DragonBreath

// Page by Makayla Schenkelberg //

Vernon, U. (2009). //Dragonbreath//. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Dial Books.  media type="youtube" key="dEyZXGjFxz4" height="349" width="425"

Links: Author's Website:

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Lesson Plans: [] Comic Strip Generator: []

Summary: Danny DragonBreath has an assignment to research and report on an ocean creature. He procrastinates the assignment and ends up making up information about an imaginary creature on his bus ride to school the day the paper is due. He thought his teacher wouldn't notice, but when he gets a big, fat F, he has to make up the assignment, and it has to be mind-blowing this time around. Danny's cousin takes him on a tour of the ocean including ship wrecks and trenches and Danny learns a lot about marine life along the way. Their adventure comes to an end after a battle between a sperm whale and giant squid cause them to flee. Danny gets an A on his redo paper.

Discussion Questions, taken from: []   1. Even though he practices all of the time, Danny cannot breathe

fire. Was there ever something that everyone else could do that you

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">couldn’t? How did it make you feel? How did other people treat

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">you?

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">2. Big Eddy is always picking on Danny and Wendell. Do you think

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">it is smart of Danny to give Big Eddy his lunch? Do you think how

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Wendell responds is smart? If you were in Danny or Wendell’s shoes

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">what would you have done?

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">3. Danny waits until the last minute to finish his homework. Instead

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">of doing a report on the ocean, he makes up a fictitious animal.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">How does not doing his homework on time lead to near disaster?

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">4. What makes Danny and Wendell such good friends? Would you be

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">friends with Danny? Would you be friends with Wendell?

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 17px;">Classroom activity: <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 17px;">Objective: Students will follow the writing process to write and create their own descriptive comic.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> 1. Project pg. 23 from // Dragonbreath // on the board. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 17px;">2. Discuss the "Rare and Elusive Snorkel Bat" and its description <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> 3. Have students invent a mythical animal and write a vivid description of it using all of their senses (except for maybe taste...) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">4. Have students switch descriptions with a neighbor and draw what they described. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">5. Have the students share their drawings to determine if what they envisioned was what they described. If not, Have them make revisions. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">6. Have students create comic-style posters featuring their animals on 11x18 sheets of paper. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">Assessment: Did students use all of their senses to describe the animal? Do their pictures match their descriptions?