The Truth About Santa Claus Revealed! 🎄🌟

“Don’t tell the kids, but we’ve got Santa Claus all wrong. Countless Christmas songs tell us that Santa is basically the Judge Judy of juveniles. He decides who’s been naughty or nice, and doles out presents or punishments accordingly. But historians say Kris Kringle was originally created to keep ‘adults’, not children, off the naughty list. Being crafty codgers, we ducked Santa’s surveillance, turning the spotlight on kids and dramatically changing Christmas celebrations.” D. Burke, CNN 

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key

Santa in the famous Macy's Day Parade in New York City, U.S.A. dailymail

Santa in the famous Macy’s Day Parade in New York City, U.S.A. DailyMail

Excerpt: The real story behind Santa Claus, By Daniel Burke, CNN

“How did we achieve this very important historical victory? Picture this: It’s the early 1800s, and America’s Christian leaders — most of whom were Protestant Reformation-types — had banned religious celebrations of Christmas as unscriptural and paganish.

In Tokyo Japan Santas from the Harley Santa Club deliver toys in a campaign against child abuse. CNN

In Tokyo Japan Santas from the Harley Santa Club deliver toys in a campaign against child abuse. CNN

But people still wanted to party. Because, why not? It was midwinter, the crops were harvested and sailors were waiting for better weather to disembark. So, on December 25, working-class stiffs got fall-down drunk and stumbled around cities looking for stuff to loot. Imagine Black Friday, spring break and New Year’s Eve — then smash them together like sumo wrestlers full of saki. That was Christmas in the early 1800s.

Colorful Santa in Italy. CNN

Colorful Santa in Italy. CNN

A bunch of blue-blood New Yorkers decided all this fun must stop. They wanted to domesticate Christmas, bring it indoors, and focus it on children, says Gerry Bowler, author of Santa Claus: A History and professor of history at the University of Manitoba in Canada. These grinches, who formed the Saint Nicholas Society of New York, would change the world with two little poems. Yep. Poems.

Father Frost (equivalent of Santa) rests on a high-rise building in Kemerovo Russia

Father Frost (equivalent of Santa) rests on a high-rise building in Kemerovo Russia

But let’s back up for a minute. When the Dutch came to the New World in the 1600s, they brought a fellow from folklore named Sinterklaas with them, Bowler says. Sinterklaas, who wore a red bishop’s miter and a snowy white beard…Despite being a bishop, this Nick was a bit of a bad boy.An archaeologist who dug up his bones in 2005 found that Nicholas had a broken nose, perhaps a result of the persistent persecution of Christians around that time… Or could it have been Christian-on-Christian violence?

Volunteer Santas in Seoul, Korea. CNN

Volunteer Santas in Seoul, Korea. CNN

Early icons of Nicholas depict him without bishop’s garb, a subtle suggestion that he had been demoted, possibly for fisticuffs…Thankfully, St. Nicholas, was known for more than brawling. He also had a reputation for giving gifts and protecting children…While staying at an inn, Nicholas discovered three dismembered children in pickle barrels. He reassembled and resurrected the briny kids and punished the guilty innkeeper.  These deeds, along with his everyman persona, (he wasn’t a martyr or hermit like so many other model Christians of the time), made Nicholas the greatest male saint of the Middle Ages.

Santa in the U.S. toovia.com

Santa in the U.S. toovia.com

Bowler says that St. Nick’s feast day, December 6, (the day he supposedly died) was celebrated across Europe for hundreds of years, often by giving gifts to children…About a decade later, in 1821, an anonymous poem called The Children’s Friend, featured a magical figure called ‘Santeclaus,’ who drove a reindeer-led sleigh full of “rewards” and filled obedient children’s stockings with little presents. Building on that, an Episcopalian scholar named Clement Clarke Moore wrote a poem for his big brood called A Visit From St. Nicholas. It’s now better known as The Night Before Christmas.

🌟🎄HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM ESL-VOICES!🎄♥️

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post

NOTE: Lessons can also be used with native English speakers.

Level: Intermediate – Advanced


Language Skills: Reading, writing, and speaking. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.


Time: Approximately 2 hours.


Materials: Student handout (from this lesson) and access to news article.


Objective: Students will read and discuss the article
with a focus on improving reading comprehension and learning new vocabulary. At the end of the lesson students will express their personal views on the topic through group work and writing.

I. Pre-Reading Activities

 Predictions: Analyzing headings and photos

Directions:  Have students  examine the titles of the post and of the actual article. After they examine the photos, ask students to create a list of  words and  ideas  that they think might be related to this article. 

Pre-reading Organizer By Scholastic

Pre-reading Organizer By Scholastic

 

II. While Reading Tasks

Word Inference

Directions: Students are to infer the meanings of the words in bold taken from the article. They may use a dictionary, thesaurus, and Word Chart for assistance.

  1. How did we achieve this very important historical victory?
  2. They wanted to domesticate Christmas.
  3. They brought a fellow from folklore named Sinterklaas.
  4. An archaeologist dug up his bones in 2005.
  5. The meeting in 325 formed the first consensus on Christian doctrine.
  6. There was a suggestion that he had been demoted possibly for fisticuffs.
  7. St. Nicholas, was known for more than brawling.
  8. He reassembled and resurrected the briny kids.
  9. In some early depictions, Santa Claus looks like an overgrown elf.
  10. By the early 1900s, Santa became benevolent grandfather that we all know and love.
Vocabulary Cluster By Learnnc.org

Vocabulary Cluster By Learnnc.org

 

Reading Comprehension

True /False/NA-Statements

Directions: Review the following statements from the reading.  If  a statement is true they mark it T. If the statement is  not applicable, they mark it NA. If the statement is false they  mark  it F and provide the correct answer. 

  1. Kris Kringle was originally created children.
  2. In the early 1800s, America’s Christian leaders encouraged celebrations of Christmas.
  3. From this article we learn that in midwinter, the crops were harvested.
  4. Back then on December 25, the working-class donated money to the poor.
  5. A  group of blue-blood New Yorkers  applauded the working class for their donations.
  6. They wanted to domesticate Christmas, bring it indoors, and focus it on children.
  7. When the English came to the New World in the 1600s, they brought a fellow named Sinterklaas.
  8. Sinterklaas had five children of his own.
  9. Sinterklaas wore a red bishop’s miter and had a snowy white beard.
  10. An archaeologist who dug up his bones in 2005 found that Nicholas had a broken nose.

