A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol

“Darkness was cheap, and Scrooge liked it.”

A Christmas Carol

Scrooge’s and Elizabeth’s philosophies about life differ. Elizabeth has a more positive outlook on life, even though she is poor. Scrooge is the opposite, as he is very wealthy but is very negative and rude to others. “Bah, humbug,” he repeatedly grumbles. Elizabeth is very different, as she maintains an upbeat worldview. She invites Scrooge to Christmas dinner, keeping her Christmas spirit. “But I shall keep my Christmas spirit till the end,” she says. Even though she is still a child, a poor child, she remains as bright as the sun. Scrooge believes her spirit to be crazy, and since he is so rude and mean, he refuses to share Elizabeth’s joyful cheer. “If I had my way, every idiot who goes about saying ‘Merry Christmas’ should be boiled in their own pudding,” he says, an evil example of Scrooge’s demented demeanor. So overall, these characters are as different as night and day, with one being rude, rich, and cruel, and the other being kind, joyful, and jubilant.  – Riley

 

 

A Christmas Carol

“He went to the church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and for, and patted the children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of homes, and up to the windows, and found that everything could yield him pleasure. He had never dreamed of any walk, that anything, could give him so much happiness.” 

“Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,” said Scrooge. “But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change.”

A Christmas Carol

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‘The Night Before Christmas’ art lesson: HERE


The original Christmas story: HERE


 A World Book Online assignment: HERE 

 

 

 

Why Read Picture Books?

You are old enough to read novels, so…
why read picture books?

Keats's Neighborhood

1. Appreciate the classics.

Ezra Jack Keats, Robert McCloskey, and Bernard Waber.
Eric Carle, Robert Kraus, Leo Lionni, and Bill Peet.
Edward Ardizzone, Beatrix Potter, and Brian Wildsmith.
Ludwig Bemelmans, Jean de Brunhoff and Maurice Sendak.
Robert Munsch, H.A. Rey, and Dr. Seuss.
Remember outstanding writers.

I Carry Your Heart With Me

2. Relax with a heart-warming story.

The Harmonica by Tony Johnston
Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson.
All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan.
On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman.
What You Know First by Patricia Maclachlan.
Remember that there is always goodness and hope in this world.

An Extraordinary Egg

3. Enjoy great friendships.

George and Martha by James Marshall.
Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel.
Best Friends for Frances by Russell Hoban.
Two Bobbies: a True Story of Hurricane Katrina… by Kirby Lawson
How to Lose All Your Friends by Nancy Carlson
Remind yourself of the qualities of true friendship.

Goal

4. Get the flow of a whole story in hardly any time at all.

Setting and characterization.
Plot and theme.
Style.
Remind yourself of the basic elements of stories in just a few minutes.

Born to Read

5. Absorb techniques of great writing.

Alliteration, consonance, and assonance.
Repetition, rhythm and rhyme.
Similes and metaphors.
Juxtaposition, hyperbole, and litotes.
Allusions to folklore, classic literature and popular culture.
Strengthen your awareness of literary techniques.

Artful Reading

6. Study great artistic techniques.

Museum Shapes by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Where in the World?: Around the World in 13 Great of Art by Bob Raczka.
The Ugly Duckling by Rachel Isadora.
The Man Who Walked Between Two Towers by Mordecai Gerstein.
Flotsam by David Wiesner.
Rome Antics by David Macaulay.
Appreciate the power of pictures.

On a Beam of Light

7. Expand your general knowledge.

Alex the Parrot: No Ordinary Bird: A True Story by Stephanie Spinner.
Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin.
One Beetle Too Many: The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin by Kathryn Lasky.
The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chimps by Jeanette Winter.
Mao and Me by Chen Jiang Hong.
The Grand Mosque of Paris: the Story of How Muslims Saved Jews During the Holocaust by Karen Gray Ruelle.
Learn about people, places, and historical events.

The Art of Clean Up

8. See life from different points of view.

Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne.
Jonah’s Whale by Eileen Spinelli.
Encounter by Jane Yolen.
The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt.
The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson.
The Art of Clean Up: Life Made Neat and Tidy by Ursus Wehrli.
The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola.
Pause and consider.

Stick Man

9. Expand your soul.

The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth.
Q is for Question by Tiffany Poirier. 
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney.
The Elders are Watching by David Bouchard.
Peace by Wendy Anderson Halperin.
Glory by Nancy White Carlstrom.
Ponder the meaning of life.

Crankee Doodle

10. Laugh.

Nothing Like a Puffin by Sue Soltis.
No! by David McPhail.
No, David! by David Shannon.
A Sick Day for Amos McKee by Philip Christian Stead.
Punk Farm by Jarrett Krosoczka.
Relax for a few minutes.

Enjoy life!