Текст книги "The London Eye Mystery"

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The London Eye Mystery

Teacher’s Pack

By

Gaby Frescura

CONTENTS

Introduction 3

Overview for Scheme of Work 4

Navigator 5–6

Lesson Plans 7

Assessment 39

INTRODUCTION

English teachers don’t need to be told the enormous value and pleasure of reading whole texts as class readers. Little compares with that feeling when a class are truly engaged in the reading of a really good book. Fortunately, contemporary writers of fiction for young adults continue to offer fresh opportunities to enjoy literature with students.

Oxford Rollercoastersis a series that offers teachers the opportunity of studying first-class novels as whole-class readers with Year 7, 8 and 9 students. Each set of materials has been written in response to the diverse needs of students in those year groups.

Focus on assessment of reading

Oxford Rollercoastersincludes titles with varied themes, challenging subject matter and engaging plots. For example, Noughts and Crossestakes a contemporary slant on racism, while The Boy in the Striped Pyjamasexplores the Holocaust through the eyes of a young German boy. The London Eye Mysterysets its young characters in a conundrum, which they must work together to solve and considers the world as viewed through the eyes of a child with autism.

In the latest wave of Rollercoasters, each novel is accompanied by innovative and engaging teaching materials, designed to help all students access the texts and also to reflect the National Curriculum Programmes of Study. The key concepts of competence, creativity, cultural and critical understanding are clearly addressed, and the schemes offer a wide range of cross-curricular opportunities.

The latest teaching materials are firmly based on developing reading skills, though teaching plans include approaches to literature through oral work, drama and media. Theories behind both assessment for learning and thinking skills are evident in the lesson plans.

Time-saving resources

In each on-line Teaching Pack there is a compact Overviewwhich summarizes the work scheme, identifies the specific reading skills and strategies being developed, and the resources available for each lesson.

Lesson Planssuggest particular focuses and learning outcomes, but the Word files can be adapted to suit the level of progression for each particular class. All Worksheetsand OHTscan be easily adapted for differentiation.

The Navigatoroffers a clear plot summary, identifying the stages in the structure of the novel. It is designed to help teachers adapt the pace and detail of work according to the needs of their class.

Each Teacher’s Pack contains suggested Guided reading sessionsas well as the opportunity to develop further specific group teaching.

Every set of lesson plans ends with its own student Reading Assessment Progresssheet, which can be used to identify areas for student development.

Reading Guide

Each of the novels has its own student Reading Guide – an accessible, magazine-style booklet, packed with visual, textual and activity materials to help engage students in their study of the novel. Each one features writer’s craftmaterial to enhance and enrich the students’ appreciation of the author’s skills. Original drafts and commentary from the authors of the novels provide valuable insight into the process of writing.

Ideas for wider reading and for the extension of independent reading are provided in the Pathwayssection at the end of the Reading Guide.

Oxford Rollercoastersprovides first-class teaching resources for first-class contemporary fiction. The series is designed to engage the widest possible range of students in reading for pleasure, and we feel confident that it will contribute to those memorable experiences of reading together in the secondary classroom.

OVERVIEW FOR SCHEME OF WORK

Lesson and focus

(Book pages)

Reading skills and strategies

Rollercoasters

resources

1.First impressions

(Book cover and Chapter 1)

Understand and retrieve information

Deduce and interpret information

Make predictions about a text

RG:p4

WS:1a, 1b

2.Narrative viewpoint/Language

(Chapters 2–4)

Explain and comment on writer’s use of language

Skim text in order to retrieve information and ideas

Explore idiomatic language

WS:2a, 2b

3.Building character

(Chapter 5)

Empathize with characters

Skim the text to retrieve relevant information

Make predictions about a text

RG:pp8-9

WS:3a, 3b

4.Narrative structure/

Building suspense

(Chapters 6–8)

Relate texts to their historical context

Infer and interpret ideas from the text

Scan text to identify relevant information

Speculate as to alternative outcomes in the plot

RG:p10

WS:4

5.Summarizing information

(Chapters 9–11)

