[PDF] The Secret Garden. The Secret Garden

1 The Secret Garden The story It is 1910 and Mary Lennox lives in India. Her parents die of fever. She is sent to Englan...

The Secret Garden

The story It is 1910 and Mary Lennox lives in India. Her parents die of fever. She is sent to England to live in a large house in the country with her uncle, Mr Craven. His wife died ten years ago and he never goes out and never sees anyone. Mrs Medlock, the housekeeper, looks after the house. Martha, a housemaid, looks after Mary. When Mary explores the house she hears someone crying, but Mrs Medlock denies the fact and immediately takes Mary back to the nursery. Mary spends a lot of time outside. Martha tells her that Mrs Craven’s garden has been locked since she died, ten years ago. Mary finds a key in the soil. One day, she finds a door in a wall, overgrown with ivy. She unlocks it and discovers the ‘secret’ garden. The garden is overgrown and neglected. Mary begins to tidy up the garden. She becomes friendly with Ben, the old gardener, who looks after all the gardens of the house. Mary asks Martha for some garden tools and some seeds to plant. Martha’s brother, Dickon, brings them to her and she shows him the garden. One night, whilst in bed, Mary hears crying again and goes to investigate. She finds Colin, Mr Craven’s son, crying. Colin is ten and is very ill. He tells Mary his mother died when he was born. Mary tells him about the garden and Colin asks Mary to come and see him every day. Mary plans to take Colin to see the secret garden. Mary’s visits make Colin feel a lot better. Martha’s brother, Dickon, visits Colin one day with Mary and brings lots of tame animals with him. Colin is delighted. Mary and Dickon take Colin secretly into the garden. Colin realises it is his mother’s garden, and says he will come every day. Colin spends a lot of time in the garden with Mary and Dickon. He is determined to get well. With help, he begins to walk. Every day he gets stronger and walks better. Still heart-broken about his wife, Mr Craven travels around Europe. One day, he mysteriously begins to feel better himself. He thinks about Colin and dreams about his wife. He decides to come home again. When he gets home he hears children laughing in the garden and then Colin runs out of the door. Mr Craven can’t believe his eyes. The children show him the garden and tell him their story.

Introducing the book

l Hold

up the cover. Read the book’s title to and with the class. Ask the children what they think the story might be about. Discuss the meaning of secret with the class.

The cover

l Talk

about the picture on the front cover. Ask What do you think the story is going to be about? What do you think the door leads to?

1 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

The title page

l Ask

the children to turn to the contents page. Explain that the Contents list tells us what is in the book.

l Ask

How many chapters are there? Read the chapter titles to and with the class. Briefly explain any unfamiliar words (most will be covered in the chapter notes). Ask the children what page each chapter starts on.

l Explain l Now

that Mary is a girl and Martha is her housemaid. Ben is an old gardener. Dickon is Martha’s brother. Mary is staying at Mr Craven’s house and Colin is his son.

look together at the title page.

l Point

out that it is a classic story that has been re-told and simplified. (A classic story is one which is very good and has been popular for a long time.)

l Point

out that at the end of the book there is a poem (‘The gardener’s morning’ on page 74) and some information about how to grow a bean (beginning on page 76).

l Ask

Who wrote the original story? (There is some information about the author on page 80.) Ask Who adapted the story? (She made the story simpler and easier to read.)

l Ask

questions about each chapter title to stimulate the children’s interest, for example:

Note the ivy all around the outside of the page. Ask the children what they think each garden tool (the spade, the fork and the hoe) are used for.

l Talk

about the picture. Ask Where is the bird sitting? (on the handle of a spade) Ask What is a spade for? Describe the bird. (Note its red breast. This bird is called a robin, or sometimes called a robin redbreast.) The bird is common in England. What is behind the spade? (a wall) The wall is covered with ivy, a dark green plant that grows and spreads up walls.

Chapter 1: Where do they think Mary has come from? Chapter 2: Who are Martha and Ben? Chapter 3: Who does Mary think made the cry? Why? In which chapter is the word ‘secret’ used? In which chapter are there some animals?

The contents page

l Tell

the children to do the related activity on page 1 of their Workbook. You can play the story on the audio cassette/CD at any time you choose.

2 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

Chapter 1 Mary comes to England

Active vocabulary alone

many words begin with the prefix ‘a‘, for example awake, asleep, aboard

Pages 3 to 9

carriage

note the slightly unusual ‘iage’ ending

corridor

the ‘or’ ending is very common

frightened the ‘gh’ is silent illness

note the ‘ll’ and ‘ss’

locked

the ‘ed’ is pronounced ‘t’

nursemaid

this is a compound word: nurse + maid = nursemaid

nursery

other ‘ery’ words are: pottery, bakery, jewellery, machinery

servant

there’s an ant in this word!

stared

the ‘are’ sounds like ‘air’

stone

change the ‘st’ to ‘al’, ‘b’ and ‘ph’ to make other ‘one’ words.

the ‘g’ is a soft ‘g’ and is pronounced like ‘j’

Passive vocabulary driveway gasped gorse heather moor ponies portrait station

rustling wailing

stamped her foot

Before reading l Pre-teach

the active vocabulary (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 13 and the Glossary). Use the notes in the table to discuss any interesting features of the words.

l Ask

the children to do the activities on page 2 of their Workbook to practise the new vocabulary.

l Read

the title of Chapter 1.

3 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 3. Ask Which of the two characters is Mary? How is she dressed? How does she look? Who is the lady? How is she dressed? How does she look? Why do they both look so serious? Where are they sitting? How can you tell the characters lived in the past? Where do you think they are going? Describe the countryside that can be seen out of the window.

l Choose

whichever of the following options is most appropriate for your class: – Read the chapter again and encourage the class to read it with you. – Read the chapter again, a paragraph at a time, and ask the class (or individuals) to read each paragraph aloud after you. – Do not read again to the class. Ask groups or individuals to read the chapter aloud, a paragraph at a time.

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on pages 6 and 7. Ask What form of transport can you see? Describe the horse and carriage. Do we still see horse and carriages on the road today? Who is in the carriage? Where is the vehicle going? Describe the house. Who lives in the house? Is it a rich or poor person? Talk about the grounds surrounding the house.

l Read

(or play) the chapter again, a paragraph at a time. Explain the meaning and pronunciation of the words listed as passive vocabulary, and any other unfamiliar words.

l Discuss

how the pictures can help the reader guess the meaning of the text.

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 8. Ask Are Mary and Mrs Medlock inside or outside the house? How can you tell it is a big house? Describe what you can see. How do the girl and the lady look?

Stage 1 comprehension (literal) Ask these questions orally, or set them as a written activity. You can also ask the children to do the activity on page 3 of their Workbook.

l Optional

suggestion: you may wish to give the children an appropriate amount of time, for example five minutes, to look quickly through the chapter to find (and perhaps underline) the active vocabulary they have been introduced to.

1. What did Mrs Medlock say about the moor? 2. What strange things happened to Mary one hot morning when she woke up? 3. How old was Mary? 4. What terrible news did the man tell Mary?

During reading

5. What did the children do to Mary when she went to stay with some friends of her father’s?

l Point

out that the sequence of the events in the chapter is quite unusual. It begins with Mary on a train in England and then her thoughts flash back to her living in India and her parents dying of fever. The last part of the chapter explains how Mary came to England to live in a big house with her rich uncle, Mr Craven.

6. Where did the children say Mary was going to live? 7. How did Mary get to England? 8. Who met her? 9. Describe Mrs Medlock.

l Read

the chapter expressively to the class (or play the audio cassette/CD). Do not stop to explain anything or to ask questions. Ensure the children are following in their books.

10. What did Mrs Medlock say about a) Mary’s new home? b) Mr Craven? 11. Was the house far from the station? 4

Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

12. What was the house like?

1. Why do you think Mary asked ‘Is that the sea?’?

13. How did Mary feel when she stood in the hall of the house?

2. When all the strange things happened one hot morning a) how do you think Mary felt? b) what did Mary think?

14. What were on the walls? 15. Who was Mr Pitcher?

3. Why was the man surprised when he opened the door and saw Mary?

16. What did Mrs Medlock tell Mary not to do? l Remind

the children of the unusual sequence of events in the chapter. Ensure children understand that Mary is thinking about what has happened to her as she is travelling on the train. This is how the reader discovers about her parents and why she came to England. Discuss how sometimes we think of things that have happened to us in the past.

4. How do you think Mary felt when she heard the news about what had happened? 5. Why do you think the boys called Mary names and laughed at her? 6. What sort of things do you think Mary thought about while she was on the ship, coming to England? 7. Why did Mary think Mr Craven’s house was a ‘sad house’?

l Ask

the children to find examples of questions and exclamations in the chapter. Draw attention to their punctuation. Read each one aloud and draw attention to how your tone of voice changes.

8. How can you tell that it was a long journey from the station to the house? 9. Why do you think Mary felt ‘small and alone’ when she stood in the hall of the house?

l Ask

the children to find and read aloud examples of words containing ‘ea’; ‘oo’; ‘ar’ and ‘or’.

10. What was scary about the portraits on the wall? 11. How do you think Mary felt when she finally reached the nursery?

l There

are several words containing double consonants in them. Ask the children to find and read these words.

12. Why do you think Mr Craven did not want Mary to go in any of the other rooms in the house?

l Finally,

ask individuals to re-read short sections of the text aloud. Encourage them to read expressively and with appropriate intonation. (You might like to ask the children to play the role of particular characters and read their parts.)

Stage 2 comprehension (extra) Plot Encourage the children to understand the chronological sequence of events in this chapter by listing in order the facts they have learned. Mary lived in India with the parents. Her parents and everyone else in her house except Mary died of a mysterious illness. Mary went stay at the house of one of her father’s friends. She was told she was to come to England to live with her uncle, Mr Craven. She travelled to England on a ship.

