© The Graveyard Book CC25214
Assessment Rubric..................
The Graveyard Book
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Sam
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..................Before You Teach
© The Graveyard Book CC2521
Introductionur literature kit is designed to give the teacher several helpful ways of making
the study of this novel a more enjoyable and profitable experience for the students. The guide features a number of useful and flexible components, from which the teacher can choose. It is not expected that all of the activities will be completed.
One advantage to this approach to the study of a novel is that the student can work at his or her own speed, and the teacher can assign activities, etc. which match the student’s abilities.
Our literature kit divides the novel by chapters and features reading comprehension and vocabulary questions. Themes include growing up, relationships, graveyards/cemeteries, societal prejudice, self-acceptance/awareness, coming of age, and the discovery of one’s personal values and priorities. The Graveyard Book provides a wealth of opportunity for classroom discussion because of the vivid portrayal of the dynamics in the relationships among Bod, the people of the graveyard, and Scarlett.
How Is Our Literature Kit™ Organized?STUDENT HANDOUTSChapter Activities (in the form of reproducible worksheets) make up the majority of this resource. For each group of chapters, there are BEFORE YOU READ activities and AFTER YOU READ activities. • TheBEFOREYOUREADactivitiespreparestudents
for reading by setting a purpose for reading. They stimulate background knowledge and experience, and guide students to make connections between what they know and what they will learn. Important concepts and vocabulary from the chapter(s) are also presented.
• TheAFTERYOUREADactivitiescheckstudents’comprehension and extend their learning. Students are asked to give thoughtful consideration of the text through creative and evaluative short-answer questions and journal prompts.
Six Writing Tasks and three Graphic Organizers are included to further develop students’ critical thinking and writing skills, and analysis of the text. (See page 6 for suggestions on using the Graphic Organizers.) The Assessment Rubric (page 4) is a useful tool for evaluating students’ responses to the Writing Tasks and Graphic Organizers.
PICTURE CUESThis resource contains three main types of pages, each with a different purpose and use. A Picture Cue at the top of each page shows, at a glance, what the page is for.
Teacher Guide • Information and tools for the teacher
Student Handout • Reproducible worksheets and activities
Easy Marking™ Answer Key • Answers for student activitiesEZ
EASY MARKING™ ANSWER KEYMarking students’ worksheets is fast and easy with this Answer Key. Answers are listed in columns— just line up the column with its corresponding worksheet, as shown, and see how every question matches up with its answer!
Teacher GuideOur resource has been created for ease of use by both TEACHERS and STUDENTS alike.
O
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Every question matches up with its answer!
Sam
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..................Before You Teach
© The Graveyard Book CC25216
1,2,3Graphic Organizers
The three Graphic Organizers included in this Literature Kit™ are especially suited to a study of The Graveyard Book. Below are suggestions for using each organizer in your classroom, or they may also be adapted to suit the individual needs of your students. The organizers can be used on a projection system or
interactive whiteboard in teacher-led activities, and/or photocopied for use as student worksheets. To evaluate students’ responses to any of the organizers, you may wish to use the Assessment Rubric (on page 4).
1LITERATURE ANALYSISThis activity provides students with a unique opportunity of breaking down the novel into several key points of analysis. In the process of completing the exercise, participants will be asked to analyze the setting of the novel; the protagonist; antagonist; a description of the conflict described in the plot; the climax of the novel; the period of falling action; a determination of whose point of view the novel is told from; the theme(s) of the novel; andthenovel’sconclusion.Manyofthesecomponentshavealready been discussed in this novel study. This particular activity invites the collaboration of students in its completion. Found on Page 53.
2MY FAVORITE CHARACTERFewnovelsfeaturesuchafascinatingarrayofcharactersasdoes The Graveyard Book.Fromthemaincharacter,Bod,hismysterious guardian, Silas, the spunky cemetery visitor, Scarlett, to a host of fascinating and charming ghosts that populate the unusualworldofBodOwens(thewitch,LizaHempstock;theeccentricpoet,NehemiahTrot;his“parents”,theOwens;andthe ancient Roman, Caius Pompeius). Students are asked to complete an artistic sketch of their choice of character from their imagination, and then provide several character traits to accompany their art work. Found on Page 54.
