James and the Giant Peach
by Roald DahlPage 1 of 2
- For Grades 3 - 8
- Enrichment Activities
- Internet Resources
- Books By Roald Dahl
- Buy this Book!
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For James Henry Trotter, life
with the exceedingly nasty Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker is pure misery. Jame
dreams of a better life, but he's totally unprepared for the wild adventures
ahead of him when he drops the magic crystals he receives from a strange old
man. Before long, James is off on a weird, wonderful journey inside a giant
peach
with an odd assortment of traveling companions!
Enrichment Activities
Choral ReadingThe poems in this story are especially great to read aloud. Have students practice choral-reading techniques and deliver presentations to the rest of the class or to other classes. Some kinds of choral reading are:
You might also have the students experiment with
volume and pace -- variation makes for different experiences.
People We Know
Roald Dahl
used the technique of personification
(giving human characteristics or
qualities to nonhumans) in this story. Many of these human
characteristics are exaggerations. Yet, some of your students may
recognize these traits
in people they know or in characters from another book. Create a chart which
details people or characters who have similar traits as the insects and
James.
Remind students not to hurt anyone's feelings!
Research
on Insects
Some students may be squeamish about the insects in this story . You
can help them
to learn more about these critters by assigning research
projects.
There is a great deal of
wonderful poetry in this
story. This would be a perfect opportunity for your students to try their
hand
at writing poetry. You may want them to mimic the narrative form of poetry
in the story.
Or you could explore other poetic forms: haiku, diamante, odes,
sonnets.
The
Movie
Show your students the video
version of
James and the Giant Peach.
discuss
and/or create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the movie with the
book. Which
one was better? Why?
Draw A Scene
Roald Dahl developed
fantastic images in this book. Have your students create a mural of the
places the
peach visited -- a timeline of the book's main events that runs along the
bottom of
an extra-wide piece of paper will help orient them.
Overcoming Fear
A recurring theme
in James and the
Giant Peach is overcoming fear.
Have your students write about a time they had to overcome a fear.
Questions you
can use to encourage good writing: What was James afraid of? What were the
insects afraid of? What are you (the student) afraid of? What strategies
did the
characters use to overcome their fear? What strategies did you (the
student) use
to overcome your fear? What are some common techniques of overcoming
fear?
Internet Resources
ScreenIt
Review of Movie
Grade Levels: Intermediate,
Middle
http://www.screenit.com/movies/1996/james_&_the_giant_peach.html
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