After reading Stage 2 comprehension (extension) Ask these questions orally, or set them as a written activity for the more able. Answers will vary. Encourage the children to give reasons for their suggestions, and accept any answer they can justify. 5

Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

l Discuss

what the children can discover about Mr Craven in this chapter.

l Have

any of the class ever moved house? Discuss what it was like moving into a strange house and not knowing any people or the area. How did it feel? What did the children find difficult?

l Ask

the children to tell you the strangest thing that has ever happened to them. Ask them to recount their experiences.

l Write

some of the words from the story on the board and ‘forget’ to put in the vowels. Leave spaces for them. Ask the children to supply the missing vowels.

l Play

a rhyming game. Write these words from the chapter on the board: wife, small, sound, moor, night, cry, snake, kind, dead, house, dark, gate, coat, wall. Brainstorm as a class, and write down on the board, as many words that rhyme with each word as possible.

l Elicit

from the class anything they know about England.

l Write

these compound words on the board: staircase, driveway, everything, nursemaid, outside, housekeeper. Then read them and ask the children which two words make up each word.

l Write

the words nurse, girl and servant on the board and read them aloud. What do the class notice about the underlined letters in each word? (They make the same sound.) Write these words on the board: person, bird, purse, shirt, Saturday, desert, verse, burn, first, term, thirsty, curve, lantern, third, purple. Ask the children to read them, explain their meanings and divide them into three sets.

l If

appropriate, try some Extension Activities (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 19).

l Ask

What do you think will happen next in the story? 6

Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

Chapter 2 Martha and Ben

Active vocabulary

Pages 10 to 16

garden

‘ar’ is a very common letter pattern

gentle

the ‘g’ is a soft ‘g’ and is pronounced like ‘j’

kitchen

there’s a ‘t’ in front of ‘ch’

learn

the ‘ear’ is pronounced ‘er’

lonely

there’s a number ‘hiding’ in this word! (one)

robin

this is a compound word: rob + in = robin

secret

the stress is on the first syllable of this two-syllable word

smile

never smile at a crocodile on the River Nile!

surprised

the second ‘s’ is pronounced like a ‘z’

whistled

think of other ‘wh’ words

Passive vocabulary ivy

meddle parsnips

porridge shillings

Before reading l Pre-teach

the active vocabulary (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 13 and the Glossary). Use the notes in the table to discuss any interesting features of the words.

l Ask

the children to do the activities on page 4 of their Workbook to practise the new vocabulary.

l Ask

the class to recall what happened in the previous chapter.

l Read

the title of Chapter 2. Point out that Martha and Ben are names of people.

7 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

Stage 1 comprehension (literal)

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 11. Ask Who is the woman is who is helping Mary dress? Draw attention to the way she is dressed. (She is Martha, a servant. She is the nursemaid who looks after Mary.) Ask Describe how she and Mary are dressed. How do Mary and Martha look? What do you think they are talking about? Where are they? How can you tell the weather is cold? What other things can you see in the nursery?

Ask these questions orally, or set them as a written activity. You can also ask the children to do the activity on page 5 of their Workbook. 1. What had Martha been doing when Mary spoke to her? 2. What did Martha help Mary do? 3. What did Martha tell Mary about her family? 4. What did Mary have for breakfast?

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 14. Ask Is Mary inside or outside the house? Where is she? How is she dressed? Who is she talking to? Is he young or old? How can you tell? What do you think they are talking about? How is Ben dressed? What is he leaning on? What can you see growing in the garden? What surrounds the garden? Point out the tall walls which are covered with ivy. Ask Do you recognise the bird from the cover of the book?

5. What did Martha tell Mary to put on? 6. How long had the little garden been locked? 7. Where was the key to the little garden? 8. Who did Mary see in the kitchen garden? 9. Describe the bird that Mary saw. 10. What happened when the man whistled? 11. What sort of bird was it? 12. Why did the man say the bird was lonely?

l In

each picture showing the garden, tell the children to look for signs which tell you what season of the year it is. (As the story progresses and the time passes, remember to draw the children’s attention to the small changes that can be seen in the pictures of the garden throughout the book as things begin to grow and blossom.)

13. What was the man’s name? 14. Who did he say was his only friend? 15. Who did Ben say Mary sounded like? 16. Where did the robin fly to? 17. What sort of trees did Ben say were in the secret garden? 18. What did Ben say about the door to the secret garden?

l Optional

l Ask

the children to find examples of people speaking in the text. Draw their attention to the speech marks and discuss how they are used. Ask Which words go inside the speech marks?

During reading

l Find

and read examples of words with two syllables in them, for example window, purple, morning. As you read them out tap out or clap the syllables to help children hear them.

l Read

the chapter to and with the class. Follow the same procedure as you did for Chapter 1 (see page 4) to help the children read and understand the text. Use the audio cassette/CD, if you wish.

8 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

l Ask

the children to find and read any words containing a double consonant, for example dress, buttons. Ask Is the double consonant at the end of each word or in the middle?

8. How can you tell the old man and the robin are friends? 9. Why do you think the robin made Mary feel happy?

l Ask

the children to find and read aloud examples of verbs which end with ‘ed’ (the suffix which indicates that the verb has a ‘regular’ past tense) for example asked, pointed.

10. Why do you think Mary was lonely? 11. What do you think Ben meant about Dickon when he said, ‘even the trees and the flowers know him!’? 12. Do you think Ben was telling the truth when he said that there was a door to the locked garden ten years ago, but there wasn’t one now?

l Ask

the children to find as many adjectives as possible in the chapter and say who or what they describe, for example purple sea.

l Finally,

Stage 2 comprehension (extra) Author’s style The author is clever because she makes the reader want to find out more about the mysterious secret garden. Using the word ‘secret’ is very clever, too, because it implies not many people know about it. Ask the children to write down everything they have found out about the ‘secret’ garden so far.

l Ben

worked in the garden. He was a gardener. Notice how the ‘er’ suffix is added to give the name of a job. Add ‘er’ to these words: build, teach, sing, paint, farm, clean, report, climb, box. Ask the children what each word means and ask them to make up sentences containing them.

1. Why do you think Martha’s cheeks were red? 2. Why do you think Martha was surprised when Mary asked who would dress her? 3. How can you tell Martha’s family are poor?

l When

we change a singular noun ending in consonant + y into the plural, we change the ‘y’ to ‘i’ and add ‘es’, for example pony – ponies. Ask the children to change these nouns into the plural: spy, baby, lady, lorry, party, city, family.

4. What did Martha mean when she said to Mary, ‘The wind will put some colour in your white cheeks.’? 5. Why do you think Mr Craven locked the little garden when his wife died?

l In

the garden Mary saw parsnips and cabbages growing. Brainstorm and list as many different vegetables as possible.

6. Why do you think there wasn’t much to see in the kitchen garden in the winter? 7. Why do you think Mary calls the locked garden ‘the secret garden’?

l In

the garden Mary saw a robin. Brainstorm and list as many different birds as possible.

9 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

l The

robin cheered Mary up when she was feeling sad. Ask What sort of things cheer you up?

l Mary

wanted a pet. Ask Do any of you have any pets at home? Ask them to tell the rest of the class about them.

l Mary

and Ben were both lonely. Ask What sort of things make a person lonely? What can we do if we know someone is lonely?

l Various

relatives are mentioned in the chapter, for example father, mother, wife, sisters, uncle. List as many other relatives as possible and say whether each is masculine or feminine.

l Ask

Are you any good at keeping secrets?

l If

appropriate, try some Extension Activities (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 19).

l Ask

What do you think will happen next in the story?

10 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

Chapter 3 A cry in the night

Active vocabulary

Pages 17 to 23

branch

other words containing ‘nch’ are: bunch, lunch, punch, pinch, launch

breakfast

the ‘ea’ is pronounced like a short ‘e’

different

the first ‘e’ is often incorrectly left out by some children when spelling this word

interested

there is an ‘er’ in this word and in different

library

tap out the syllables in this threesyllable word as you say it

nonsense

the prefix ‘non’ means ‘no’ in this word

reminded

the prefix ‘re’ is fairly common

seat

change the ‘s’ to ‘b’, ‘h’, ‘ch’, ‘m’, ‘tr’, ‘wh’ to make some new words

sobbed

note the ‘bb’

wandered

the ‘an’ is pronounced ‘on’

weather

change the ‘w’ to ‘f’ to get part of a bird!

Passive vocabulary cub

feel sorry for

ivory

knit lace

marching

maze mist

silk

velvet

Before reading l Pre-teach

the active vocabulary (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 13 and the Glossary). Use the notes in the table to discuss any interesting features of the words.

l Ask

the children to do the activities on page 6 of their Workbook to practise the new vocabulary.

l Ask

the class to recall what happened in the previous chapter.

l Read

the title of Chapter 3. Ask What do you think the chapter is going to be about?

11 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 19. Ask Why do you think Mary has come out of the nursery? Where do they think she is going?

5. What did Martha say when Mary heard someone crying? 6. What did Dickon call a) the fox cub? b) the young crow?

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 20. Ask What is Mary looking at? Where is the mouse? Is Mary frightened of the mouse? Is she in the nursery? Whose room do you think she is in? Ask them to describe everything they can see in the room.

7. How many books did Martha say were in Mr Craven’s library? 8. When did Mary go out of the nursery and explore the house? 9. How long did she wander through the house? 10. What did Mary find in the lady’s sitting room?

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 22. Mary is back in the nursery. Ask Why do you think she is crying? How do you think she got back to the nursery?

11. Why did Mary get lost on her way back to the nursery? 12. What noise did she hear?

l Optional

13. Who came marching towards her? 14. How did Mrs Medlock look? 15. What did Mrs Medlock say when Mary told her she had heard someone crying? 16. What did Mrs Medlock do when they reached the nursery?

During reading

17. What did Mary do after Mrs Medlock slammed the door?

l Read

the chapter to and with the class. Follow the same procedure as you did for Chapter 1 (see page 4) to help the children read and understand the text. Use the audio cassette/CD, if you wish.

l Ask

the children to find some commas in the text. Check that the children know that they tell the reader to pause briefly, to help you make more sense of the sentence. Read a few sentences again to demonstrate.

Stage 1 comprehension (literal) Ask these questions orally, or set them as a written activity. You can also ask the children to do the activity on page 7 of their Workbook.

l There

are several examples of compound sentences in the text which are joined using the conjunction ‘and’, for example Every morning, she woke and (she) watched Martha lighting the fire. Find and read some of these sentences and discuss how they work. For example, the two sentences Every morning, she woke and (she) watched Martha lighting the fire. become one long sentence: Every morning, she woke, and (she) watched Martha lighting the fire.

1. What was the first thing Mary watched Martha do every morning? 2. What happened when Mrs Craven was sitting on a low branch of a tree in her garden? 3. When did Mr Craven lock her garden? 4. When Mary heard about how Mrs Craven died how did she feel? 12

Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

l Find

some irregular past tenses in the text, for example woke, ate, went. Discuss how regular past tenses like watched are formed by adding ‘ed’, whereas irregular past tenses do not follow this rule.