Scan the text to identify relevant information

Infer information from the text about characters and events

Summarize information

WS:5a, 5b

6.Character development

(Chapters 12–15)

Infer and interpret ideas from the text

Understand how the author develops character

Develop empathy with characters

WS:6a, 6b

7.Setting

(Chapters 16–19)

Identify links between setting and plot development

Explore persuasive language and presentational devices in other media

RG:p11

WS:7a, 7b

8.Perspective

(Chapters 20–23)

Retrieve and consider ideas from the text about key themes in the story

Assess parallels and differences between characters

OHT:8

9.Plot development

(Chapters 24–32)

Plan and discuss how to relay the same story through different media

Summarize information

Make predictions about a text

RG:pp11, 12

WS:9

10.Themes/Plot pivot

(Chapters 33–37)

Retrieve and consider ideas from the text about key themes in the story

Comment on structural features

Make predictions about a text

RG:p 7

WS:10a, 10b

11.Themes/Character development

(Chapters 38–41)

Retrieve and consider ideas from the text about key themes in the story

Infer information from the text about characters and events

Develop empathy with characters

RG:p 13

WS:11

12.Review/Reflect

(Whole novel)

Express and share personal responses to the novel orally and in writing

Review learning

RG:pp4, 6, 15

OHT:12

WS:12

Progression: teachers’ choice of this text should be influenced by the degree to which the study of The London Eye Mysterywill allow a class to make appropriate progress in their knowledge and skills of reading. The London Eye Mysteryoffers students the opportunity to closely examine the use of a first-person narrator, building suspense and tension, inference and deduction, and to engage with the themes of family, citizenship, bullying, social exclusion and Asperger’s Syndrome.

Cross-curricular links: opportunities to link with PSHE, geography and citizenship.

NAVIGATOR

Chapter

Plot outline

Chapter 1

A description of Salim’s disappearance on the London Eye.

Chapter 2

A letter arrives with news that Gloria, Ted’s aunt, will be visiting London with her son, Salim. The family joke that Gloria is like a hurricane, leaving a trail of devastation in her wake.

Chapter 3

Ted is upset when he finds out that he will be sharing his bedroom during the visit with Salim.

Chapter 4

Gloria and Salim arrive and tell the family about their forthcoming move to New York. The family decide to visit the London Eye the following day.

Chapter 5

Ted and Salim talk in bed about Ted’s Asperger’s Syndrome, and both reveal they are teased at school for being different (Salim for being mixed race). Salim has overcome his troubles by befriending another boy called Marcus.

Chapter 6

The family go to the London Eye. While waiting in a long queue, a stranger offers the children a single ticket. They accept it and Salim boards the Eye without them.

Chapter 7

Kat and Ted wait for Salim to finish his ride on the Eye, but when his pod lands he isn’t in amongst the tourists coming out. Kat buys a souvenir photograph, but there is no sign of Salim, who has disappeared completely.

Chapter 8

After waiting at the Eye for a while and trying Salim’s mobile phone (which is turned off), the family report Salim’s disappearance to the police and return home to wait for news.

Chapter 9

Ted comforts Kat, who feels responsible for Salim’s disappearance. She asks Ted for his help in solving the mystery. Ted finds Salim’s camera in his jacket pocket.

Chapter 10

Ted thinks about his history with Kat as they try to decide what to do with the camera. Two police officers arrive.

Chapter 11

The police ask Kat and Ted questions and explain that they are doing everything they can to find him. They ask Aunt Gloria more questions in private and Ted and Kat feel extremely frustrated.

Chapter 12

The police ask Aunt Gloria whether Salim would run away and Ted and his father discuss it. Ted thinks about body language and how he finds it difficult to understand what people are feeling.

Chapter 13

The police ask about Salim’s father and Gloria tells them they are divorced and not on speaking terms. Once the police leave, the family are in shock. Ted’s father tells them he has finished work preparing a nearby tower block for demolition.

Chapter 14

Ted and Kat discuss Ted’s eight theories for how Salim could have disappeared from the London Eye pod. Ted comes up with another idea, but before he can tell Kat, the phone rings.

