by Patricia Bernard illustrated by Penny Azar Overview Marcus s parents just love getting dressed up and acting as Romans. This weekend they want Marcus to do it too. Marcus is scared his friends (especially Celeste) will see him dressed as a centurion in a mini-skirt. When his friends turn up at the Roman Fair, Marcus ends up having to disguise himself as a bear, fight gladiators in the arena, and pose as the family pet in a competition. He ll do anything to avoid embarrassment. Additional Activities Make a poster advertising the Roman fair. Role-play the scene where the slaves are auctioned off. The teacher and class members can be auctioned. Using the library or Internet, research Julius Caesar, Marcus Antonius, Octavian, and Cleopatra. Retell the part of the story where Marcus tries to hide from Celeste (p. 32-38), from the point of view of Alexa. Draw a diagram of Marcus in his centurion costume, and label it using information from the story. Write a book review of Marcus the Mighty. Invite a performing group of Romans to school. Glossary Words ancient from a very long time ago arena an oval-shaped area for sports and contests auction goods are sold to the person who offers the most money centurion a leader of 100 men in the Roman army concerned worried fair a show or fete freak an unusual person gladiator in Roman history, a slave who was forced to fight mohawk a hairstyle with only a middle strip of hair whirled spun around quickly wield hold and use wreaths flowers or plants twisted into a circle BLM Answers BLM 1 1 was; Patricia Bernard; Penny Azar; was; 2001; Blake Education; 6; Marcus; told; Marcus. 2 a Marcus b Cleopatra c Marcus Antonius / Mark Antony ddad e Celeste f Alexa g Octavian / Tavvy h Bob Tanner i Mum jted O Brien kdominic 3 a ce; ce; Ce; ci; ce; ce; ci b w; w; u; k; k; gh; gh; w; l c (i) through (ii) poured 4 un, ed; dis, ed; un, ly BLM 2 1 2 3 4 5 Wham! Whack! Bang! Slam! People poured in a Mohawk haircut Teacher to check. low; Suddenly; Quickly; Luckily; Unfortunately; obviously 6 a barely b very c so 7 a P b T c P d T e T f T g T h T BLM 3 1 a F b T c T d F e F f F g F h F i T j F k T 2 a He s a freak about Roman stuff b Way to go, Mum! c nose to nose d I looked like a dork e I was a goner f She had blabbed g It was cool 3 Teacher to check. BLM 4 Teacher to check.
Guided reading discussion points Cover and about the book Chapter 1 Chapter 2 What is the title? Who are the author and illustrator? What is the name of the publisher, and where and when was the book published? What page is the glossary on? What can we use a glossary for? Look at the page that shows the setting of the story. Where does this story take place? Look at the Contents page. How many chapters is the book divided into? From the chapter headings and illustrations, predict what the story will be about. Do you think this will be a work of nonfiction, fiction, or a bit of both? Who is telling the story and how did he get his name? Describe Marcus s parents hobby. (p. 2-6) What does Marcus find embarrassing? (p. 4) Who is Darth Vader? [a character a baddy from Star Wars] (p. 6) Why do Marcus s parents and sister want to enter the competition at the fair? (p. 7) Why, according to Roman law, can t Octavian, Mum and Alexa vote? (p. 9-11) What does nose to nose mean? [having equal chances] (p. 11) Who, in real life, overruled the vote on what Marcus should do? (p. 11) We have now met all the main characters, know the setting and have an idea what the story will be about. What is this part of a narrative called? [orientation] What does Way to go, Mum! mean? (p. 10) What is a centurion? [refer to the Glossary, commander of about 100 men in the ancient Roman army] (p. 12) What didn t Marcus like about his centurion s costume? (p. 12-15) What is this part of a narrative called, where the protagonist has to solve a problem? [complication] Why did Marcus want to know what his friends were doing on the weekend? (p. 16-17)
Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Look at the glossary to find out what wield means. (p. 18) Why did Marcus slouch low in the back seat? (p. 20) What does Once at the football ground mean? [ as soon as we arrived there] (p.21) What did the family have to do in preparation for the Roman fair? (p. 18-23) What is an opponent? (p. 24) What did the centurions and gladiators have to do as soon as they beat their opponents to the ground? (p. 24) What did Caesar do if he wanted the opponent to live? What did the thumbs-down sign mean? (p. 25) Why did Marcus think he would be a goner? (p. 26-27) What does Dad ask Marcus to do? (p. 29) Why does Marcus not want to be seen by Dominic and Leon, and what does he do to escape them? (p. 26-29) What does Marcus do so that Celeste won t recognise him? (p. 32-35) Had Dad really said Marcus had to be a bear or was Marcus just using this as an excuse to get into the bear costume to hide from Celeste? (p. 34) Look back at page 29 to check. How helpful do you think his sister, Alexa, is in hiding him from Celeste? (p. 33-37) Chapter 5 From the chapter heading, predict what will happen. Marcus ended up in the arena by mistake. How did this happen? (p. 38) How did Marcus manage to put on such a good show as a fighting bear? (p. 39-45) Chapter 6 What does blabbed mean, and what had Alexa blabbed? (p. 47) Is the zip really stuck? (p. 47) Why does Mum think there are times Alexa has all the brains in the family? (p. 50) What is the name of the part of a narrative where the problems or complications are all finally solved? [resolution] Is there a coda or end statement in this narrative which states what the protagonist has learnt? What do the final words tell you about what Marcus may have learnt? [e.g. you have to be prepared if you want to be a fighting bear; his friends find Roman fairs fun; there was no need to be embarrassed] What are the themes of the story? [embarrassment; children can have fun sharing their parents hobby]