 

 Grammar Focus

Using Adjectives  to describe pictures    

Directions: Have students choose a picture from the article  and write a descriptive paragraph using adjectives.

Discussion/Writing Exercise

Directions: Place students in groups and have them answer the following questions. Afterwards, have the groups share their thoughts as a class. To reinforce the ideas, students can write an essay on one of the following discussion topics.

1. The following  three statements were taken from the article. Rephrase each statement in your own words, then discuss the meaning with the members of your group.

“These deeds, along with his everyman persona, (he wasn’t a martyr or hermit like so many other model Christians of the time), made Nicholas the greatest male saint of the Middle Ages…One measure of his popularity is the long list of people, places, churches and Christian groups that list St. Nick as their patron….St. Nick’s feast day, December 6, (the day he supposedly died) was celebrated across Europe for hundreds of years, often by giving gifts to children.”

“Some countries… such as the Netherlands, kept alive traditions associated with Sinterklaas. And it was these customs that 19th century New Yorkers wanted to revive. As they sought to make Christmas more family friendly, the Saint Nicholas Society found the perfect front man in their namesake, who, after all, was known for being nice to children.”

“The real goal was getting drunks off the street, remember? Now they could do that by turning Christmas into a family event when children — who had it pretty rough back then — would receive gifts for good behavior. Drawing on the Dutch legends about Sinterklaas, the American author Washington Irving wrote a series of sketches featuring St. Nicholas soaring high above New York houses, smoking a pipe and delivering presents to well-behaved children.”

3-2-1-Writing

Directions: Allow students 5 minutes to write down three new ideas they’ve learned about the origins of Santa Claus from the reading,  two things they did not understand in the reading, and one thing they would like to know that the article did not mention. Review the responses as a class.

ANSWER KEY

 

Category: Celebrations | Tags:

The Greatest Gift By Philip Van Doren Stern

The Greatest Gift is a 1943 short story written by Philip Van Doren Stern which became the basis for the film ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ (1946). It tells the story of George Pratt, a man who is dissatisfied with his life and contemplates suicide. As he stands on a bridge on Christmas Eve 1943, he is approached by a strange, unpleasantly dressed but well-mannered man with a bag. The man strikes up a conversation, and George tells the man that he wishes he had never been born. The man tells him that his wish has been granted and that he was never born.” ~Courtesy Wikipedia

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key

CLIP FROM CLASSIC FILM  ‘”T’S A WONDERFUL LIFE” 🎄♥️🎄🌟

Featuring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell and Henry Travers

“Every time a bell rings an Angel gets his wings,”  ~ZuZu Bailey~

 

Note: This is an Excerpt. For the entire story visit: Wikipedia

The little town straggling up the hill was bright with colored Christmas lights. But George Pratt did not see them. He was leaning over the railing of the iron bridge, staring down moodily at the black water. The current eddied and swirled like liquid glass, and occasionally a bit of ice, detached from the shore, would go gliding downstream to be swallowed up in the shadows under the bridge.

“The water looked paralyzingly cold. George wondered how long a man could stay alive in it. The glassy blackness had a strange, hypnotic effect on him. He leaned still farther over the railing. . .‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you,’ a quiet voice beside him said.

George turned resentfully to a little man he had never seen before. He was stout, well past middle age, and his round cheeks were pink in the winter air as though they had just been shaved. ‘Wouldn’t do what?’ George asked sullenly.’What you were thinking of doing. ‘How do you know what I was thinking?’ ‘Oh, we make it our business to know a lot of things,’ the stranger said easily.

George wondered what the man’s business was. He wore a moth-eaten old fur cap and a shabby overcoat that was stretched tightly across his paunchy belly. Nothing else about him was noteworthy. He wore a moth-eaten old fur cap and a shabby overcoat that was stretched tightly across his paunchy belly. He was carrying a small black satchel. It wasn’t a doctor’s bag—it was too large for that and not the right shape. It was a salesman’s sample kit, George decided distastefully. The fellow was probably some sort of peddler, the kind who would go around poking his sharp little nose into other people’s affairs.

‘Looks like snow, doesn’t it?’ the stranger said, glancing up appraisingly at the overcast sky. ‘It’ll be nice to have a white Christmas. They’re getting scarce these days— but so are a lot of things.’ He turned to face George squarely. ‘You all right now?’

‘Of course I’m all right. What made you think I wasn’t? I—’George fell silent before the stranger’s quiet gaze.

The little man shook his head. ‘You know you shouldn’t think of such things—and on Christmas Eve of all times! You’ve got to consider Mary—and your mother too.’

George opened his mouth to ask how this stranger could know his wife’s name, but the fellow anticipated him. ‘Don’t ask me how I know such things. It’s my business to know ’em. That’s why I came along this way tonight. Lucky I did too.’ He glanced down at the dark water and shuddered.  ‘Well, if you know so much about me,’ George said, “give me just one good reason why I should be alive.’

The little man made a queer chuckling sound. ‘Come, come, it can’t be that bad. You’ve got your job at the bank. And Mary and the kids. You’re healthy, young, and—’

‘And sick of everything!” George cried. ‘I’m stuck here in this mud hole for life, doing the same dull work day after day. Other men are leading exciting lives, but I—well, I’m just a small-town bank clerk that even the army didn’t want.  I never did anything really useful or interesting, and it looks as if I never will. I might just as well be dead. I might better be dead. Sometimes I wish I were. In fact, I wish I’d never been born!’

The little man stood looking at him in the growing darkness. ‘What was that you said?’ he asked softly.”

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post

NOTE: Lessons can also be used with native English speakers.

Level: Intermediate -Advanced

Language Skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. Vocabulary activities are included.

Time: approximately 2 hours.

Materials:  Copy of story The Greatest Gift, biography of Philip Van Doren Stern, examples of Components for Literary Analysis, and access to the video clips below.

Objectives:  Students will  read and discuss the short story The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern. Students will achieve a better understanding of the story by learning literary devices and terms  (e.g., imagery, symbolism, setting,) used for analyzing stories.  They will also learn how to  analyze the relationship between characters, and events in the story by using these literary devices.

