Interpreting Texts, Making Meaning: Starting Small

Content Objectives

Background Information

Roald Dahl is the author of many well-known children's books. Some that you may be familiar with are: James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Matilda. Roald Dahl also happens to be the author of my favorite children's novel The BFG, on which is the novel that this unit is centered.

Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, Wales in 1916. As a young boy, he was a lover of stories and books, especially the stories his mother told of trolls and other mythical characters. Dahl first began writing in 1942, when he would describe his version of World War II for the Saturday Night Post. He then went on to write a series of short stories for adults. ³

It wasn't until Roald Dahl became a father that he started his career as a children's author in the 1960's. Much as his mother did for him when he was a young boy, Dahl would make up bedtime stories for his daughters. He fostered many ideas from his made up tales, which is how James and the Giant Peach came into existence in 1961 ⁴. He went on to write his second book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in 1967, and many other bestselling books followed, including The BFG.

Roald Dahl had a special gift, which was being able to identify with children. He stated:

If you want to remember what it's like to live in a child's world, you've got to get down on your hands and knees and live like that for a week. You'll find you have to look up at all these giants around you who are always telling you what to do and what not to do.⁵

He understood that a child's attention needed to be captivated and said,

It's tougher to keep a child interested because a child doesn't have the concentration of an adult. The child knows the television is in the next room. It's tough to hold a child, but it's a lovely thing to try to do. ⁶

He stated that "Books shouldn't be daunting, they should be funny, exciting,

and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage." ⁷

Fairy Tales

I'm sure you know about them, I know about them, but our students may not know too much about fairy tales. I'm talking about your classic fairytales like Jack and the Beanstalk, and Goldilocks and The Three Little Bears. Fairytales are a kind of folktale or fable. Fairy tales have been retold for many years, and pass down from generation to generation. Through the reading of fairy tales, students are introduced to witches, giants, ogres, dragons, queens, princesses, elves, and a plethora of animals who are able to talk. Not only are children introduced to mythical and royal characters, they also begin to understand magic, and how enchanted objects work, such as the talking mirror in Snow White. ⁸

Fairy tales are popular among children and adults because of the lessons that they teach. According to psychologist Bruno Bettelheim and Kieran Egan, children seek meaning in their lives, and much of it comes from the impact of parenting and cultural heritage. Much of the reading material that students are exposed to in school during instructional time does not have depth or substance, which leaves little for children to connect to. Fairy tales give children a chance to connect to a text on an emotional level. The lessons learned in fairy tales help guide children through situations in everyday life. I'm sure you can relate to Goldilocks in the story Goldilocks and the Three Little Bears—that is, if you have ever been in a place that you had no business being in, or touched (and broken) some items that did not belong to you without permission. Fairy Tales help children understand right from wrong, good from evil, and how to handle the situations that life may bring. Children can identify with fairy tales because they are able to make a self to text connection between themselves and the characters. ⁹

Fairy Tales can be very helpful to teachers when teaching language arts and reading by helping to develop students' aptitude for learning and imagination. Because students are able to make self to text connections with many fairy tales, they will be actively engaged when reading. Students will be able to apply what they already know from past experiences to connect with the emotions and feelings of the characters in the text. Students will be able understand abstract oppositional concepts associated with fairy tales, and use cause and effect to organize knowledge. Students will also gain a better understanding of their cultural heritage, as well as the heritage of others. Last, students will understand that all living things have needs and problems, which will help them to understand more about themselves. ¹⁰

The Unit

Throughout this unit you and your students will be reading and discussing a lot about giants. It is good to have a little background knowledge about giants, as it will help you to discuss The BFG with your students. Giants are recognized in folktales as being a type of magical or supernatural being. Giants are usually huge in body type, and are not easy on the eyes. Most giants are portrayed in literature as crude and awkward, but often possess a great deal of wisdom. Giants are a bit greedy when it comes to eating, and at times they yearn for the flesh of humans. ¹¹

This curriculum unit will be based on the children's novel by Roald Dahl called The BFG. I chose this book because I believe Roald Dahl to be an awesome children's writer. The story of The BFG has two main characters with which students can identify immediately; Sophie, a child who gets kidnapped in the middle of the night, and The BFG, a giant, friendly as it turns out, who is judged based on what humans have read and heard about giants. When reading this novel, you will find that there are many opportunities for students to use their critical thinking, predicting, and drawing conclusions skills. There is also ample opportunity throughout this novel for teacher-student, and peer to peer discussion. You will also find that there are great prompts that can be used throughout this novel for writing. Students will have many chances to share their opinions, and express how they feel about the situations that the main characters are put in. This is an engaging novel to read at the end of the year, when you will be able to reinforce reading comprehension and writing skills that have been taught, while having fun with your students.