7. Did Mary really go to look for the library or go to explore the house? 8. How can we tell it was a big house on page 21? 9. How do you think Mary felt when she tried a door – and it opened?

l Look

for ‘time marker’ words or phrases in the text and discuss how they indicate the passing of time in the story, for example every morning, then, One day.

10. How do you think Mary felt when she heard someone crying again? 11. Why do you think Mrs Medlock had so many keys?

l Ask

the children to find and read any words of more than six letters in the chapter. Decide how many syllables each word contains.

12. Why do you think Mrs Medlock looked cross? 13. Why do you think Mrs Medlock said ‘Nonsense!’ when Mary told her she had heard someone crying?

l Finally,

14. How can you tell Mrs Medlock was still cross with Mary when they reached the nursery? 15. What made Mary ‘white with anger’?

After reading

Stage 2 comprehension (extra)

Stage 2 comprehension (extension)

Characterisation We can learn a lot more about Mary in this chapter. Ask the children to write down five more facts they have learned about her by reading Chapter 3.

Ask these questions orally, or set them as a written activity for the more able. Answers will vary. Encourage the children to give reasons for their suggestions, and accept any answer they can justify.

l Mary

went looking around the house to see what she could find. Write the word branch on the board. Ask the children which small word is ‘hidden’ inside it? (ran) Write these words on the board and look for smaller words inside each word: breakfast, watched, pink, stared, listened, blowing, started, cottage, weather, thousands, interested, covered.

1. Why do you think Mary ate a little more breakfast every day? 2. Why do you think Mary wanted to go into the secret garden so much? 3. Why do you think Mr Craven locked the garden after his wife’s death?

l Write

the words strange and cottage on the board and read them aloud. Point out that the ‘g’ sounds like ‘j’. We call this a soft ‘g’. Ask the class to complete these words with a soft ‘g’ and read the words they make: _entle, en_ine, ima_ine, ma_ic, emer_ency, chan_e, _iant, _ym.

4. What do you think this tells you about Mary: ‘For the first time in her life, she felt sorry for someone.’? 5. Why do you think Martha said it was the wind, when Mary heard someone crying? 6. What can you discover about Dickon’s love of animals on page 18?

13 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

l Write

the words hop and hopped, slam and slammed and sob and sobbed on the board. Ask the children to say what happens to the spelling of the past tense of the verb when ‘ed’ is added. (The final consonant is doubled.) Tell the children that this happens with all single syllable regular verbs which end with a short vowel and consonant. Write these verbs on the board and ask the children to add the ‘ed’ suffix and write their past tenses: hum, hug, zip, tap, beg, tip, stop, shop, jog, rob.

l Mary

said she couldn’t knit or sew, but she could read. Write verbs on the board and ask the children which they can and cannot do, for example play a musical instrument, whistle, stand on their heads, skip, climb a tree, hop, catch a ball with one hand, ride a bike, ride a scooter, drive a car, dance, dive, fly a kite, make a cup of tea, pick up a spider, run backwards, skate, snore, speak French.

l Ask

the children to tell you the sorts of things that make them sad.

l Mary

was really curious about the secret garden, about all the locked rooms, about who was crying. Ask What are you curious to know? What would you really like to do?

l Dickon

found a fox cub. Ask the children to name any other animal young they can.

l Ask

Have you ever been lost? Ask them to share their experiences.

l If

appropriate, try some Extension Activities (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 19).

l Ask

What do you think will happen next in the story?

14 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

Chapter 4 The secret garden

Active vocabulary

Pages 24 to 30

cottage

‘cottage’ and ‘village’ both end with ‘age’

village

see note above on ‘cottage’

handle

‘le’ is a common word ending

metal

‘al’ sounds like the ‘le’ ending but is less common

pocket

there’s a ‘ck’ in the middle

practise

as a verb the word ends in ‘ise’ and as a noun it ends in ‘ice’

present

the ‘s’ sounds like ‘z’

ready

The ‘read’ in ‘ready’ sounds like ‘red’

remember

note the multiple letters – 3 ‘e’s, 2 ‘r’s, 2 ‘m’s

soil

Change the ‘s’ to ‘b’ and make a ‘hot’ word!

stretched

Note the ‘tch’

Passive vocabulary damp

gust of wind

hunts

rusty

shoots (noun)

skipping rope

still tangled weeds worms

Before reading l Pre-teach

the active vocabulary (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 13 and the Glossary). Use the notes in the table to discuss any interesting features of the words.

l Ask

the children to do the activities on page 8 of their Workbook to practise the new vocabulary.

l Ask

the class to recall what happened in the previous chapter.

l Read

the title of Chapter 4. Ask What do you think the chapter is going to be about?

15 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 25. Ask What has Mary found on the ground? What key do you think it is? Point out the robin nearby. Ask Do you think the robin had anything to do with Mary finding the key?

3. What time of the year was it? 4. What did Ben say Mary would soon see coming up from the ground? 5. What appeared in the garden with the ‘rustling of wings’?

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 27. Ask Where is Mary? Who is she talking to? What do you think they are talking about? What is Ben doing? What is Mary doing? Does she look happy? Point out that she is no longer wearing a coat. Say Perhaps the weather is getting warmer?

6. Then the robin hopped about on a flower __________. 7. He hopped up to a little __________ in the ___________. 8. What did Mary see sticking up from the hole? 9. What did Mary do with the key?

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 29. Mary is opening a door in the garden wall. Ask What did she open it with? What do you think it leads to? (Point out that it is nearly covered with ivy and would be quite difficult to see.) Ask What do you think Mary is thinking? How is she feeling?

10. What key did Mary think it was? 11. What did Martha tell Mary about her day at the cottage where her family lived? 12. What present did Martha’s mother send for Mary? 13. How many times did Martha skip?

l Optional

suggestion: You may wish to give the children an appropriate amount of time, for example five minutes, to look quickly through the chapter to find (and perhaps underline) the active vocabulary they have been introduced to.

14. Why did Martha’s mother say that skipping would be good for Mary? 15. Where did Mary go with the skipping rope? 16. What was in the garden with Ben? 17. What happened when a gust of wind blew the ivy on the garden wall?

During reading

18. Did the key fit the lock?

l Read

the chapter to and with the class. Follow the same procedure as you did for Chapter 1 (see page 4) to help the children read and understand the text. Use the audio cassette/CD, if you wish.

19. Mary stepped into the ___________ ____________. 20. Was it noisy in the secret garden? 21. Where did the path in the garden go? 22. Why didn’t the green shoots in the garden have room to grow?

Stage 1 comprehension (literal) Ask these questions orally, or set them as a written activity. You can also ask the children to do the activity on page 9 of their Workbook.

23. Did Mary tell Martha about the secret garden at lunch-time? 24. Mary told her that she wished she had two things. What were they?

1. What was the weather like in the morning?

25. What did the little shop in the village sell?

2. When did Mary go to see Ben in the kitchen garden?

26. Who often went to the shop?

16 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

27. Martha told Mary to write a _________ to __________ to ask him to get the spade and seeds.

4. Why do you think the robin was hopping about in a flower bed? Was he really looking for worms?

28. What else did Mary put in the envelope with the letter?

5. How can you tell Mary was surprised and excited when she found the key? 6. Do you think Martha’s family is a happy family?

l Ask

the children to find all the pronouns in the chapter and say who each pronoun refers to.

7. Why do you think Martha’s mother is worried about Mary?

l Read

some of the sentences from the chapter but ‘forget’ the verbs. This will demonstrate how important verbs are to the meaning of the sentences. Ask the children to supply the missing verbs.

8. How do you know Martha was quite poor? 9. Did Mary enjoy learning to skip? 10. What made Mary’s cheeks go red? 11. Do you think the robin wanted Mary to find the key and find the door to the secret garden?

l Ask

the class to look through the text and to find and read some words with two vowels coming next to each other, for example seeds, rain, deep.

12. How do you think Mary felt when she saw the door in the wall under the ivy?

l Finally,

13. Why do you think the robin stopped singing in the secret garden? 14. Why do you think the garden was tangled and overgrown? 15. How did Mary know the long grey stems were rose plants?

After reading

16. Mary ‘set to work’ in the garden. What do you think this means?

Stage 2 comprehension (extension)

17. Why do you think Mary didn’t tell Martha about the secret garden?

18. Why do you think Martha thought it was a good idea for Mary to do some digging and plant some seeds? 19. Why do you think Martha suggested that Dickon got the things for Mary? Why didn’t she get them?

1. How did Ben say you could tell spring was coming? 2. Why do you think Ben told Mary that the robin ‘wants to know all about you’?

20. How do you know that Dickon could read?

3. Why was having new friends a ‘new idea’ for Mary?

17 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

Stage 2 comprehension (extra)

l Play

Setting At last Mary has discovered the secret garden! Ask the children to write a paragraph and say what they know about the garden. Ask Whose garden was it? Why was it locked? How long had it been locked? Who buried the key to the door? How did Mary find it? Where was the door to the garden? How did Mary find it? What was the garden like when Mary first saw it?

l Why

Hide and Seek. Send a child outside the room and hide a key somewhere in the classroom. Invite the child back in and ask him or her to find the key. The class can encourage the child as he/she looks for the key. If he/she walks awy from it the class call out ‘You’re getting cold.’ If he/she walks towards where it is hidden the class call out ‘You’re getting warmer!’ not have a skipping contest and see who can skip the most times?

l Play

Opposites. Write these words from the story on the board: stopped, outside, up, remember, new, near, damp, find, morning, nice, strong, bright, heavy, locked, long, slowly, good, sell. Divide the class into two halves. Ask the children to give the opposite of each word, one at a time. Award a point for each correct answer. The team with most points wins.

l Ask

What is the most exciting present you have ever received?

l In

the secret garden the names of three flowers were mentioned: roses, snowdrops and daffodils. Brainstorm and list the names of any other flowers the children know.

l If

appropriate, try some Extension Activities (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 19).

l Write

the word elephant on the board, say it and and underline the ‘ph’ in it. Write these words on the board: __one; dol__in; __otogra__; al__abet; ne__ew; paragra__. Ask the children to complete each word with ‘ph’ and read the words they make. Ask them to make up some sentences and use the words correctly.

l Ask

What do you think will happen next in the story?

l Write

the word soil on the board and ask the children to read it aloud. Now write these ‘oi’ words on the board and ask the children what the common letter pattern and sound is in each word: boil, join, coin, point, voice, noise, toilet. Encourage the children to explain the meaning of each.

l Ask

Which two animals have a ‘key’ hidden in their names? (donkey and monkey!)

