discussion guide -...

enneth is a little rabbit with a very big problem. his two best friends are heading for a battle of legendary proportions – with each other! In one corner there’s Grahame, a well-read and cultured dragon with sophisticated tastes and no stomach for battle. In the other, there's George, a retired knight and dragon slayer who would be content to spend the rest of his days in his bookshop with a pipe and a good book. But when the townsfolk in Kenneth’s sleepy little village catch wind that there’s a dragon running loose in the countryside and call George out of

OnY DIteRLIZZI is one half of the #1 New York Times bestselling team that created The Spiderwick Chronicles as well as the author of the Zena Sutherland Award-winning, Young hoosier Book Award-winning, and Buckeye Children’s Book Award-winning Ted. his other titles include Jimmy Zangwow’s Out-of-This-World Moon Pie Adventure, G is for One Gzonk!, and an adaptation of Mary howitt’s “the Spider and

T

retirement, the stage is set. And it’s up to Kenny to avert disaster.

New York Times Bestseller, tony Diterlizzi puts a fun-filled, thoroughly theatrical spin on Kenneth Grahame's classic tale of subterfuge and showmanship with this lighthearted romp of a retelling where its’ up to one clever little rabbit to give his neighbors front row seats for one of the best-known battles in history: the showdown between St. George and the Dragon.

the Fly” that was awarded the Caldecott honor. he lives in western Massachusetts with his wife, Angela, and their daughter.

DiscussionGuide

Reproducible Illustration © 2008 by tony Diterlizzi

1.)ArewemeanttothinkthatKenny’ssolutiontothebattlebetweenSt.GeorgeandGrahameisdeceptiveandtrickyoracleverandcourageousacttosavehisfriends?

2.)IsKenny’sbookishknowledgebetterthanhisfather’slifeexperiences?

3.)DoesGrahame’sloveofthetheaterhaveanyinfluenceonKenny’splantosavehisfriends?

4.)Doesthekingknowinadvancethatthebattleisanact?

5.)Howdoesthegameofchessmimiclife?

6.)HowcanGrahamebesosure“Therewillbenoexterminations—imminentorotherwise?"

7.)HowwasKennyinspiredbyhisfriendstosolvetheproblemoffightingtilldeath?

8.)ArewemeanttothinkGrahameisacowardforrefusingtofightSt.George?

9.)Grahamedescribedhisfellowdragonsasbeing“earnest."Whatdoesthismean?Howdidthatapplytohislife?

10.)HasKennyoranyofhisfriendsshownanygrowthintheircharacters?

Discussion Questions


WordScramble

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

WhatdoKennyandGrahameenjoydoingtogether?


agrance _______

diceh _____

tinglanb ________

tempidun ________

tabilion ________

treenas _______

dogrce ______

oxlepti _______

oovsiliub _________

lipsyhrtg _________

nabe ____

tonesiln ________

richun ______

timminen ________

piecrateorc ___________

banebantlingcarnagechidecodger

earnestexploitlibationimminentimpudent

WorDBAnKinsolentoblivioussprightlyreciprocateurchin

IrST,unscrambleeachwordbelow.Tomakeitalittleeasier,alloftheanswerscanbefoundinthewordbanktotheright.onceyou'vefoundalloftheanswers,writethelettersinthecirclesintheblankspacesatthebottomtoanswerthequestion.

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carnagechidebantlingimpudentlibation

earnestcodgerexploitoblivioussprightly

baneinsolenturchinimminentreciprocate

readingtogether

1.)ArewemeanttothinkthatKenny’ssolutiontothebattlebetweenSt.GeorgeandGrahameisdeceptiveandtrickyoracleverandcourageousacttosavehisfriends?

2.)IsKenny’sbookishknowledgebetterthanhisfather’slifeexperiences?

3.)DoesGrahame’sloveofthetheaterhaveanyinfluenceonKenny’splantosavehisfriends?

4.)Doesthekingknowinadvancethatthebattleisanact?

5.)Howdoesthegameofchessmimiclife?

