Teaching Black Beauty

Instructions for You

Objective: A story is a little like a car: it's made up of different parts and it won't work right if a part is missing. Black Beauty not only has all the parts of a story, but it's actually divided into four parts, each one unique and essential to the story as a whole.

Students will work in groups of five to figure out some crucial info (summaries, themes, and lessons learned) of the story as a whole and of one of the parts in particular. In Steps 6 – 10, they'll then put together a four-minute presentation where they'll act out a short summary of the whole book, focus in on one part, and then explain how that one part figures into the whole.

Steps 1 – 5 are for gathering information and will take about an hour. (If you haven't discussed the themes from the book, add an extra half hour for Step 2b.) Steps 6 – 10 will take two to three class periods. Step 11 is for presentations. Allow about five minutes per group, with five students to a group. All together this will take about five days, give or take a day.

Materials Needed: Pen and paper, computer and internet, chart (see Step 3), props for skits (student provided), a copy of the text, and/or Shmoop's summary page

Step 1: Students will be placed into groups of five. 

• These are their groups for the whole activity.
• Everyone is expected to participate. Equally. The whole time.
• At the risk of sounding redundant, a team is like a car (or a book); it won't work right if everyone doesn't work together.

Step 2: The groups will start by looking at the story as a whole.

• What are the themes in it? (They should write these down.)

Step 2b: If the class hasn't discussed the story's themes yet, do that now as a class. Write them on the board so everyone has a common set to work with.

Step 3: Students will make a chart like this one and fill it in, except for the last two columns ("Major Lessons from the Author" and "Examples of Themes").

• This chart is partly filled in as an example (Part IV and a little of Part I). Their charts will be for Parts I – III (Chapters 5 – 45).
• Each summary should be three to five sentences long. They'll write them after they've filled in the "in a nutshell" boxes.
• To make best use of their time, the groups might want to divide and conquer instead of working all together on this part.

Step 4: Using their charts, they'll answer these questions in two to three sentence written responses:

• Why is the book divided into four parts? Why not just list the 49 chapters?
• How is the book divided into four parts? Why are the chapters grouped like they are?
• Why is each part necessary? (Literally. Why is Part I important? Why is Part II important, etc.?)

Step 5: Groups should first choose one of the first three parts to focus on. (Part IV isn't a choice because it's only 14 pages and that'd be way too easy.)

• Using the chart started in Step 3, they'll fill in the last two columns about lessons and themes just for the part each group has chosen.
• If you snapped a picture (or saved the info somehow) of the lessons from Step 3 of the "Writing a Didactic Story" activity, now is the time to put it back up.

Step 6: Okay, Steps 1 – 5 were for prepping. Now it's time for groups to start working on the presentation components. But first an announcement from our local sponsor:

• Everyone participates. Equally.
• Each group has four minutes, give or take twenty seconds, which means they have between 3:40 and 4:20 to do the whole thing. Going outside of that time takes points off their grades.
• Once each group has done Steps 7 – 10, they'll practice them. Then practice them again. And maybe again.
• They'll include at least three quotes from the book that perfectly fit the points they're making.
• Project their voices. No speaking in monotones.
• Use props of some kind. Props can include posters.

Step 7: Groups next write summaries of the whole book, about 200 words in length. They'll complete one quick draft and move on to Step 8 before revising it.

Step 8: They'll then turn the summary from Step 7 into an act.

• Each group will have one minute to act out the summary. They should consider: Does their summary need to be lengthened or shortened or is it just right?
• They must decide how their group will act it out. Do they need to assign parts? Will there be a narrator? Do they need to write out a script?
• They should ake a list of props and/or costumes they'll need to get. These can be simple.

Step 9: The next 90 seconds of their presentations will focus on the parts of the book they chose in Step 5.

• This part of the presentation will start with these words, "We're going to focus on Part __."
• They'll explain what happens in this part. This is an in-depth summary and includes way more details than in Step 7.
• As part of the summary, they'll include the most important lessons the author presents in that part. (They wrote these down in Step 5.)
• They have some flexibility with how their group presents this. They can continue acting it out, take turns explaining (in a highly engaging manner), or use posters or pictures.
• Don't forget quotes somewhere in their presentation.

