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Lesson 2 - highlighting
text features
The text used in this lesson is a description
of Scrooge, from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
Scrooge by Charles Dickens
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. The cold
within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose,
shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait, made his eyes red,
his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice.
A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his
wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with
him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn't thaw it
one degree at Christmas.
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Scrooge - teacher's notes
1. Read the text and discuss
as a description of a character.
2. Highlight these words: grindstone,
covetous, flint, oyster, solitary, gait, shrewdly, rime, dog-days.
Ensure pupils understand this vocabulary.
3. Highlight adjectives and
discuss, for instance, the relevance of the grasping words for
a moneylender. Discuss the reason for the choice of wintry adjectives
and other words associated with winter.
4. Discuss the use of commas
to punctuate a list, and the use of exclamation marks and semicolons.
5. Consider which words
could be changed throughout the extract to transform this from
a negative to a positive description.
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Year 6 example, from No.
5 in teacher's notes
Oh! But he was a generous hand
at the office, Scrooge! A lending, gentle, stroking, soft, cradling,
sharing young saint! Soft and gentle as a lamb, that had wandered
happily all its life; open and always sociable, like a party animal.
The warmth within him lit up his youthful features, smoothed his
cheek, relaxed his gait, made his eyes sparkle, his chubby lips
red; and spoke out kindly in his sweet voice. Golden curls were
on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his chubby chin. He carried
his own warm temperature always about with him; he cooled his
office in the dog-days; and thawed it considerably at Christmas.
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