Today, September 13th, is Roald Dahl Day. It is celebrated every year on his birthday. There is even a website with Roald Dahl teaching ideas! What is your favorite Roald Dahl book? What Roald Dahl books do your students seem to like?
Here is a link to Gobblefunk. It is a handwritten list of the vocabulary that Roald Dahl invented for The BFG. http://www.listsofnote.com/2012/02/gobblefunk.html
My favorite Roald Dahl book is the first one I ever heard. Denise Mavor, Open Classroom Teacher, read it to my daughter's class. Denise used wonderful character voices. You could tell she loved the book!
"Sleep has often been associated with creative insights, but its role in the process has remained unclear. A new study into the effects of napping suggests that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep may help the brain to create associations between unrelated ideas, enhancing creative problem solving." (Maria Schamis Turner of DANA Foundation, a gateway to information about the brain and brain research.) Question: Did Roald Dahl receive much REM sleep? :-) Is his unique and creative writing style a result of much REM sleep? :-) Do we need more sleep?! :-) :-) :-) Kids seem to like all his books.
I haven't read many of Roald Dahl's books but the one that has always been a favorite of mine is "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" probably because I am the world's biggest chocolate fan. Back in my elementary library days, I used to keep an M&M dispenser in the library with both plain and peanut M&Ms. I could always tell when teachers were stressed because they would come into the library for a handful of M&Ms to get them through. I can't do that in high school. I would be living in poverty keeping up with the M&M demand.
My special ed kids always liked George's Marvelous Medicine. The description of things he added to the medicine and the things it did to Granny always had them talking, and created spin-off writing activities.
I love all of his books and so do the kids. It would be hard for me to choose one as my favorite. Witches is a great Halloween time book. I remember having parents upset with the book when it first came out. They didn't think it was appropriate to be read to their 6th graders. Now teachers read it in 2nd grade without any complaints.
I love all of his books that I know. I especially love Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, James and the Giant Peach, and Witches. I read the first three when I was a kid and was fascinated. I read the last one to my kids who LOVED it.
I personally like Mr. Fox. But the kids like Danny Champion of the world, BFG, And Chocolate Factory. I loved CCF the Movie...cuz I love, love, love Johnny Depp.
Cathy! I love Johnny Depp, too! He is the most incredibly outside-the-box actor! Did you see Don Juan De Marco? I loved it! He plays a young man in a psyche ward who tells of his great lover experiences, to his psychiatrist, Marlon Brando, who gets very caught up in his stories...
My students love all the books that I have on the shelf. Many of the teachers read his books as a read aloud in class. Then, of course all the students want to check out the book their teacher is reading to them.
I like the "Witches". I have a friend who would read it to her third graders. Then she would all of the sudden be wearing gloves, closed toe shoes, and be itching her head. The kids at my school like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the BFG. The only one I personally do not like is "The Twits". I don't like Dahl's sense of humor in that one.
I do love James and the Giant Peach. I saw it performed at the Children's Theater here in Salt Lake and loved the peach flying over the audience on a guy wire! The Witches frankly scared me, both the book and the movie. I read it to my sons as a bed time story and none of us could sleep! I do get a little tired of his adult characters being so horrid, though. :)
I guess I have a weird sense of humor. I used to suggest Revolting Rhymes to students. It's like fractured fairy tales. Now my favorite is Zombie Haiku, which is not Dahl but it surprises kids.
I love them all! It is so hard to pick a favorite. The students love anyone of them that you read to them. Witches, Twits, Matilda, BFG,James and the Giant Peach, there isn't a bad one in the bunch. I also love The Vicar of Nibbleswicke, although a bit irreverent for kids.
I think everyone has convinced me to read Witches. Perhaps I can find the audiobook at Centerville Library. Love Audiobooks! I listen when I do the dishes at night.
I really enjoyed his short story "Poison" that was featured in the ninth grade textbook I used when I taught high school. The story takes place in India during British rule. A British man thinks that a very poisonous snake is under the blankets in the bed he is in. An Indian doctor is called in. After a time of figuring, a few characters, including the doctor, realize that there really isn't a snake. This upsets the man in the bed and he flings racial insults at the doctor. We learn more of the "poison" of hate than that of the threat of the snake. I thought it was an immensely clever and suspenseful story. I need to read more of his many short stories. I did also enjoy Witches.
My favorite has always been Matilda. I think kids will always love Dahl's books. There's always a little bit of naughtiness that seems to appeal even to the best of kids.
Matilda is my favorite, too. I was showing the BFG video on day over the broadcast system and the principal came in very concerned and asked what I was showing. She thought it was too violent.
Here is a link to Gobblefunk. It is a handwritten list of the vocabulary that Roald Dahl invented for The BFG. http://www.listsofnote.com/2012/02/gobblefunk.html
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Roald Dahl!!
