; tap–bang

Writingparagraph-writing
Tell students:
A paragraph is a set of sentences that talks about a single idea. It begins with a topic sentence, and
has other sentences supporting the main idea of the paragraph. These sentences maintain a flow.
The concluding sentence sums up the main idea of the paragraph.
How should a paragraph be written?
Write 6-8 short sentences. As far as possible it is better to keep the sentences precise so that the
meaning is clear.
● The first sentence is the topic sentence and introduces the reader to the central idea.
● The following sentences talk in detail about the topic. They develop and support this idea.
● The last sentence concludes the paragraph, by summing up the details.

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 WORKSHEET
THE INVENTION OF SHOES GRAMMAR

Name of Student: Class:

Underline the direct objects and circle the indirect objects in the sentences.
1. The goat chewed on the grass quietly.
2. My grandmother gave me a bag of toys.
3. Can you pass the sugar, please?
4. Sonu handed the torch to Kiran.
5. The arrow split the apple into two.
6. Father got us popcorn.

THE INVENTION OF SHOES VOCABULARY

Match the weak forms of the words to their strong forms.

1. happy a. dive
2. poke b. terror
3. nudge c. filthy
4. dirty d. push
5. fear e. joyous
6. jump f. stab

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 WORKSHEET
THE INVENTION OF SHOES WRITING

Name of Student: Class:

Write a paragraph on the topic The joy of reading story-books.

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 ANSWER KEY TO THE WORKSHEETS

THE INVENTION OF SHOES

Answer key to the grammar worksheet
1. DO: grass   2.  DO: a bag of toys; IO: me   3.  DO: sugar   4.  DO: the torch IO: Kiran
5. DO: the apple   6.  DO: popcorn IO: us

Answer key to the vocabulary worksheet

1. e  2. f  3. d  4. c  5. b  6. a

QUESTION BANK WITH ANSWER KEY

THE INVENTION OF SHOES

1. Read the line and answer the questions.
Everyone bowed to the king. “What a brilliant idea, your royal highness,” they said.
a. What was the idea for?
b. What was the idea?
c. Who had to be called to do the job?
d. What was the difficulty faced?
Answers:
a. The king gave an idea to remove dust from the earth so that his feet would be dust-free.
b. The king wanted to cover the whole land in leather.
c. The tanners of the kingdom had to do the job of covering the whole earth with leather.
d. They had to find the best of tanners and also find a lot of leather to cover the whole earth.

2. Answer in brief.
a. Why was Gobu Rai worried?
The king was unhappy that his feet got dirty every time he stepped on the ground. He wanted
a solution for that soon. Gobu Rai was the king’s minister. He did not know how to solve the
problem and was worried.
b. What was the result of dusting the kingdom with brooms?
The dusting of the kingdom with seventeen lakh fifty thousand brooms created so much dust in
the kingdom that everybody started coughing and choking. The king’s face was covered with dust
and even the sun could not be seen because the air was filled with dust.

3. Answer in detail.
How did the chief tanner solve the problem? How did the king and Gobu Rai react to the suggestion?

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 The chief tanner was called to cover the whole earth with leather. The tanner had a better suggestion.
He said that instead of covering the whole earth with leather, if the king covered only his feet with
leather, his feet would remain clean. King Hobu was angry with him because he thought he gave a
foolish suggestion. Gobu Rai ordered his arrest but by that time the tanner had made the shoes for
the king.

4. Think and answer.

What do you understand about the people of the kingdom?
The ministers and others could not solve the problem the king faced. An old tanner could think of
an easy solution for the problem. Even after he gave the solution, his minister decided to arrest him
instead of appreciating his idea. These things show that most of the people in the kingdom were
foolish and were working without any wisdom.