I. Pre-Reading Exercises

Stimulating background knowledge: Brainstorming

Directions: Ask students to think about what they already know about  the film It’s A Wonderful Life. Next, have students look at  any pictures in the text and generate ideas or words that may be connected to the story  As a class and list these ideas on the board. Students can use a brainstorming chart for assistance.

Brainstorming Map by rentonschools.us

 

Pre-reading Discussion Questions

Directions: Have students discuss the following questions prior to reading the story.

The Greatest Gift  is a story about a man who is very unhappy with his life and wishes that he was never born. His wish is granted and the story follows how he handles being unborn.

Think about the following questions.  Discuss your ideas with your  group members.

1. Describe a time when you were very unhappy with the way your life was going. First, how did you feel? Second, what did you do to help the situation?

2. In your opinion what makes life valuable?

3. In general, when people are frustrated and unhappy with their lives, what’s the best advice you would give them?

II. While Reading Tasks

Vocabulary:  Word Inference

Directions: Have students  infer the meanings of the words in bold font taken from the story. They can use this great Vocabulary Chart.

  1. The current eddied and swirled like liquid glass.
  2. George turned resentfully to a little man he had never seen before.
  3. “Wouldn’t do what?” George asked sullenly.
  4. He was a most unremarkable little person.
  5. Nothing else about him was noteworthy.
  6. The little man made a queer chuckling sound.
  7. You’d better take this with you,” he said, holding out his satchel.
  8. After that, of course, it’s a cinch.
  9. George felt a sudden burst of affection.
  10. His father waved toward the door. “Go on in,” he said cordially.
  11. His voice faltered.
  12. His mother smiled at his awkwardness.
  13. The choir was making last-minute preparations for Christmas vespers.

 

Prediction and Character Organizer Charts

Directions: Students may use these Prediction and Character  profile charts by Pace High School as  a while-reading tool to aid in their comprehension of the events and of the characters in the story.

Questions for Comprehension

Directions: After students have reviewed Components for Literary Analysis have them answer the following questions from the story. They can use their  analysis charts as guides.

  1. During what holiday does the story take place?
  2. What was the one thing George felt was outstanding about the stranger?
  3. Describe the stranger.
  4. What kind of profession did George think the stranger had?
  5. The stranger begins to tell George why his life “can’t be that bad.”  What are some of the things he tells George?
  6. Why is George “sick of everything”?
  7. The stranger tells  George why his life “can’t be that bad.”  What are some of the things he tells George?
  8. Why is George “sick of everything?”
  9. What wish does George make?
  10. Describe the stranger’s reaction to George’s wish.
  11. What is George’s reaction after the stranger grants him his wish?
  12. Why did the stranger give George the satchel?
  13. What was inside the satchel?
  14. What happened when George tried to return the satchel to the stranger?
  15. What quarrel did George have with Hank Biddle?
  16. When George inspected the damaged tree in Hank’s yard, what was his reaction?
  17. Why did the ‘nonexistent scar’ on the tree bother George?
  18. Describe what George saw when he  reached the bank where he worked.
  19. Who was Jim Silva?
  20. Why didn’t Jim Silva recognize George?
  21. Who was Marty Jenkins and what did he do involving the bank?
  22. Who was Art Jenkins?  What problem did Art have?
  23. Who did Art Jenkins marry?
  24. Why do you think this information disturbed George Platt?
  25. Why didn’t George go find Mary right away?
  26. How did George’s parents behave when he visited them?
  27. What did George find out about Mary from his parents?
  28. Who was Harry?
  29. Why did George’s mother get upset when Harry’s name was mentioned
  30. How did George remember the incident with Harry?
  31. What changes occurred because George Platt did not exist?
  32. Why did the stranger let George live again?
  33. When George reached Hank Biddle’s house, what did he do first?
  34. At the end of the story what did George find in his house that made his voice freeze

 

Questions for Literary Analysis

Themes are messages or ideas in a story. Usually themes are some beliefs about life or life experiences the author is trying to express to the reader. Examples: honesty, death and dying, love, importance of family)

What are some of the themes in the story?

Symbolism is the practice using an object, place, person or words to represent an abstract idea in a story. When an author wants to suggest a certain mood or emotion they use symbolism to hint at it, as oppossed to just saying it.Examples: flowers can represent romance, fog might represent a bad omen.

What are some of the symbols in the story?

Imagery is descriptive language authors use to create a picture in the reader’s mind. Imagery usually involves the senses: sight, taste, sound, touch andsmell. Examples: ‘the tangy taste of lemon’ ‘the loud ringing of the bells’, ‘the red and gold sunset’)

Identify some examples of how the author used imagery in the story.

 

Questions for Reflection

Directions:  Have  students discuss the following questions.

  1. The stranger says to George, “Oh, we make it our business to know a lot of things,” the stranger said easily.   Who is the “we”  the stranger is referring to? 
  2. George opened his mouth to ask how this stranger could know his wife’s name, but the fellow anticipated him. “Don’t ask me how I know such things. It’s my business to know ’em.” What  do you think his  business is?
  3. After George told the stranger his wish, why did the stranger react the way he did? (Why that’s wonderful!) In your opinion, should he have reacted differently?  Were you surprised by this response? Why or why not?
  4. When George tells the stranger, “they need me here.”  Who needs George and why do they need him? 
  5. Do you think George needs those  people?  Why?
  6. When George Pratt asks for his life back, the stranger tells George Pratt,  “You got everything you asked for. You’re the freest man on earth now.”  Give some examples of  how George is “free”.
  7. In your opinion, What is the Greatest Gift?
  8. At the end of the story, George thinks perhaps it was all a dream. What do you think happened to George?  Why?
  9. What have you  learned from this story?
  10. The stranger says to George, “Oh, we make it our business to know a lot of things,” the stranger said easily.   Who is the “we”  the stranger is referring to? 
  11. George opened his mouth to ask how this stranger could know his wife’s name, but the fellow anticipated him. “Don’t ask me how I know such things. It’s my business to know ’em.” What  do you think his  business is?
  12. After George told the stranger his wish, why did the stranger react the way he did? (Why that’s wonderful!) In your opinion, should he have reacted differently?  Were you surprised by this response? Why or why not?

Writing Assignment 

Directions: Have students choose a topic from below and write an essay to share with the class.

1.Choose one of the themes and write an essay describing your thoughts about the theme.

2. Write a description for each character that appears in the story.

3. In the The Greatest Gift , Philip Van Doren Stern had a happy ending.See if you can write a different a different ending for the story. Share your ending with the class.

