Volume II Number 2
October 27, 1995

image Dragon in the Clouds Study Guide

Rosemary and Don Nelson.
Toronto: Napoleon, 1994. 24pp, paper, $6.00
ISBN 0-929141-37-7.

Grade 4 - 7 / Ages 9 - 12.
Review by Irene Gordon.

NOTE: this is a follow-up to the review of Dragon in the Clouds published last month (Vol. I, No. 14), and recommended for readers in grades four to seven. Unfortunately we were unable to get the teachers' guide to our reviewer in time for the pieces to run together.

The teacher's guide to accompany Dragon in the Clouds consists of a set of questions and vocabulary for each chapter. The questions are based on Bloom's Taxonomy and the vocabulary is a list of the all the words in each chapter that students may not understand.

The manual's introduction summarizes Bloom's Taxonomy so that someone unfamiliar with it could make use of the questions. Suggestions are also given for ways to test students' knowledge of the vocabulary, and to teach and reinforce the words students do not know. These suggestions include word games, finding synonyms and antonyms, and writing paragraphs using the words.

Vocabulary found in the novel ranges from the simple to the relatively sophisticated. For example, Chapter One vocabulary words are pounced, companionship and shimmered. On the other hand, Chapter Twelve words include pungent, spasms, peered, despicable, smugly, mused, retort, scouring, assessed, bombarded, meandered, progressed, lope, and materialized.

As you would expect, questions also range from the simple to the complex within each chapter. For example, the first question for Chapter One is simply to either list the names of all the characters mentioned in the chapter or to describe the setting of the story. But the final question is:

Do you think a ten-year-old should be allowed to ride a motorbike? If so, under what circumstances? Make up 5 rules that you would insist be followed before allowing a ten-year-old to ride a motorbike.
Obviously no teacher should simply use this guide in its entirety, but it does offer some good teaching suggestions. It could save the busy teacher who wanted to use Dragon in The Clouds for a novel study much preparation time, and I would recommend Dragon in the Clouds itself as an excellent book for a novel study.

Recommended.

Irene Gordon is a teacher-librarian at Westdale Junior High in Winnipeg.

image image Copyright © 1995 the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

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