Holly Henderson

Literature Circle Unit

James and The Giant PeachThe Twits

Written By: Roald Dahl

Competencies Met: 3rd grade

  • Competency Goal 1The learner will apply enabling strategies and skills to read and write.
  • Competency Goal 2The learner will apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
  • Competency Goal 3The learner will make connections through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
  • Competency Goal 4The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
  • Competency Goal 5The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.

James and The Giant Peach

Section 1 Pp. 1 – 26 Chapters 1 -10

Discussion Director: Come up with five questions to lead your group in discussion of Section One. The questions should make the other group members think, also make sure the group members look back in the text to support their answers. Different kinds of questions to include are multiple choice, fact/opinion, problem/solution, cause/effect, setting, prediction, and compare/contrast, make up your own.

1. (Multiple Choice) In London, James’ parents were eaten up by (a) zebra (b) rhinoceros (c) tiger?

2. (Opinion) Are Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker fair to James and treat him well?

3. (Cause and Effect) The old man in the crazy dark-green suit will help James by giving him magical stones. What do you think will happen to James now?

4. (True or False) Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker were going to share the money made from the peach with James.

5. (Prediction) What do you think will happen to James now that he is inside of the peach?

Word Wizard: Look up the three words listed and find them in Section One of the book. Write down the word, the page where you found it and the paragraph. Copy the sentence from the book where the word appears. Write down the part of speech that the word is and write down what you think that the work means. Look up the word in the dictionary and write your own definition of the word. Make a wizard card of one of your words; be sure to include in Large print the word and the page and paragraph number. On the other side of the card draw a picture representing the word and the definition of the word.

1. nuisance

2. spectacles

3. bristly

4. pulpy

5. Shilling

Passage Picker: Pick five passages from Section One and tell what kind of passage it is, examples are listed below. Tell where the passage is located in the book; write down the page and paragraph number. Write down the first two words and the last two words of your passage. Write down a good thinking question about the passage and the answer to the question. Answer one of the following questions. Why did the author include this passage in the story? What does this passage add to the story?

  • Figurative
  • Important
  • Surprising
  • Fantasy
  • Personification
  • Metaphor
  • Simile
  • Idiom
  • Informative
  • Foreshadowing
  • Alliteration
  • Persuasive
  • Describing

Summarizer: Your job is to prepare a brief summary of Section One in a paragraph. Your group will be counting on you to include key points and main ideas that you have read in Section One.

Character Sketcher Your job as a character sketcher is to identify three of the character’s actions (traits) and explain or prove these traits, identify the character’s goals (which are what the character wants to do or accomplish), identify the problem and solution in the reading and complete a sketch of the character. Include the page and paragraph number of the trait that you pick. Remember the character traits that you pick are implied traits, they are not directly stated in the passage. You really want to use descriptive words. An example is provided below.

Character Traits

  1. (trait)______p. _____par.______

(explanation of trait)______

Character’s Goal: ______

Problem: ______

Solution: ______

James and the Giant Peach

Section 1 Pp. 1 – 26 Chapters

Discussion Director

1. (B) Pp. 1

2. Pp. 7

3. Pp. 8

4. False Pp. 22

5. Pp. 25-26

Word Wizard

1. nuisance Pp. 2 Para. 1, verb, a pest. Someone who bothers another person or thing continuously.

2. spectacles Pp. 6 Para. 1, noun, reading glasses. An item that you wear on your face, over your eyes, in order to help your vision.

3. bristly Pp. 9, Line 1, verb, quickly, with haste. An action of how you might move if your pants were on fire.

4. pulpy Pp. 13 Para 6, adjective, full of pulp. Not solid, full of soft bumps and lumps.

5. shilling Pp. 21 Para 4, noun a type of money. The type of money used in England.

(front)

(back)

Passage Picker

1. It is a descriptive passage. Pp. 6 & 7 “I look “, “a lovely Frankenstein”. Why do you think that Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker think that they are so beautiful when they are obviously not? Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker have very skewed vision of realty. They believe that they are beautiful more than anyone else because they are so conceded. The author put this passage in the book to really describe to us the beliefs of the two aunts.

