Teacher s Notes. Level 6. Did you know? Pearson English Kids Readers. Teacher s Notes. Summary of the story. 1

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1 Level 6 Suitable for: young learners who have completed up to 300 hours of study in English Type of English: British Headwords: 1200 Key words: Key grammar: 20 (see pages 3 and 8 of these ) present perfect simple, past continuous, phrasal verbs with non-transparent meanings, first conditional, indefinite pronouns (e.g. anyone), intensifiers (e.g. a lot) Summary of the story After the death of his parents, James Trotter is sent to live with two lazy, horrible aunts. It is a lonely life without any friends or toys. His aunts make him work and are very cruel to him. One day, James meets an old man in the garden who gives him some little magic stones to make him happy. But running back to the house excitedly, James spills the stones under an old peach tree. Soon the tree grows a peach which gets larger and larger. James s astonished aunts decide to make money out of the giant peach by charging visitors to come and see it, but when James is cleaning up after the crowds he sees a hole in the peach and goes inside. He steps through a door in the peach stone and there he finds a collection of giant insects who have all swallowed a magic stone. At first James is frightened, but the insects are welcoming. They decide to bite through the peach s stem, and it breaks from the tree and rolls away from the house where James lives and as it rolls, it kills those horrible aunts! The peach rolls all the way to the sea, where it is attacked by sharks. But James has an idea, and he and the insects work together to tether some seagulls to the peach stem with thread. The seagulls lift the peach out of the water and fly across the sea with it. James and his friends have quite an adventure on their journey. They come across Cloud-Men who live on the clouds and throw hailstones and paint at them, and a large black cloud which opens up a river of water all over them as they hold onto the peach stem for dear life. They don t know when or how their journey will ever end. Finally, the travellers reach land and see the skyscrapers of New York. They have crossed the Atlantic Ocean and are in the USA! They free the seagulls and the peach floats down, landing on top of the Empire State Building. But the people of New York panic because they think the peach is a bomb and the giant insects are aliens. Only when they see James are they reassured. Then the travellers are welcomed and paraded through the streets. The children of the city eat pieces of the peach until only the stone is left. At the end, James makes his home out of the large peach stone and lives in Central Park, receiving Did you know? James and the Giant Peach started life as a bedtime story that Roald Dahl created for his own children. A centipede isn t really an insect it s an arthropod and it can have anything between around 30 to 350 legs. 1

2 lots of visitors, making lots of friends, and writing this very story. Background information Roald Dahl ( ) started writing in At first he wrote short stories for adults. His writing career for children took off in the 1960s, after he became a father. Dahl s popular, magical story of James and the Giant Peach was first published in For more information, visit Quentin Blake has illustrated almost all of Dahl s books for children, including a later edition of James and the Giant Peach. These beautiful illustrations are also found in the Reader. Blake also writes and illustrates his own children s stories. He was the Children s Laureate in the UK from 1999 until In 1996, James and the Giant Peach was released as a Disney film. It won the award for Best Animated Feature film at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. 2