6.)HowcanGrahamebesosure“Therewillbenoexterminations—imminentorotherwise?"

7.)HowwasKennyinspiredbyhisfriendstosolvetheproblemoffightingtilldeath?

8.)ArewemeanttothinkGrahameisacowardforrefusingtofightSt.George?

9.)Grahamedescribedhisfellowdragonsasbeing“earnest."Whatdoesthismean?Howdidthatapplytohislife?

10.)HasKennyoranyofhisfriendsshownanygrowthintheircharacters?

Discussion Questions


1.Kenny&theDragonisbaseduponthestoryThereluctantDragonwrittenbyKennethGrahame.Usingachart,compareKennytotheBoy,GrahametotheDragon,andGeorgetoSt.George.Howcloselydothecharacterscompare?Whatdifferencesarethere?Ifthereareanydifferences,whydoyouthinkthosedifferencesweremade?

2.What’sinaname?TheauthormakeshomagetoThereluctantDragonthroughtheuseofnames.DiscusswhytheauthorusesthenamesKenny,Grahame,andGeorge.

3.Kenny&theDragonissetinthetimeofknights,dragons,andarmor.Gotothelibraryandresearchthedifferenttypesofarmorwornbyknights.researchcoatsofarmstheknightshadinscribedontheirshields.Whatdidthecoatofarmsmean?Inbattlehowdidknightsrecognizetheirenemiesfromtheirfellowknights?Havethestudentsmakeuptheirowncoatofarms.

4.Discussthevariousthemesfromthebookincludingfriendship,toleratingdifferences,responsibility,honesty,pacifism,andknowledge.

a. KennybelievesinbeinghonestbycorrectingtheKing’sroyalBestiary,yetheiswillingtodeceivethetownspeopletosavehisbestfriends.Isitpossibletobehonestallthetime?Aretheretimeswhenitisappropriatetotelllies?

b.responsibilityoccursseveraltimesinthestory.Whatexactlyisresponsibility?Howdoesonebecomeresponsible?AnexampleofteachingresponsibilityisKenny’sparents'insistencethathedohishomeworkandwashthedishesbeforeinvestigatingthedragon.GrahamerefusestotrytostopthefightandinsiststhatKennyhandlethedetailsofstoppingtheconflict.IsGrahameneglectinghisresponsibilities?Fatherwaspreparedtodraghisfamilyfromtheirhomeduetothedragon’spresence,yetheallowsKennytoinvestigatethedragonbyhimself.Whatistheparents’responsibilityincaringfortheirchildren?

c.Preconceiveddifferencescaninfluencepeople’sbehavior.Kennyandhisclassmateshavedifferentopinionsonschool.HowdoesthisdifferenceofopinionaffectthewayhisclassmatestreatKenny?HavethestudentsdiscusswaysKennycouldbeacceptedbyhisclassmates.BothSt.GeorgeandGrahamehavepreconceivedideasabouteachother.Howdotheseimpressionscauseconflictsinthestory?Howdotheyresolvetheir

LiteraryStrands


disagreements?Whatwasthetownspeople’spreconceivedimpressionofGrahame?ExaminewhythepeoplefeltGrahamewasadangertothetown.Discusshowoneisabletochangetheimpressionofothers.Considerhowdifficultitmaybetostandupforone’sbeliefs,especiallywhenitistheoppositeofwhatthemajoritybelieves.

d. Definepacifism.ExplainGrahame’sresistancetofightingtoaconscientiousobjector.

e. Exploredifferenttypesofknowledge.Kennyisbooksmart,helovesacademiayetlearnsthattherearedifferentkindsofknowledge.AttheendofthestoryKennyfindsoutthathisunschooledfatherisasctuallyverywise.Hisfatherisableto“read”thepeople,discoverthe“leader”ofacrowd,andisableto“herd”themtodowhathewantsthemtodo.DoesKennylearnhowtousethistechnique?Ifyes,thenhow?Ifno,thenhowcouldhehaveusedthisknowledgetohisadvantage?

f. Friendshipisastrongthemeinthisstory.Kennyisdrawnintoadramaticconflictbetweenhistwobestfriends.Isitpossibletostayfriendswithsomeoneifyouhavedifferentbeliefsonsometopics,ormustfriendsalwaysthinkalike?