2. It is a describing and informative passage. Pp 10 & 11 Para 7 to end of Chapter: “Ah-ha”, “It’s yours”. Do you think that the little man in the dark green suit was James’ fairy godfather? I think that there is some parallel to a fairy godfather, because all at once in James’ darkest hour, someone is there to help him and is magical. I think that the author included this passage because he wanted to give us some hope when it seemed as if there were none.

3. This passage contains a simile. Pp. 17 Para 12: In another, as heavy. Why do you think that the author compared a “mammoth fruit” to Aunt Sponge? I think because Aunt Sponge is of enormous size. I think that the author wanted to include humor in the darkness of the plan of the aunts.

4. This passage is foreshadowing. Pp. 21 Para 1 “My dear”, “wait and see”. How do you think that Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge are going to make the money? With the peach growing and growing they can say that they have a magical peach and charge money for people to come and see it. The author included this passage to show how evil the aunts are.

5. This passage is a fantasy and an informative passage. Pp. 24 – 25 Para 8: “The tunnel was”, delicious. Would you be brave like James, if it were you crawling inside the peach? Yes, because I would do anything to get away from those terrible aunts who did not care for me in the first place. The author wanted the reader to get excited about the adventure James was about to begin, so that is why he included this passage.

Summarizer

In Section One James loses his parents and is forced to go live with his terrible aunts. His aunts force him to do chores and never take him to the ocean where all of the other children play. One day a man in a dark-green suit gave magic stones to James. These stones were supposed to make James’ life better, but he accidentally dropped them on the ground and lost them forever, or so he thought. A giant peach begins to grow where the stones landed. One night James finds a hole in the bottom of the peach and begins to crawl inside. He finds the peach filled with over-sized insects that later become James’ friends. James eventually is able to escape his horrible aunts.

Character Sketcher

Character Traits

  1. (trait) hard-worker p. 7_par.___4___

(explanation of trait) James had to slave away at a chopping block all day in the hot sun.

  1. trait) lonely p. 8 par.__2__

(explanation of trait) James was lonely and had no one to play with.

  1. trait) adventurous p. 24 par.__3 __

(explanation of trait) James bravely crawled into the peach. He was looking for an adventure.

Character’s Goal: To escape his aunts and live somewhere else and play with other children.

Problem: He is just a child and need the help of an adult to give him food and shelter.

Solution: A man gives him magical stones and James starts out on an adventure with the help of his new insect friends.

James and The Giant Peach

Section 2 Pp. 26 – 50 Chapters 11 – 17

Discussion Director: Come up with five questions to lead your group in discussionof Section One. The questions should make the other group members think, also make sure the group members look back in the text to support their answers. Different kinds of questions to include are multiple choice, fact/opinion, problem/solution, cause/effect, setting, prediction, and compare/contrast, make up your own.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Word Wizard: Look up the three words listed and find them in Section One of the book. Write down the word, the page where you found it and the paragraph. Copy the sentence from the book where the word appears. Write down the part of speech that the word is and write down what you think that the work means. Look up the word in the dictionary and write your own definition of the word. Make a wizard card of one of your words; be sure to include in Large print the word and the page and paragraph number. On the other side of the card draw a picture representing the word and the definition of the word.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Passage Picker: Pick five passages from Section One and tell what kind of passage it is, examples are listed below. Tell where the passage is located in the book; write down the page and paragraph number. Write down the first two words and the last two words of your passage. Write down a good thinking question about the passage and the answer to the question. Answer one of the following questions. Why did the author include this passage in the story? What does this passage add to the story?

  • Figurative
  • Important
  • Surprising
  • Fantasy
  • Personification
  • Metaphor
  • Simile
  • Idiom
  • Informative
  • Foreshadowing
  • Alliteration
  • Persuasive
  • Describing

Summarizer: Your job is to prepare a brief summary of Section One in a paragraph. Your group will be counting on you to include key points and main ideas that you have read in Section One.

Character Sketcher Your job as a character sketcher is to identify three of the character’s actions (traits) and explain or prove these traits, identify the character’s goals (which are what the character wants to do or accomplish), identify the problem and solution in the reading and complete a sketch of the character. Include the page and paragraph number of the trait that you pick. Remember the character traits that you pick are implied traits, they are not directly stated in the passage. You really want to use descriptive words. An example is provided below.

