Charles Dickens Archives

Book Discussion Guide & Lesson Plan

Free Classroom Book Guide for Teachers & Students The Legend of Decimus Croome: A Halloween Carol is becoming a favorite classroom book for teachers from grades 4 through 9. For younger students, it makes a great Halloween story for the whole class to read and discuss. For middle grade students it's a great resource for discussing literary elements such as character, plot, setting, alliteration, similes, metaphors, themes and much more. For older students, the book provides a great opportunity for comparing/contrasting A Halloween Carol with Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Book Talk & Literary Discussion Guide for A Halloween Carol Book groups and classroom teachers are discovering the joys of reading and discussing The Legend of Decimus Croome: A Halloween Carol. On this website, you can find The Legend of Decimus Croome discussion guide with a list of literary questions and a collection of illustrated quotes from the classic Halloween novel. Feel free to pick and choose which questions are most appropriate for your book group, student grade and teaching objectives. Most of the questions are open-ended and cover a wide range of literary and reading objectives. Below is a wonderful lesson plan for student-created comic books and graphic novels as a wonderful project to accompany your Halloween reading unit. The plan utilizes the wildly popular (and free) website Canva.com. It allows students to demonstrate their comprehension and understanding of literary elements while also allowing them to participate in a fun and multi-sensory lesson. Reading & Literature Lesson Plan for Student Comic Books TITLE OF LESSON: Making Comic Books Based on The Legend of Decimus Croome: A Halloween Carol Student Outcome: Turn a popular Halloween novel into comic book format. ACHIEVABLES ● Students will create a comic book based on a classic Halloween book using the free Canva.com website. ● Students will combine literary elements like setting,…

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September 27, 2018

A Halloween Carol / Charles Dickens / Halloween books

Compare Holiday Carol Books at a Reduced Price

A Halloween Carol Book Price Reduced by 6o% The e-book price for The Legend of Decimus Croome: A Halloween Carol was just reduced by almost 60% from $4.99 to $2.99. So now is the time to grab your copy of the best Halloween book so you can compare it to the best Christmas book, A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. Teachers and literary fans have been having a wonderful time comparing the classic holiday tales in their classrooms and at home. For Halloween, high school and middle school teachers enjoyed comparing The Legend of Decimus Croome by Kevin Purdy to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. And Now the Bad Literary News Sorry to those of you who missed out, but the historic first edition of A Halloween Carol is now out of print. For those of you who purchased the first edition and still don't realize it, there were minor errors on pages 147 and 149. The names of the two main families in the book, the Croomes and the Bobbiches, were switched one time on each of those pages. So now, that first edition is a collector's item. Let's Turn the Best Halloween Book Into the Best Halloween Movie If you haven't voted yet, be sure to get over to iPetitions to cast your vote for turning A Halloween Carol into an awesome Halloween movie. While on iPetitions, you can also vote to turn it into a Halloween graphic novel. Nothing against Hocus Pocus or The Addams Family, but it's time for a really good classic Halloween movie and kick-butt Halloween graphic novel. Halloween fans deserve a memorable Halloween movie and graphic novel.

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November 17, 2017

A Halloween Carol / Charles Dickens / Halloween books / Halloween quotes

Halloween: A Season of Giving

Embrace the Spirit of Sharing This Halloween Halloween is often viewed as a spooky, candy-filled event, but it can also be a wonderful time to focus on generosity, kindness, and community. By turning Halloween into a season of giving, you can spread joy, make connections, and turn the holiday into something more meaningful. Whether it’s sharing treats, supporting local causes, or simply being a good neighbor, there are plenty of ways to make Halloween about more than just costumes and candy. In this post, we’ll explore how you can turn this festive season into a celebration of sharing and goodwill. Here at PurdyBooks.com, we talk a lot about (surprise, surprise) books. But sometimes we also talk about other topics that are near and dear to our hearts. This article is a completely revised version of one of our very first blog posts, updated for the season. While you're here, be sure to check out the Halloween booklist hidden in this post. Is Halloween a Season of Giving for You? When it comes to Halloween, there are three types of people:Halloween Humbugs - These folks, usually adults, are real Halloween Grinches. Their attitude, in the words of the legendary Decimus Croome, are "Pish Posh & Poppycock." When it comes to trick-or-treaters, they turn off all the lights in their house/apartment and ignore the Halloween Carol pleas and knocks at their door. Or as Deimus Croome would say, "People have just grown so crotchety."Halloween Revelers - These are the people who really get into Halloween. They dress in costumes, hand out treats and truly celebrate Halloween for the fun holiday it is. Or as we learn in A Halloween Carol, "It is our costumes that reveal who we really are."Halloween Spirits - Halloween spirits go one step further than Halloween revelers. They remember the real reason for the season.…

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October 11, 2017

Read more about the article Halloween: A Season of Giving

Don't Be a Halloween Humbug

A Halloween Carol / Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens…

...Victorian Author Extraordinaire... I don't know very many people who enjoy every Charles Dickens books, but I also know very few people who don't like any Charles Dickens' books. Mr. Dickens was a prolific writer; and he was an incredibly good writer also. As one biographer after another points out, Charles Dickens changed the world... for the better. He had an absolutely amazing impact on society. He is credited with everything from prison reform to being the man who invented Christmas. Most of us know the first lines from some of his books: "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." Or we know some of his more famous characters: Ebenezer Scrooge, Oliver Twist, Little Dorrit or David Copperfield. But do we know the real Charles Dickens? Fortunately, there are a lot of books about Charles Dickens, Pinterest boards featuring Charles Dickens and even Twitter accounts that often tweet about Dickens. But despite all that, Dickens is still a bit of a mystery. ...Often Imitated, Always Admired What most people don't realize is how many Charles Dickens imitators there are out there. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Charles Dickens should be flattered right out of his grave. And most of the adapted Dickens books are pretty darned good. In fact, if you've never read any of the Revised Classics out there, you're missing a fantastic treat. After all, the imitators learned from the masters. Let's take a look at some of the Dickens rewrites out there: [one-third-first] [/one-third-first] [one-third] [/one-third] [one-third] SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave

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September 27, 2017