Name BLM 1 Marcus the Mighty 1 written by and 2 a b c d e f g h i j k 3 a illustrated by. It first published in the year by. There are chapters. The main character is. The story is in the first person by. Who am I? I m named after a famous Roman general. I was once an Egyptian Queen. Cleopatra was my girlfriend. I ve raised a lot of money for hospitals. I m the girl Marcus likes. I m Marcus s big sister. (p.7) (p.6) I m Marcus s two-year-old brother, and a slave. I played the part of Caesar at the fair. Dad bid for me at the slave auction. I was sick the day of the fair. I thought the Roman fair was cool! & (p.2) (p.2) (p.34) (p.31) (p.55) (p.2) (p.5) (p.24) (p.8) ce and ci can make a [ s] sound. Colour the [ s] sounds below. once centurion Celeste circular fence concerned announcing b Cross out the silent letters that you don t hear or say in the words below. sword wreaths guard knobby knees fight bought two would c The letters ou can make different sounds. Circle the odd man out in the following. (i) proud ouch hour through trousers slouched shouted announce (ii) touches country poured young Prefixes&Suffixes syllables at the beginning and end of words 4 Circle the prefixes and underline the suffixes of the following words. unzipped disappeared unfortunately Blake Education Fully Reproducible Sparklers Five
Figures of speech Connectives Adverbs and Blake Education Fully Reproducible Sparklers Five Conjunctions BLM 2 1 Copy four examples of onomatopoeia (words that try to copy a sound) from page 41 and 42. 2 Copy the metaphor on page 26 that compares the way people moved to the way a liquid moves. 3 What is the red brush on the helmet compared to, in the simile on page 3? 4 Join the sentences below using words from the word bank. a The spears and swords aren t sharp. The people aren t allowed to hurt each other. b c We are serious about being Romans. We are not that serious. We painted our old sofa gold. It looked like a Roman couch. 5 Copy adverbs that tell HOW from the following pages of the story. low L How? When? Where? How much (to what extent)? S U Name (p.20) (p.26) (p.29) (p.41) (p.47) (p.50) Qu o Word Bank because but so that 6 Circle the adverbs in the following that tell HOW MUCH (to what extent). Example: that serious a it barely covered my belly b very interesting c so imaginative 7 Write T for TIME or Pfor PLACE to show what kind of adverbs the following are. a down b once c back d early e pretty soon f then g just as h hardly
The facts 1 True or false? a b c d e f g h i j k Cleopatra was in love with Marcus the Mighty. Mark Antony is another name for Marcus Antonius. Mum made Marcus a centurion costume. Dad wore Mum s white miniskirt to the Roman fair. The family painted their old sofa silver. Marcus had a red brush on his helmet, just like Dad s. Slaves were allowed to vote in ancient Rome. Celeste, Dominic and Leon told Marcus they were going to the fair. It took 2 hours to drive to the fair. There were real bears and lions in the animal pit at the fair. Being embarrassed by your parents is one of the themes of the story. Slang The complication stage of the narrative Name 2 Find the phrase from the story which says the same as the following. a (p.2) He loves anything to do with ancient Rome. b c d e f g 3 (p.10) (p.11) (p.12) (p.27) (p.47) (p.55) BLM 3 Write T for True, F for False Good on you! That s the right thing to do. Running equal or even in a race. I looked stupid. I was dead, ruined, past help. She had told everyone. It was really good. Marcus does not want any of his friends, especially Celeste, to see him dressed up as a Roman at the coming fair. On spare paper make a list of all the steps Marcus took to stop this from happening. Step 1: He tries to make his family change their mind. Begin like this: Step 2: When he sees Dominic and Leon coming towards him at the fair, he... Blake Education Fully Reproducible Sparklers Five
Creative writing 1 Responding to the story Name How do you think Dominic and Leon would have acted if they had seen Marcus at the fair? BLM 4 Write a description of their actions. How would you have acted? 2 Design a poster advertising the fair Think of things which would encourage people to attend. Make your poster as eye-catching as you can. Blake Education Fully Reproducible Sparklers Five
Assessment checklist for Marcus the Mighty Outcome indicators On completion of the Black Line Masters the student is able to: BLM 1 Identify different parts of a publication. Insert the passive voice in a cloze format. Identify the protagonist. Identify the point of view. Identify different spelling patterns for the same sound. Recognise exceptions to a learnt spelling pattern. Locate silent letters within familiar words. Recognise prefixes and suffixes in familiar words. BLM 2 Recognise onomatopoeia. Identify and interpret similes and metaphors. Use connectives and conjunctions from a word bank to combine sentences. Recognise adverbs and classify them according to time, place, manner and degree. BLM 3 Make decisions as to whether statements about the story are true or false. Peruse the text to locate information to confirm these decisions. Find slang expressions in the text, synonymous with given phrases. Identify the theme of a novel. Sequence events in the complication stage of the narrative. BLM 4 Respond to an imaginary situation. Describe how they themselves might have acted in a given situation. Design an advertising poster giving relevant details.