18 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

Chapter 5 Dickon

Active vocabulary

bulb

note the two ‘b’s in this word

Pages 31 to 37

impossible

‘possible’ is made the opposite by adding the prefix ‘im’

package

this word ends in ‘age’ (like cottage and village in Chapter 4)

plant

there’s an ‘ant’ in this word!

amazement the verb ‘amaze’ is turned into a noun by adding the suffix ‘ment’

seed seeds don’t grow well if there are a lot of weeds in the soil! spade

change the ‘sp’ to ‘m’ to make a word that rhymes

squirrel

‘q’ is always followed by ‘u’

string

other words starting with ‘str’ are: strong, stretch, straight, stream, strike

tool

add ‘s’ to the beginning and get something you sit on!

Passive vocabulary bud chirped crocuses daffodils hoe

patch

pipe rake snowdrops trowel twittered weeded

Before reading l Pre-teach

the active vocabulary (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 13 and the Glossary). Use the notes in the table to discuss any interesting features of the words.

l Ask

the children to do the activities on page 10 of their Workbook to practise the new vocabulary.

l Ask

the class to recall what happened in the previous chapter.

l Read

the title of Chapter 5. Ask What do you think the chapter is going to be about?

19 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

Stage 1 comprehension (literal)

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 32. Ask Who do you think the boy in the picture is? Can you describe him? What is he holding in his hand? (a flute or pipe) What animals can you see in the picture? Where are Mary and Dickon? What are they both sitting on? What do you think they are talking about? (Note the bag of garden tools and the packets of seeds near Mary. Remind the children that Mary wrote a letter and asked Dickon to buy these for her.)

Ask these questions orally, or set them as a written activity. You can also ask the children to do the activity on page 11 of their Workbook. 1. How often did Mary work in the secret garden? 2. What sort of flowers did Ben suggest Mary should plant? 3. How can you tell if a rose plant is alive? 4. What did Mary hear in the wood?

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 35. Dickon is looking closely at some plants in the secret garden and pointing out the green buds to Mary, showing that the plant is alive and growing. Draw children’s attention to this. Ask Does Mary look happy, interested? Note that she has taken her bag of tools into the secret garden. What do the children think she is going to do with them?

5. Who was playing the pipe? 6. Why did the boy tell Mary to stand still? 7. What did Dickon bring for Mary? 8. How did Dickon talk to the robin? 9. What did Dickon say when he first went into the secret garden? 10. What did Dickon say would be up in the grey branches in the spring?

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 36. Ask What is Dickon doing? Do you think Dickon and Mary are becoming friends? Why? Ask the children to identify each garden tool and to say what they think the purpose is of each one.

11. What did Dickon show Mary on one of the lower branches? 12. What did Dickon notice? 13. Mary said she had five friends. Who were they?

l Optional

14. How did Dickon know that someone else had been in the garden? 15. Why did Mary think this was impossible? 16. What did Dickon have for his lunch? l Point

During reading

out the use of commas

– to separate sentence tags in some sentences, for example Yes, I did (on page 33)

l Read

the chapter to and with the class. Follow the same procedure as you did for Chapter 1 (see page 4) to help the children read and understand the text. Use the audio cassette/CD, if you wish.

– to separate items in a list (see the list of tools on page 33) – to separate sentences into manageable chunks for reading (see the last sentence in the first paragraph on page 31).

20 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

l Ask

6. How can you tell Mary loves the secret garden?

l Find

7. Why do you think Dickon was amazed when he first saw the secret garden?

How many question and exclamation marks can you find? and point out examples of pronouns in the text. Ask the children who each pronoun refers to.

8. Why did Dickon think the trees in the garden were a good place for birds to build their nests?

l Find

some examples of regular past tenses in the chapter, for example worked. Point out that these are made by adding ‘ed’ to the verb. Now find some examples of irregular past tenses, for example saw. Consider how the spelling of these has changed in the past tense.

9. Why do you think Dickon laughed when he noticed the patch of ground that Mary had weeded? 10. Why do you think gardening was good for Mary?

l Ask

the children to find and read two-syllable and three-syllable words.

11. How do you know Dickon was keen to look after the secret garden?

l Finally,

12. Why do you think Dickon scratched his head? 13. Do you think someone else had been in the garden? Who could it have been? How could they have got in? 14. Why didn’t Mary want Dickon to tell anyone about the secret garden? Do you think Dickon will keep the secret?

After reading Stage 2 comprehension (extension)

Stage 2 comprehension (extra)

Characterisation Brainstorm and ask the children what they know about Dickon from previous chapters. Discuss what the reader can find out about him in this chapter. Ask How do we know he loves animals? How can we tell he knows a lot about plants? Is he musical? In what ways does he show kindness to Mary? Ask the children to write their own paragraph about Dickon.

1. What did the green shoots coming up through the soil mean? 2. Do you think Mary was surprised to hear the sound of a pipe in the woods? 3. Do you think Mary was excited as she untied the package Dickon gave her? 4. Do you think Dickon could really understand animals and talk to them? 5. How can you tell Dickon is kind and thoughtful?

21 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

l Write

the words grow (long ‘ow’ sound) and how (short ‘ow’ sound) on the board and ask the children to read them. Note the difference in pronunciation of the ‘ow’ sound. Write these words on the board: l___, h___, thr___, sh___, c___, arr___, cr___d, yell___, all___. Ask the children to complete each of these words with ‘ow’ and decide whether the ‘ow’ sound is long or short.

l Ask

What would it be like if we could all talk to animals! How would different animals speak? Have any of the children seen the Dr. Doolittle film or read about him? (He has the ability to talk to animals.)

l Mary

and Dickon planted seeds to grow. At the back of the book, from page 76 onwards, there is a section which explains how to grow beans in class or at home. Why not do this now and watch the beans grow as you continue to read the story?

l Write

the word untied on the board. Point out that it begins with the prefix ‘un’. Discuss how adding the prefix to the word changes its meaning to the oppsoite, for example tied – untied. Write these words on the board: well, fair, pack, cover, do, wrap, lock. Add ‘un’ to each word to make the opposite:

l If

appropriate, try some Extension Activities (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 19).

l Ask

What do you think will happen next in the story?

l Write

the word package on the board and read it aloud. Ask the children to complete each of these words with ‘age’, to read them and to say what each means: c____, st____, p____, cott____, cabb____, post____, bagg____.

l We

can often tell what a person wants us to do by the hand gestures they make. Dickon held up his hand to tell Mary to stop. Try out the following gestures with different children in the class. Point to one individual at a time and signal for them to stand up, sit down, come to the front, read a book, be quiet, go to sleep, open the door, put their chair on the desk etc.

l Ask

Can you play a musical instrument? Ask some children to tell the others about the musical instrument they play. Brainstorm and ask the class to list as many different instruments as they can. Divide them into categories, for example stringed instruments, those you blow, those you bang or hit etc.

22 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

Chapter 6 Colin

Active vocabulary

Pages 38 to 44

candle

rhymes with handle (from Chapter 4)

cousin

the ‘ou’ sounds like a short ‘u’ (as in up)

curtain

other words containing ‘ur’ are: nurse, burn, curve, burglar, Thursday

earth

the ‘ear’ is pronounced ‘er’

enormous

the ‘ous’ is pronounced ‘us’

evening

this two-syllable word is pronounced eve/ning

handsome

this is a compound word: hand + some = handsome

journey

the ‘our’ is pronounced ‘er’

puzzled

‘zz’ is quite unusual

shocked

the ‘ed’ suffix is pronounced ‘t’

shy

change the ‘sh’ to ‘wh’, ‘tr’, ‘fl’ to make some new words

storm

other words containing ‘or’ are: fork, short, thorn, morning, corner, important

whispered

other words starting with ‘wh’ are: wheel, whisk, wheat, whale, whisker, whistle

Passive vocabulary carved cord crooked flicker

glimmer hearth

howl lashes raindrops shawl splash stiff tiptoed

Before reading l Pre-teach

the active vocabulary (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 13 and the Glossary). Use the notes in the table to discuss any interesting features of the words.

l Ask

the children to do the activities on page 12 of their Workbook to practise the new vocabulary.

23 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

During reading

l Ask

the class to recall what happened in the previous chapter.

l Read

the chapter to and with the class. Follow the same procedure as you did for Chapter 1 (see page 4) to help the children read and understand the text. Use the audio cassette/CD, if you wish.

l Read

the title of Chapter 6. Ask Who do you think Colin is?

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 39. Ask Who do you think Mary is talking to? (It is her uncle, Mr Craven.) Does he look a happy man? Describe how he looks and how he is dressed. Ask Does he look friendly? Does Mary look very comfortable? Point out how she is standing, arms in front of her and head slightly bowed. Point out too, that she is standing, whilst Mr Craven is sitting. Ask Does Mr Craven’s chair look comfortable? Describe the room and all the things you can see in it. Point out that there is a fire burning in the fireplace, indicating that the weather outside is not warm. Ask What do you think Mr Craven is saying to Mary?

Stage 1 comprehension (literal) Ask these questions orally, or set them as a written activity. You can also ask the children to do the activity on page 13 of their Workbook. 1. Who told Mr Craven all about Mary? 2. When did Mr Craven want to see Mary? 3. What was Mr Craven doing tomorrow? 4. How was Mrs Medlock dressed when she came in? 5. Where was Mr Craven sitting?

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 43. Ask Where is Mary now? Who do you think the boy in the bed is? Remind the children of the title of the chapter. (It is Colin, Mr Craven’s son.) Ask Does he look well? Does he look happy? How do you think Mary got to his room? Why do you think she is in his room? What time of day do you think it is? What do you think Mary and Colin are talking about? Can you describe all the things you can see in the room? What do you think is behind the pink curtain on the wall to the right of the fireplace?

6. Describe how he looked. 7. How did Mary feel when she met Mr Craven? 8. Why did Mary say she didn’t want a nursemaid? 9. What did Mary ask Mr Craven for? 10. How long did Mr Craven say he would be away? 11. What woke Mary up that night? 12. What noise did she hear that made her sit up in bed? 13. What happened when she tiptoed down the corridor?

l Optional

suggestion: you may wish to give the children an appropriate amount of time, for example two minutes, to look quickly through the chapter to find (and perhaps underline) the active vocabulary they have been introduced to.

