Tom’s Sausage Lion by Michael Morpurgo

Belonging (possessive) apostrophe

The belonging apostrophe is missing from the following

sentences. See if you can put it in the correct place. Take care,
some words are plurals and do not need an apostrophe.

1. Toms mum shook her head in disbelief, “I must have been

Sam” she said.

2. Tom walked to Ghost Cottage with Sams food tucked

under his arm.

3. Tom was sent to Miss Colvins office where he was

punished for telling lies.

4. The lions owner was very grateful to have Leo returned

safely.

5. “Lions on your farm, whatever next?” laughed Toms

friends.

6. Clares glasses were in the vans glove box so she could

not tell whether it was a real lion.

7. Tom was sad about the dead lambs so he made sure he

had Mr Newmans meat scraps with him to feed the
hungry lion.

8. Sams injured leg looked painful and Tom wished he had

the vets telephone number.

© 2008 www.teachitprimary.co.uk 10885 Page 1 of 11

Tom’s Sausage Lion by Michael Morpurgo

Write a conversation: ‘I really did see a lion’

Clare also sees the lion, but no one believes her either!
Here is the extract from the story where she tells Tom about seeing the
lion.
Page 26

“That’s him, that’s just like him,” Tom said. “But how’d you know?”

“Cos I seen him just like you did, that’s why, said Clare. I was on
the rounds with my dad, Christmas Eve it was. Dad was delivering
Mrs Blunden’s meat and I was waiting for him in the van. I looked
up and there he was looking through the window at me. We just
looked at each other for a moment and then he ran off.”

“Didn’t you tell your dad?” Tom asked.

“Course I did, but he didn’t believe me. I could hardly believe it

myself, not till I heard you telling Mr Morgan. See, I’d left my
glasses at home. I’m always forgetting them and I’m as blind as a
bat without my glasses – everyone knows that. Can’t see a sausage
without them.”

You are going to write the conversation she had with her father
when he got back into the van. He may be tired after all the meat
deliveries, or he may be full of fun and looking forward to
Christmas Day. You can decide how he will react to Clare’s strange
tale. . . but we DO know he doesn’t believe her.

© 2008 www.teachitprimary.co.uk 10885 Page 2 of 11

Tom’s Sausage Lion by Michael Morpurgo

You can continue the conversation below.

Clare blinked once more unable to take in what she had just seen.
Mr Newman heaved himself into the van and sighed. ‘Two more
and then we’re done sweetheart,’ he smiled.

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

© 2008 www.teachitprimary.co.uk 10885 Page 3 of 11

Tom’s Sausage Lion by Michael Morpurgo

Interview with Clare or Tom

Preparation:
Work in pairs. One is the reporter and the other is Clare.
Cut up the questions on the following page and place them in an
envelope. Each pair will need one envelope.

The reporter draws a question out of the envelope and reads it out. The
partner has to reply in the role of the character!

After a few questions swap over so that the other person is the reporter
and the other is Tom.

When you have finished think of some additional questions the reporter
could ask and think what the replies may be.
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

© 2008 www.teachitprimary.co.uk 10885 Page 4 of 11

Tom’s Sausage Lion by Michael Morpurgo

Interview with Clare or Tom - additional questions

What did you think when you first saw the lion?

How did you feel when no one believed you?

Were you afraid at any time?

What does it feel like to be a hero now?

Are you hoping for any reward for your efforts?

How did you manage to capture the lion?

What did you know about lions before this all began?

What do your family think about you now?

How did the other children at school react when a lion walked into
their playground?

What do your teachers think about all this?

Will you be asking for a lion as a pet now?

© 2008 www.teachitprimary.co.uk 10885 Page 5 of 11

Tom’s Sausage Lion by Michael Morpurgo

Newspaper Report

Choose a headline for a newspaper report on Tom and Clare’s

adventures.

Or you can make one up of your own. Discuss what makes it a

good headline and why it may catch the reader’s attention.

© 2008 www.teachitprimary.co.uk 10885 Page 6 of 11

Tom’s Sausage Lion by Michael Morpurgo

Newspaper Report
Make some notes to help with your newspaper article.
Headline (your chosen one)

Who, what, where and when

Who will be quoted and what will they say?

Photograph and caption

What words and phrases will you use to make it sound exciting

© 2008 www.teachitprimary.co.uk 10885 Page 7 of 11

 Tom’s Sausage Lion by Michael Morpurgo

Write a New Story

Tom sees something that no one else believes. He has to work hard to
prove that he is telling the truth, but in the end he has the evidence and
everyone believes him.

You are going to write a story where someone sees something that is
quite hard to believe and everyone things they are lying.

For your plan you will make a flow chart of the story. Here is an
example of a flowchart showing the main events in ‘Tom’s Sausage Lion'.

Tom sees the lion with a string of sausages, but no one believes him.

He sees the lion again and tries to get others to see it, but it
disappears before they come out.

He tells more people and they also do not believe him.

Clare believes him as she saw it too so they come up with a plan to
take a photograph of the lion.

Tom tries hard to take the photograph, but he keeps on missing the lion.
Lambs were killed by the lion, but his father suspects Sam.

Tom and the lion come face to face and he discovers it is tame and
someone’s pet.

Tom and Clare take the lion round to show everyone who didn’t believe
them and the lion is returned to its owner.

© 2008 www.teachitprimary.co.uk 10885 Page 8 of 11

Tom’s Sausage Lion by Michael Morpurgo

Title

© 2008 www.teachitprimary.co.uk 10885 Page 9 of 11

Tom’s Sausage Lion by Michael Morpurgo

Tom’s Diary

24th December
I can’t believe none of them believe me. Sent to bed early on
Christmas Eve. It’s not fair. And I was telling the truth. Dark
indeed! I know a lion when I see one, and this was a beautiful
one. I wonder where it got those sausages? And what is a lion
doing creeping round the farm anyway? Has it escaped from a
zoo? But we’re miles away from any zoos. I hope I see it
again. And then they’ll have to believe me.

25th December
So now I know where it got those sausages. That lion must be
really hungry to have to snoop around our bins as well. Why
oh why had he disappeared before everyone else came outside?
Sam must have chased him off. I wonder if the lion is
frightened of Sam. Well, I’ll just have to keep on looking for it.
Then I’ll prove to them all that there really is a lion living by
our farm. I’d like to see the look on Auntie Rose’s face when
she comes face to face with a real lion.

© 2008 www.teachitprimary.co.uk 10885 Page 10 of 11

Tom’s Sausage Lion by Michael Morpurgo

Read Chapter 2.
When Tom goes back to school he tells his classmates and his
teacher about the lion, but no one believes him. That is until
Clare tells him she has seen the lion as well. Write Tom’s diary
entry for that night, including all the things that happened to
him and how he felt.

6th January
_________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
_______________________________________________

© 2008 www.teachitprimary.co.uk 10885 Page 11 of 11