Roald Dahl's The BFG introduces a character by the name of Sophie, who is an orphan living in a home for girls in England. It is the "witching hour" and she is supposed to be asleep. Sophie goes to the window to close the curtains, so that the light from the moon does not disturb her, and sees something tall, black, and skinny walking down the street. Sophie is spotted by the creature, and is kidnapped and taken to Giant Country. Once in giant country, Sophie learns that there are two kinds of giants; those that devour human beings, and the Big Friendly Giant (The BFG), who is kind, warm, and gentle. Sophie and the BFG learn of the other giants' plan to eat the girls and boys that live at the orphanage in England. Sophie and the BFG come up with a plan to stop the other nine giants before it's too late. ¹²

In addition to reading The BFG, you will want to give your students some background knowledge on giants. Jack and the Beanstalk is a wonderful fairy tale, and it is referenced in The BFG. Jack is a young boy who goes to town to sell their family's cow because it would no longer produce milk. On the way to town, Jack is stopped by a gentleman who offers to trade Jack five magical beans for his cow. When Jack comes home with beans and no money, his mother becomes upset with him and throws the beans out of the window. She sends him to bed with no supper. When Jack wakes up he finds that the magical beans have sprouted into a huge beanstalk that reached into the sky. he climbs the beanstalk to find a woman giant. The giant gives Jack breakfast, but must quickly hide him when her husband awakes. Jack waits for the giant's husband to fall asleep, and makes his way down the beanstalk, but not before he steals a bag of gold. Later, Jack travels back up the beanstalk in need of more gold coins. He waits for the giant's husband to fall asleep and steals the hen that lays the golden eggs, and climbs back down the beanstalk. Still not satisfied, Jack climbs the beanstalk again. This time he takes the golden harp. Jack isn't so lucky getting away, and the giant climbs down the beanstalk after him. When Jack gets to the bottom of the beanstalk he quickly grabs an axe and chops the beanstalk down. The beanstalk and the giant come tumbling down. Jack [has] killed the giant, and he and his mother live happily ever after. ¹³ I recommend that you wait to read Jack and the Beanstalk to your students until you have read through the second chapter of The BFG, entitled "Who?", and before the thirteenth chapter, entitled "A Troggolehumper and the Fleshlumpeater".

Fin M'Coul by Tomie dePaola is an Irish legend about a good giant whose name is Fin M'Coul. Fin M'Coul is a great book to read to students before reading the BFG to introduce them to the concept of giants, and to help them compare and contrast the characteristics of good giants and bad giants. Fin M'Coul is a nice and gentle giant, who happens to be very strong. Cucullin is the strongest giant in all of the Ireland, but is not as nice as Fin. In order to prove that he is the strongest giant, Cucullin beats up every giant in Ireland except Fin M'Coul. Whenever Fin would hear that Cucullin was nearby he would run away, hoping not to be found. Fin's wife becomes tired of running from Cucullin. Knowing the secret of Cucullin's strength, she comes up with a series of events that will trick Cucullin into losing his strength. ¹⁴

Abiyoyo, by Pete Seeger, is an exciting folktale about a little boy who plays the ukulele, his father who is a magician, and a giant named Abiyoyo. The little boy and his father lived in a small village. The villagers would complain that the little boy made too much noise while playing the ukulele, and that the father played annoying magic tricks with his wand. One day the villagers got tired of the little boy's noise, and the father's magic tricks, and made them go and live on the edge of town. In this new town people told stories about a giant named Abiyoyo who eats people, but no one believed the stories. One day Abiyoyo rose and started walking towards the town, and everyone was scared. The little boy's father was confident that he could make Abiyoyo disappear if he could get him to lie down. The little boy pulled out his ukulele and started to play music for the giant. Abiyoyo danced and danced until he was tired, and fell to the ground. The little boy's father pulled out his wand and Abiyoyo disappeared. All the villagers were grateful to the little boy and his dad, and invited them to come back to live in town. ¹⁵