The Castle in the Attic 
In Mrs.
Hoyme's Fourth Grade reading class, the students read The Castle in the Attic
by Elizabeth Winthrop. The book is a fantasy tale about ten-year-old William who
loves gymnastics and his nanny, Mrs. Phillips. Mrs. Phillips is an elderly
woman who has taken care of him since he was a baby.
One day, William finds out that Mrs. Phillips
wants to return to her home and family in England. He tries everything to stop
her, but nothing works. The nanny is firm in her decision to leave. Before she
goes away, she gives William a toy castle that has been her childhood toy. For
years she has been telling him about the old stone and wood model with its
drawbridge, moat and finger-high silver knight. And now, it is his.
One day when William is playing with Sir Simon, the
toy knight, it comes alive in his hand! This begins an entire sequence of
exciting events. When Mrs. Phillips goes to her bus stop to leave, the strangest
thing happened. William miniaturizes her with a medal he received from Sir
Simon and she, too, becomes finger-high.
William has an idea to also make himself small. This
idea turns out to be quite an adventure for the ten-year-old as he travels to
another land where he must battle to defeat Alastor, the wizard who robbed Sir
Simon of his kingdom, and help the knight win back his kingdom. William also
wants to regain the respect of Mrs. Phillips.
The boy successfully defeats Alastor by using his own inner
strength and returns to restore Mrs. Phillips to her rightful size (and she
returns the favor). They bid each other a fond
farewell with Mrs. Phillips aware that her job of raising William is done and
with William newly aware of his skills.
During our study of this book,
we learned many new vocabulary words. We also completed a number of "grid
projects" - choice assignments from a menu activities. Here are just a few
of our projects.
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Write a main events chart for this book using the "Castle in the Attic Main Events" form. Be sure to write complete sentences. Skip lines between each event. |
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The
Castle in the Attic Main
Events Chart Mrs. Phillip's, William's nanny, is moving back to England. William took Mrs. Phillip's pin and picture that she wanted to be buried with. William met Sir Simon when he came to life in William's hands. Sir Simon has a token that can make living things smaller but has to find the other side of the token to return things to normal size again. William's friend Jason invited himself over and almost saw Sir Simon. William has Sir Simon shrink Mrs. Phillips. Mrs. Phillips will not talk to William unless he gets himself shrunk and then Mrs. Phillips would talk with him. After a lot of thinking William decides to get shrunk and talk to Mrs. Phillips. William and Sir Simon went on a quest to find Sir Simon's real castle. In the forest on their quest to Sir Simon got off the trail and William got through the trail to the other side of the forest. Sir William stopped to help an old man to get a magic apple. When William got the apple the man took one bit and then threw the apple away,. The young squire William got into the castle! William is posing as Alastor"s fool. In Alastor's gallery William finds Sir Simon in lead condition. William defeats Alastor! Calendar zapped Alastor after William got the necklace. Sir Simon and the other lead people come back to life! Together, Tollover and William make their way to William's castle. William comes with Mrs. Phillips to see his booty, which was Alastor. William and Mrs. Phillips returns to their normal size.
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The riddle over the castle door told when Sir Simon could go back to reclaim his kingdom. We could choose to create a riddle for a daily event or a special event in our lives. Each line of our riddle was to begin as the lines in the book riddle began. When
the lady doth ply her needle
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When the boy
opens his presents By Sean
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| When the teacher has taught the
lesson By Shelby
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When the alarm
clock rings at seven By Zach G.
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| William's biggest
worry seemed to be about performing well in his gymnastic meet. Write about a time when you may have been concerned about an upcoming contest, performance, trip or event. |
My Biggest Worry My biggest worry was when I was going to my cousin's house for one week. I was worried because I am not used to spending the night at somebody's house for a long period of time without my parents. In two or three days, I asked them to take me home because I was homesick. It took 4 hours to get to my house. We got there at about 11:00. Then I was happy to be home. By Emily
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Piano Festival Every year I go to a piano festival where you and a judge are in a little room and you have to play two songs on the piano. You have to have the songs memorized. This always makes me feel quivery and nervous. I also feel exited because every year you try to get 5 points for a superior rating. The judge rates you by superior, excellent, satisfactory, fair, or poor. When you've earned 15 points you get a gold cup. By Zach G.
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Research parts of a castle at http://www.castles-of-britain.com/castle6.htm Write a paragraph report for three different parts of a castle You may choose to write about towers, portcullis, dungeons, halls, drawbridge, fireplaces, moats, gatehouses, keep, kitchen, privy, stairs, walls, wells, or windows. |
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Portcullis
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Dungeon
s a prison, rather the dungeon was the great tower. Frequently, the castles prison was located near the main gatehouse to prevent the enemy from gaining access to the inside of the castle. |
Towers
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Portcullis A portcullis is a very heavy door.
The portcullis protects the main entrance of the castle. The portcullis is
made of oak and plated with iron. On the bottom of the portcullis, there are
spikes. The portcullis is so heavy that sometimes it takes men to lift it up.
Most of the time they used a rope to open it up. When the castle was under
attack, they dropped the portcullis for safety so no one could enter the
castle. |
Well By Dana The well is a very important part
of a castle. It is sometimes built in the basement of a castle. It supplies
water to the upper floors. They drink the water that comes from the well.
Most of the time a castle has more than one well. Normally a well house will
cover the well to keep things from falling in the well. The well is often
built near the kitchen. |
Stairs By Dana The stairs are another important
part of a castle. There are two types of stairs in a castle. They are
straight flights and spiral flights. The spiral stairs were used to reach the
castle towers. The straight walls built by the straight flights of stairs.
The earliest stairs were moveable wooden ladders. They usually would rotten
easily from bad weather. |
In order to reclaim his kingdom, Sir Simon requires a squire. Write an employment ad for a squire. Include the traits and skills a person would need for the job. For help with your ad, review Sir Simon's rules of conduct on page 98. Use the computer and include at least two clip art pictures in your ad.
Castle Chronicle
Volume 3 Number 2 March 18, 1512 Village Square
Want Ads:
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WANTED: ONE SQUIRE A squire is needed for Sir Simon, preferably 10-12 years old.
· skilled gymnast · handy with a dagger · good horsemanship skills
PERSONAL TRAITS: · be friendly to others · never be shameless · cherish and be thankful for the things you have · be honest
If interested, please go to castle gates. The soldiers will direct you from there. Please be ready to demonstrate these qualities through a challenge that has been prepared for you.
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What do the students in our class say about the book, The Castle in the Attic?