In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, five golden tickets are concealed in Wonka chocolate bars. The lucky children who discover these tickets are invited to tour Willy Wonka’s magical chocolate factory and win a lifetime supply of Wonka products. The adventure kicks off in the Chocolate Room, where the children encounter the Oompa-Loompas, the factory’s small, cacao-loving workers. However, each child’s undesirable traits ultimately lead to their undoing.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #25: Golden Ticket

2. Watch this video which tells the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Write a 3 sentence summary on your recording sheet.

3. The author, Roald Dahl, wrote many children’s books. Visit this site to get “Life Advice from Roald Dahl in 13 Scrumdiddlyumptious Quotes!” Pick your favorite quote. Record it on your recording page and explain why you picked it.

4. Watch this video and write the definition and 5 examples on your recording page.

5. How good are you at guessing definitions of words? Open this document which has a list of tons neologisms created by Roald Dahl. Choose 10 of the words. Write the word and your definition guess on your recording sheet. Then click this link to find your word and see how you did. How did you do?

6. The golden ticket in Charlie in the Chocolate Factory allowed for the winner and a guest to visit the factory. If you could find a golden ticket, what would be the event/location/place you would like to be able to visit. You can pick something from the past, future or present. Describe your selection in detail and give several reasons to support your decision.

7. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

From ReadWorks.org

First, view this video.  Then, read about the myths of Thanksgiving – find out what is true and what isn’t!!  In the comments section below, tell us what surprised you!

The Mayflower brought the group of English settlers now known as the Pilgrims to North America. Leaving England in the fall of 1620, the Pilgrims were attempting to land near the mouth of the Hudson River, but instead ended up in Cape Cod Harbor. Plymouth, the colony established there by the Pilgrims in 1621, became the first permanent European settlement in New England. The story of the Pilgrims and their harvest feast hassince become one of best-known in American history, but you may not know it as well as you think. Discover the facts behind these well-known Thanksgiving myths!

MYTH: THE FIRST THANKSGIVING WAS IN 1621 AND THE PILGRIMS CELEBRATED IT EVERY YEAR THEREAFTER.

Fact: The first feast wasn’t repeated, so it wasn’t the beginning of a tradition. In fact, the colonists didn’t even call the day Thanksgiving. To them, a thanksgiving was a religious holiday for which they would go to church and thank God for a specific event, such as the winning of a battle. On such a religious day, the types of recreational activities that the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians participated in during the 1621 harvest feast–dancing, singing secular songs, playing games–wouldn’t have been allowed. The feast was a secular celebration, so it never would have been considered a thanksgiving in the pilgrims’ minds.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Mayflower was originally supposed to sail with a sister ship, the Speedwell, but it proved unseaworthy, and the Mayflower made the journey alone.

MYTH: THE ORIGINAL THANKSGIVING FEAST TOOK PLACE ON THE FOURTH THURSDAY OF NOVEMBER.

Fact: The original feast in 1621 occurred sometime between September 21 and November 11. Unlike our modern holiday, it was three days long. The event was based on English harvest festivals, which traditionally occurred around the 29th of September. After that first harvest was completed by the Plymouth colonists, Gov. William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer, shared by all the colonists and neighboring Indians. In 1623 a day of fasting and prayer during a period of drought was changed to one of thanksgiving because the rain came during the prayers. Gradually the custom prevailed in New England of annually celebrating thanksgiving after the harvest.  During the American Revolution, a yearly day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress. In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom, and by the middle of the 19th century many other states had done the same. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a day of thanksgiving as the last Thursday in November, which he may have correlated with the November 21, 1621, anchoring of the Mayflower at Cape Cod. Since then, each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the date for Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday of November in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941.)

MYTH: THE PILGRIMS WORE ONLY BLACK AND WHITE CLOTHING. THEY HAD BUCKLES ON THEIR HATS, GARMENTS, AND SHOES.

Fact: Buckles did not come into fashion until later in the seventeenth century and black and white were commonly worn only on Sunday and formal occasions. Women typically dressed in red, earthy green, brown, blue, violet, and gray, while men wore clothing in white, beige, black, earthy green, and brown.

MYTH: THE PILGRIMS BROUGHT FURNITURE WITH THEM ON THE MAYFLOWER.

Fact: The only furniture that the Pilgrims brought on the Mayflower was chests and boxes. They constructed wooden furniture once they settled in Plymouth.

MYTH: THE MAYFLOWER WAS HEADED FOR VIRGINIA, BUT DUE TO A NAVIGATIONAL MISTAKE IT ENDED UP IN CAPE COD MASSACHUSETTS.

Fact: The Pilgrims were in fact planning to settle in Virginia, but not the modern-day state of Virginia. They were part of the Virginia Company, which had the rights to most of the eastern seaboard of the U.S. The Pilgrims had intended to go to the Hudson River region in New York State, which would have been considered “Northern Virginia,” but they landed in Cape Cod instead. Treacherous seas prevented them from venturing further south.

Learn to write using more interesting language. Learn to break up the mundane, overused patterns. Create a lipogram to help improve your skills.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #23: LIPoGRAM LESSON

2. A lipogram is a piece of writing that leaves out a particular letter or letters, on purpose! The word comes from the Ancient Greek leipográmmatos, which means “leaving out a letter”. While writing a lipogram from scratch is certainly one option, this mini spark will have you rewriting passages/poems that are provided for you. Write the definition of Lippgram on your recording page.