5.Explorethetitlesmentionedinthebook,includingTheWindintheWillowsbyKennethGrahame,Midsummernight'sDreamandKingLearbyShakespeare,Grimm’sFairyTalesbytheBrothersGrimm,andstoriesbyHansChristianAndersen.Whatelementsfoundinthesestoriesmakethemclassics?

6.HavethestudentswriteanadaptationofKenny&theDragonasaplay,thenrewriteandmakechanges.Havethestudentsdesignandmakescenery,gathercostumesandprops,andarrangeforsoundeffectsfortheirplay.Makeavideotapeoftheplayaheadoftheperformancesostudentsmaycritiquetheirplayandmakechangesifnecessary.Performtheplayforanaudience.

7.Introducenewvocabularywordsincontexttoseeifthestudentsareabletodeterminetheirmeaning.

8.Grahamethedragonlovespoetry.Havethestudentswriteapoemdescribingthedragon.

9.Discussballadsandtheirimportanceinhistory.HavethestudentswriteaballaddescribingthebattlebetweenSt.GeorgeandGrahame.

10.Havethestudentsreadpassagesoutloudfromthestory,makingsuretheypronouncewordscorrectlyanduseappropriateexpression.

11.Discussdifferentculturalbeliefsconcerningdragons.Forinstance,inChinathedragonisrevered,whileinEnglanddragonsareconsidereddangerous,evil,andpestilent.Considerdifferentculturalbeliefs,thendiscussifdragonsexist.


12.Toenhancevocabularyretentionmakecrosswordpuzzles,wordsearches,andwordmatcheswithdefinitions.Afterthestudentsarefamiliarwiththewords,havethemusethewordsinconversationstoensuretheyunderstandthecorrectuseofthewords.


13.WriteacompositionfromKenny'spointofviewdescribingwhatitfeelsliketoknowthatoneorbothofhisbestfriendscouldbeseriouslyinjuredorkilledifthefightbetweenSt.GeorgeandGrahameisallowedtohappen.

14.DiscussthedifferentcharactertraitsofKenny,Grahame,andSt.George.Chartthedifferenttraitsforeachcharacter.Writetheresultsofthediscussionandhavethestudentsprovideprooffromthestorytobackuptheirclaims.

15.Chessplaysanimportantpartinthestory,asnotedbythechessboardinGeorge’sbookshop.researchthehistoryofchess.Understandthenecessityofplanning,organizing,andcheckingforproblems,variables,andpossibilities,thenpreparingforthem,thendiscusshowKenny’splantosavehisfriendsusedsomeofthesametechniquesaschess.

16.Trywritinganintroductiontothestorythatdoesn’tstartatthebeginningofthestory.Thisisatechniqueforlearningtoorganizeeventsinsequentialorder.

17.retellthestoryfromthepointofviewofPorky’sdad.Doesthestorychangebecauseofthepersontellingthestory?

18.Takeoneoftheillustrationsinthestory.Closelyobservetheillustrationforoneminute.removetheillustrationandtrytorecallasmanydetailsaspossible.Sharewhatisrememberedwiththeclass.Lookagainattheillustrationforanotherminutethenwriteadescriptionoftheillustrationincludingasmanydetailsaspossible.

19.Tohelpthestudentsunderstandpointofview,havetwostudentsreadoutloudasectionofthebookwhichhasaconversation.Aftertheyread,havethestudentsdescribethevoiceofthepersontheywerereading.Forexample,wasthepersonspeakinginahappy,scared,confused,frustrated,orcalmvoice?

20.Askthestudentstocomeupwithsolutionstotheproblemofadragonwhohastakenupresidenceneartheirtown.Choosetwostudentstodebatewhatshouldbedoneaboutthedragon.Makesuretheytakeopposingsidesandcansubstantiatetheirreasonsfortheirargument.

discussion guide -...

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