IV. Listening Activity

Compare Opening scenes from film “It’s A Wonderful Life” to opening scenes from the short story The Greatest Gift.

“It’s a Wonderful Life” is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet The Greatest Gift, which Philip Van Doren Stern published in 1943. Wikipedia

It’s a Wonderful Life Movie CLIP 

 

Beginning of Short Story The Christmas Gift By Philip Van Doren Stern

The little town straggling up the hill was bright with colored Christmas lights. But George Pratt did not see them. He was leaning over the railing of the iron bridge, staring down moodily at the black water. The current eddied and swirled like liquid glass, and occasionally a bit of ice, detached from the shore, would go gliding downstream to be swallowed up in the shadows under the bridge.

The water looked paralyzingly cold. George wondered how long a man could stay alive in it. The glassy blackness had a strange, hypnotic effect on him. He leaned still farther over the railing. . .“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a quiet voice beside him said.

George turned resentfully to a little man he had never seen before. He was stout, well past middle age, and his round cheeks were pink in the winter air as though they had just been shaved.

“Wouldn’t do what?” George asked sullenly.
“What you were thinking of doing.”
“How do you know what I was thinking?”
“Oh, we make it our business to know a lot of things,” the stranger said easily.

Excerpt From Short Story The Greatest Gift

“Well, if you know so much about me,” George said, “give me just one good reason why I should be alive.”

The little man made a queer chuckling sound. “Come, come, it can’t be that bad. You’ve got your job at the bank. And Mary and the kids. You’re healthy, young, and—”

I never did anything really useful or interesting, and it looks as if I never will. I might just as well be dead. I might better be dead. Sometimes I wish I were. In fact, I wish I’d never been born!”

The little man stood looking at him in the growing darkness. “What was that you said?” he asked softly.

“I said I wish I’d never been born,” George repeated firmly. “And I mean it too.”

The stranger’s pink cheeks glowed with excitement. “Why that’s wonderful! You’ve solved everything. I was afraid you were going to give me some trouble. But now you’ve got the solution yourself. You wish you’d never been born. All right! OK! You haven’t!” “What do you mean?” George growled.

“You haven’t been born. Just that. You haven’t been born. No one here knows you. You have no responsibilities—no job—no wife—no children. Why, you haven’t even a mother. You couldn’t have, of course. All your troubles are over. Your wish, I am happy to say, has been granted—officially.”

 

Questions

Directions: Review the clips from the film “It’s A Wonderful Life”. Read the excerpts from the short story The Greatest Gift. Answer the following questions:

1. In the beginning of It’s A Wonderful Life what are the differences between the opening scenes in the film (directed by Frank Capra) and the opening scenes in the short story written by Philip Van Doren Stern?

2. Which version do you prefer? Explain Why?

ANSWER KEY

 

Lesson Plan: The Little Match Girl By Hans Christian Andersen

“Hans Christian Andersen, (April 1805 – 4 August 1875), in Denmark usually called H.C. Andersen, was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen’s popularity is not limited to children; his stories express themes that transcend age and nationality. The Little Match Girl is among his most famous stories.” Wikipedia

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key

Photograph taken by Thora Hallager, 1869

Early Life Andersen’s father, who had received an elementary school education, introduced his son to literature, reading to him the Arabian Nights. Andersen’s mother, Anne Marie Andersdatter, was an illiterate washerwoman. Following her husband’s death in 1816, she remarried in 1818. Andersen was sent to a local school for poor children where he received a basic education and had to support himself, working as an apprentice to a weaver and, later, to a tailor. At fourteen, he moved to Copenhagen to seek employment as an actor.

Having an excellent soprano voice, he was accepted into the Royal Danish Theatre, but his voice soon changed. A colleague at the theatre told him that he considered Andersen a poet. Taking the suggestion seriously, Andersen began to focus on writing. He later said his years in school were the darkest and most bitter of his life. At one school, he lived at his schoolmaster’s home, where he was abused, being told that it was “to improve his character”. He later said the faculty had discouraged him from writing, driving him into a depression…The Little Match Girl’is a short story by Hans Christian Andersen. The story, about a poor, dying child’s dreams and hopes, was first published in 1845. Source: Wikipedia 

A LITTLE UP MUSIC FOR THE HOLIDAYS!😄🎄🎼

  Charlie Brown Medley – The Piano Guys Are THE BEST! 😄🎄

 

Charlie Brown and The Peanuts Gang😄 MERRY CHRISTMAS! 🎄🌟

 

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post

Level: intermediate-advanced

Language Skills: reading, writing and speaking. Vocabulary  activities are included.

Time:  approximately 2  hours.

Objectives: Students will achieve a better understanding of the story The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen, through  learning literary devices and terms  (e.g., imagery, symbolism, protagonist, themes)  used for analyzing stories.  They will also learn how to  analyze the relationship between characters, and events in the story using these literary devices.

Reading Strategies: Students will make predictions based on the title; draw conclusions and make generalizations about what they have read by utilizing background knowledge, looking for the main ideas, making notes, highlighting or underlining specific information, and by answering discussion questions. They will learn new vocabulary through inference, highlighting unknown words, and using the dictionary.

Materials:

A copy of the story The Little Match Girl

Biography of Hans Christian Andersen.

Examples of  Components for Literary Analysis

I. Pre-Reading Activities

Directions: In groups have students read the brief biography of Hans C. Andersen. Have students focus on his childhood. Some highlights from the life of Hans Christian Andersen will help students make connections to the story.

Students should also know when the story was written: This story was written in the midst of the United States’ and Europe’s industrial revolution (1820-1870’s), during which child labor was commonplace, and there was no “safety net” for destitute children in poor health and homeless.

Source: History of Child Labor

Pre-reading Discussion Questions

Directions: Place students in groups and let them discuss the following questions.

  1. Have you ever seen underaged children selling items on the street in today’s society?
  2. Have you (or someone you know) ever had to sell items to get money to eat or pay rent? To help your family?
  3. Have you met people so poor they had to sell small items on the street?
  4. If you could help some people during the Christmas or New Years season would you?

 

Stimulating Background Knowledge

Prediction Organizer Charts

Directions: Students may use these reading charts by Pace High School as  pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading tools to aid their comprehension of the events and characters in the story.