Chapter 15

The body of a young Asian boy is found and Ted’s father goes to identify it. The boy isn’t Salim.

Chapter 16

Kat and Ted test out one of his theories, which leads to a family argument. Ted and Kat go out with their father and convince him to revisit the London Eye with them to try to see things from Salim’s perspective.

Chapter 17

Ted rides the London Eye with Kat and his father and tries to imagine what Salim did the day he disappeared. Kat gets Salim’s last roll of film developed.

Chapter 18

Ted and Kat examine the photographs for clues, but find none. They look over their theories to eliminate some of them, and Ted speculates that perhaps Salim didn’t get on the Eye. Kat considers this, then insists that she saw him do so.

Chapter 19

The police return and tell the family that a boy has been spotted on CCTV boarding a train to Manchester. Salim’s father, Rashid, arrives.

Chapter 20

Ted thinks about how objects look different depending on your perspective. He overhears Salim’s parents talking, and Rashid reveals that Salim asked to live with him rather than move to New York with his mother. Aunt Gloria and Rashid kiss.

Chapter 21

Ted looks at the photographs and identifies the strange man who gave them the ticket.

Chapter 22

Kat has the photographs blown up. She and Ted try to figure out which words are written on the stranger’s shirt. They come up with ‘security’ but before Kat can get any further, there is a scream from downstairs.

Chapter 23

Aunt Gloria misses a call from Salim’s mobile phone. Kat goes out to try to solve the mystery, taking a page from the phonebook, and leaves an upset Ted behind.

Chapter 24

Ted searches the phonebook to find the page Kat has taken, and realizes the shirt said Frontline Security.

Chapter 25

A TV crew arrive to film an appeal for information by Aunt Gloria. Ted calls Frontline Security, and is directed to an employee called Christy. He leaves to find Christy and Kat himself.

Chapter 26

Ted follows Kat to Earl’s Court station on the tube.

Chapter 27

Ted goes to a motorbike show manned by Frontline Security, where he watches a bike jump and finds Kat.

Chapter 28

Ted and Kat find Christy, who denies knowing anything about Salim’s disappearance. However, Kat and Ted both conclude that the man is lying.

Chapter 29

Kat and Ted follow Christy on to a tube train and to a pub in Mile End. They wait outside and see Aunt Gloria’s TV appeal through the window of a shop, then are surprised by Christy coming up to them.

Chapter 30

Christy tells Kat and Ted he was given the ticket by a dark haired woman in the London Eye queue and asked to give it to them. He escapes on a bus before answering more questions.

Chapter 31

Ted and Kat return home to find their mother worried and angry. Kat and her mum argue.

Chapter 32

Ted gathers his thoughts and realizes how Salim disappeared.

Chapter 33

Ted tries to tell someone in his family what he has figured out, but nobody will listen to him. He calls the police inspector.

Chapter 34

The family eat dinner and Aunt Gloria is upset because she feels everyone blames her for Salim’s disappearance, because perhaps he ran away. She is about to go out and try to find him herself when the police arrive, sirens blaring.

Chapter 35

The police explain that, thanks to Ted, they know how Salim disappeared but not where he is. They also know that the boy on the train was Salim’s friend Marcus, who they have with them.

Chapter 36

Ted explains that Marcus posed as a girl getting on to the London Eye, then swapped disguises with Salim in the pod while the other tourists were having their photo taken, and that Christy is a relation of Marcus’s. This is how Salim was able to fake his disappearance.

Chapter 37

The police read out Marcus’s statement. He and Salim had planned the disappearance but Salim had changed his mind and decided to go to New York with his mum. Marcus hadn’t seen Salim since he left him at Euston station.

Chapter 38

Kat and Ted try to mentally retrace Salim’s steps from Euston and conclude he may have gone into the empty tower block and been locked in by mistake.

Chapter 39

Salim is found in the tower block.

Chapter 40

Salim asks Ted and Kat how they found him, and tells them how he got into the tower block, and about his time trapped there. He decides to move to New York with Aunt Gloria.

