A Christmas Carol - Lessenserie

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 2

A Christmas Carol

Lesson 1 - Introduction

Victorian age: What did people look like?
What did they wear? What kind of hairstyles did they have? Use Google images!

What did people do? What kind of professions did they have? Use Google!

How did people live? Was there a difference in the way the rich and the poor lived?

In the coming lessons, you are going to:

- read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol

- learn about the story's setting

- learn about the story's characters

- learn about the story's themes and subjects

1. Read

- Read the chapter on your own. 

- Underline words you don't know.

With your group

- Try to find the meaning of the words.

- Check the meaning of the words on your list.

2. Summarize

- discuss with your group what is the most important information from the chapter. 

- Write this information down.

- Check if the story line is still in tact.

- Write a 5 sentence summary of the chapter.

3. Put the summaries in the right order.

- With your new group, read your summary out loud.

- Put the summaries in the right order.

- Ask each other questions for more information. 

Which elements of the Victorian age can you find in the story?

A Christmas Carol

Lesson 2 - Setting

In today's class you will learn:

1. how to describe the setting of a story

2. which verbs, nouns and adjectives you can use to describe a setting. 

Steps

1. Put the parts of the story in the right order.

2. Read an original part from A Christmas Carol

3. Which words did Dickens use?

4. Describe an illustration

5. With your group, write a paragraph that describes the illustration.

One Christmas Eve Scrooge is unkind to people who work for him and won't give money to charity. He is also rude to his nephew who invites him over to spend Christmas with them. 

The Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge his past Christmases. Scrooge loved money more than Belle.

Scrooge is visited by Marley, his business partner who died years ago. 

The Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge the Cratchit family and Tiny Tim. The ghost then takes him to his nephew's Christmas party, to which he had been invited, but refused.

Finally, The Ghost of Christmas Future terrifies Scrooge by showing him visions of his own death

The ghosts' journey through time teaches Scrooge the mistakes he has made in his life. When he wakes up on Christmas morning, he is buys a turkey for the Cratchit family. He spends Christmas with his nephew.

Discuss with your classmate: 

Do you know all the words? If not, what do you think it means? How do you know this? 

Look at your illustration

1. One by one say a sentence that describes the illustration. 

2. Each sentence should have new information. 

3. Continue till you can't add new information.

4. Together, make a list of words (nouns, adjectives and verbs) that you can use to describe your illustration.

Now...

You are going to write a paragraph about the illustration together!

Use the words that you have written down.

Write a topic sentence

Fold your paper in such a way so that your group members can't read it and hand it over to the person sitting next to you. 

Example: The streets were dark and empty.

Write a sentence with evidence. 

Fold your paper in such a way so that your group members can't read it and hand it over to the person sitting next to you.

 

Example: The streetlights were broken and everybody was inside. 

Write a sentence with an analysis

Fold your paper in such a way so that your group members can't read it and hand it over to the person sitting next to you. 

Example: Even the cats were scared and hid under the bushes.

Write a concluding sentence. 

Example: It was not a good time to be outside. 

Open your papers and read the paragraphs.

 

Choose the best one.  

Correct it and write it under the illustration. 

Share your paragraph

Share your paragraph

Share your paragraph

Share your paragraph

Share your paragraph

Share your paragraph

Share your paragraph

What have you learned?

What would you like to know more about or practice more?

A Christmas Carol

Lesson 3 - Characters

In today's class you are going to

- learn about the characters in A Christmas Carol.

- think about out how they influence the story.

First:

Read the summaries that you made in lesson 1. 

In pairs:

Write down as many characters from A Christmas Carol as you can remember. 

Which characters do you know?

In groups of three:

You are going to think about the characteristics of each character that you have been assigned. 

Then you are going to make a profile of each character. 

Divide your tasks:

- one writer

- one drawer

- one editor

No more ideas?  Use the information sheet to help you.

Extra: Write a mission statement for each character.

Let's look at our work!

- Do you want to add information? Write down on a post-it and stick it to the profile. 

- 

A Christmas Carol

Lesson 4 - Themes

In today's class you are going to: 

- Learn about the difference between a theme and a subject in a story. 

- Learn how to find the themes and subjects of a text. 

What do we know about A Christmas Carol so far?

Think - Pare - Share
What is a theme of a story?
What is a subject of a story?

What is A Christmas Carol about?
Write as many subjects down you can come up with.

Finish the sentence with what Charles Dickens wants to say in A Christmas Carol  about the subject you chose.

In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens wants the reader to know that .....

For example: Charles Dickens wants the reader to know that it is important to care for your family. 

In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens wants the reader to know that .....

Change the sentence and find your theme!

Charles Dickens wants the reader to know that family is important.

Theme:

 Family is important. 

Write down your theme.

Find evidence - In groups ...

1. Write down a theme on a paper.

2. Think of evidence in the story that supports the theme.

3. Find the evidence.

4. Write down the evidence under the theme.

Done? 

1. Look again at the settings and characters on the wall.

2. Answer with your group: How do the settings and characters effect the themes of the story? 

3. Make notes.

4. Class discussion

Evaluation A Christmas Carol
What was new?

Evaluation A Christmas Carol
What questions do you still have?

Evaluation A Christmas Carol
What else would you like to know?