3STORY MAP The Graveyard Book is a thought-provoking, award-winning novel whose unforgettable cast of characters and distinctive settingmakeforafascinatingread.Integraltothenovel’simpact is the growth we witness in the main character, Bod, as he wrestles with his own peculiar identity and the influences of his graveyard family — especially with regard to his guardian, Silas. In the accompanying Story Map, students are asked to complete each section with details from the novel. Found on Page 55.
Sam
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..................Before You Teach
© The Graveyard Book CC25217
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY:6 LEVELS OF THINKING
*Bloom’s Taxonomy is a widely used tool by educators for classifying learning objectives, and is based on the work of Benjamin Bloom.
Bloom’s Taxonomy* for Reading ComprehensionThe activities in this resource engage and build the full range of thinking skills that are essential for students’ reading comprehension. Based on the six levels of thinking in Bloom’s Taxonomy, questions are given that challenge students to not only recall what they have read, but to move beyond this to understand the text through higher-order thinking. By using higher-order skills of applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating, students become active readers, drawing more meaning from thetext, and applying and extending their learning in more sophisticated ways.
This Literature Kit™, therefore, is an effective tool for any Language Arts program. Whether it is used in whole or in part, or adapted to meet individual student needs, this resource provides teachers with the important questions to ask, inspiring students’ interest and creativity, and promoting meaningful learning.
Teaching Strategies WHOLE-CLASS, SMALL GROUP AND INDEPENDENT STUDY
This study guide contains the following activities:
Before Reading Activities: themes are introduced and thought-provoking questions put forward for the students to consider.
Vocabulary Activities: new and unfamiliar words are introduced and reviewed.
After Reading Questions: the first part of this section includes short answer questions dealing with the content of the text. The second part features questions that are more open-ended and feature concepts from the higher order of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Writing Tasks: creative writing assignments based on Bloom’s Taxonomy that relate to the plot of the particular chapters.
A comprehension quiz is also included comprised of multiple-choice, true/false and short-answer questions.
Graphic Organizers: three full-page reproducible sheets have been included and can be used for teaching purposes throughout the text.
Bonus Sheets are also available online.
The study guide can be used in a variety of ways in the classroom depending on the needs of the students and teacher. The teacher may choose to use an independent reading approach with students capable of working independently. It also works well with small groups, with most of the lessons being quite easy to follow. Finally, in other situations, teachers will choose to use it with their entire class.
Teachers may wish to have their students keep a daily reading log so that they might record their daily progress and reflections.
Sam
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..................Before You Teach
© The Graveyard Book CC25218
OTHER RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Gogol, Nikolai, The Nose © 1993
Sanvoisen, Eric, The Ink Drinker © 2002
Szpirglas, Jeff, Fear this Book … © 2006
Henham,R.D.,Silver Dragon Codex © 2009
Snicket,Lemony,The Composer Is Dead © 2009
McChiller,BBH,Monster Moon: Curse at Zala Manor © 2009
Ritter,Lukas,Monster Slayers © 2010
Suggestions for Further ReadingOTHER BOOKS BY NEIL GAIMAN
The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish © 2006
InterWorld © 2007
Stardust © 2008
Blueberry Girl © 2009
Coraline © 2009
Instructions © 2010
The Dangerous Alphabet © 2010
he Graveyard Book is the imaginative novel set in the graveyard of a large city in England. The novel opens with the gruesome murder of
three members of a family late at night. The youngest child, a baby, escapes the slaughter by crawling out of the house to a nearby graveyard where he is taken in by sympathetic ghosts who dwell there. His new parents, the Owens, name him Bod (short for Nobody). Here he is nurtured and protected by a fascinating array of ghostly neighbors including his guardian, Silas, a strange creature who is unlike the other cemetery dwellers and is not limited to remaining in this one locale, but traverses the world on important missions.
One day a young girl, Scarlett, happens upon the graveyard and meets Bod. The two strike up a friendship, one that her parents assume is with an imaginary friend.
Not long after their meeting, Scarlett leaves the area and Bod does not see her again for several years.
It is at about the time when Scarlett reenters the story that the killer of Bod’s family returns. The man Jack and several cohorts have heard of Bod’s presence in the graveyard and have come to finish the job that Jack began years before.