Chapter 41

Rashid, Salim and Aunt Gloria leave, and Ted and Kat are rewarded for their help.

LESSON 1

Focus:Cover and Chapter 1

First impressions

Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

Share impressions about the novel based on the cover and blurb

Make predictions about the genre and text

Infer and deduce information from the text

Engage

Distribute copies of the novel and Reading Guide to students and ask them to look at the cover of the novel and read the blurb at the back of the book. Then ask them to speculate what genre of fiction the book might fall into (mystery/detective/crime fiction) using evidence from the cover. (Remind them that ‘genre’ is a style of writing or art, if necessary.)

What expectations do students have of this genre? Ask them to think of books, films and television shows that they have seen and try to come up with some of the features of crime fiction. They could use the opinions on page 4 of the Reading Guide to get started.

You could also introduce students to the term ‘locked room mystery’, a sub-genre of detective fiction in which a crime is committed under impossible circumstances, typically including a scene that none of the suspects could have entered or left. Based on the evidence in the blurb, do they think The London Eye Mysterycould qualify as a locked room mystery?

Explore

Remind students that the function of a good story opening is to interest the reader and make them keep reading. Story openings can describe a character, a setting, or an event, but they will set the mood or tone for the rest of the book. Distribute WS 1a, which has the opening paragraphs from three detective stories. Ask the class to read them in turn and comment on what they learn about character, setting, event and general tone. Would they have been able to guess that these stories were all mysteries just based on their openings? What else can they infer and deduce from the extracts?

Then read Chapter 1 of The London Eye Mystery. Ask students to consider whether they think it is a successful story opening. Does it interest the reader and make them want to continue reading? What does the opening describe? What mystery is being solved? Does it appear to conform to some of the expectations they have of the mystery genre?

Transform

Remind students that a detective’s job is to gather information from witnesses and suspects and use this information to deduce how a crime was committed. To do so, they must separate facts from opinions, and as they go, they will also draw up a list of questions to answer or investigate. Explain that a reader is a little like a detective in that they are given certain clues by the writer as a story progresses, and use these clues to infer and deduce information about characters, context, etc. that allows the author to share his or her ideas with the reader. In a detective story, the reader will also use this information to unravel a mystery.

In pairs, ask students to come up with five things they can deduce from the first chapter (they should be able to back this up with textual evidence). Then ask them to come up with at least three questions that the first chapter presents, which, as a ‘reading detective’, they will need answered through the rest of the story.

This is an appropriate point to work with a guided group. WS 1bprovides guidance on the format a guided session could take.

Review and reflect

Ask students to feed back the information they have deduced as well as their lists of questions. Use these to compile a master list. Reflect with students how creating these questions in a reader’s mind builds up suspense and ‘hooks’ them into the story.

Ask the class to predict what they think might happen in the rest of the novel. They should already be able to infer from Chapter 1 that Ted solves the mystery.

Homework

Ask students to complete the exercise on page 4 of the Reading Guide, which asks them to match up famous fictional detectives with their descriptions. Students should then research one of these detectives (or another of their choice), including information about their setting, creator and most famous cases.

Worksheet 1a

Story openings

1

Between the silver ribbon of morning and the green glittering ribbon of sea, the boat touched Harwich and let loose a swarm of folk like flies, among whom the man we must follow was by no means conspicuous – nor wished to be. There was nothing notable about him, except a slight contrast between the holiday gaiety of his clothes and the official gravity of his face. His clothes included a slight, pale grey jacket, a white waistcoat, and a silver straw hat with a grey-blue ribbon. His lean face was dark by contrast, and ended in a curt black beard that looked Spanish and suggested an Elizabethan ruff. He was smoking a cigarette with the seriousness of an idler. There was nothing about him to indicate the fact that the grey jacket covered a loaded revolver, that the white waistcoat covered a police card, or that the straw hat covered one of the most powerful intellects in Europe. For this was Valentin himself, the head of the Paris police and the most famous investigator of the world; and he was coming from Brussels to London to make the greatest arrest of the century.

