BEFORE YOU START Prepare a Group Journal to Help You Record Group Discussions and Responses to the Text As You Work Through the Book

BEFORE YOU START Prepare a group journal to help you record group discussions and responses to the text as you work through the book.

These notes refer to the edition illustrated by Chris Riddell but can also be used with Dave McKean’s original illustrations, with some minor adjustments.

You could create a glossary of new vocabulary as you read the book – you may want to prepare a format for doing this. As you go through the book, ask the group to pick out words they are unfamiliar with or do not fully understand, such as velvet, muzzle, vermin, raggedy, embroidery, vivid, monstrous, anteroom, shovelled, commercials and rummaged. You could prepare photographs and video sources to bring these words to life and help the pupils use them in context.

Focus: Predicting, Close Reading, Thinking Aloud and Summarising

Share the front cover with the group. (Do not share the back cover at this point as it reveals some aspects of the plot you may wish to hold back while the children make predictions.)

Ask the children to predict what the story could be about. Ask them to justify their responses, drawing out any connections they make to other stories. Record the children’s responses in the journal. Once you have recorded their predictions you can return to these as you read the book, comparing the children’s initial thoughts to how the story actually unfolds.

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• Who do you think this character is? What kind of person might she be? Do her clothing and facial expressions give you any clues? What do you think she is holding? • What does the title suggest to you? • Who do you think Coraline is? Is this a name you have heard before? (Neil Gaiman says the name came from mistyping ‘Caroline’ but he kept it because he ‘knew it was someone’s name. I wanted to know what happened to her.’) • What do you think of the building in the background, and the setting in general? • Where and when might the story be set? What leads you to think this? • What impression does the old building, black cat and figure at the window give you? Does this setting remind you of other stories you know? • Do you recognise the names of the author or the illustrator? Have you read any other books by them? Children may have read Neil Gaiman’s Fortunately, the Milk, The Graveyard Book or Odd and the Frost Giants (all also illustrated by Chris Riddell), or his picture books The Wolves in the Walls or The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish (illustrated by Dave McKean, who illustrated the first edition of Coraline). They may know Chris Riddell from his time as Children’s Laureate, his own Ottoline and Goth Girl series and the illustrations he has provided for many children’s (and adult) authors. ––––––

• What impression do you have of the family? Do Coraline’s mother and father remind you of other characters you know from books or films? • Does it remind you of your family? Why / why not? • Do you ever get bored and run out of things to do? How do your parents react? • Is there anything unusual or interesting about where you live? Do you have any interesting neighbours? • How do the illustrations add to your understanding of and response to the story? ––––––

Invite the children to explore their responses to the start of the book with the help of the four basic questions. These questions can be used as a basis for discussion throughout the sessions.

• Tell me… was there anything you liked about this text? • Was there anything that you particularly disliked… ? • Was there anything that puzzled you? • Were there any patterns… any connections that you noticed… ? As children respond it can be useful to write down what they say under the headings ‘likes’, ‘dislikes’, ‘puzzles’ and ‘patterns’. Record the children’s responses in the journal and return to any questions or puzzles as the sessions continue.

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• What do you think about the door to a brick wall? Why do you think it is the first thing the author mentions? • How do you think Coraline feels when her parents don’t pay her much attention? What would you do in her situation? • What does the strange noise that Coraline hears when she is in bed mean (page 11)? • How do you think the dream she has might relate to the story as it continues? What do you think the meaning of the song is? • What features of the story stand out for you? Was this what you were expecting? ––––––

Ask the group to re-read and reflect on the words and phrases that are particularly effective in drawing in the reader and filling in the background to the family situation and Coraline’s experience.

• Which phrases do you think are especially effective at telling you about the family situation, Coraline’s exploration, the door to the brick wall, the dark shape, the garden and the well? • How does Coraline’s situation affect you as a reader? • What do you predict will happen?