14. What did Mary see underneath the closed door? 15. Describe the boy who was crying in the room. 16. Was the boy frightened when he saw Mary? 17. What was the boy’s name? 18. Who was he? 19. How were he and Mary related? 20. Why did Colin say he was crying? 24

Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

21. Colin said, ‘I am very ______.’ 22. How old was Colin?

2. Why do you think Mrs Medlock was wearing her best black dress and cap?

23. Why didn’t Mary want Colin to tell anyone about the garden?

3. Why do you think Mary felt ‘stiff and shy’ when she met Mr Craven?

24. What was behind the pink curtain?

4. Why do you think Mr Craven looked very sad?

25. Colin said he wanted Mary to come and see him ___________ day.

5. Who do you think Mary reminded Mr Craven of?

26. Did Martha know about Colin?

6. Why do you think Mary could not get back to sleep after she woke up?

27. How did Mary help Colin go to sleep? l Find

examples of dialogue in the text. Discuss the use of speech marks. In each case, ask the children what the exact words were that were spoken by the person. Note that these are the words that go inside the speech marks.

7. How do you think Mary felt when she tiptoed down the dark corridor with a candle? 8. How did Mary know there was someone in the room behind the closed door? 9. Why do you think the boy was frightened when he saw Mary?

l Ask

the children to find and read any words containing ‘ch’, ‘sh’, ‘th’ or ‘wh’.

10. Why was Mary shocked when Colin told her who he was?

l Ask

the children to turn to page 40. Ask them to find a word that rhymes with: day (may); mad (sad); mind (kind); well (bell); poor (moor); deep (sleep); same (flame); turning (burning).

11. How did Mary make Colin believe that she wasn’t a dream? 12. Why do you think no one told Colin about Mary? 13. How can you tell that Colin liked the idea of having a secret?

l Finally,

14. Why do you think Colin kept the portrait of his mother covered? 15. How can you tell Colin liked Mary?

Stage 2 comprehension (extra)

After reading

Author’s use of language The author uses some interesting verbs in the chapter. Write these verbs on the board: marched, splashing, howled, whispered, tiptoed, flickered, locked, buried, cried, plant. Find them in the chapter and read the sentences which contain them. Ask the children to explain their meanings. Ask the children to pick their favourite five verbs and write their own sentences containing them.

Stage 2 comprehension (extension) Ask these questions orally, or set them as a written activity for the more able. Answers will vary. Encourage the children to give reasons for their suggestions, and accept any answer they can justify. 1. Why do you think Mr Craven wanted to see Mary?

25 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

l Write

the word cry on the board. What sound does the ‘y’ make in it? (‘igh’) Now write the word Mary on the board. What sound does the ‘y’ make in this word? (‘ee’) Now write these words on the board and ask the children to read them: my, lady, by, baby, try, cry, only, lorry, sky, sunny, noisy, reply, dry, really. Ask them to decide whether the ‘y’ sounds like ‘igh’ or ‘ee’.

l Have

some fun playing a word game. Write the word cap on the board. The rules are simple – you can change any one letter at a time to make another word, for example cap – cup – cut – cat – bat – fat – fit etc. See how long the class can keep the word ‘chain’ going and making different words.

l Ask

the children to recount the worst illnesses that they have had.

l Mary

heard a crying noise at night. Play one of these games:

l If

appropriate, try some Extension Activities (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 19).

– Do you know this sound? game A. If possible, record some everyday sounds, for example a car, a mobile phone, children talking. Play them to the class and ask them to identify each.

l Ask

What do you think will happen next in the story?

– Do you know this sound? game B. Ask the children to shut their eyes and make different sounds, for example closing a book, shutting the door, writing on the board, tapping your desk. Ask the class to identify each sound. – How many sounds can you hear? Ask the children to close their eyes and listen to all the sounds around them for a minute. See who can remember the most sounds. – What noise do they make? Name different animals and ask the children to say what sound each one makes. l Write

these pairs of hom*ophones on the board: sea, see; here, hear; moor, more; hour, our; hair, hare; son, sun; nose knows. Ask the children to read them and explain the difference between them. Make up sentences containing each word.

l Write

the word candle on the board and read it aloud. Brainstorm and write any other words the children can suggest that end with ‘le’.

26 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

Chapter 7 Colin and Mary

Active vocabulary

Pages 45 to 51

agree

other words that end in ‘ee’ are: see, tree, three

bad- tempered

a hyphen joins the two words together

cheerful

this really means ‘full of cheer’ (happiness)

frowned

the words ‘row’ and ‘own’ are ‘hiding’ in this word

medicine

the ‘c’ is a soft ‘c’ and is pronounced ‘s’

pale

change the ‘p’ into ‘m’ and make the word into a man!

pleased

how many other ‘pl’ words can you think of?

selfish

take off the ‘sel’ and you are left with a word that can swim!

trouble

the ‘ou’ is pronounced like a short ‘u’ (as in cousins in Chapter 6)

trust

begins and ends with the same letter

underneath how many other words ending in ‘th’ can you think of?

Passive vocabulary badger

glared soot

thundered twig

Before reading l Pre-teach

the active vocabulary (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 13 and the Glossary). Use the notes in the table to discuss any interesting features of the words.

l Ask

the children to do the activities on page 14 of their Workbook to practise the new vocabulary.

l Ask

the class to recall what happened in the previous chapter.

l Read

the title of Chapter 7. Ask How do you think Colin and Mary’s friendship will develop?

27 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 47. Ask Where are Mary and Colin sitting? Why do you think they look so surprised? How can you tell Mrs Medlock is not pleased? (Note the way she is folding her arms in front of her!) Who do you think the man is behind Mrs Medlock? (It is Dr Craven, Mr Craven’s brother, who is a doctor and looks after Colin.) How does he look? Do you think the two adults are pleased to see Colin out of bed, sitting up, talking to Mary?

3. What was Martha doing? 4. Why wasn’t Martha pleased when Mary told her that she had been to see Colin? 5. What did Martha say when Mary asked her what was wrong with Colin? 6. When did Martha go out of the room? 7. When she came back, what did she say Colin was doing? 8. What did Mary tell Colin about Dickon? 9. Which doctor often came to see Colin?

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 50. Ask Where is Colin now? What do you think has happened? How does Colin look? What do you think has made him angry? Why do you think he is holding up a cushion? How can you tell Mary is angry too? (Look at her face and the way she is leaning forward, her hands clenched tightly.) What do you think they are saying to each other?

10. Who suddenly marched into the room? 11. What did Colin say to Mrs Medlock and Dr Craven about Mary? 12. Mrs Medlock said that Colin looked a little ___________ . 13. After that, did Mary and Colin spend more or less time together? 14. How did Mrs Medlock say Colin had got better?

l Optional

15. Who was in the garden one warm sunny morning? What animals did he have with him? 16. What was Dickon doing? 17. What was the robin doing?

During reading

18. Did Dickon agree that it was a good idea to bring Colin into the garden?

l Read

the chapter to and with the class. Follow the same procedure as you did for Chapter 1 (see page 4) to help the children read and understand the text. Use the audio cassette/CD, if you wish.

19. Why did Dickon think that would be good for him? 20. When Mary went in for some lunch, what did Martha tell her? 21. Why didn’t Mary go and see Colin straight away?

Stage 1 comprehension (literal) Ask these questions orally, or set them as a written activity. You can also ask the children to do the activity on page 15 of their Workbook.

22. Mary said to Colin, ‘If you send _________ away, I will __________ come in this room again.’ 23. Why did Colin say Dickon was selfish?

1. Why didn’t Mary go outside?

24. What did Colin throw at Mary?

2. Where did Mary find Martha?

28 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

25. What did Mary say to Colin when she went out of the door?

5. Who do you think told Colin he was going to die soon? 6. Why did Mary think Colin should talk to Dickon?

l Ask

the children to look at page 45 and find the words that mean the same as speak (talk); next to (beside); discovered (found out); white (pale); picture (portrait); many (lots); left (went out); returned (came back); immediately (straight away).

7. How can you tell Dr Craven is angry? 8. Why did Mary say ‘Isn’t it a wondeful day?’ to Dickon?

l Ask

9. How can you tell things were beginning to grow in the garden?

l Ask

10. Did Dickon think coming into the garden was better than medicine for Colin?

the children why the word you on page 45 is written in italics. the class to find any adjectives in the text and explain which nouns they describe.

l Ask

11. Why do you think Colin frowned when Mary told him she had been working in the garden with Dickon?

l Find

12. Why did Colin get so angry?

the class to find and read any words containing double vowels in them. some contractions in the text, for example I’ve, you’ll. Ask the children what each means.

13. How can you tell Mary was angry too? 14. Do you think Mary meant it when she said, ‘I will never come back!’?

l Finally,

Stage 2 comprehension (extra) Plot Ask the children to list the main things that happened in this chapter. Write their ideas together on the board in the correct sequence, for example: Mary told Martha she had been to see Colin. Colin called Martha. He told her to send Mary to see him. Mary sat and talked to Colin in his room. Mrs Medlock and Dr Craven found them together, and so on.

l Write

the word wonderful on the board and ask the class to read it. Explain to the children that the suffix ‘ful’ means ‘full of’. Write these words on the board: use, care, hope, pain, power, help, colour. Add ‘ful’ to each word. Ask the children to use the words in sentences to show that they know their meanings.

1. Why did Martha say ‘You’ll get me into trouble.’ to Mary? 2. Do you think it would do Colin good to go into the garden and watch things grow? 3. Who do you think rang the bell? 4. Why do you think Mary went to see Colin straight away?

29 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

l Write

the word medicine on the board and ask the class to read it. Note the ‘c’ sounds like ‘s’. We call this a soft ‘c’ sound. When ‘c’ is followed by ‘e’, ‘i’ or ‘y’ it sounds like ‘s’. Ask the children to read these soft ‘c’ words: city, centre, icy, cinema, dance, difference, fence.

l Many

words which tell you about the jobs people do, end in ‘or’, for example doctor. Ask the children to complete each of these jobs with ‘or’ and say what each person does: auth__, edit__, act__, profess__, sail__, conduct__, tail__, collect__.

l Ask

the children what being jealous means. Colin was very jealous of Dickon.

l Ask

the children what sort of things make them cross. Talk about ways you can stop yourself from getting angry.

l If

appropriate, try some Extension Activities (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 19).

l Ask

What do you think will happen next in the story?

30 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

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Chapter 8 A roomful of animals

Active vocabulary

Pages 52 to 58

fine

take off the ‘e’ and make something a shark has

pillow

there are several smaller words ‘hidden’ in this word

plan

add ‘e’ after the ‘n’ and make somethings that flies!

safe

is it safe to leave money in a safe?

scream

I scream for ice-cream!

sensible

many words end in ‘ible’

shoulder

the ‘ould’ is pronounced ‘old’

silence

the ‘c’ is a soft ‘c’ and is pronounced ‘s’

tears

take off the ‘t’ to make the things you hear with!