3 The characters James Trotter is a small boy who has lost his parents and goes to live with his aunts. Aunt Sponge is one of James s horrible aunts. Aunt Spiker is Aunt Sponge s sister and another of James s horrible aunts. The old man gives James a bag of magic stones that will make him happy. Miss Spider, Old-Green-Grasshopper, Ladybird, Centipede, Earthworm, Glow-worm, and Silkworm are giant insects who travel with James on the giant peach. The Cloud-Men live on clouds and make weather for Earth. Key words (see page 8 of these for the Key words in context) arch (n) bomb (n) burst (v) float (v) giant (adj) hailstones (n, pl) loop (n) magic (n) / (adj) panic (v) peach (n) point (n) rhinoceros (n) roll (v) seagull (n) shock (n) / shocked (adj) skyscraper (n) stem (n) telescope (n) thread (n) tie (v) Topics and themes Friendship James is a lonely boy after his parents die. Ask the students why they think so. Why are his aunts so cruel to him? How do things change for James when he meets the giant insects and, later, when he lives in Central Park? What does James do to help his friends? What do they do for him? Why are friends so important? How can you make new friends when you need them? Magic Ask the students how James feels when he is given the bag of magic stones by the old man. How do they think he feels when he drops the bag and the little stones disappear into the ground? In what way are the stones magic? What happens after the stones disappear? Ask the students to think of other magical elements in the story. In what way does the act of magic in the story change James s life? Geography James and his friends leave England. Ask the students which ocean they cross. In which country, and in which city do they land? How do they recognise New York? What else do the students know about this city? (See also Activity 3 on pages 5 and 6 of these.) Travel James and his friends have a lot of adventures. Ask the students to tell you which they think is the most frightening time for the travellers. Which is the most exciting? Why do people travel to other cities and countries? Have the students ever been on an exciting trip? Weather In the story, the Cloud-Men make different types of weather. Discuss if the students know how rain, hailstones and rainbows are really formed. What do the clouds in the sky look like when it s going to rain? What does the weather need to be like for a rainbow to form? Have the students ever experienced a hail storm? (See also Activity 4 on page 6 of these.) Fear James goes through some difficult times in the story. What situations are difficult for him? What is he afraid of? Are the insects afraid of anything? What do the characters do to overcome their fears? Ask the students what they might be afraid of and what they would do to overcome their fears. Insects There are seven insects living inside the giant peach. Ask the students why these insects are so large. The insects become James s friends. Ask the students what they know about the insects in the story. Do the students think that insects are useful to us in our daily life? In what way? Do they find insects ugly or beautiful? Why do they think some people are afraid of insects? Is their fear ever logical? (See also Activity 5 on pages 6 and 7 of these.) 3

4 Adults and children James s aunts are horrible people. Ask the students why. How do the aunts behave towards James? Ask the students to think about the other adults in the story, for example, the sailors and the New York police. What are they like? Then ask the students to think about the children in the story. What are they like? How are they different from the adults? Problem solving On his journey, James has to solve a lot of problems. Discuss one of these problems and how James solves it. Ask the students to tell you about problems that they might have or have had. Can the other students suggest solutions? 4

5 Class Activities (After Reading) Here are some activities to do with your class after reading James and the Giant Peach. 1. Make a Giant Peach Poem collage Materials: large sheet of blank paper / card (as background for a collage); large sheet of peachcoloured card; sheets of white paper; coloured pens / pencils; safety scissors; glue Ask the students to summarise the story of James and the Giant Peach. Where does the story begin? What happens to the peach tree? What are the main events that happen when the giant peach flies over the Atlantic Ocean? Where does the peach eventually land? Write down some of the key events in the story on the board. This could be done in the form of a timeline. Tell the students that they are going to write a poem about the story and put their poems onto a collage of a giant peach. Using the peach-coloured card, cut out a peach shape that is large enough to fit the short poems of all the students. Stick the peach shape onto a large sheet of paper or card that is large enough to be decorated with pictures. Divide the class into small groups to work on the decorations for the collage. Ask the groups to create pictures of James and the insects to stick onto the collage. Then divide the class into pairs to work on their poems. The poems can be about any aspect of the story and do not have to rhyme if this proves too challenging. Give out the sheets of white paper for the students to write out their poems on. They then cut them out and stick them onto the peach on the collage. Go round the class and monitor the students work. Display the collage on the classroom wall. 2. A peach adventure Materials: indoor / outdoor space; sheets of white paper; coloured pens / pencils Tell the students that they are going to play a game that takes them on their own journey across the Atlantic Ocean. This game requires a large indoor or outdoor space. Give out two sheets of paper per student. Ask the students to draw a giant peach on each of their pieces of paper and colour them in. Describe the floor space in front of the students as the sea they must cross on their peach drawings. Explain that crossing the sea means stepping only on the peaches they have drawn. They should place one sheet of paper down first and step on it, and then put the other sheet of paper in front and step on it to advance along the sea. This game can be played with all the students at the same time or with smaller groups, depending on the size of your space and the number of students. Line the students up in a row ready to start. They should be standing on one sheet of paper and holding the other in their hand to start the game. The student who crosses the sea first is the winner. 3. New York landmark poster Materials: internet access and / or reference books; large sheets of paper / card; coloured pens / pencils / paints; safety scissors; glue Talk to the students about the end of the story. Which country do James and the insects arrive in after their journey across the Atlantic Ocean? And in which city? Where does the giant peach finally land? What do the students know about New York City? Have they ever heard of the Empire State building? Tell the students that this building is a famous landmark in New York. 5