The exciting climax and resolution of the novel has Bod, Scarlett and their graveyard allies pitted against Jack (one of the most vividly portrayed antagonists in the world of children’s literature) and several despicable colleagues. It turns out that Jack and the secret brotherhood of which he is a part of, have been told of a prophesy about a young boy who would bring about the brotherhood’s destruction, if he grows to adulthood — this was the reason Bod’s family had been killed years before. The exciting conclusion sees Bod defeat the powers of evil. Bod then sets out to make his own way in the world.
T
Summary of the Story
Sam
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..................Before You Teach
© The Graveyard Book CC25219
List of Vocabulary
CHAPTER 1• insinuate•insubstantial•obduracy•perpetuity•discarnate•declaim•luminescence•dubious•methodical•prosperous
•decreed•spire•renovate•proconsul•disruption•commonality•wights•revenants•obelisk•clamber
CHAPTER 2• contradict•lucid•dowdy•phenomenon•inter•perpetual•resolve•reassure•gutteral (or guttural)•brooch•petulant •morbid•gargoyle•gorse•sympathetic•protective•physics•anorak•withering•indigo
CHAPTER 3• unperturbed•implement•improbable•repulsion•exuberant•imprecation•impenetrable•frantic•elaborate•tenacious
•abandonment•unperturbed•mackintosh•circuit•excursion•conceive•unflappable•reproach•cartilage•piebald
CHAPTER 4 • evasive•nettles•belfry•consecrated•inquisitive•unsupportable•existence•unshriven•implosion•guileless
•mausoleum•pert•gallows•tentative•extravagant•irrelevant•tendrils•carnivorous•translucent•desiccated
CHAPTERS 5 • flourish•insubstantial•perception•prohibitions•imposing•condescending•flourish•consumption•floral •camouflage•embrace•tarnish•turban•hieroglyphs•ornate•vague•prelude•skirling•unison•procession
INTERLUDE / REVIEW• sober•exotic•curt•generosity•dapper•brisk•sullen•excursion•connected•sensitive•secretive•Filipino•brutish
•grenade•mustache•conversation•podium•equipment•agreement•kidney
CHAPTER 6• obstinate•intervention•imperturbable•intimidate•repulsive•exasperated•conceal•initiation•negotiate•remnants
•betimes•precisely•potential•infinite•bounder•remedy•abate•exhilarate•radiators•architect
CHAPTER 7 (PART 1)• symbolic•ascertain•brogue•propitious•pestilent•implore•posterity•derision•conspiratorial•unimpressed•dismal •imposition•cached•domain•lorry•trundle•quadrant•argumentative•confounded•microfiche
CHAPTER 7 (PART 2) • shame-faced•reinforced•firmament•elusive•gargantuan•antagonize•tendrils•affable•twilit•compose•elegant •pursuer•confident•dominions•pert•nativities•subtler•boning-knife•convocation•susurrus
CHAPTER 8• conspire•wary•expectant•impressive•presentable•discomfited•perplexed•habitable•immutable•severely
•transpires•prowled•pursing•nasturshalums•hawthorn•magpies•stampede•pampas•derring-do•tolerably
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Spotl iGht On......................
© The Graveyard Book CC252110
•Hischildren’snovelCoraline, published in 2002, was adapted into a feature film, directedbyHenrySelick,in2009.
•NeilwrotethescriptwithRogerAvaryfor Beowulf,releasedin2007,starringAnthonyHopkinsandAngelinaJolieanddirected byRobertZemeckis.
•Inadditiontowritingchildren’snovels, NeilalsowritesnovelsforadultsandvariouscomicsforvaryingpublishersincludingDCand Marvel.
Did You Know?
Neil Gaimanlost some time once. It’s always in the last place you look for it.” —NeilGaiman
NeilRichardGaiman was born November 10, 1960 in Portsmouth, England. As a child and a teenager, Gaiman was influenced by the writings of C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Edgar Allan Poe. In 1984, he wrote his first book, a biography of the band Duran Duran. Gaiman has written numerous comics for several publishers. He is the author of the award-winning Sandman comic series, which began in 1989 and ran until 1996.
Neil Gaiman now lives near Minneapolis, Minnesota in an “Addams Family house”. He is divorced from Mary McGrath with whom he has three children: Michael, Holly, and Madeleine.
“I
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