STUDENTS’ BOOK ANSWER KEY

THE INVENTION OF SHOES

Understanding the Text

A. 1. King Hobu was worried about his feet getting dirty whenever he stepped on the ground.
He wanted to get rid of the dust in his kingdom, so that his feet would remain clean.
2. c. They tried to sweep all of the dust from the kingdom with brooms. 
It did not work because the sweeping covered the entire kingdom with dust.
a. They tried to wash off all the dust with water. 
The water got mixed with the dust and filled the kingdom with slush. The animals could not
walk and the fish could not swim. No work could get done. People fell sick.
d. They wanted the king to stay at home. 
The king did not accept this idea because he felt his royal work would get stopped and the
kingdom would be ruined if he stayed indoors.
b. The tanner suggested that the king could cover his feet with leather.
This plan worked because the shoes protected the king’s feet from dust and he could walk
about freely without worrying about the dust.
3. The tanner offered a simple solution that could be easily worked out without causing hardship
and difficulty to others. If he wanted to protect his feet, all that the king needed to do was
cover his feet. But the others in the kingdom offered suggestions without thinking if they were
practically possible. The ideas caused a lot of difficulty and hardship to everyone in the kingdom.
From this, we learn that if there is a problem, we must be calm and think of a smart solution that
can be worked out easily.
B. 1. The entire world did not get filled with dust. But the king says that to show the amount of dust all
the sweeping had brought about.
2. The author gives us these numbers to show the large amount of money and work involved.
It gives us a feeling of a very huge activity involving hundreds of people, lots of noise and dust.

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 3. The king and his men had already done enough damage to the earth by sweeping all the mud
and then emptying the rivers and lakes. They even wanted to cover the entire kingdom with
carpets and leather. So the tanner’s clever idea stopped the king’s men from causing more
damage to the earth.

Appreciating the Text

Suggested answers (Accept any logical answer)
1. Yes, I think that The Invention of Shoes is a funny story.
Examples: You have no concern for the king or the kingdom or the problems that bother me.
Reason: The king blames the minister for a problem as small as dirty feet.
Example: “You were supposed to get rid of the dust, not fill the world with it.”
Reason: This scene is comical because the king gives the men a responsibility, but they mess
things further. Besides, the king who was worried only about his feet, is now covered with dust on
his face and chest as well.
Example: Keep the king indoors.
Reason: The thought of a great king sitting indoors all day to protect his feet makes the situation
very comical.
Example: Everyone bowed to the king. “What a brilliant idea, your royal highness,” they said.
Reason: It is funny to see that everyone is appreciating a silly and an impractical idea.
2. This is not true. Gobu Rai, the minister, says this because he wants to show that he is a clever man.
He does not want to look foolish in front of the others. He wants to take credit for the clever idea.
This tells us that he is selfish and cunning.

Grammar and Usage

A. 1. a painting - DO; his friend: IDO
2. his father - IDO; an e-card: DO
3. the class - IDO; a few tips: DO
4. us all - IDO; some sweets: DO
5. the guests: IDO; cold drinks and snacks - DO
6. your mother - IDO; a message: DO
B. 2. The coach gave the team extra practice. the team: IDO; extra practice: DO
3. Her mother baked her a cake. her: IDO; a cake: DO
4. The principal didn’t tell them the results of the contest. them: IDO; the results of the contest: DO
5. Please pass me a glass of water. IDO: me; DO: a glass of water

Words in Use
2. 1. 
e  2 
f  3 d  4 
c  5 b  6 a
2. Yes, they were miserable.
3. In truth, he was furious.

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 4. Large? It is massive.
5. Yes, it was a great tragedy.
6. Yes, the damage was severe.

Listening
Listening text and answers
New shoes, new shoes,
Red and pink and blue shoes.
Tell me, what would you choose,
If they’d let us buy?
Buckle shoes, bow shoes,
Pretty pointy-toe shoes,
Strappy, cappy low shoes;

Let’s have some to try.

Bright shoes, white shoes,
Dandy-dance-by-night shoes,
Perhaps-a-little-tight shoes,
Like some? So would I.

BUT
Flat shoes, fat shoes,
Stump-along-like-that shoes,
Wipe-them-on-the-mat shoes,
That’s the sort they’ll buy.

10

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