Step 10: The last 90 seconds of the presentation will involve one or more group members explaining how their chosen part if the book figures into the story as a whole.

• Why is Part __ so important to the book as a whole?
• What would be lost if that part wasn't in the book?
• How does it expand on the book's themes? (See Steps 2 and 5.)

Step 11: Presentation time.

Instructions for Your Students

A story is a little like a car: it's made up of different parts and it won't work right if a part is missing. Black Beauty not only has all the parts of a story, but it's actually divided into four parts, each one unique and essential to the story as a whole.

You'll team up with four others to figure out some crucial information (summaries, themes, and lessons learned) about the story as a whole and of one of Black Beauty's parts in particular. Your group will then put together a four-minute presentation where you'll act out a short summary of the whole book, focus in on one part, and then explain how that one part figures into the whole.

Step 1: You'll be placed into groups of five. 

• This is your group for the whole activity.
• Everyone is expected to participate. Equally. The whole time.
• At the risk of sounding redundant, a team is like a car (or a book); it won't work right if everyone doesn't work together.

Step 2: Start by looking at the story as a whole.

• What are the themes in it? (Write these down.)

Step 3: Make a chart like this one and fill it in, except for the last two columns "Major Lessons from the Author" and "Examples of Themes."

• This chart is partly filled in as an example (Part IV and a little of Part I). Your group will work at filling in the chart for Parts I – III (Chapters 5 – 45).
• Each summary should be three to five sentences long. Write them after you've filled in the "in a nutshell" boxes.
• To make best use of your time, you might want to divide and conquer instead of working altogether on this part.

Step 4: Using your chart, answer these questions in two to three sentence written responses:

• Why is the book divided into four parts? Why not just list the 49 chapters?
• How is the book divided into four parts? Why are the chapters grouped like they are?
• Why is each part necessary? (Literally. Why is Part I important? Why is Part II important, etc.?)

Step 5: Choose one of the first three parts to focus on within your group. (Part IV isn't a choice because it's only 14 pages and that'd be way too easy.)

• Using the chart you started in Step 3, fill in the last two columns about lessons and themes just for the part your group has chosen to concentrate on.

Step 6: Okay, Steps 1 – 5 were for prepping. Now it's time to start working on the presentation components. But first an announcement from our local sponsor:

• Everyone participates. Equally.
• Your group has four minutes, give or take twenty seconds, which means you have between 3:40 and 4:20 to do the whole thing. Going outside of your time takes points off your grade.
• Once your group has done Steps 7 – 10, practice them. Then practice them again. And maybe again.
• Include at least three quotes from the book that perfectly fit the points you're making.
• Project your voices. No monotones.
• Use props of some kind. Props can include posters.

Step 7: Write a summary of the whole book, about 200 words in length. Do one quick draft and move on to Step 8 before revising it.

Step 8: Turn the summary from Step 7 into a skit you can act out.

• You'll have just one minute to act out the summary. Does your summary need to be lengthened or shortened or is it just right?
• Decide how your group will act it out. Do you need to assign parts? Will there be a narrator? Do you need to write out a script?
• Make a list of props and/or costumes you will need to get. They can be simple.

Step 9: The next 90 seconds of your presentation will focus on the single part you chose in Step 5.

• This part of the presentation will start with these words, "We're going to focus on Part __."
• Explain what happens in this part. This is an in-depth summary and includes way more details than in Step 7.
• As part of the summary, include the most important lessons the author presents in that part. (You wrote these down in Step 5.)
• You have some flexibility with how your group presents this. You can continue acting it out, or take turns explaining (in a highly engaging manner), or use posters or pictures.
• Don't forget you need quotes somewhere in your presentation.

Step 10: The last 90 seconds of the presentation will explain how your group's chosen part figures into the story as a whole.

• Why is Part __ so important to the book as a whole?
• What would be lost if that part wasn't in the book?
• How does it expand on the book's themes? (See Steps 2 and 5.)

Step 11: Present.