3. Something as simple as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star can stretch you to create vivid writing if you have to remove ‘E’ or ‘A’ (or ‘E’ AND ‘A’), while retaining the rhyme and line length and rhythm. Watch this video to have this explained further. Write the challenge on your recording sheet.

4.  Take this poem and rewrite it on your recording sheet. Choose “E” or “A” to leave out or both “E” and “A” which is more advanced.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.

5. When you are done, scroll way to the bottom of this post to see the sample that Mr. Byrdseed wrote.

6. Look over this poem

7. Here’s an incredible lipogram example. It’s “Mary Had A Little Lamb” written by A. Ross Eckler without using B, F, G, J, K, O, Q, U, V, W, X, Y, or Z. Read it several times an on your recording page write about what you noticed, liked, or didn’t like about the rewrite.

Maria had a little sheep,
As pale as rime its hair,
And all the places Maria came
The sheep did tail her there;
In Maria’s class it came at last
(A sheep can’t enter there).
It made the children clap their hands;
A sheep in class, that’s rare!

8. Choose one of these classic poems to rewrite without the letter E. Record it on your recording page.

Lesson adapted from https://www.byrdseed.com/lipograms/

Example: Here’s my lipogram example that doesn’t use ‘E’ or ‘A’.

Orbit, orbit, tiny moon.
How I wish you’d visit soon.
‘Round my world you did go.
Tonight? Tonight? I do not know.

Who was Edgar Allan Poe? Poe was a famous American author – and many of his poems and stories are still being read and enjoyed over 100 year after his death on October 7, 1849.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #22: Edgar Allan Poe

2. Find out more about Edgar Allan Poe by checking out this Wonderopolis entry.  Take the wonder word challenge and the did you get it quiz. Record your score for both on your recording page.

3. Watch this TED-ED video about Poe. On your recording sheet, write any of the book or poem titles that are mentioned in the video

4.  Listen to at least the first half of the poem, “The Raven” being read aloud.

5.  After exploring this poem choose 1 activity and add it to your recording sheet.

• Create a detailed illustration to go along with one “The Raven”.
• Write your own poem or short story, “Poe style”.

6. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Have you ever wondered what’s happening in your brain while your are reading to turn all these weird symbols into meaning? Check out this reading mini spark to learn more about this process.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #20: Open a Book

2. Reading is something you’re doing effortlessly right now. Ever wondered how your brain turns symbols into meaning? This video will help you rediscover the amazing process of reading.

3. After watching this video, choose 5 of these questions to respond to on your recording page. Each response should be at least 2 sentences. Remind your teacher that the answer key is in the reading mini spark folder.

1. What secret does Joe mention about how we read?
2. How do rounded letters differ from flat-topped letters in terms of height?
3. Explain the “Müller-Lyer illusion” and how it relates to letter recognition.
4. What is the “paradox of reading” that Dr. Erica Brozovsky discusses?
5. Describe the concept of “neural recycling” as explained in the video.
6. How do our eyes gather information when we read, according to the video?
7. What is the “Word Superiority Effect,” and why is it important in understanding reading?
8. Discuss the role of the fovea and parafovea in reading. How do they contribute to our ability to recognize words?
9. How does the brain process the shapes of letters and words according to the video?
10. What happens in our brains when we recognize a word, as described by Joe in the video?

4. Read this article about benefits reading. List your top 3 on the recording sheet.

5. On your recording sheet write title of the book you’re currently reading and write about your opinion about the book at this time. Support your decision with 3 specific examples and 3 details.

6. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Have you ever been frightened by places you’ve read about in books or seen in movies or on television?  What if those places were under consideration for hosting the Olympics?  Can you IMAGINE???

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #19: Awful (fictional)Olympic Host Cities

2. What cities have hosted the summer or winter Olympic games? Go to this page, read the intro and look over the list. Record 5 of the cities on your recording sheet. Find them on the map and find 3-5 facts about that city.

3. Go to the following link and read about the 6 fictional places that the author hopes NEVER hosts the Olympics. Add all 6 places to your recording sheet and explain why it would be an awful venue. If you haven’t heard of the place or don’t understand the information about the location, do some research so you can tell why it is so terrible.

4. Think about books you have read, movies or  tv show you have seen.   What fictional place do you hope never hosts the Olympics and why?  Please add 3 responses and reasoning to your recording sheet.

5. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Tell others about you. Complete this ABC reading mini spark get to know you activity.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #18: About You!!!

2. Please respond to the following stems on your recording page.

A- Age:

B- Biggest fear:

C- Current time:

D- Your favorite day of the week:

E- Every day starts with this activity:

F- Favorite song:

G- What makes you giggle?:

H- Hardest obstacle you’ve overcome:

I- Itching to buy:

J- Favorite joke:

K- Last kind deed you performed:

L- Last meal you ate:

M- Middle name:

N- Number of siblings:

O- One wish:

P- Person you last called:

Q- Question you’re often asked:

R- Reason to smile:

S- Song last sang:

T- Time you woke up today:

U- Something that makes you unhappy:

V- Dream vacation destination:

W- Your worst habit:

Y- Your favorite food:

X- X-Rays you’ve had:

Z- Zodiac sign:

3. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.