Character Traits

  1. (trait)______p. _____par.______

(explanation of trait)______

Character’s Goal: ______

Problem: ______

Solution: ______

James and The Giant Peach

Section 3 Pp. 50 – 75 Chapters 18 – 23

Discussion Director: Come up with five questions to lead your group in discussionof Section One. The questions should make the other group members think, also make sure the group members look back in the text to support their answers. Different kinds of questions to include are multiple choice, fact/opinion, problem/solution, cause/effect, setting, prediction, and compare/contrast, make up your own.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Word Wizard: Look up the three words listed and find them in Section One of the book. Write down the word, the page where you found it and the paragraph. Copy the sentence from the book where the word appears. Write down the part of speech that the word is and write down what you think that the work means. Look up the word in the dictionary and write your own definition of the word. Make a wizard card of one of your words; be sure to include in Large print the word and the page and paragraph number. On the other side of the card draw a picture representing the word and the definition of the word.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Passage Picker: Pick five passages from Section One and tell what kind of passage it is, examples are listed below. Tell where the passage is located in the book; write down the page and paragraph number. Write down the first two words and the last two words of your passage. Write down a good thinking question about the passage and the answer to the question. Answer one of the following questions. Why did the author include this passage in the story? What does this passage add to the story?

  • Figurative
  • Important
  • Surprising
  • Fantasy
  • Personification
  • Metaphor
  • Simile
  • Idiom
  • Informative
  • Foreshadowing
  • Alliteration
  • Persuasive
  • Describing

Connector: Your job is to connect the section that you are reading to the outside world. Answer the following questions and then write a paragraph stating who or what you are connecting, where and when it happened, and how it connects or deals with the section that you are reading.

  1. What did you notice in the story?
  2. How did it make you feel?
  3. What does the story remind you of in your own life?
  4. What character in the story are you most like or unlike? Explain.
  5. Does this part of the story remind you of any other story you have read or heard? Explain.

Character Traits

  1. (trait)______p. _____par.______

(explanation of trait)______

Character’s Goal: ______

Problem: ______

Solution: ______

James and The Giant Peach

Section Three Pp. 50 – 75 Chapters 18 – 23

Connector: Your job is to connect the section that you are reading to the outside world. Answer the following questions and then write a paragraph stating who or what you are connecting, where and when it happened, and how it connects or deals with the section that you are reading.

  1. What did you notice in the story?
  2. How did it make you feel?
  3. What does the story remind you of in your own life?
  4. What character in the story are you most like or unlike? Explain.
  1. Does this part of the story remind you of any other story you have read or heard? Explain.
  1. In the story, James is very level headed. He doesn’t get upset when the centipede is worried about drowning because the peach has landed in the ocean.
  2. I thought James was very smart and knew how to handle difficult situations in the best way.
  3. Sometimes I get worried about small things that in the big picture aren’t that important. I need to be more like James and just think things through instead of jumping to conclusions.
  4. I feel like I am the most unlike the glow worm because all she does is sleep and lay around, doing nothing.
  5. A lot of stories have hard times that the characters must go through and things always seem to work at in the end.

I am connecting James to my life, because I want to be more optimistic about things that occur that may seem bad but, they are really not that bad. In this section, James has to figure out how to out-smart the sharks and I feel like there are “sharks” in my life that I have to watch out for. These sharks keep me on my toes, so I always try my hardest to do the best at whatever I am doing.

James and The Giant Peach

Section 4 Pp. 75 – 101 Chapters 24 – 30

Discussion Director: Come up with five questions to lead your group in discussionof Section One. The questions should make the other group members think, also make sure the group members look back in the text to support their answers. Different kinds of questions to include are multiple choice, fact/opinion, problem/solution, cause/effect, setting, prediction, and compare/contrast, make up your own.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Word Wizard: Look up the three words listed and find them in Section One of the book. Write down the word, the page where you found it and the paragraph. Copy the sentence from the book where the word appears. Write down the part of speech that the word is and write down what you think that the work means. Look up the word in the dictionary and write your own definition of the word. Make a wizard card of one of your words; be sure to include in Large print the word and the page and paragraph number. On the other side of the card draw a picture representing the word and the definition of the word.

1.

2.