A Halloween Carol in the Classroom

How Teachers Can Use A Halloween Carol in the Classroom The holiday season is an excellent time to introduce students to The Legend of Decimus Croome: A Halloween Carol. It's the perfect classroom book for numerous reasons: Students will love it!! It's wonderful for numerous grade levels. In addition to the humor & spookiness, students will enjoy the word-play found throughout. It makes a great comparison novel along with A Christmas Carol. It's filled with exquisite, context-rich vocabulary. It's perfect for classroom reading/learning/literature activities. Comparative Literature: A Halloween Carol & A Christmas Carol Everyone knows the classic Christmas tale by Charles Dickens. Now, there's a contemporary Halloween version of the book that makes for wonderful comparisons that will allow students to utilize critical thinking skills as well as providing an opportunity for rich classroom discussions.  As you can see by the chart that is located to the right of this blog-post, the comparisons between these two books are plentiful. The contrasts are delightful also. Vocabulary Enrichment Through Reading All reading teachers know the importance of developing vocabulary skills in students. A Halloween Carol is filled with new vocabulary words surrounded by helpful context clues. It provides a great opportunity for teachers to present vocabulary acquisition lessons using a fun & memorable Halloween novel. Is A Halloween Carol Right for Your Classroom? Obviously The Legend of Decimus Croome: A Halloween Carol is a great read for students of all ages. It is currently ranked highly on Goodreads & Listopia for 5th & 6th graders. In fact it is near the top of the list for Books to Read to 5th Graders. But depending on how you plan to use the book, it could be just as good a book throughout middle school and well into high school. If Charles Dickens is part of your high school literature curriculum,…

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Comparing A Christmas Carol with A Halloween Carol

[two-thirds-first] BHB Compares A Christmas Carol w/ A Halloween Carol With the holiday season just around the corner, it's time to compare two of the best holiday books: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens A Halloween Carol (The Legend of Decimus Croome) by Kevin Purdy We'll take a look at everything from the authors, to the holidays, to the timeline to the characters in the novel/novella. For quick reference, take a look at the infographic on the right-hand side of this column or view it in a larger size by clicking on the infographic or viewing the Halloween infographic on Pinterest.[/two-thirds-first] [one-third][/one-third]   Comparing A Christmas Carol w/ A Halloween Carol [one-fourth-first]Novel Author Holiday Words Published Main character Main character sidekick Sick child First Ghost Country Setting Town setting Time setting Moral/theme Best line Main character catch phrase Genre Cameo appearance Divided into…[/one-fourth-first] [one-fourth]A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens Christmas Fewer than 30,000 1843 Ebenezer Scrooge Bob Cratchit &/or Mr. Fezziwig Tiny Tim Jacob Marley – dead business partner England London Late 18th – mid 19th Century Don’t be a Christmas humbug. “Marley was dead, to begin with…” “Bah, humbug.” Holiday novella Ignorance & Want Staves[/one-fourth] [one-fourth]A Halloween Carol Kevin Purdy Halloween More than 48,000 2017 Decimus Croome Black Magic Tommy Bobbich Patricia Croome – deceased wife America Timberton Mid 20th to early 21st Century Don’t be a Halloween humbug. Remember the part in our wedding vows about until death do we part? Consider this a bonus round. “Pish posh & poppycock!!” Holiday novel Apathy & Greed Chapters[/one-fourth] [one-fourth] [/one-fourth] SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave SaveSave

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