Focus: Empathising, Visualising, Questioning and Summarising

Look at the illustration of Miss Spink and Miss Forcible before Chapter 2, and discuss.

• What do you think of the illustration and the accompanying text? How does it feel to stand in Coraline’s shoes (you can see her reflection in the mirror)? • What details of the flat, the two ladies, their appearance and facial expressions stand out for you? • What is Miss Spink holding in her right hand? Where have you seen this before? What do you think it might be or what use might it have? ––––––

Read Chapter 2 and allow the children time and space to reflect on what they have heard.

• How does the mist make you feel? • How do you think Coraline feels to be ignored by her parents? Which words or phrases particularly capture Coraline’s feelings? • What do you think about the prediction from the tea leaves? • What do you think is the significance of the stone Coraline is given? ––––––

• What do you think is happening in this chapter? How do you explain it? • Do you think Coraline is right to explore while her parents are out? What would you have done in her position? • Why do you think the ‘old black key felt colder than any of the others’ (page 32)? • How do you feel about the other house behind the door? What about the encounter with Coraline’s ‘other parents’ and with the rats? • How does the other house being similar but different make you feel? Then ask the children to complete a Role on the Wall for Coraline. Ask them to come up with words or phrases to describe Coraline’s feelings or personality and her outward appearance or behaviour.

To promote a higher level of thinking, ask the children to consider what they know from Coraline’s speech and what they have to infer from her body language and gestures.

• What does something Coraline does tell you about her personality? • And how does her personality make that action seem most likely (‘in character’)? Encourage the children to continue to return to the Role on the Wall as you read the story, using a different colour each time to highlight the knowledge they gain as they read more.

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• How do you feel about Coraline meeting the cat? • How would you describe the cat’s personality and attitude? Is it what you expected? • What do you think of the performance Miss Spink and Miss Forcible make to an audience of dogs? • Do you believe this is all really happening, or is it just a very weird dream Coraline is having? How would you know, if you were in her position? • How do you respond to the invitation to stay from Coraline’s other mother? Do you find it appealing? Do you think Coraline will stay? • What is attractive about the alternative life, compared with her normal life? As a group you could shared write Coraline a brief note of advice to suggest what she should do, with your reasons for and against her stay.

The children could make notes or draw and annotate a story map to track Coraline’s journey and secure a chronology of events and the role different characters play in the story.

They could write brief pen portraits of the major protagonists – Coraline, her mother and father, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, the old man upstairs, and of course the other mother and father, the other Miss Spink and Miss Forcible and the other old man upstairs – and add these to the journal.

These could be done using Venn diagrams, with one circle for the real person and one for their ‘other’ equivalent, with the overlap capturing what they share in common. The children could also do a pen portrait for the cat, who, with Coraline, is the only character for which they do not see a double.

Focus: Visualising, Empathising, Thinking Aloud and Questioning

Share the illustration preceding Chapter 5, showing Coraline’s other mother and father, and compare it with the illustration preceding the Introduction. Then read Chapter 5 and discuss the events.

• How do you think Coraline feels as she returns to her normal house to find it deserted? How do you feel about the fact that even Miss Spink and Miss Forcible will not be around the next day? • Why do you think Coraline goes to her parents’ bedroom and cries when she wakes at 3.12am? What emotions do you think this expresses? • How does her experience with the mirror and her mother’s message on the glass affect you as a reader? • What is your reaction to the ‘help’ the policeman gives her when she reports her parents missing? What do you think you might have said in her position? • What might be the relevance of the incident with the wasps? What do you think is the meaning of the phrase, ‘when you’re scared but you do it anyway, that’s brave’ (page 69)? How do you think this might be significant in this story? • Do you think she is right to return to the other house? Do you think she will be successful? • How do you feel about what Coraline sees through the mirror – her real parents’ apparent reaction to her absence? • Is Coraline right not to believe her other mother? Is there a grain of truth in what Coraline sees in the mirror, do you think? • How are the personalities of Coraline’s other mother and other father changing in this chapter? • What is the significance of there being only one old black key? • What does the cat mean by the challenge he suggests Coraline should offer her other mother? • How do you think Coraline feels as she falls asleep in her other bedroom? ––––––