6 Divide the class into groups of three or four students. Explain that each group is going to make a poster of a famous building or other landmark in New York. Using reference books or the internet, the groups research their chosen New York landmark. They should find out the name of the landmark, when it was built, why it was built, how tall it is, note down any important features, etc. (This research could be done individually as homework.) Give out the sheets of paper or card. The groups make their posters, writing the name of their landmark and adding pictures from the internet or drawings, and a short description about their landmark. Ask volunteers to come to the front of the class to present their poster and talk about their landmark. Display the posters on the classroom wall. 4. Invent a weather creature Materials: sheets of white paper; coloured pens / pencils Refer the students to chapters 7 and 8 in the book and point out the Cloud-Men. Discuss what the role of the Cloud-Men is (they make the weather for Earth, they try to hinder the travellers as they cross the Atlantic). What do the students think of the Cloud-Men? Tell the students that they are going to imagine and create another weather creature to bother James and the insects further on their journey. The creature should be able to create types of weather other than seen in the story (e.g. thunder, lightning, hot sunshine), and the students should think of a name for it (e.g. Sun- Woman). Divide the class into pairs and give out the materials. Have the students discuss what type of weather creature they want to create, and then draw their creature and colour it. They should write the creature s name at the top of their paper. The students show their finished creatures to the class and talk about them, describing what type of weather the creature makes and how it bothers the characters in the story on their journey across the Atlantic. Display the pictures on the classroom wall. 5. Project: Insects Materials: internet access and / or reference books; pictures of insects (from the internet or magazines); large sheets of paper; coloured pens / pencils / paints; coloured plasticine or modelling clay (optional) Discuss the insects in the story with the students. Do they have a favourite? Why? Have they seen any of these insects in real life? Where? Show the students pictures of real insects downloaded from the internet, cut out of magazines or in a reference book. Which insects do the students like? Why? Which don t they like? Why not? Do they know what each of the insects can do? Tell the students that they are going to choose an insect and find out some information about it. They can use the internet or reference books to do their research and make notes. (This research can be done as homework.) They should find out what the insect looks like, its body parts, what it eats, what it does, where it lives, and any other relevant information. Give out a sheet of paper to each student. They draw or paint a picture of the insect of their choice and label the body parts. They write out the information they have gathered about the insect neatly onto the paper too. Ask volunteers to come to the front of the class to present their insect. Display the insect projects around the classroom. Variation: the students could make a model of their insect using plasticine or modelling clay. 6

