Matilda - Fantasy

     Matilda by Road Dahl is about an extraordinarily smart young girl who comes from a greedy and selfish family. Throughout the book Matilda nourishes her love for reading, learning and pranks all the while discovering her powers of telekinesis.
     This book falls under the fantasy genre, because it is believable, consistent, set in a logical world with a clearly defined conflict and strong characterization (Galda, Cullinan & Sipe 2010). The book has illustrations by Road Dahl himself that appear to be sketched with a pencil, with hard lines and obvious shapes. For instance, the bodies of the characters are generally rectangular in shape with pointy triangle-like fingers and noses. Illustrations are mostly half a page, near the beginning of the chapters. They're usually colorless yet still full of life. They enhance the story by helping readers to grasp a better understanding of the elements of the story. Dahl is very descriptive in the text and his illustrations demonstrate that. Dahl makes good use of literary elements, with the majority of which being similes and metaphors. This helps to convey the high intellect of the story's main character.
     Educators could do a problem/solution lesson after reading a few chapters in Matilda seeing as Matilda often faces problems with her parents and plays tricks to "keep her sanity". Having students pair up, one being the "problem" and one the "solution", teachers could have students act out or represent the main problem per chapter, and the same with the solution. This would show how well students absorbed the reading and if they understand problems and solutions. For a fun and quick individual assessment the teacher could ask students to write out another solution to a problem Matilda's parents may cause. Allowing students to get creative while still instilling legal limitations could make for a fun and exciting activity.
     Teachers could also focus on chronological order and sequencing using Matilda. There are many big things that happen throughout the chapters, and after reading teachers could ask students to work in small groups on individual work sheets to identify the main points of various chapters. If there are ten chapters and five groups, each group could identify the main points/problems/events in two chapters, and then come together as a whole class to discuss and simultaneously review the book. This can be done after the book is finished toward the end of the unit and make for a fun wrap up lesson!
     Reader Response Questions:

1. What two events led to Matilda's decision to play the second prank?
2. What evidence do we have that suggests Matilda might be a child-genius?
3. What is Lavender's "brilliant plot?"

     I am head over heels for this book and I always have been! It's incredibly fun for older elementary students. It provides a plethora of opportunities for teachers to use it in many subjects, math (because Matilda is astonishing at it), science (as they learn about the skinks), reading and so much more! It also serves as a wonderful direct listening activity, as I've done it before myself and had a blast! This is a high quality book with a lot to offer to it's readers.

References:

Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe, (2010). Literature and the child. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.