A Christmas Carol - Lesson 1

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 3

A Christmas Carol

A lesson series on the famous 19th century short novel by Charles Dickens

Lesson goals

• You'll work on your listening, reading and writing skills;
• You’ll become familiar with one of the most famous short novels of English literature;
• You’ll get to know a bit about Victorian England;
• You’ll understand why the setting was so important for this story.

Who was Charles Dickens?

Watch a video... but first:

Words to help:

1. abound = exist in large numbers.

    Here: rumours began to spread widely.

2. diversions = formal language for activities, or things that

                           distract you.

Pay attention to the video, as a quiz will follow!

Quiz time! 

Next will be a couple of questions on Charles Dickens's life.

All questions are based on the video in the previous slide.

Charles Dickens had a number of siblings. How many exactly?

1. 8, of whom 2 died before they were grown up
2. 6, of whom 2 died before they were grown up
3. 7, of whom 3 died before they were grown up
4. 5, of whom 3 died before they were grown up

Charles Dickens had to perform child labour

1. No, his family was well-off
2. Yes, he worked in a mine
3. Yes, he worked in a factory
4. No, he was smart enough to go to school

Children in Victorian times

Children in Victorian times had difficult lives, specifically the ones from poor families. Child deaths were considered a normal fact of life.

• long working hours
• bad meals
• bad housing
• bad hygiene
• untrained child doctors 

Charles Dickens was a journalist before he published his first fictional work.

1. Yes
2. No

Charles Dickens died in a train crash on his way from Paris to London

1. Yes
2. No

A Christmas Carol

This lesson series is about the short novel called 

A Christmas Carol. 

Before we watch the following clip, please fill out the word web on the next slide.

How would you translate
'A Christmas Carol' in Dutch?

Assignment 1: Create your own words to help-list. Find the words in the list in your reader on page 9.

Assignments 

Read the text on page 6 and on. This will inform you on the background and context of A Christmas Carol.

After that, find the assignments in your pupil's booklet. You will have to do some research before you answer the following questions during the rest of the lesson:

Assignment 2: Write down at least 3 titles of novels by Dickens. Explain which one you would like to read, and why (25-40 words), see page 10.

Assignment 3a: Find online information on the Yule festivities and write a piece of 25-40 words on them. See page 10.

Assignment 3b: Victorian Christmas celebrations. Find out about the ways the upper-class celebrated and write a piece of 25-40 words, see page 10.

After lesson 1 I can say that I have reached the following goal: I have worked on my listening skills

Yes

A bit

Not so much

No

After lesson 1 I can say that I have reached the following goal: I have worked on my reading skills

Yes

A bit

Not so much

No

After lesson 1 I can say that I have reached the following goal: I have worked on my writing skills

Yes

A bit

Not so much

No

After lesson 1 I can say that I have reached the following goal: I know who Charles Dickens is

Yes

A bit

Not so much

No

After lesson 1 I can say that I have reached the following goal: I know about the time setting of A Christmas Carol

Yes

A bit

Not so much

No