7 Variation: the insect project could also be done in the form of a mini-book, with different drawings or pictures of the insect on each page and a description of what the insect looks like, its body parts, what it eats, what it does, where it lives, and any other relevant information displayed throughout the book. 6. Make a comic strip Materials: sheets of white paper; pencils; thintipped black marker pens; coloured markers (optional) If possible, before the session, create a model comic strip for the students to look at before they create their own. It should have about six frames and include speech bubbles from the characters. Ask the students to tell you which part of the story they liked the best. Explain to the students that they are going to make a comic strip based on their favourite scene. Give out the materials and show the students how to divide their piece of paper into six frames either three frames above and three frames below for a landscape comic strip, or three rows of two frames for a portrait comic strip. The students should plan out their comic strips in pencil on a sheet of paper first before drawing the final version. They should refer to the book to help them draw the characters and backgrounds. Go round the class helping the students to divide their scene into frames, and to decide what dialogue they need to include in the speech bubbles. The students then neatly copy out their comic strip in pencil on a new sheet of paper, going over all lines, drawings and speech bubbles with a thin black marker pen. The students can colour their comic strips using coloured markers or leave them in black and white. Variation: allocate a scene from the story to each student, and then put all the comic strips together at the end to tell the whole story. 7. Act out a scene Before the session, decide which scenes from the story the students can act out and how many students are needed for each scene. Write the scenes on the board, and allocate each one to a different group of students. The students read the scene in their books and decide who will play each role. The students write a script and practise acting out their roles. When everyone is ready, the students perform their scenes for the rest of the class. (They can perform them in the order that they appear in the story.) 8. Write a new story Ask the students to imagine what might have happened if James had not dropped the magic stones at the beginning of the story. What would he have done with the stones instead? What might have happened instead of a giant peach growing? In pairs or small groups, the students brainstorm their ideas then write their alternative stories. Ask for volunteers to read out their texts. The class vote on which alternative story they like the best. 7

8 Key words arch... A great arch stood on a big cloud and reached high into the sky. (p. 25) bomb... Everyone could see a great round ball, high in the sky, above the centre of the city. Was it a bomb? (p. 32) burst... The bag burst open under the old peach tree and the little green things went everywhere. (p. 6) float... The peach did not stop for anyone or anything. But then, at last, it dropped into the sea and floated quietly on the water. (p. 14) giant... Soon everyone heard the news about the giant peach. (p. 8) hailstones... Suddenly, the Cloud-Men noticed the peach and threw hailstones at it angrily. (p. 24) loop... Just under the Earthworm, in the hole, James waited with a loop of thread in his hands. (p. 17) magic... There s more magic in those little stones than in all the world, the old man said. They ll make you happy. (p. 5) panic... The rainbow broke, and the peach stopped moving. The travellers panicked. (p. 26) peach... The peach grew bigger and bigger, and heavier and heavier. (p. 7) point... And the peach fell onto the point of the Empire State Building. (p. 34) rhinoceros... A large angry rhinoceros escaped from London Zoo and it ate James s parents. (p. 3) roll... When the giant peach rolled out of the garden, the crowds at the gate ran for their lives. (p. 14) seagull... A seagull looked down hungrily at the big fat Earthworm. (p. 17) shock... Some of the police officers fell to the ground in shock. (p. 35) skyscraper... James was excited. Those buildings are skyscrapers! he cried. So this is the United States of America. We ve crossed the Atlantic, my friends! (p. 31) stem... The Centipede is eating through the stem of the peach, the Ladybird explained. (p. 12) telescope... A third sailor looked through a telescope. (p. 21) thread... We need a lot of strong thread, James said slowly. (p. 16) tie... One hundred seagulls! James shouted, and he tied the one-hundredth to the peach stem. (p. 19) 8 PHOTOCOPIABLE Copyright Roald Dahl Nominee Ltd Illustrations copyright Quentin Blake, Copyright Pearson Education Ltd 2014