Prediction Outcomes Chart

 

II. While Reading

Vocabulary Word Inference

Directions: Place students in groups and have them infer the meanings of the words in bold font taken from the story.

  1. No one had given her a single farthing.
  2. They were very large slippers, which her mother had hitherto worn.
  3. One slipper was nowhere to be found; the other had been laid hold of by an urchin.
  4. The poor little thing lost them as she scuffled away across the street.
  5. She did not venture to go home.
  6. Grandmother, told her that when a star falls, a soul ascends to God.
  7. She drew another match against the wall and in the lustre there stood the old grandmother.
  8. Old grandmother, so bright and radiant, so mild, and with such an expression of love.
  9. And the matches gave such a brilliant light that it was brighter than at noon-day.
  10. No one even dreamed of the splendour in which, with her grandmother she had entered on the joys of a new year.

Reading Comprehension: Questions From the Story

  1. When does the story take place?
  2. Why were her slippers so large?
  3. Why didn’t she want to go home?
  4. Why did she light the first match?
  5. Why did she light the entire bundle of matches?
  6. What happened to the little girl at the end?
  7. What did the little girl see before she died?

Using Charts for Guidance

Directions: Use the following chart to help make predictions about the characters in the story

 

Character Prediction Chart

 

Questions forCharacter Analysis

From whose point of view is the story being told?

Who is the protagonist in this story?

Give a brief description of the following characters using the chart above:

The Father:What kind of man do you think he is?

The Mother: What do you think the mother was like?

The Grandmother: Describe the grandmother.

The Little Match girl: What kind of person is she?

 

Questions for Literary Analysis

  1.  What are some of  the themes in the story?
  2. Provide examples of how  Andersen uses imagery.
  3. Does  Andersen provide symbolism the story? How?

 

Questions For Reflection

  1. Do you think Andersen’s personal life affected his writing  this story of a poor matchstick girl? In what way?
  2. During the writing of this story, it was legal for underaged children to work. Can underage  children still work today? Why or why not?
  3. What  can kids who live in poverty today do to make money?
  4. How is what kids do today to earn money different (or the same) as the little matchstick girl?
  5. If you met the little Match girl how do you think you could help her?
  6. If you could speak to her father, what would you say to him?  What would you say to her grandmother? Her mother?
  7. How did the ending make you feel?  Is this how you expected the story to end? Why or why not?

Ideas for Writing Assignment

Write a story where the grandmother is still alive.

Write a story where the little girl’s mother is still alive.

Write an ending describing the father’s reaction when he discovers his daughter is dead.

Write a different ending for the story.

ANSWER KEY

Lesson Plan for “A Christmas Carol” by Dickens with 5 Unknown Facts

“Charles Dickens was perplexed as to how to convince his fellow Londoners to give to the less fortunate during the holiday season. He planned to write a pamphlet on the subject, but it was over the course of one fateful train ride that Dickens came up with a better way to communicate his Christmas message…and save his flagging literary career.” C. DeVito CBS Philly

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ESL Voices Lesson Plan for A Christmas Carol with Answer Key

Excerpt: 5 Little Known Facts About “A Christmas Carol” By Carlo DeVito CBS PHILLY

“Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol within six short weeks following his trip, and he began writing immediately upon his return. He walked the streets of London by night, turning the story and its characters over and over in his head. These walks were a metaphor—Dickens’ figurative journey was a trip into his own past, both pleasant and powerful, and intensely personal.

Here are five of the many real-life inspirations behind the beloved story:

The real Ebenezer Scrooge was Ebenezer Scroggie. Dickens has misread Scroggie’s tombstone in a Scottish cemetery to read ‘mean man,’ and wrote it down in his notebook for later use.

Who Was Tiny Tim? Scrooge’s sister, Fanny, was based on Dickens sister Fanny whom he adored. Many of young Scrooge’s memories are those of Dickens and his sister… Dickens stayed with Fanny, her husband, and their severely hampered young son, Henry Burnett Jr. Dickens placed his nephew of his favorite sibling at the center of his new Christmas tale.

Where Did The Cratchits Live? The Cratchits lived at 18 Bayham Street, in Camden Town. How do we know this exact address? Dickens describes the stroll Bob Cratchit took everyday to work. It is the same route Charles took as a boy into the city. The Cratchits were based on John and Elizabeth Dickens and their family (Charles’ parents). The eight Dickens lived in a four room house, exactly like the Cratchits on John Dickens paltry clerk’s salary.

Why That Weird Scene In The Pawnbroker’s Shop? As the Ghost of Christmas Future and Scrooge standby, a charwoman, a  chambermaid, and an undertaker go through Scrooge’s things with a pawnshop owner. What few people realize is that  A Christmas Carol was an intensely personal story for Dickens. When Dickens father was sent to debtor’s prison, as the oldest boy, Dickens was sent to the pawnbrokers each day to sell the family’s belongings to keep them from starving, until they had nothing, and slept in their clothes on the floor. He had actually watched the pawnbrokers go through their shirts, and sheets, and ice tongs. This was one of the painful memories Dickens relived as he wrote A Christmas Carol.

What’s A Turkey Doing In  A Christmas Carol? Many consider the addition of a turkey a complete anachronistic addition to the ending of A  Christmas Carol. Why not a goose? Goose was the traditional English holiday meal. Turkey was American. However, Turkeys had been brought to Europe from the new word two centuries previously. The turkey was very much in vogue. In fact, while goose was the traditional English dish served for Christmas, back then, the purchasing of a turkey, which was harder to find, and more expensive, was a showing of wealth and prosperity. Scrooge is trying to treat the Cratchits to a feast unlike any other.

A LITTLE  HAPPY MUSIC FOR THE SEASON!😄 ESL-VOICES🎄

THESE GENTLEMEN ARE FANTASTIC! THE AUDIENCE BEAUTIFUL!

~REMEMBER THE CHILD…IN YOU~ 

ENJOY!

 

DON’T FORGET THE THE ORIGINAL! 😃

 

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for A Christmas Carol

 

Lesson Plan: A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens

Level: intermediate-advanced

Language Skills: reading, writing and speaking. Vocabulary  activities are included.

Time:  approximately 2  hours.

Objectives: Students will achieve a better understanding of the story A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens by learning literary devices and terms  (e.g., imagery, symbolism, protagonist, themes)  used for analyzing stories.  They will also learn how to  analyze the relationship between characters, and events and in the story using these literary devices.