Passive vocabulary bleating

feeding bottle

fist

Before reading l Pre-teach

the active vocabulary (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 13 and the Glossary). Use the notes in the table to discuss any interesting features of the words.

l Ask

the children to do the activities on page 16 of their Workbook to practise the new vocabulary.

l Ask

the class to recall what happened in the previous chapter.

l Read

the title of Chapter 8. Ask Whose animals do you think the title refers to?

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 53. Ask What is happening? Describe what Colin is doing. (He is curled up in bed, screaming.) Ask Why do you think he is doing this? Where is Mary? How does she look? What do you think she is saying to Colin? Note how anxious and worried Mrs Medlock, Martha and Colin’s nurse are.

31 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

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l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 56. Ask What animals has Dickon got with him? Ask the children to name them. Ask Where is Dickon standing? How do Mary and Colin look? Are they excited? (Remember, Colin has never seen another boy, or any animals, before.) Ask What were Colin and Mary doing before Dickon came in? (They were sitting at a table eating breakfast together.)

11. What did Dickon say he would like? 12. What did Mary talk to Colin about? 13. When Mary spoke to Dickon, what idea did she have? 14. When did Dr Craven come to see Colin? 15. What were Colin and Mary doing when Dr Craven went into Colin’s room? 16. Why did Dr Craven stare at Colin when he said he was going outside soon?

l Optional

17. What did Dr Craven say when Mary told him Dickon would go outside with them? 18. What animal noise did Colin hear when he and Mary were eating breakfast? 19. What animals did Dickon have with him?

During reading

20. Why did Colin stare at Dickon?

l Read

21. What did Dickon ask Colin to do to the lamb?

the chapter to and with the class. Follow the same procedure as you did for Chapter 1 (see page 4) to help the children read and understand the text. Use the audio cassette/CD, if you wish.

22. What did the other animals do? 23. What did Colin say he was going to see? l There

are many exclamation marks in the chapter. Ask the children to find some, and point out their purpose and how they affect the reading of the sentences which contain them.

Stage 1 comprehension (literal) Ask these questions orally, or set them as a written activity. You can also ask the children to do the activity on page 17 of their Workbook.

l Look

at a sample of random words from the text and ask the children to see if they can find any smaller words ‘hiding’ in the longer words, for example pillow.

1. Why did Mary soon fall asleep? 2. When was she woken by terrible screams? 3. Who came into Mary’s room?

l Finally,

4. What did Colin’s nurse want? 5. What was Colin doing? 6. What did Mary say tell Colin to do? 7. Why did Colin stop? 8. What did Mary say she would do if Colin screamed again? 9. Mary told Colin that he wasn’t ill – he was just _________________. 10. What did Mary say he needed? 32

Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

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After reading

18. How can you tell Dickon knew a lot about plants?

Stage 2 comprehension (extension)

19. How can you tell Colin was excited about going outside with Dickon and Mary?

Stage 2 comprehension (extra) Author’s style Point out how the chapter is written in five sections, with a gap between each section. Explain that his is the way the author shows the passing of time. Each section is about events at a particular time and each section denotes that some time has passed since the previous section. Ask the children to say briefly what happens in each section of time.

1. Why did Mary think Colin threw his pillow at her? 2. Do you think Mary fell asleep happy? Why? 3. How do you think she felt when she was woken by screams in the night? 4. How can you tell Colin’s nurse was worried? 5. How can you tell Mary was worried about Colin when his nurse told her about him?

l Write

the word squirrel on the board and ask the children to read it. Ask the children to write and complete these ‘squ’ words, read them and explain their meanings: ___eak, ___ash, ___eeze, ___are.

6. Why do you think Colin was surprised when Mary shouted at him? 7. How can you tell Colin was really angry? 8. Why do you think tears ran down Colin’s face?

l Write

the word lamb on the board and read it. Point out that the ‘b’ at the end is silent and is not pronounced. Ask the children to complete these words with a silent ‘b’, to read them and explain their meaning: clim__, com__, thum__, crum__, bom__.

9. Why do you think Colin wanted to go outside and to meet Dickon? 10. Why do you think Mary spoke softly to Colin? 11. Why do you think Mary told Dickon about Colin?

l Write

the verb tidy on the board and the past tense tidied. Ask the children to suggest the rule used. Write these verbs on the board: cry, try, fry, reply, multiply. Ask the children to spell the past tense of each verb.

12. Why do you think Dr Craven was surprised when he heard Colin laughing? 13. Why do you think Dr Craven said, ‘You will be quite safe with Dickon.’ to Colin?

l Write

the word middle on the board. Show children how it can be broken down into two syllables: mid/dle. Note how the word which has a double consonant in the middle is split up. Ask the children to read these words and split them into two syllables: happy, pillow, squirrel, bottle, little.

14. How can you tell Colin was excited when he heard a lamb bleating? 15. How can you tell the animals felt safe with Dickon and trusted him? 16. Why did the lamb start to push at Colin with its soft little nose? 17. How do you think Colin felt when he gave the lamb some milk?

33 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

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noises Give the children this list of animals and animal sounds and ask them to match which sound goes with which animal:

l Animal

– animals: lamb, horse, dog, cow, cat, mouse, duck, bird, wolf, monkey, lion – animal sounds: barks, roars, bleats, quacks, chirps, neighs, purrs, howls, moos, chatters, squeaks l Dickon

really wanted to go outside and see the secret garden. Ask the chidren to tell each other about something they really would like to do (not some object they really want!).

l If

appropriate, try some Extension Activities (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 19).

l Ask

What do you think will happen next in the story?

34 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

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Chapter 9 First steps

Active vocabulary

Pages 59 to 65

blanket

note the ‘et’ at the end, as in pocket in Chapter 4

delight

take off the ‘de’ and you are left with a word that is not heavy!

favourite

the ‘our’ is pronounced ‘er’ (as in journey in Chapter 6)

grass

note the ‘ss’ at the end

indoors

the opposite of indoors is outdoors

picnic

‘ic’ is used twice

question

‘q’ is always followed by ‘u’

straight

rhymes with late

tiny

change the ‘n’ to ‘d’ to make another word

weak

note the difference between weak and week

Passive vocabulary currant buns

hummed

Before reading l Pre-teach

the active vocabulary (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 13 and the Glossary). Use the notes in the table to discuss any interesting features of the words.

l Ask

the children to do the activities on page 18 of their Workbook to practise the new vocabulary.

l Ask

the class to recall what happened in the previous chapter.

l Read

the title of Chapter 9. Ask What do you think the title means?

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 60. Ask Who is pushing Colin’s carriage? Where are they? What season is it? How can you tell from the picture? How does Colin look? How do you think he is feeling? (Remember, Colin knows this was his mother’s garden, and he has never seen it before.)

35 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

12. What happened when Ben said to Colin, ‘You’re the poor little lad who is too sick to walk.’?

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 63. Ask Where are the children? Who is holding Colin? What is Colin doing? How do you think he feels? How can you tell Mary is excited and pleased? How can you tell Ben is amazed? (Note the way he is holding his hand to his head as if he can’t believe what he is seeing!) Even the robin is excited, flapping its wings in the foreground!

13. What did Mary and Ben do when Colin stood up? 14. Did Ben think Colin was ill? 15. What did Colin tell Ben to keep a secret? 16. Did Colin do any walking in the garden? 17. Colin said, ‘No one except us has been into this garden for ten years.’. Was this true?

l Optional

18. How had Ben got into the garden? 19. What did Ben help Colin plant? 20. How often did the children go into the garden that summer?

During reading

21. One day Colin walked ___________________.

l Read

22. What did Colin say he would be able to do by the time his father came home?

the chapter to and with the class. Follow the same procedure as you did for Chapter 1 (see page 4) to help the children read and understand the text. Use the audio cassette/CD, if you wish.

23. Why did Mary and Colin get really hungry? 24. What did Mrs Sowerby send Mary and Colin each day?

Stage 1 comprehension (literal)

l Lots

Ask these questions orally, or set them as a written activity. You can also ask the children to do the activity on page 19 of their Workbook.

l Find

of words in this chapter are written in italics. Find and read the sentences containing these words and discuss why they have been written in italics. a word on page 61 that rhymes with hum (plum); see (tree); weather (feather); bell (shell); coast (toast); lake (cake); feet (sweet); chair (air); win (thin).

1. When did the weather turn fine and sunny? 2. How did Colin get downstairs? 3. What was Colin’s carriage like?

l Ask

the children to identify some common nouns in the chapter. Now ask them to find some proper nouns and note that each begins with a capital letter.

4. Describe the weather. 5. What did Colin do when he opened his eyes in the secret garden? 6. Describe what he first saw.

l Ask

the class to find and read some of the adjectives in the chapter. Which nouns do they describe?

7. What did Colin watch Mary and Dickon do? 8. What made the children feel hungry?

l Ask

the class to find and read words in the text ending with double consonants, for example will, egg, wall.

9. What did the children have for their picnic? 10. What did Colin say about his legs? 11. Where did Mary see Ben? 36

Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

l Finally,

14. How do you think Dickon knew Ben had been in the garden? 15. Why do you think Colin’s hands shook a little as he planted the rose? 16. How do think Colin felt when he walked right round the garden?

After reading

17. Why do you think Colin did not walk to the garden, but wanted to be taken in his carriage every day?

Stage 2 comprehension (extension)

18. Why do you think Dickon’s mother sent food every day for Colin and Mary?

Stage 2 comprehension (extra) Characterisation This is an exciting chapter for Colin. At long last he went outside for the first time in ten years and walked! Elicit from the children what they have discovered about Colin up to this point. Then ask the class to recount the things that happened to Colin in this chapter. Ask them what we can learn about Colin’s character from what he does and says. (For example, his determination, his curiosity, the excitement and pleasure he feels at learning and doing new things.)

1. How do you think Colin felt when the day came for him to go outside? 2. Why did Mary tell Dickon to push Colin into the garden quickly? 3. Why do you think Colin closed his eyes when he went into the garden? 4. Why do you think Mary and Dickon took things to show Colin when he sat under the plum tree? 5. How can you tell Colin was frightened to stand?

l Say

the word watch and write wa_ _ _ on the board. Ask the children to fill in the missing letters. Now write these words on the board: ma_ _ _, scra_ _ _, ki_ _ _ en, ca_ _ _, swi_ _ _, stre_ _ _. Ask the children to complete each word with ‘tch’, to read the words they have made and explain their meanings.