– From ‘The Innocence of Father Brown’ by GK Chesterton

2

Nancy Drew, an attractive girl of eighteen, was driving home along a country road in her new, dark-blue convertible. She had just delivered some legal papers for her father.

“It was sweet of Dad to give me this car for my birthday,” she thought. “And it’s fun to help him in his work.”

Her father, Carson Drew, a well-known lawyer in their home town of River Heights, frequently discussed puzzling aspects of cases with his blond, blue-eyed daughter.

Smiling, Nancy said to herself, “Dad depends on my intuition.”

An instant later she gasped in horror.

– From ‘The Secret of the Old Clock’ by Carolyn Keene

3

On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which presented more singular features than that which was associated with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. The events in question occurred in the early days of my association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even more terrible than the truth.

– From ‘The Adventure of the Speckled Band’ by Arthur Conan Doyle

Worksheet 1b

Guided reading plan: Lesson 1

Teaching intention

To consolidate inference and deduction.

To stimulate questioning as a strategy to increase engagement.

To support the students in making predictions.

Introduction

Remind students that they are only working with the information given in Chapter 1 of The London Eye Mystery. They will be acting as literary detectives, inferring and deducing information, and drawing up a list of questions raised by the opening chapter.

Strategy check

Check that students understand the terms ‘infer’ and ‘deduce’.

Check that students understand both parts of the task. First, they should write down five things they have deduced from the text. For example: Ted has ridden the London Eye before; Ted has researched information about the London Eye; Ted is precise about numbers; Salim’s disappearance is the mystery referred to in the title; Ted is the one who solves the mystery.

The second part of the task requires students to come up with three questions they have after reading the first chapter. For example: Who are Kat, Salim and Ted? How does someone vanish from a sealed pod? What does Ted mean when he says his mind ‘runs on a different operating system’? How does Ted figure out the mystery?

Check that students know how to phrase effective questions. They could use ‘5Ws +1H’: who, where, when, why, what + how.

Independent reading

Ask students to silently read Chapter 1 of The London Eye Mystery.

Return to the text

Students work in pairs to come up with their list of deductions and evidence as well as their questions. They should share these with the group when complete, and a master list of evidence and questions should be drawn up.

Review

Ask the group how confident they feel about their role as literary detectives, making inferences and designing questions as they continue to read. Do they think this strategy will be useful? Ask them to make predictions about how they believe the rest of the plot will develop.

LESSON 2

Focus:Chapters 2–4

Narrative viewpoint/Language

Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

Analyse the language used by the author to interest and entertain the reader

Skim the text to retrieve information

Identify the first person narrator

Engage

Put students into groups and hand out the card matching activity in WS 2a, where they will match up idioms with their meanings. Students should be able to complete these fairly quickly, and feed back to the class.

Remind students of the definitions of literal and figurative language, and introduce the term ‘idiom’ if they are not already familiar with it. Explain that figurative language adds richness and depth to a fiction text, while literal language is what is most often used in a non-fiction text. We all use both types of language regularly in our interactions with other people, and most of the time we are able to distinguish what kind of language is being used. Then go back to the expressions on WS 2aand ask students to imagine they were only able to understand these expressions literally. What would they believe each expression actually meant? They can create very amusing mental pictures!

Explore

Read Chapters 2–4.

Ask students whether they noticed anything about figurative and literal language in these chapters (they should have picked up that Ted is unable to understand figurative language so finds common idioms puzzling). Ask students to work in pairs and go back through the text, identifying examples of figurative language. They should use these to complete WS 2b, which also asks them to provide the figurative meaning of each expression as well as what Ted thinks it means. Some of the examples have been started for them.

Ask everyone feed back to the class.

Transform

Take students back to their role (from Lesson 1) as literary detectives. Explain that in these first chapters of the book, they have been given some clues as to Ted’s personality. He says that he ‘runs on a different operating system’. But what does this mean? In groups, ask students to find evidence in the first four chapters for the following statements:

Ted is unusually intelligent for his age.

Ted thinks clearly and notices small details.

Ted loves facts and knowledge.

Ted looks at things differently from other people.

Ted doesn’t like physical contact.

