January Read Aloud

FANTASY UNIT

  5-307 & 5-309

Gregor the Overlander

By: Suzanne Collins

In the irresistible first novel by the author of The Hunger Games, a boy embarks on a dangerous quest in order to fulfill his destiny — and find his father.

When Gregor falls through a grate in the laundry room of his apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland, where spiders, rats, cockroaches coexist uneasily with humans. This world is on the brink of war, and Gregor's arrival is no accident. A prophecy foretells that Gregor has a role to play in the Underland's uncertain future. Gregor wants no part of it until he realizes it's the only way to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance. Reluctantly, Gregor embarks on a dangerous adventure that will change both him and the Underland forever.

Vocabulary:

1. arrogant
2. recourse
3. cunning
4. prudent
5. optimistic
6. eerie
7. skeptical
8. resourceful
9. reserved 

 5-310

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

By: C.S. Lewis

Air-raids over London during WWII compel four siblings — Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy — to be sent away from the city to the house of a kindly, but remote Professor "who lived in the heart of the country." There is much to discover in the country: woods, mountains, owls, eagles, maybe even hawks and snakes. But the children will soon discover that the Professor's large house, staffed by three servants, holds even more mystery. It is a house filled with unexpected places, including a room which holds nothing but a large wardrobe, which Lucy opens one rainy day, never dreaming that the wardrobe is a passageway into Narnia.

A once peaceful world inhabited by Fauns, Dwarves, Giants, and Talking Beasts, Narnia has been frozen into perpetual winter by the fiendish White Witch who rules over it. Before long, Edmund steps into the wardrobe, and, in spite of himself, into Narnia, where he has a chilling encounter with the seductive White Witch. Soon, all of the children become embroiled in an adventure that includes themes of betrayal, forgiveness, death, and rebirth.

Vocabulary:

1. manipulative
2. spiteful
3. egotistical
4. arrogant
5. impulsive
6. erratic
7. hesitant
8. optimistic
9. sympathetic
10. confident
11. courageous
12. volatile
13. sincere
14. vicious

The Skills we will be working on throughout our

 Fantasy Read Aloud include:

·       Challenges and Overcoming Obstacles (Character Changes)

·       Action and Adventure Heroes

·       Courage, Bravery, Heroism

·       Lost and Found

·       Magical symbols

·       Good Vs. Evil

·       The Quest