6. How did Ben know who Colin was? 7. How can you tell Ben and Mary were surprised when Colin stood up? 8. Why do you think Ben told Colin there was nothing wrong with him?

l Write

the word garden on the board and ask the children to read it aloud. Note the sound of ‘ar’ in it. Now write these words on the board: gasped, master, last, fast and read them aloud. Note that the ‘a’ in these words sounds like ‘ar’!

9. Why do you think Colin told Ben to keep the garden a secret? 10. How did Colin get to the tree? 11. Why do you think Colin smiled at Ben? 12. What do you think made Colin go quiet when he discovered the garden was his mother’s garden? 13. Why do you think Ben had been into the garden in the past ten years? 37

Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

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Sometimes the letter ‘o’ sounds like the ‘u’ in fun. Write the words some and nothing from the chapter on the board and ask the children to read them. Now write these words on the board and complete them with ‘o’: fr_nt, l_ve, m_ney, _ne, m_nth, s_n, w_nderful, _nce. Ask What sound does the ‘o’ make?

l Discuss

the pleasure of learning to do something for the first time, for example learning to swim, skate, whistle, stand on your head! Talk about the effort it takes, the need to take risks sometimes, and the need to continuously practise. Discuss how the children learned these skills. Did they do it on their own? Did someone show them? Did people encourage and support them while they were learning (like Dickon and Mary did to Colin)? Talk about the pleasure and the sense of achievement when they succeeded (like Colin).

l Colin

was afraid to stand up. If appropriate, ask the children to share some things they are worried about doing, or things they are afraid of.

l The

children enjoyed a picnic in the chapter. Ask Do you like having picnics? Where do you have them? What do you like to eat on a picnic?

l If

appropriate, try some Extension Activities (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 19).

l Ask

What do you think will happen next in the story?

38 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

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Chapter 10 Mr Craven’s dream

Active vocabulary

Pages 66 to 73

astonished there’s a ‘shed’ at the end of this word!

ashamed

other words starting with the prefix ‘a’ are: awake, asleep, aboard

autumn

the ‘n’ at the end of the word is silent

believe

never believe a lie!

crowded

there’s a big black bird at the beginning of this word!

fault

the ‘aul’ sounds like ‘all’

hate

take off the ‘e’ and this becomes something you wear on your head!

lake

change the ‘l’ to ‘b’, ‘c’, ‘m’, ‘r’, ‘t’, ‘w’, ‘sh’ to make some new words

vegetables the second ‘e’ is not pronounced

Passive vocabulary blooming

lilies plump

steady (verb)

Before reading l Pre-teach

the active vocabulary (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 13 and the Glossary). Use the notes in the table to discuss any interesting features of the words.

l Ask

the children to do the activities on page 20 of their Workbook to practise the new vocabulary.

l Ask

the class to recall what happened in the previous chapter.

l Read

the title of Chapter 10. Ask What do you think Mr Craven dreamed about?

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 66. Ask What are Mary and Colin looking at? Who is the portrait of? (Colin’s mother) Describe her. Where is the picture? (in Colin’s bedroom) Do you think Colin looks like his mother? Discuss any similarities.

39 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

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l Look

at, and read, the letter on page 68. Ask Who sent it? Who is it written to? Why do you think Dickon’s mother sent the letter? What do you think Mr Craven will think when he reads it?

6. Where did Mr Craven spend the summer? 7. What did Mr Craven think about one evening near a lake in Italy? 8. What did he dream?

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 70. Ask Who is running out of the door to the secret garden? How can you tell Mr Craven is surprised to see his son running?

9. What did a servant bring him on a silver tray? 10. Who was the letter from? 11. What did the letter ask Mr Craven to do?

l Tell

the children to look at the picture on page 72. Ask Does Mr Craven look happy? Does Colin look happy? How do Dickon and Mary look? Who else is looking at Mr Craven and Colin? How do they look? Why do you think everyone is so happy?

12. Why did Mr Craven go to his room and pack? 13. Who did he see as he was passing Mrs Sowerby’s cottage? 14. What did he give to the oldest girl?

l Optional

15. What did Mrs Medlock tell him about Colin? 16. What sounds did he hear in the secret garden? 17. Who ran out of the door to the garden? 18. Describe the boy Mr Craven saw coming out of the garden door.

During reading

19. Where did Mr Craven ask Colin to take him?

l Read

the chapter to and with the class. Follow the same procedure as you did for Chapter 1 (see page 4) to help the children read and understand the text. Use the audio cassette/CD, if you wish.

20. Describe how the garden looked. 21. What did Colin say made him well? 22. Where did Ben tell Mrs Medlock to look? 23. Who came rushing into the kitchen? 24. Who did they see coming across the grass?

Stage 1 comprehension (literal)

25. How did Mr Craven and Colin look?

Ask these questions orally, or set them as a written activity. You can also ask the children to do the activity on page 21 of their Workbook.

l Identify

1. Who came into the garden one day?

l There

some of the pronouns in the passage and ask the class who or what each pronoun stands for. are many proper nouns in the chapter. Ask the children to find them. Ask Which are people’s names and which are the names of places?

2. What did Colin do if it was too wet to go out? 3. What did Mary notice one day while she was eating her breakfast?

l Ask

the children to find and read compound words in the chapter, for example breakfast, something, moonlight, everywhere, nearby, someone, handsome, sunshine.

4. What did Colin say about his mother’s face? 5. Why did Colin say his father hated him?

40 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

l Finally,

14. Why do you think Mr Craven’s voice shook when he asked Colin to take him to the garden? 15. Why did Mr Craven think the garden would be dead? 16. Why do you think Mrs Medlock started to laugh when she looked out of the window?

After reading

17. How do you think she felt?

Stage 2 comprehension (extension)

18. Why was Mr Craven smiling?

19. How long was it since he had smiled? 20. What do you think had made Colin strong?

Stage 2 comprehension (extra) Characterisation Elicit from the children what they have discovered about Mr Craven in the story so far. Ask What can we discover about him in this chapter? Ask these questions to encourage the children to think more about Mr Craven’s character. Why do you think he spent so much time away from his home? Why do you think he hated his son? Why was he so unhappy all the time? Did he really think Colin was ill? Did he blame Colin for his wife’s death? Did he think Colin would ever grow up and walk? How do you think he felt when he discovered how Colin had learned to walk? Do you think he was proud of Colin? Do you think Mr Craven will now be a different man? Will he now be a proper father to Colin? Will he stay at home and spend time with Colin?

1. How can you tell Colin was determined to learn to walk better? 2. Why was Mary surprised to see the curtain pulled back on Mrs Craven’s portrait? 3. Why do you think Colin wasn’t angry with his mother any more? 4. Why did Colin want his father to come home? 5. Why do you think Mr Craven thought of his wife all the time? 6. Why didn’t he like to look at his son’s face? 7. What do you think Mr Craven’s dream meant? 8. Why do you think Mrs Sowerby wrote to Mr Craven? 9. What do you think made Mr Craven decide to go home?

l Write

the word at on the board and read it. Now add ‘e’ and read the word ate. (Note how the ‘magic e’ changes the sound of the short vowel ‘a’ and gives it a long sound.) Write these ‘magic e’ words from the chapter on the board: like, lake, whole, wife, pale, name, make, came, stone, take, smile, side. Ask the children to read them.

10. Why was Mr Craven surprised when Mrs Medlock told him where Colin was? 11. Why did Mr Craven think he was going mad when he heard voices in the secret garden? 12. Why do you think he said, ‘Are you Colin?’ to Colin when he saw him? 13. How do you think Colin felt when he saw his father? 41

Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

l Write

these pairs of hom*ophones on the board: sea, see; sun, son; pale, pail; weak, week; eight, ate; know, no; through, threw. Ask the children to read them and explain the difference between them. Make up sentences containing each word, using each word correctly.

l Colin

had changed a great deal since Mr Craven had last seen him. Play a word changing game. Write the word pack on the board and read it. Now change the ‘p’ to ‘b’, ‘r’, ‘s’, ‘sm’, ‘cr’, ‘bl’, ‘tr’. Ask the children to read each new word one at a time. Repeat this activity with wet, night, pink, lake, big.

l Ask

Have you ever had any strange dreams?

l If

appropriate, try some Extension Activities (see the Teacher’s Notes Introduction page 19).

l Ask

What do you think will happen next in the story?

42 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

The gardener’s morning

Vocabulary notes clarion call a sound that wakes you up

Pages 74 and 75

earnest keen

Before reading

magic spell a mysterious, powerful desire to do something

l Much

of the story takes place in or around the secret garden. This poem picks up the theme of gardens. Read the title.

resist the summons

l Tell

the children to look at the picture. Ask the children to describe the gardens of the house, and then the house itself. Talk about the gardener in the foreground – his appearance, his age, what he is doing. Ask the children to talk about some of the jobs a gardener does. Point out the fence and the open gate in the foreground and the bird singing on the branch of a tree at the bottom left of the picture. Do the children recognise the bird as a robin?

l Ask

stop yourself doing something you feel a call to do

the class to read the poem together.

l Ask

groups or individuals to read a verse of the poem each.

After reading l Ask

questions to check the children’s understanding.

l Ask

the children to give (and explain) their opinions of the poem.

l Ask

about features of the poem – the title, the name of the poet, the number of verses, the words that rhyme, the pattern of the rhyming words.

During reading l Read

run away

flee

the entire poem to the class.

l Read

it again, stopping to explain any unfamiliar vocabulary.

43 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

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How to grow a bean and Parts of a bean

– the second text (page 78) is a short explanatory text giving information on parts of a bean. l Explain

Pages 76 to 78

any unfamiliar vocabulary as you

read. l Draw

attention to the accompanying pictures to clarify the meaning of the text.

l Ask

individuals to read sections of the text.

After reading l You

may wish to try growing beans with the class by following the instructions.

l Have

a short quiz after reading pages 76 to 78 to see how much the children can remember.

Before reading l Brainstorm

and ask the children what they remember from the story about what grew in the garden and what the different characters planted.

l Ask

the children if they have ever planted and grown anything. If any children have, ask them to talk about their experiences.

During reading l Read

the information texts. There are two types of text: – the first text (pages 76 to 77) ‘How to grow a bean’ is an instructional text, explaining what is need to grow a bean and how to do it;

44 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

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About the author Page 80 Before reading l Look

back at the title page of the book and re-read the name of the author.

l Turn

to page 80, and read the title.

l Explain

that this is some biographical information about Frances Hodgson Burnett.

l Look

together at her picture and ask the children for their comments on her appearance.

