Unit Table of Contents

LESSON 4: USING MYTH TO CREATE FICTION

3-40 minute sessions

Materials Needed:
1. Yep novel
2. Response Journals
3. Assorted Story Maps, Character Maps and Discussion Questions
4. Monkey King (Ed Young, New York:Harper, 2001, ISBN:0060279508) or another story about the Chinese folklore character of Monkey (see Cheng-En Wu.et al The Adventures of Monkey King, Victory Press, 1989, ISBN: 0962076511 , $6.95). Both available from Primary Source Library.

1. In each of these sessions, students will discuss the reading assigned for homework. Emphasis continues on vocabulary and description.

2. At the teacher’s discretion, sheets can be handed out for mapping story and characters as well as exploring how setting effects character. These may be done in class depending on the necessity for student supervision. Good examples of story or character maps can be found in Great Graphic Organizers to Use with Any Book! (Scholastic Professional Books Inc., 1999, $16.95, ISBN:0590769901).

3. At Session 5, introduce the character of Monkey using one of the folk tales about him such as Monkey King by Ed Young. Yep introduces Monkey into his story and he continues as a character throughout the rest of the books.

4. At Session 5, teacher should collect the dragons designed by the students having prepared a suitable background (similar to the blue background of the Nine Dragon Wall ) so the dragons can be displayed.

5. At Session 6, each student will create a verbal setting, a vivid picture in words for the dragon they completed in Session 5. Setting must conform to all that they have learned about habits of Chinese dragons.

STUDENT ASSIGNMENT
CREATING A SETTING FOR YOUR DRAGON

Write a vivid description of the setting or surroundings you imagine for the dragon you created. As Laurence Yep does, use a variety of adjectives or picture words to appeal to the readers senses. When you are satisfied, make spelling and grammar corrections and copy on to the large white index card provided. Here is an example from Dragon of the Lost Sea:

“...the moss began to appear upon the trunks of the trees and even on the roots themselves, so that if we didn’t trip on the roots, we were just a s likely to slip on the slimy moss. Worse, the trees began to close in until the street became a narrow tunnel of living wood a meter wide and two meters high. I felt almost as if the forest itself were swallowing us and we were making our way down its long, twisting throat...( p.55)