Ted finds it hard to read body language.

Review and reflect

Ask groups to feed back with the evidence they have found about Ted’s personality (they should keep this work for the next lesson). Then ask them to consider why Siobhan Dowd may have chosen to tell the story from Ted’s perspective. What does it add to the story to have him looking at things in such a logical way? Do they think it might help him solve the mystery of Salim’s disappearance? They should consider the humorous aspect to seeing things through Ted’s eyes, since his misunderstandings add richness to the story.

Also ask the class to consider Ted’s unique way of describing things. On page 20, Ted describes Salim: ‘he looked like his thoughts were not in the same place as his body’. This may not be an idiom, but is a kind of simile, and adds colour to our understanding of Salim’s character.

Homework

Ask students to think about idioms and figurative language in their everyday lives, and to listen for idiomatic expressions in conversation. They should each try to find three examples of this speech outside the classroom before the next lesson.

Worksheet 2a

Idioms

It cost an arm and a leg

It was very expensive

He’s in some hot water

He’s in trouble

It’s raining cats and dogs

It’s raining hard

He’s under the weather

He’s not feeling well

She’s buried her head in the sand

She refuses to face the truth

She let the cat out of the bag

She told the secret

I’m over the moon

I’m very happy

Let’s get the ball rolling

Let’s get things started

Worksheet 2b

Figurative language

In The London Eye Mystery , Ted has trouble understanding common idioms and figurative language. He takes everything literally, which can lead to some confusion. Look through Chapters 2–4 and write down all the examples you can find of figurative language, then complete the table with their meanings and what Ted thinks they might mean. Some of the examples have been started for you.

Example of figurative language

What it means

What Ted thinks it means

‘she was just a handful’

‘larger than life’

‘the spit of’ (the spitting image of)

exactly like

‘going off the rails’

LESSON 3

Focus:Chapter 5

Building character

Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

Understand more about non-verbal communication

Empathize with the main character

Skim the text to retrieve information

Make predictions about the text

Engage

Put students into pairs. Taking it in turns, they should try out a variety of basic facial expressions which their partner will need to identify. Allow them to do this for a few minutes before handing each student one of the cards from WS 3a. Students must now act out the expression on their card for their partners, without using any words or moving their lips.

When the exercise is complete, ask students to consider how easy they found it to communicate using only their body language. What non-verbal means did they use? Gestures? Posture? Facial expression?

Explore

Follow on from the work with body language by reminding the class that Ted has problems understanding it in The London Eye Mystery. Ask students to look again at the evidence they gathered about Ted’s character in Lesson 2. Students now know that Ted’s brain works differently to other people’s – do they have any ideas why this might be? Introduce Asperger’s Syndrome, using the fact file on WS 3b.

Read Chapter 5, where Ted talks to Salim about how his brain works and how he feels about it. Then distribute the Reading Guide, and ask students to look at the list of advantages and disadvantages of Ted’s condition on page 8. Again in pairs, ask them to discuss Ted’s syndrome. Do they think the pros outweigh the cons or vice versa? They should add to the list of advantages and disadvantages if necessary, using the evidence in Chapter 5 (for example, one disadvantage is that Ted is teased at school). Remind students that people with Asperger’s may have above-average intelligence and be gifted in some way. How does Ted hope to use his special talents?

Transform

Students will now gather the information they have about Ted’s character and his condition into a homepage for him on a social networking site. They could use the outline on page 9 of the Reading Guide to help them, or they could follow a different format if they prefer. They will need to include the following information:

Ted’s likes and dislikes

his hobbies

his friends.

Students should be creative in completing the profile. They could draw or search for images Ted may have added to his photo albums, add websites or social networking pages Ted may have ‘liked’, messages on his wall from other characters, etc.

Students could also consider what Ted might ‘tweet’ if he used a social networking facility like Twitter. They could write tweets (messages in 140 characters or fewer) from both before and during Gloria and Salim’s visit and keep their ‘feed’ updated as the novel progresses. This will allow them to further empathize with Ted, and attempt to write in the character’s ‘voice’.