© Bloomsbury Read Chapter 6, until page 85, ‘for a way out’. Re-read the section from page 84, ‘She looked around the room’ to page 85, ‘for a way out’ and ask the children to visualise the scene in their mind’s eye as you read. Read the section two or three times and then ask the children to describe what they pictured to a partner.

Following this, ask the children to identify key vocabulary or phrases which supported their understanding or interpretation, such as:

• truly strange… strange-smelling furniture • a bunch of grapes, two plums, a peach and an apple • wooden table with the lion’s feet • a ball of glass Ask the children why these words or phrases in particular stood out to them.

• What made these words or phrases so vivid or memorable? • What impression is created by the author through the descriptions? • How do these descriptions make you feel? • What would you be thinking if you were an onlooker? • What do you think about the discovery of the snow-globe? ––––––

Read on from page 85, ‘She went out of the flat’ to the end of the chapter.

• What is happening here? Can you add the events of these pages to your summary? • How does Neil Gaiman convey the world Coraline’s other mother has created? • Do you think Coraline is becoming more determined as she gets to know the other mother better and finds out more from the cat? • How do you feel when the other mother locks Coraline behind the mirror? • What do you think is going to happen next? Why? • Do you think Coraline will be able to escape? Will she change her mind about staying with the other mother? ––––––

Read Chapter 7, in which Coraline meets three ghostly figures, and discuss.

• Who are the three figures that Coraline encounters behind the mirror? • How does the illustration help your understanding? • What do you think Coraline might see if she looks through the stone? • Whose voice is speaking to her?

Focus: Summarising, Re-reading and Empathising

Discuss the illustration preceding Chapter 8.

• What do you think the illustration shows? • How do you think this ties in to the story? • Which details make you think this? ––––––

Read Chapter 8, in which Coraline challenges her other mother to release her if she can find her parents and the souls of the three children from behind the mirror. Ask the children to discuss their responses to the text so far with the help of the four basic questions. Ask the group to reflect on the words and phrases that are particularly effective in keeping the reader engaged and moving the story along.

• What has happened in this chapter? • Do you think Coraline is right to challenge her other mother? • Do you think she can succeed? Do you think her other mother will let her go if she does? • How does Coraline’s search for the souls affect you as a reader? • How do you think she will find the third child? Will it be as easy as the first two? • What do you predict will happen when Coraline continues her hunt? ––––––

© Bloomsbury Explain to the group that you are going to hot-seat in role as Coraline so that they can explore her viewpoint and her feelings further. Ask the children to discuss and decide on five questions that they would ask Coraline at this point in the story. Challenge them further by asking them to:

• predict the answers to the questions • restructure the questions so they provoke a deeper response: discuss different ways of phrasing questions and model how to recast a closed question as an open one. Then ask the children to choose their three most effective questions. Take the hot seat as Coraline and invite the children to discuss your answers.

After this, update the Role on the Wall for Coraline.

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Read Chapters 9 and 10 in which her other mother gives Coraline a key, the cat helps her find the third soul, and she realises where her parents are.

• How does the illustration of the other mother giving Coraline the key add to your understanding of the story? • Do you think Coraline is right to go to the cellar? What do you think she should expect? • How does the state of her other father affect you as a reader? Why do you think he seems prepared to help Coraline? • How do you react to the old man outlining all the ways her life with her other mother would be better? • Do you think the cat is right to suspect the other mother’s honesty? Should Coraline also doubt that she will honour the terms of the challenge? • Do you notice any change in the cat? • Do you think Coraline is scared? Do you think she is being brave? • What do you think will happen when she goes back inside? ––––––

• How does the illustration prepare you for what you might be about to read? • How do you feel about seeing a scene from the chapter before you read it? • Is it a spoiler or does it help your enjoyment and engagement? • Why do you think the author, illustrator and publisher decided to do this? ––––––

Read Chapter 11 and discuss the events.