My favorite Roald Dahl book is the first one I ever heard. Denise Mavor, Open Classroom Teacher, read it to my daughter's class. Denise used wonderful character voices. You could tell she loved the book!
ReplyDeleteWhat book was it? And when did your daughter have Denise? I have three kids who also had her as a teacher. She's wonderful.
Delete"Sleep has often been associated with creative insights, but its role in the process has remained unclear. A new study into the effects of napping suggests that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep may help the brain to create associations between unrelated ideas, enhancing creative problem solving." (Maria Schamis Turner of DANA Foundation, a gateway to information about the brain and brain research.)
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Did Roald Dahl receive much REM sleep? :-) Is his unique and creative writing style a result of much REM sleep? :-) Do we need more sleep?! :-) :-) :-) Kids seem to like all his books.
I haven't read many of Roald Dahl's books but the one that has always been a favorite of mine is "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" probably because I am the world's biggest chocolate fan. Back in my elementary library days, I used to keep an M&M dispenser in the library with both plain and peanut M&Ms. I could always tell when teachers were stressed because they would come into the library for a handful of M&Ms to get them through. I can't do that in high school. I would be living in poverty keeping up with the M&M demand.
ReplyDeleteI had chocolates in my office at West and you are right, I did go broke after awhile!
DeleteNot only do I go broke supplying treats, I eat too many of them myself. It always seems like a great idea, but then it goes bad...hmmm...
DeleteMy special ed kids always liked George's Marvelous Medicine. The description of things he added to the medicine and the things it did to Granny always had them talking, and created spin-off writing activities.
DeleteI love all of his books and so do the kids. It would be hard for me to choose one as my favorite. Witches is a great Halloween time book. I remember having parents upset with the book when it first came out. They didn't think it was appropriate to be read to their 6th graders. Now teachers read it in 2nd grade without any complaints.
ReplyDeleteI love all of his books that I know. I especially love Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, James and the Giant Peach, and Witches. I read the first three when I was a kid and was fascinated. I read the last one to my kids who LOVED it.
ReplyDeleteI personally like Mr. Fox. But the kids like Danny Champion of the world, BFG, And Chocolate Factory. I loved CCF the Movie...cuz I love, love, love Johnny Depp.
ReplyDeleteCathy! I love Johnny Depp, too! He is the most incredibly outside-the-box actor! Did you see Don Juan De Marco? I loved it! He plays a young man in a psyche ward who tells of his great lover experiences, to his psychiatrist, Marlon Brando, who gets very caught up in his stories...
DeleteMy students love all the books that I have on the shelf. Many of the teachers read his books as a read aloud in class. Then, of course all the students want to check out the book their teacher is reading to them.
ReplyDeleteI like the "Witches". I have a friend who would read it to her third graders. Then she would all of the sudden be wearing gloves, closed toe shoes, and be itching her head. The kids at my school like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the BFG. The only one I personally do not like is "The Twits". I don't like Dahl's sense of humor in that one.
ReplyDeleteI do love James and the Giant Peach. I saw it performed at the Children's Theater here in Salt Lake and loved the peach flying over the audience on a guy wire! The Witches frankly scared me, both the book and the movie. I read it to my sons as a bed time story and none of us could sleep! I do get a little tired of his adult characters being so horrid, though. :)
ReplyDeleteI guess I have a weird sense of humor. I used to suggest Revolting Rhymes to students. It's like fractured fairy tales. Now my favorite is Zombie Haiku, which is not Dahl but it surprises kids.
ReplyDeleteDahl's website is cute. I like how the sections are written as you look.
ReplyDeleteI love them all! It is so hard to pick a favorite. The students love anyone of them that you read to them. Witches, Twits, Matilda, BFG,James and the Giant Peach, there isn't a bad one in the bunch. I also love The Vicar of Nibbleswicke, although a bit irreverent for kids.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many good Dahl books but the one I like the most is Witches. It has just the right amount of scary.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone has convinced me to read Witches. Perhaps I can find the audiobook at Centerville Library. Love Audiobooks! I listen when I do the dishes at night.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed his short story "Poison" that was featured in the ninth grade textbook I used when I taught high school. The story takes place in India during British rule. A British man thinks that a very poisonous snake is under the blankets in the bed he is in. An Indian doctor is called in. After a time of figuring, a few characters, including the doctor, realize that there really isn't a snake. This upsets the man in the bed and he flings racial insults at the doctor. We learn more of the "poison" of hate than that of the threat of the snake. I thought it was an immensely clever and suspenseful story. I need to read more of his many short stories. I did also enjoy Witches.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite has always been Matilda. I think kids will always love Dahl's books. There's always a little bit of naughtiness that seems to appeal even to the best of kids.
ReplyDeleteMatilda is my favorite, too. I was showing the BFG video on day over the broadcast system and the principal came in very concerned and asked what I was showing. She thought it was too violent.
ReplyDelete