During reading l Read

the information about Frances Hodgson Burnett.

l Explain

any unfamiliar vocabulary as you

do so. l At

the end, re-read the text. Ask different children to read it, too.

After reading l Have

a short quiz about the author.

45 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

After reading the book These questions are intended for oral use in class, but you may ask children for written responses if you feel it is appropriate. There are written after-reading activities (a Book Review and Character Profiles) on pages 22 to 24 of the Workbook.

Response to the story

Moral issues and themes

l Ask

l Use

any one of these themes from the story as the basis for a class discussion:

Did you like the story? Why? Why not? Did you think it was interesting, or boring? Was it exciting, or too predictable? Which part of the story did you like best? What did you think of the ending?

– Loneliness: Mary was very lonely at the beginning of the story. – Friendship: Martha became a friend to Mary, as did Dickon. What did this mean to Mary?

l Talk

about the way each chapter ended in a thrilling way. Look back at some of the chapter endings together. Ask Did this make you want to read on? Talk about how this technique is used elsewhere, such as in TV soaps, where episodes often end with an unresolved drama.

– Bereavement: Coming to terms with a loved one’s death can be a very difficult thing, as Mr Craven’s actions show. – Love of nature: Both Dickon and Ben the gardener were characters who loved nature.

l Ask

Did you like the author’s style? Did you think she wrote well? Did she use exciting words?

– Courage: Mary showed courage finding and helping Colin; Colin showed tremendous courage learning to walk.

Characters

– Persistence: Mary did not give up when trying to discover who was crying; Colin did not give up when working hard to get stronger.

l Ask

the children about the main story characters. Ask What did you think of Mary? How did she change during the story? Ask a few questions about each of these characters: Martha, Mr Craven, Mrs Medlock, Dickon, Colin. (See the activity on page X of the Workbook.)

– Kindness: There were many examples of kindness in the story, for example Martha caring for Mary so well; Mrs Sowerby sending food for Mary; Mary and Dickon helping Colin.

Plot l Encourage

the class to re-tell the basic story in their own words. (See the activity on page 24 of the Workbook.)

Vocabulary l Pick

one or more words from the active vocabulary list for each chapter. Ask the children if they can remember the meaning of the words.

Settings l Ask

Where did the story take place? Go through the book with the class and ask them to identify each of the story settings.

46 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

Follow-up ideas Drama The story lends itself well to dramatisation. Encourage the children to act out the story. Give individuals a role to play, then ask them to mime their character’s actions as you read the story, or play the audio cassette/CD. You can help the class make and paint simple props, and sound effects could be suggested. Alternatively you could have a compositional writing activity, with the children in groups producing drama scripts that include stage directions, use of a narrator, sound effects, props, etc.

Flowers Ask the children to do some research and find out all they can about some of the flowers mentioned in the story, for example roses, daffodils, snowdrops. Birds Ask the children to do some research and find out all they can about some of the birds mentioned in the story, for example robins, crows. Animals Dickon made friends with lots of animals. Ask the children to do some research and find out all they can about some of the animals mentioned in the story, for example sheep, foxes, squirrels.

Art 1. Draw and paint life-size pictures of some of the characters from the story. Draw round the outlines of children on large sheets of paper to get the figures the correct size and in proportion. Make sure the costumes and clothes of the period are clear.

Seeds Get some flower seeds and try to grow some flowers in a suitable patch of ground at school or at home.

2. Ask the children to draw or paint pictures of their own imaginary ‘secret garden’. It does not have to be like the one in the book and could contain fantastic imaginary flowers and trees. Celebration The story doesn’t say so, but it is reasonable to expect that there was a big celebration when Mr Craven and Colin were re-united at the end of the story. Have your own party to celebrate finishing the book. Writing Ask the children to imagine that the story continued. Ask them to imagine some adventures that Mary, Colin and Dickon might have enjoyed together. Brainstorm some possible ideas. Ask the children to write another chapter of the story themselves.

47 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

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Glossary of Vocabulary

cheerful happy chirped made a noise like a bird

The glossary below includes explanations for all the active and passive vocabulary introduced in The Secret Garden. Active vocabulary items are shown in italic print.

cord a strong thick string corridor a long passage inside a building with doors on each side cottage a small house in a village or in the countryside

agree to have the same opinion as someone else

cousin a child of your uncle or aunt

alone no one else is with you

crocuses yellow, white or purple flowers that grow in the spring

amazement a feeling of being very surprised ashamed feeling guilty or embarrassed about something you have done

crooked not straight

astonished very surprised

cub a young wild mammal of some sort

autumn the season that comes between summer and winter

currant buns buns with currants in

crowded containing a lot of people or things

curtain a long piece of cloth that hangs down to cover a window

badger a grey animal with a white face and black stripes. It digs holes in the ground.

daffodil a yellow flower that grows in the spring

bad-tempered someone who gets angry quickly is bad-tempered

damp slightly wet

believe to think that something is true

delight a feeling of happiness

blanket a cover for a bed

different not the same as another person or thing

bleating making a sound like a sheep blooming growing in a healthy way

driveway a wide path in front of a house for a car

branch one of the parts of a tree that grows out from the trunk

earth the ground, the soil

breakfast the first meal of the day

enormous huge

bud the part of a plant that opens to form a leaf or flower

evening the time between the afternoon and the night

bulb looks like an onion and is planted in the soil

fault being responsible for a bad or unpleasant situation

candle a stick of wax with string that is burned to give light

favourite something you like the best feeding bottle a bottle for feeding animals or babies milk

carriage one of the vehicles that are joined together to make a train or a vehicle pulled by horses

feel sorry for feeling sadness for someone fine good

carve to cut into smaller pieces, or to make an object from stone or wood with a knife

fist the hand when the fingers are closed tightly 48

Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

flicker a light or flame that does not burn

kitchen the room in which food is prepared and cooked

evenly or goes on and off

knit to make clothing with wool, using long needles

frightened being afraid frowned looked annoyed or worried

lace a light, delicate cloth with patterns of small holes in it

garden an area of land outside a house, usually with plants or grass growing in it

lake a large area of water surrounded by land

gasp to breathe in suddenly because you are surprised, shocked or in pain

lashes the hair that grows on your eyelids

gentle calm

learn to gain knowledge of something

glare to look in an angry way

library a place where books are kept

glimmer a very weak light

lilies large flowers in the shape of a bell

gorse a prickly bush with small yellow flowers

locked shut a door with a key

grass thin green leaves that cover the ground

lonely unhappy because you are alone and have no friends

gust of wind a sudden strong wind

marching walking quickly

handle the part of something that you hold

maze lots of paths separated by trees or walls

handsome good-looking

meddle to become involved in something that does not concern you

hate dislike very much

medicine something you take when you are ill, to make you better

hearth the place in a room where a fire is lit heather a plant with small purple or white flowers

metal a hard and shiny element used to make things such as tools and pans

hoe a tool for digging up weeds

mist like a thin fog

howl to make a loud, long sound hummed made a musical sound with your lips closed

moor a large area of land that is covered with grass and bushes, with soil that is not very good

hunts catches and kills animals

nonsense does not make sense

illness being ill

nursemaid someone who looks after children

impossible something you cannot do, or something that cannot happen

nursery a place where young children are looked after

indoors in the house

package something that is wrapped in paper or is in a box

interested wanting to know about something ivory the bone that elephants’ tusks are made of

pale light, not looking healthy

ivy a dark green plant that grows up walls

patch an area of ground

journey when you travel from one place to another

picnic a meal that you take with you to eat outside

parsnip a long white vegetable, like a carrot

49 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

pillow a soft object on which you rest your head

servant someone who cooks, cleans and does other work in someone else’s house

pipe an object that is used for smoking tobacco

shawl a large piece of material worn by a woman around her head or shoulders

plan an idea about what you will do in the future

shillings old British coins

plant to put seeds in the soil so they will grow

shoots the new parts of a plant that is growing

shocked to feel surprised by something

pleased happy with plump slightly fat

shoulder the part of your body between the neck and the arm

pocket a small bag that is part of your clothing that you can put things in

shy nervous and embarrassed with other people

ponies young horses porridge a hot food made from oats and milk, eaten for breakfast

silence when there is no sound

portrait a painting or drawing of someone

skipping rope a rope for skipping with

practise to repeat something regularly so you get better at it

smile to make your face show that you are happy

present something you give to someone

snowdrops tiny white flowers that grow in the winter

silk thin smooth cloth

question what you ask when you want to know something

sobbed cried sadly

raindrops drops of rain

soil the ground in which you plant things

rake a tool for making the ground level

soot dirty black powder that is produced when you burn something

ready prepared for what is going to happen

spade a tool for digging with

remember to be able to bring something into your mind when you want to

splash the sound of liquid hitting something noisily

reminded helped someone remember something

squirrel a grey mammal with a long thick tail

robin a small bird with a red breast (chest)

stamped her foot put her foot down nosily to show her anger

rustling the sound of leaves moving rusty covered in rust

stared looked at someone for a long time

safe not likely to be harmed or hurt

station the place where trains stop, so that people can get on or off

scream to cry out loud seat something you sit on secret something you only tell a few people

steady to hold something firmly without moving it

seed you plant this in the ground to grow

stiff firm and difficult to bend

selfish thinking only about yourself

still not moving

sensible reasonable 50 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

stones small pieces of rock

whisper to speak very quietly

storm when a lot of rain falls and it is very windy

whistle to make a high sound by blowing through your lips

straight without bends or curves

worms small soft animals with no bones or legs that live in the soil

strange unusual stretched made longer string thin rope surprised you feel like this when something happens that you are not expecting tangled untidy and twisted tears drops of liquid that come from your eyes when you cry thundered made a loud noise tiny very small tiptoed walked quietly on your toes tools things you hold to do a job trouble to be in trouble means to be in a bad situation trowel a small tool with a handle used for digging trust to believe in someone twig a small thin branch of a tree or bush twittered noise made by birds underneath below something vegetables plants you eat that are not usually sweet velvet cloth that is soft on one side and smooth on the other village a small town in the countryside wailed cried loudly wandered walked slowly from one place to another weak not strong weather rain, snow, ice, fog, wind and sun weed a wild plant that grows in places where they are not wanted weeded dug up the weeds from the soil 51

Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

The Secret Garden

52 Explorers 5: The Secret Garden Teacher’s Notes This page has been downloaded from www.macmillanenglish.com/young learners © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2011 Text © Louis Fidge 2007

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