9 While-Reading activities Activity 1 (pages 3 8) Write the adjectives. angry beautiful comfortable giant heavier old strange unkind 1 When James Trotter was young, he had a very life. 2 Then one day in London a large rhinoceros ate James s parents. 3 James had to live with his aunts who were lazy, greedy and very. 4 A old man appeared in the garden and gave James a bag of magic stones. 5 James ran too fast and the bag of stones burst open under the peach tree. 6 The peach grew bigger and. 7 I ve never seen a more thing, thought James about the peach. 8 Soon everyone heard the news about the peach. Activity 2 (pages 9 14) Write T (True) or F (False). 1 The insects in the peach wanted to eat James. 2 The Centipede had a hundred legs. 3 James wanted Miss Spider to make him a soft bed. 4 The Earthworm ate through the stem of the peach. 5 The peach rolled down the hill and killed James s horrible aunts. 6 The peach rolled into a chocolate factory and stopped. 9 PHOTOCOPIABLE Copyright Roald Dahl Nominee Ltd Illustrations copyright Quentin Blake, Copyright Pearson Education Ltd 2014

10 Activity 3 (pages 15 20) Order the sentences. a The Silkworm and Miss Spider made thread as fast as they could. b James caught the five hundred and first seagull and the peach rose out of the water. c James and the insects climbed up a ladder and out of the peach. d Miss Spider went down to check and said, The peach is fine. e James told the insects about his plan to get the peach out of the water. f James and the insects caught their first seagull with the thread. g Some sharks started to attack the peach! Activity 4 (pages 21 23) Circle the correct words. 1 Sailors / Giant insects saw a great round ball in the sky. 2 The Centipede / The Old-Green-Grasshopper made beautiful music. 3 Farmers love the Earthworm / Miss Spider. 4 The Glow-worm / The Ladybird eats the horrible little insects that kill the plants. 5 The Silkworm / The Centipede makes thread. 6 The Old-Green-Grasshopper / The Centipede sang and danced. 7 The insects pulled up Miss Spider / James and the Centipede. 8 The Earthworm / The Centipede had wet boots. 10 PHOTOCOPIABLE Copyright Roald Dahl Nominee Ltd Illustrations copyright Quentin Blake, Copyright Pearson Education Ltd 2014

11 Activity 5 (pages 24 31) Answer the questions. 1 What did the Cloud-Men throw at the peach? 2 What did the Cloud-Men paint in the sky? 3 What did a Cloud-Man throw at the Centipede? 4 What cleaned the Centipede? 5 What type of buildings did the travellers see the next morning? 6 Which country were they in? Activity 6 (pages 32 38) Tick 4 the correct answers. 1 Which city did the peach arrive in? a New York City b Washington DC 2 What cut through the threads of the peach? a the seagulls b a plane 3 Which building did the peach land on? a the Statue of Liberty b the Empire State Building 11 PHOTOCOPIABLE Copyright Roald Dahl Nominee Ltd Illustrations copyright Quentin Blake, Copyright Pearson Education Ltd 2014

12 4 How many police officers ran into the building? a 500 b Why did the panic stop? a James waved at everyone. b They saw the Old-Green-Grasshopper. 6 What happened to the peach? a A little girl ate it all. b Lots of children ate it. 7 Who started a boot-making business? a the Centipede b the Glow-worm 8 Where did James live in Central Park? a in the peach stone b in a big old house 9 Why was James not lonely anymore? a The insects lived with him. b Children visited him every day. 10 What did James do in the end? a He wrote a book. b He went home. 12 PHOTOCOPIABLE Copyright Roald Dahl Nominee Ltd Illustrations copyright Quentin Blake, Copyright Pearson Education Ltd 2014

13 After-Reading activities Activity 1 Who said it? Write the names. What are they talking about? Match. Aunt Spiker the Centipede Miss Spider the old man James the Earthworm They re yours. They ll make you happy. And it s growing in front of my eyes! He s really only got forty-two. They ll eat it all! Then they ll eat us. Five hundred! Ow! That hurt! a b c d e f PHOTOCOPIABLE 13 Copyright Roald Dahl Nominee Ltd Illustrations copyright Quentin Blake, Copyright Pearson Education Ltd 2014