Reading Strategies: Students will make predictions based on the title; draw conclusions and make generalizations about what they have read by utilizing background knowledge, looking for the main ideas, making notes, highlighting or underlining specific information, and by answering discussion questions. They will learn new vocabulary through inference, highlighting unknown words, and using the dictionary.

Materials: An ebook copy of the story A Christmas Carol, biography of Charles Dickens, Examples of  Components for Literary Analysis

I. Pre-Reading Activities

Background information: Some points about the life of Charles Dickens to help students make connections to the story.

1- Biographical information about Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens  (1812 – 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world’s best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in Marshalsea debtors’ prison in Southwark, London in 1824… To pay for his board and to help his family, Dickens was forced to leave school and work ten-hour days at Warren’s Blacking Warehouse... he earned six shillings a week pasting labels on pots of boot blacking. The harsh working conditions made a lasting impression on Dickens…  becoming the foundation of his interest in the reform of socio-economic and labour conditions for he poor. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas…and campaigned vigorously for children’s rights, education, and other social reforms…His plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre,  Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London.

Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens

2- What prompted Charles Dickens to write the story A Christmas Carol?

Early in 1843, as a response to a government report on the abuse of child laborers in mines and factories, Dickens vowed he would strike a “sledge-hammer blow . . . on behalf of the “Poor Man’s Child.”  That sledge-hammer was A Christmas Carol.

The Cratchit family is based on Dickens’ childhood home life. He lived in poor circumstances in a “two up two down” four roomed house which he shared with his parents and five siblings. Like Peter Cratchit, young Charles, the eldest boy, was often sent to pawn the family’s goods when money was tight. Like many poor families the Cratchit’s had nothing in which to roast meat. They relied on the ovens of their local baker which were available on Sundays and Christmas when the bakery was closed. At the time Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol Christmas wasn’t commonly celebrated as a festive holiday. In The Pickwick Papers and Christmas Carol Dickens’ descriptions of feasting, games and family unity combined with his message that Christmas was a time “when want is keenly felt and abundance rejoices” helped revive popular interest in many Christmas traditions that are still practiced today. In 1867 Dickens read A Christmas Carol at a public reading in Chicago.  One of the audience members , Mr. Fairbanks, was a scale manufacturer.  Mr. Fairbanks was so moved that he decided to “break the custom we have hitherto observed of opening the works on Christmas day.”  Not only did he close the factory on Christmas day, but he gave Christmas turkeys to all of his employees.

Source: A Christmas Carol Trivia: Charles Dickens website

3- Why did Dickens use Staves instead of Chapters in A Christmas Carol?

Instead of using the word chapters, which divides a piece of writing in a book, Charles Dickens used staves to signify that the novel was a carol in prose form.In music, a stave or staff is the series of horizontal lines and four spaces and is the archaic form of a verse of stanza in a song.

In the book “A Christmas Carol,” each stave or chapter represents a different story. Dickens wrote each chapter in a form of Christian allegory of redemption about Christmas and used the word stave to remind readers that he created the book with carols in mind.

Source: Reference Literature

Stimulating Background Knowledge

Prediction Organizer Charts

Directions: Students may use these reading charts by Pace High School as  pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading tools to aid their comprehension of the events and characters in the story.

Pace High School- Prediction Outcomes Chart

 

Character Predictions

 

Pre-reading Discussion Questions

Directions: Place students in groups and  let them discuss the following questions.

  1. Do you celebrate Christmas? Describe how you your family and friends celebrate.
  2. Have you ever met someone who was very cheap and mean during Christmas?  If so, describe this person to your group members.
  3. Do you know people who are so poor they cannot afford to buy anything for Christmas?  Describe the characters of these people
  4. If you could help some people during the Christmas season would you?  Explain how you could help.

II. While Reading

Vocabulary Word Inference

Directions: Place students in groups and have them infer the meanings of the words in bold font taken from the story. The vocabulary lists are taken from each of the five Staves in the story. They can use this Vocabulary Chart by Learnnc.org as a guide.

STAVE ONE

MARLEY’S GHOST

  1. Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge’s name was good upon ‘Change for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
  2. Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise? Scrooge and he were partners for I don’t know how many years. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner.
  3. Oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster…
  4. The door of Scrooge’s counting-house was open, that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk’s fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal…
  5. “A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!” cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge’s nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach. “Bah!” said Scrooge. “Humbug!”
  6. Scrooge took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern; and having read all the newspapers, and beguiled the rest of the evening with his banker’s book, went home to bed. He lived in chambers which had once belonged to his deceased partner.
  7. …Scrooge, having his key in the lock of the door, saw in the knocker, without its undergoing any intermediate process of change—not a knocker, but Marley’s face…Marley’s face. It was not in impenetrable shadow, as the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar.
  8. “Who were you, then?” said Scrooge, raising his voice. “You’re particular, for a shade.” He was going to say “to a shade,” but substituted this, as more appropriate.”In life I was your partner, Jacob Marley.”
  9. “You are fettered,” said Scrooge, trembling. “Tell me why?”“I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free-will,…” a
  10. Not so much in obedience as in surprise and fear; for, on the raising of the hand, he became sensible of confused noises in the air; incoherent sounds of lamentation and regret; wailings inexpressibly sorrowful and self-accusatory.

STAVE TWO

THE FIRST OF THE THREE SPIRITS

  1. When Scrooge awoke it was so dark, that, looking out of bed, he could scarcely distinguish the transparent window from the opaque walls of his chamber.
  2. The idea being an alarming one, he scrambled out of bed, and groped his way to the window.
  3. Scrooge went to bed again, and thought, and thought, and thought it over and over, and could make nothing of it. The more he thought, the more perplexed he was; and, the more he endeavoured not to think, the more he thought.
  4. Marley’s Ghost bothered him exceedingly. Every time he resolved within himself, after mature inquiry, that it was all a dream, his mind flew back again, like a strong spring released, to its first position, and presented the same problem to be worked all through, “Was it a dream or not?”
  5.  Scrooge, starting up into a half-recumbent attitude, found himself face to face with the unearthly visitor who drew them: as close to it as I am now to you, and I am standing in the spirit at your elbow.
  6. It was a strange figure—like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, viewed through some supernatural medium, which gave him the appearance of having receded from the view, and being diminished to a child’s proportions.
  7. …so the figure itself fluctuated in its distinctness: being now a thing with one arm, now with one leg, now with twenty legs, now a pair of legs without a head, now a head without a body: of which dissolving parts no outline would be visible in the dense gloom…
  8. The Spirit gazed upon him mildly… He was conscious of a thousand odours floating in the air, each one connected with a thousand thoughts, and hopes, and joys, and cares long, long forgotten!
  9. “You may—the memory of what is past half makes me hope you will—have pain in this. A very, very brief time, and you will dismiss the recollection of it gladly, as an unprofitable dream, from which it happened well that you awoke. May you be happy in the life you have chosen!”
  10. The Spirit dropped beneath it, so that the extinguisher covered its whole form;… He was conscious of being exhausted, and overcome by an irresistible drowsiness; and, further, of being in his own bedroom.

