A Dark, Dark Tale
CHALLENGING WORDS
across
behind
corner
cupboard
curtain
front
house
moor
passage
stairs
SUMMARY
This book takes readers on a spooky read-aloud adventure.
Numerous rhyming words and dark, dark illustrations truly set
the mood. Follow along to discover what’s inside the dark,
dark cupboard in the dark, dark room, in the dark, dark house.
--- Conversation Questions---
(1) Tell me what you think of this book.
(Answer) Any logical answer.
(Follow Up) Tell me how you feel in the dark.
(2) Imagine you were in that dark house, how would you feel?
(Answer) Any logical answer.
(Follow Up) When was the last time you were in a dark house alone?
(3) Imagine you were about to open the box, how would you feel?
(Answer) Any logical answer.
(Follow Up) Do you like feeling nervous when you know nothing bad can happen?
(4) Compare the mood of this story to a time when you felt the same way.
(Answer) Any logical answer.
(Follow Up) When was the last time you were scared?
(5) Tell me what a “moor” is.
(Answer) A broad stretch of swampy land.
(Follow Up) Have you ever seen a swamp?
(6) Recall what was on the dark, dark moor.
(Answer) A dark, dark wood.
(Follow Up) What’s another word for the woods?
(7) Name what was on the front of the dark, dark, house.
(Answer) A dark, dark door.
(Follow Up) What color is your front door?
(8) Name what was behind the door.
(Answer) A dark, dark hall.
(Follow Up) Would you go through that door?
(9) Recall what was behind the curtain.
(Answer) A dark, dark room.
(Follow Up) Would you enter that room?
(10) Name what was in the box.
(Answer) A mouse.
(Follow Up) Were you scared while reading this book?
Activities
1. Draw and label what you thought was in the box.
2. Design a no trespassing sign. Make sure you tell why it’s important not to enter someone else’s property.
3. Create your own spooky illustration for this book.
4. Draw a picture of whom you think the house from the book belongs to. Write a sentence telling about your picture.
Introduction
1. Have a small, empty box on the table when student enters. Ask him/her to guess what might be in the box. Explain that in today’s book, there is a box in a cupboard. Say, “Let’s read to find out what’s in it.”
2. Have the book on the table and opened to the first page when student enters. Ask student to predict what the book will be about. Say, “Let’s read to find out if you’re right.
3. Sit very still and speak very quietly when the student enters. Tell him/her a very short, spooky story. Keeping your voice low so as to build the mood, explain that today’s book is a dark, dark tale. Say, “Let’s read to find out how spooky the story is.”
Book Title: A Dark, Dark Tale
Author: Ruth Brown
/ Illustrator: Ruth BrownISBN: 0-14-054621-9 / # of Text Pages: 13 AR: 2.0 LEX: N/A
Building Oral Vocabulary
1 / dark / 5 / hall / 14 / box
Prediction Questions
4 / What do you think is behind the door?
8 / Do you think we will find out what is behind the curtain?
13 / What do you think is in the box?
This resource is provided by THE LEARNING CORPS—Barren County Board of Education, an AmeriCorps project funded in part by the Kentucky Commission on Community Volunteerism and Service and the Corporation for National and Community Service.
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