Novel Study: Tales From the Haunted Mansion, Vol. 1

During this six week flexible schedule class, we will study the novel entitled, "Tales From The Haunted Mansion, Volume 1, The Fearsome Foursome", by Amicus Arcane. Each week, students will read two chapters, discuss the novel, as well as review and apply the following English- Language Arts concepts (there will be different concepts highlighted each week):

Summarizing
Setting
Main Idea
Characters
Vocabulary
Major Events
Compare/Contrast one Character to a person you know...
Writing Prompts
Main Problem/Resolution 
Cause & Effect
Quotes
Mood of the Story
Major Dilemma
Evaluation of the Book

This is a flexible schedule course, so there are no live meetings. 

The book, "Tales From the Haunted Mansion: Volume 1, The Fearsome Foursome", by the mansion librarian, Amicus Arcane, is published by Disney Press.  The ISBN number is: 9781484713297. 

Pages: 240 pages
Age Range:  9-12/13 years of age

Book Description:  "Welcome, foolish mortals, to Disney Press’ spookiest chapter book series yet: Tales from the Haunted Mansion! Based on the attractions from the Disney Parks, each new book tells the story of one of the Haunted Mansion’s 999 ghosts. With eerie illustrations throughout and a beautiful three-piece cloth cover, the books are designed to look like they came straight from the library in the Haunted Mansion. Tales from the Haunted Mansion is a fun, spooky ride, just like the attraction from the Disney Parks. And if readers are familiar with the ride, they’ll see elements of it throughout the entire story, from items straight of the Mansion (are those pictures stretching?) to lyrics from the narration that is heard in each Doom Buggy. In this bone-chilling book, you will hear the terrifying tales of the Fearsome Foursome–four kids who look to out-scare each other. But just wait until they hear my spooky stories. Who am I? I am Amicus Arcane, your librarian and host. Your Ghost Host. So read on… if you dare!"



Over the course of six weeks, students will study the novel, and submit assignments over the course of six weeks.  As a flexible schedule class, it is advisable to submit work weekly, however, flexibility allows for self-pacing, as long as all work is submitted by the end of six weeks.

This course studies the novel chapter by chapter. Each week, students will be asked to provide a summary of the assigned reading. 

Week 1: Chapters 1 & 2
Week 2: Chapters 3 & 4
Week 3:  Chapters 5 & 6
Week 4:  Chapters 7 & 8
Week 5:  Chapters 9 & 10
Week 6:  Chapters 11 & 12




*This is a flexible schedule class. Each lesson will be delivered via a prerecorded video that will be uploaded into the classroom every week. Each week, students will be assigned an activity to complete related to the prerecorded video. The handouts for the presentation will be made available for you to print, if you choose to do so. Each student will be required to comment on instructor/ peer activity postings in the discussion board area, at least once each week, as directed by the activity, in order to to develop a sense of community in the class. The instructor will be available to help and will provide individual feedback throughout the course.			

By the end of 6 weeks, students will have strengthened the following skills:
 
Reading Skills: decoding, expression, fluency, word recognition
Writing Skills: writing, punctuation, and spelling.
Reading Comprehension Skills: attending, analyzing, associating, contextual clues, critical thinking, inferring, predicting, and sequencing.