____________________________________________________________

STAVETHREE

THE SECOND OF THE THREE SPIRITS

  1.  He felt that he was restored to consciousness in the right nick of time, for the especial purpose of holding a conference with the second messenger dispatched to him through Jacob Marley’s intervention.
  2. The moment Scrooge’s hand was on the lock, a strange voice called him by his name, and bade him enter. He obeyed.
  3. It was his own room. There was no doubt about that. But it had undergone a surprising transformation. The walls and ceiling were so hung with living green, that it looked a perfect grove; from every part of which bright gleaming berries glistened.
  4. Scrooge entered timidly, and hung his head before this Spirit…”I am the Ghost of Christmas Present,” said the Spirit. “Look upon me!”
  5. Scrooge reverently did so. It was clothed in one simple deep green robe, or mantle, bordered with white fur.
  6. And perhaps it was the pleasure the good Spirit had in showing off this power of his, or else it was his own kind, generous, hearty nature, and his sympathy with all poor men, that led him straight to Scrooge’s clerk’s; … and stopped to bless Bob Cratchit’s dwelling with the sprinklings of his torch.
  7. Then up rose Mrs. Cratchit, Cratchit’s wife, dressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribbons, which are cheap, and make a goodly show for sixpence; and she laid the cloth, assisted by Belinda Cratchit, second of her daughters, also brave in ribbons;
  8. Martha didn’t like to see him disappointed, if it were only in joke; so she came out prematurely from behind the closet door, and ran into his arms, while the two young Cratchits hustled Tiny Tim, and bore him off into the wash-house, that he might hear the pudding singing in the copper.
  9. It was a long night, if it were only a night; but Scrooge had his doubts of this, because the Christmas holidays appeared to be condensed into the space of time they passed together.
  10. The bell struck Twelve.Scrooge looked about him for the Ghost, and saw it not. As the last stroke ceased to vibrate, he remembered the prediction of old Jacob Marley, and, lifting up his eyes, beheld a solemn Phantom, draped and hooded, coming like a mist along the ground towards him.

____________________________________________________________

STAVE FOUR

THE LAST OF THE SPIRITS

  1. The Phantom slowly, gravely, silently approached. When it came near him, Scrooge bent down upon his knee; for in the very air through which this Spirit moved it seemed to scatter gloom and mystery.
  2. It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible, save one outstretched hand. But for this, it would have been difficult to detach its figure from the night, and separate it from the darkness by which it was surrounded.
  3. But Scrooge was all the worse for this. It thrilled him with a vague uncertain horror to know that, behind the dusky shroud, there were ghostly eyes intently fixed upon him, while he, though he stretched his own to the utmost, could see nothing but a spectral hand and one great heap of black.
  4. “If there is any person in the town who feels emotion caused by this man’s death,” said Scrooge, quite agonized, “show that person to me, Spirit! I beseech you.”
  5. The Ghost conducted him through several streets familiar to his feet; …They entered poor Bob Cratchit’s house,—the dwelling he had visited before,—and found the mother and the children seated round the fire.
  6. They were very quiet again. At last she said, and in a steady, cheerful voice, that only faltered once: “I have known him walk with—I have known him walk with Tiny Tim upon his shoulder very fast indeed.”
  7. recollect how patient and how mild he was, although he was a little, little child, we shall not quarrel easily among ourselves, and forget poor Tiny Tim in doing it.”
  8. Mrs. Cratchit kissed him, his daughters kissed him, the two young Cratchits kissed him, and Peter and himself shook hands. Spirit of Tiny Tim, thy childish essence was from God!
  9. The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come conveyed him, as before—though at a different time, he thought: indeed, there seemed no order in these latter visions, save that they were in the Future—into the resorts of business men, but showed him not himself.
  10. The Spirit stood among the graves, and pointed down to One. He advanced towards it trembling. The Phantom was exactly as it had been, but he dreaded that he saw new meaning in its solemn shape.

____________________________________________________________

STAVE FIVE

THE END OF IT

  1. “I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!” Scrooge repeated as he scrambled out of bed. “The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. Oh, Jacob Marley! Heaven and the Christmas Time be praised for this! I say it on my knees, old Jacob; on my knees!”
  2. He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer to his call. He had been sobbing violently in his conflict with the Spirit, and his face was wet with tears.
  3. “They are not torn down,” cried Scrooge, folding one of his bed-curtains in his arms, “they are not torn down, rings and all. They are here—I am here—the shadows of the things that would have been may be dispelled. They will be. I know they will!”
  4. His hands were busy with his garments all this time; turning them inside out, putting them on upside down, tearing them, mislaying them, making them parties to every kind of extravagance.
  5. Really, for a man who had been out of practice for so many years, it was a splendid laugh, a most illustrious laugh. The father of a long, long line of brilliant laughs!
  6. What’s to-day?” cried Scrooge, calling downward to a boy in Sunday clothes, who perhaps had loitered in to look about him.
  7. “No, no,” said Scrooge, “I am in earnest. Go and buy it, and tell ’em to bring it here, that I may give them the directions where to take it.
  8. The chuckle with which he said this, and the chuckle with which he paid for the Turkey, and the chuckle with which he paid for the cab, and the chuckle with which he recompensed the boy, were only to be exceeded by the chuckle with which he sat down breathless in his chair again, and chuckled till he cried.
  9. It’s I. Your uncle Scrooge. I have come to dinner. Will you let me in, Fred?”Let him in! It is a mercy he didn’t shake his arm off. He was at home in five minutes. Nothing could be heartier… Wonderful party, wonderful games, wonderful unanimity, won-der-ful happiness!
  10. “A merry Christmas, Bob!” said Scrooge with an earnestnessthat could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. “A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year!

