Michael Jackson the Blind Grey Bat

This is a story that I use to preteach vocabulary which my students need to understand a song that I use often in class.  I'll not give you the title of the song, an old classic, older than Michael Jackson.  Let's see if you can figure it out.  

There was a blind bat.  He wasn't black and he wasn't white.  He was grey.  So his name was Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson, the blind grey bat, lived in Alaska.  He had a big problem.  In Alaska it snows every day and the cold wind blows.  In Alaska there are not a lot of insects.  Bats eat insects.  Michael Jackson, the blind grey bat, was a very hungry bat.

So Michael Jackson, the blind grey bat, decided to break away.  He flew to the ranch of Michael Jackson the singer in California.  

In California it doesn't snow and the wind doesn't blow.  It isn't cold in California.  There are a lot of insects in California.

Michael Jackson, the blind grey bat is no longer hungry.  Now he is a fat blind grey bat.   

*     *     *

This story is easy to circle and you can get in a lot of repetitions.  It's good for weak students or beginners.  It's possible to use the present tense throughout the story if you prefer. I explain to my French students that "blind as a bat" is an expression that corresponds to "myope comme une taupe."  I also point out that any verb followed by "away" is likely to mean partir.  So they are able to grasp the idea that to break away would imply a kind of rupture with the past.  And they often use the French expression se casser to translate it.