Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to
introduce students to a piece of
literature that will encourage them to continue reading
throughout life.
Communication Skills: Goals 2 and 4
Objectives: Students should be able to:
2.1 Identify,
collect, or select information and ideas.
4.1
Respond to personal situations and events in selections and to personal
situations and events.
4.2
Respond to the personal, social, cultural, and historical significance
of selections or personal experiences.
4.3
Respond critically and creatively to selections or personal experiences.
Introducing The Book: Activities
1. Have
students research the Iroquois Indians and the time period of
the French-Indian War. Use a map locate where
this took place in the
United States.
2. Do
a survey with the students to see what books they have read in which
toys came to life.
3. Have the students write a special toy's secret life.
4. Discuss
with the students what it means to be responsible for taking care
of another person.
Activities to Use While Reading the Book:
1. Collect
a box of old keys and have the students select a key and write
about why they think their key is the magic one.
2. Have
students create a poster advertisement
to sell the cupboard and the
key from the story.
3. Divide
the class into cooperate groups of cowboys and indians. Let
students debate the stereotypes given to cowboys and
indians in
television, movies, and history books.
4. Make puppets and act out a part of story.
5. Have
students divide into cooperative groups to discuss how this book
could help a child in his or her own life.
6. Create
a series of mystery bags with things like feathers or plastic indians
or cowboys in them. For example, tell the children
they woke up and
found the object in their bag laying by the cupboard.
What happened?
7. Write
a recommendation to other fourth grade students as to why the
book should be read or not.
8. Use
a Venn Diagram to compare Omri and Patrick.