14 Activity 2 Read. Answer the questions. 1 Is it a bridge? James asked. What was it? 2 The Centipede screamed. I can t see! What was in his eyes? 3 Look! shouted the Centipede. There s land below us! What city was it? 4 This is the end, they thought. What did the people in the city think the peach was? 5 There are people up there! they cried. Men from Mars. Who were the people? Activity 3 Complete the sentences. The peach 1 sat in Central Park, and it was the home of a very famous person 2 Trotter. Every day, children 3 on the door and James welcomed them. Hundreds of 4 came, so the loneliest, saddest boy in the world had a lot of new 5. They all wanted to hear 6 his adventures. So James decided to 7 a book and you have just 8 reading it. 14 PHOTOCOPIABLE Copyright Roald Dahl Nominee Ltd Illustrations copyright Quentin Blake, Copyright Pearson Education Ltd 2014

15 Activity 4 Write the names of James s friends. Find the secret word The secret word is. PHOTOCOPIABLE 15 Copyright Roald Dahl Nominee Ltd Illustrations copyright Quentin Blake, Copyright Pearson Education Ltd 2014

16 Answer Key In the back of the Reader Before You Read 1 Students own answers. 2 a the Ladybird b the Earthworm c the Old-Green-Grasshopper d the Centipede e the Silkworm f the Glow-worm g Miss Spider After You Read 1 a James is suddenly alone in the world after a rhinoceros kills his parents. b A peach and some insects become giants after James drops a bag of magic stones. Some go under the peach tree, and the insects eat some of the others. c James sees a hole in the peach. He walks through it and then opens a door in the peach stone. The insects are inside. d After the Centipede eats through the stem of the peach, the peach rolls down the hill toward the two aunts. It rolls over them and kills them. 2 a Sharks are attacking the peach, but James has a plan. Seagulls see the Earthworm on the peach and want to eat it. When they come near the peach, James puts a loop of thread around each seagull s neck. He ties the threads to the peach stem, and finally the seagulls pull the peach out of the water, away from the sharks. b The Centipede falls off the peach. James ties one end of a thread around his body and the insects hold the other end. Then James jumps down into the water and brings up the Centipede. c An angry Cloud-Man starts to climb down a thread towards the peach. James tells the Centipede to bite through the thread, and a seagull flies away with the Cloud-Man at the end of it. d The police are shocked by the giant insects. They think the insects are dangerous. But then James shows his face and shouts hello. The police feel better and welcome the travellers. 3 Possible answers: with his parents? with his aunts? with the insects? at home in Central Park? In these While-Reading activities the beach his beautiful house his friends his comfortable life nothing making friends adventures travel making plans a lot of visitors new friends telling his story Activity 1 1 comfortable 2 angry 3 unkind 4 strange 5 old 6 heavier 7 beautiful 8 giant Activity 2 1 F 2 F 3 T 4 F 5 T 6 F Activity 3 The correct order is: c, g, e, a, f, b, d Activity 4 1 Sailors 2 The Old-Green-Grasshopper 3 the Earthworm 4 The Ladybird 5 The Silkworm 6 The Centipede 7 James 8 The Centipede Activity 5 1 hailstones 2 a rainbow 3 thick purple paint 4 water from the large black cloud 5 skyscrapers 6 the USA Activity 6 1 a 2 b 3 b 4 b 5 a 6 b 7 a 8 a 9 b 10 a 16

17 After-Reading activities Activity 1 1 the old man, e 2 Aunt Spiker, d 3 the Earthworm, b 4 Miss Spider, f 5 James, a 6 the Centipede, c Activity 2 1 a rainbow 2 paint 3 New York 4 a bomb 5 James and the giant insects Activity 3 1 stone 2 James 3 knocked 4 children 5 friends 6 about 7 write 8 finished Activity 4 M 2 G I L S 3 C 4 O L D 5 G R E E N G R A S S H O P P E R W A N R S T S I L K W O R M T P I O H I P R W D E M O E D 7 L A D Y B I R D R E M 6 The secret word is rhinoceros