• How do you feel about Coraline’s attempt to trick her other mother? • Do you believe her plan can succeed? • What is your reaction to the tense scene where Coraline and her other mother face off and Coraline throws the cat at her? Did you expect this would happen? • How does Neil Gaiman build and maintain the tension in this scene? Which words and phrases are especially effective? • Do you think this is a good point at which to end the story? Why / why not?

Focus: Re-reading, Clarifying and Thinking Aloud

Share the illustration preceding Chapter 12 and discuss it.

• What do you think is happening in this illustration? • How might it connect to what you have read? • What clues does it give you as to how the story might end? ––––––

Read Chapter 12 and reflect on the events.

• How do you feel when Coraline is woken up by her own mother? • How do you respond to the dream where Coraline picnics with the children she has rescued? • Do you understand what the children say to her about what happens next? What do you make of their advice, ‘Be wise, be brave, be tricky’? • Do you agree with Coraline that this outcome is not fair? How do you think the story should end? • How does the appearance of her other mother’s right hand affect you as a reader? • What do you think will happen next? ––––––

Share the final illustration, preceding Chapter 13, and discuss.

• How does this illustration affect you as a reader? • How do the words relate to what you are about to read? • What details of the hand especially affect you? ––––––

• What do you think of the ending? • Is this what you predicted would happen? • How do the final tea party and Coraline’s visit to Mr Bobo affect you as a reader? • How does the author draw everything together in one place? • How does the illustrator add to the story? • What role does the variety of unusual characters in the story play in the way the story develops and ends? ––––––

Consider the different characters and the plot and setting.

• How does the author use the setting of the house and its double? How important do you think this is to the story? • Which character was your favourite? Why? • Which character, aspect of the story or event interested you the most? • Did any of the characters remind you of characters you know from other books? ––––––

In the introduction Neil Gaiman says he wanted to write a story for his daughters ‘that told them something I wished I’d known when I was a boy: that being brave doesn’t mean you aren’t scared. Being brave means you are scared, really scared, badly scared, and you do the right thing anyway.’ He also quotes the author G.K. Chesterton at the start of the book: ‘Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.’

• What is your understanding of what Neil Gaiman says about being brave? • Do you think Coraline’s experience shows you this? When do you think she was scared but did the right thing anyway? • What do you think of what G.K. Chesterton says? Do you think this story is like a fairy tale? Why / why not? ––––––

© Bloomsbury Talk about the book as a whole. Engage the children in book talk, discussing how the book made them feel and allowing them time and space to tell you their likes and dislikes, with reference to different parts of the text or illustrations.

• When you first saw this book, what kind of book did you think it was going to be? What made you think this? • Now you’ve read it, is it as you expected? • Have you read other books like it? How is this one the same? How is it different? • Would you recommend this book to a friend? ––––––

Use hot-seating to explore the characters further. Invite one member of the group to hot-seat in role as the character and answer questions from the rest of the group.

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Review the story in chronological order and consider the different emotions Coraline has felt throughout the story. Work collaboratively to choose words to describe these emotions. Write these on sticky notes and then organise them to show the emotions she has felt in the story and create a graph of emotion.

Through modelling, ask the children to describe their favourite part of the story. Provide the children with an oral scaffold, such as: the most memorable part of the story was... because... ; my top moment in the story was... because... and ask them to discuss their favourite part of the story in pairs. Encourage children to give reasons for their choices and invite some children to share these.

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These resources were created by Bloomsbury and The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE). For more teaching resources, visit: www.bloomsburyguidedreading.com www.clpe.org.uk