AND THE DISH RAN AWAY WITH THE SPOON TEACHER TIPS
1. Wall of Idioms
Goal: to familiarize students with idioms and their meanings; beneficial for ESL students
- attach 10 foot strip of butcher paper to a wall in the hallway (at eye level)
- outline brick wall pattern on butcher paper (each block approx. 12” by 24”)
- have students write idioms from book (or from other sources) in each block
2. Map Reading / Map Making
Goal: to teach students how to read a map
- Xerox Fork’s map and give to each student. Have students make their own rulers two miles long (use mile length on map) Have students answer questions like: "How far is Little Boy Blue’s haystack from Fork?" “Little Boy Blue’s haystack is N S E W of Fork (circle 1)”
- Have older students draw their own map (how they get to school, how they get to key places at school, the rooms in their house, their neighborhood)
3. Character Study
Goal: to have students learn more about the characters
- Have students draw their favorite character and tell why it is their favorite
- Have students make a list of all characters who speak in the book
- Have students answer questions about certain characters (Who is leader? Is Dog like her character in the rhyme or is she the opposite? Why is Cow tired? Give qualities you admire or dislike about each character. Tell which character is most like you and why. Do the characters change?)
- The Dog, Cat, and Cow all have specific roles/talents in the nursery rhyme—describe them. (Cat fiddles, Cow jumps, Dog laughs). During the course of the journey to find Dish and Spoon, each one actually uses his/her talent—how?
4. Teamwork
Goal: to have students recognize the value of teamwork
- Who is on the “team” responsible for bringing back Dish and Spoon?
- Is there one leader or do they all take turns at leading?
- Describe at least 3 times when the main characters help each other / work as a team. Which other characters in the book help them? Which try to keep them from succeeding?
5. Plot/Storyline
Goal: to have students recognize the key elements of the plot, use sequential thinking
- This is a journey or quest story--make a time line of the key places visited in the story
- Why are the characters making the journey? Does every character want to go on the journey? How might the story end if they don’t go?
- What is the main crisis? Is there a lesser crisis?
- How do the characters resolve the crisis?
- How do you know that Dish and Spoon do not want to run away again?
6. Setting
Goal: to have students identify the 2 settings of the book
- Have students describe the setting on the endpapers and title page
- What is the setting the rest of the story (hint: refer to Fork’s map?)
7. Looking for detail
Goal: to have students become more observant of subtle elements in the art and text
- Have students find the hidden forks
- Have students make a list of the objects in the wallpaper in Muffet’s house and Wolf’s house.
- Identify all nursery rhyme/fairy tale references in the book—in the text (“I can rub-a-dub-dub you down with a little seasoning . . .”), on the map and in the art (Jack’s repair shop). For reference, use a Mother Goose nursery rhyme book.
- How is Spider’s dialogue like his nursery rhyme?
- Make a list of the puns used, both in the art (a fork in the road, wolf in sheep’s clothing) and in the text (I’ll take a stab at it, get to the point) and discuss their double meanings
- On Wolf’s wall, there is a picture of Wolf as a baby and his mother. How does this foreshadow events to come?
8. Readers Theater
Goal: to have students perform and improve dramatic skills, memorization, confidence
- Assign various speaking roles (include a narrator) to students. Let students (if old enough) transcribe lines and learn them. Video their performance and/or perform for other classes, parents
9. Headline News!
Goal: to have students learn/practice journalistic reporting
- Give students a “Daily News” sheet of paper and have them fill in details news-breaking story (as if they were reporters) about the disappearance of Dish and Spoon
10. Fractured Nursery Rhymes/Fairy Tales
Goal: to enhance students’ creativity and writing skills both in poetry and prose
- Give students selected nursery rhymes/fairy tales and have them choose one and write their own endings
11. Wanted Poster
Goal: to enhance students’ artistic, creative, and writing skills
- Have each student create a Wanted Poster for the Dish or the Spoon which could include: name of wanted character, drawing, wanted for _____, description, last seen, reward