__________________________________________________________

Questions for  Character Analysis

  1. From whose point of view is the story being told?
  2. Who is the protagonist in this story?  
  3. What are the professions of Ebeneezer Scrooge and Bob Crachit?
  4. In today’s society in what context is Scrooge’s last name used? What about the phrase “Bah! Humbug!”?
  5. Identify the main characters in the story. Provide short descriptions of each.

____________________________________________________________

Questions for Literary Analysis

  1.  What are some of  the themes in the story?
  2.  Provide examples of how Dickens uses imagery.
  3. Does Dickens provide symbolism the story? How?

Questions For Reflection

  1. How did Dickens’ personal life affect his writing A Christmas Carol?
  2. In what ways did the publication (the original) of A Christmas Carol help bring success to Dickens?  Hint: Was it only financial success?

Ideas for Writing Assignment

  1. Students could choose one of the themes and write an essay, giving their point of view.
  2.   Have students write a short paragraph on their favorite or least favorite character in the story.
  3.   Have students write a different ending for the story.

ANSWER KEY

More Gift Giving: The Last Leaf By O. Henry

 

“The Last Leaf” is a short story by O. Henry published in his 1907 collection The Trimmed Lamp and Other Stories. The story first appeared on October 15, 1905, in the New York World. The story is set in Greenwich Village during a pneumonia epidemic. It tells the story of an old artist who saves the life of a young neighboring artist, dying of pneumonia, by giving her a very special gift: the will to live.” ~Wikipedia~

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key

ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post

Lesson Plan for The Last Leaf By O. Henry

Level: Intermediate -Advanced

Language Skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.

Time: approximately 2 hours.

Materials: student handouts (from this lesson) access to short story and video (see below). Also examples  of components for literary analysis  

Objectives:   Students will  read and discuss the short story The Last Leaf by O. Henry. Students will achieve a better understanding of the story by learning literary devices and terms  (e.g., imagery, symbolism, protagonist, antagonist, setting)  used for analyzing stories.  They will also learn how to  analyze the relationship between characters, and events in the story by using these literary devices.

Short Story  http://esl-voices.com/library/13736-2/classic-short-stories/the-last-leaf/

Biography of O. Henry http://esl-voices.com/library/13736-2/classic-short-stories/o-henry/

 San Antonio College: Elements of Literary Analysis: https://www.alamo.edu/siteassets/sac/about-sac/college-offices/writing-center/elements-of-a-literary-analysis.pdf 

I. Pre-Reading Tasks

A.  Stimulating Background Knowledge

Directions: In groups, have students generate ideas that may be connected to the following list of words from the story:  artist, studio, Pneumonia, thermometer, pharmacopeia, New York City, Greenwich Village.

B.  Pre-reading Discussion Questions

Directions: Have students discuss the following questions.

  1. Did you ever have to take care of a good friend when they were very ill? If you have, describe the situation. How did you feel?
  2. Have you ever been very ill? If yes, describe what it was like.  Did someone take care of you? Describe this person.
  3. If a good friend of your got sick, would you take care of them? Explain why or why not.
  4. In which season are people more likely to get sick? Why?

II. While Reading Tasks

1.  Word Inference

Directions:  Students are to infer the meanings of the words in bold (taken from the article) and use a dictionary or thesaurus for assistance.They can use a dictionary to check their answers. Highlight any other unknown words they may come across.

  1. In a little district west of Washington Square the streets have run crazy and broken.
  2. Suppose a collector with a bill for paints, paper and canvas should, in traversing this route, suddenly meet himself?
  3. People went to quaint old Greenwich Village.
  4. They had met at the table and found their tastes in art, chicory salad and bishop sleeves so congenial that the joint studio resulted.
  5. In November a cold, unseen stranger, whom the doctors called Pneumonia, stalked about the colony.
  6. Mr. Pneumonia was not what you would call a chivalric old gentleman.
  7. Then she swaggered into Johnsy’s room with her drawing board, whistling ragtime.
  8. As Sue was sketching a pair of elegant horses and riding trousers and a monocle on the figure of the hero.
  9. Sue looked solicitously out the window.
  10. When it was light enough Johnsy, the merciless, commanded that the shades be raised.

Vocabulary Cluster By Learnnc.org

 

Questions for Comprehension

Directions: After students have reviewed Components for Literary Analysis have them answer the following questions from the story.

  1. From whose point of view is the story being told?
  2. Who is the protagonist in this story?  
  3. Who is the antagonist?
  4. Where does the story take place? (Hint: Washington Square, Greenwich Village)
  5. Identify the main characters in the story.
  6. What are the professions of Sue and Johnsy?
  7. What is the following piece of writing an example of? “Pneumonia, stalked about the colony, touching one here and there with his icy fingers. Over on the east side this ravager strode boldly, smiting his victims by scores, but his feet trod slowly through the maze of the narrow and moss-grown “places.”
  8. How was Sue taking her illness? Was she trying to get better?  Explain why or why not.
  9. What did Mr. Behrman paint before he died?

III. Post-Reading:

Questions for Reflection

Directions: Students discuss the following questions.

  1. What are some of  the conflicts in the story?
  2. What are some of the themes in the story?
  3.  What are some of the symbols in the story?
  4. Identify one example of how O. Henry used imagery.
  5. Near the end of the story Johnsy states, “I’ve been a bad girl, Sudie… “Something has made that last leaf stay there to show me how wicked I was. It is a sin to want to die.”  What does she mean?
  6. Why does Sue refer to The Last Leaf as Behrman’s masterpiece?

Writing Assignment 

Directions: Students choose a topic and write an essay to share with the class.

  1. Some of the themes in the story are death, friendship, love, and sacrifice. Choose one of these themes and write an essay describing your thoughts about the theme.
  2. Write a description for each character in the story.
  3. O. Henry, gives a surprise ending to this story. See if you can write a different ending for the story.

IV. Listening Activity 

Directions: Students are to view the film and answer the following questions.

Video Clip: Adaption of the Last Leaf by Matt Gatlin & Co.

Questions for Discussion

  1. After viewing this version of the story, do you feel that you understand it better?   If yes, describe in what way. If no, explain why not.
  2. Do you prefer the written version? Explain why or why not.

ANSWER KEY