Related Activities
Read Dickens Aloud: To get the flavor of Dickens’ prose, read parts of an unabridged Dickens book aloud. Suggestions: A Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol, The Magic Fishbone, A Child’s Story, or The Pickwick Papers.
Lesson on book’s themes: Do an activity based on some of the themes of the book: bullying, loyalty, friendship, being different, or what makes a hero. (See our Book Trailers & Other Links for help with some of these activities.)
Printable Victorian Activities for kids: http://www.schoolsliaison.org.uk/kids/access/victorian/print_victorian.htm
Victorian Tea Party: Do a lesson on manners and throw a Victorian tea party with tea or lemonade, scones with clotted cream and jam or tea cookies using real linens, dishes and utensils. An appointed host or hostess at each table could be prepared to pour the tea and have conversation topics ready to lead a conversation.
Cheese related activities:
- Cheese Tasting Party
- Make cheese with the kids. (See Book Trailers & Other Links page for websites with recipes.)
Recipes for making cheese with kids:
http://notecook.com/main-course/dairy/how-to-make-cheese-with-kids-a-cheesy-experience/
http://www.farmersalmanac.com/food/recipes/cheeses/
Do a lesson on a book theme:
http://www.teachingchildrenphilosophy.org/wiki/Clifford_the_Champion Some good discussion questions about being different and other topics based on Clifford the Big Red Dog stories.
Anti-bullying sites with ideas for implementing:
http://www.bullyingacademy.org/index.cfm
http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/friends/bullies/
http://www.mcgruff.org/#/Main
See our Book Trailers & Other Links page for more activity ideas and inspiration.
Book Talk Teasers
- Read the front book flap.
- Read Chapter One. Then read the beginning of Chapter Three, ending with the sentence, “Skilley ignored the greeting and darted inside.”
- After explaining who Charles Dickens was, read these fictionalized pages of Charles Dickens’ “journal”: p. 13, p. 28, p. 60.
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