Teacher's Activities

Visit Teachers@Random for a Dick King-Smith teachers guide.

Here are some suggestions for using some of Dick King-Smith's books in your third through sixth grade classrooms.

Group discussions
Wisdom
Nanny the goat shares her wisdom with Ace throughout ACE: THE VERY IMPORTANT PIG (e.g. "A little of what you like does you good. But you can have too much of a good thing.") Ask the students if they have any pieces of wisdom they can share with each other. Who gave them these pieces of wisdom?

Television
In ACE: THE VERY IMPORTANT PIG, Ace, Megan and Clarence enjoy watching TV during the day. What would be each student's pet's favorite TV program if they watched television, and why?

Imagination
The character of Janie in THE INVISIBLE DOG imagines that she owns a Great Dane. Ask the kids if they've ever imagined owning something they don't have. What is it? Why would they like to have one?

What would life be like as an animal on Babe's farm? Ask students to pick an animal other than Babe and describe what a "day in the life" of this animal would be like. Share ideas with the class.

Did you know?
In THREE TERRIBLE TRINS, Farmer Budge has an "epiphany" towards the end of the book. Do the students know what this means? Can they identify where this happens? And have they ever had an "epiphany" themselves?

Creative Writing
Journalism
Have the students write a newspaper article about Ace and his amazing accomplishments. Also, students can practice writing persuasive headlines. Put all the headlines on the bulletin board or chalkboard, and have the classroom vote on the best headline. Which headline would be most likely to persuade them to read the article?

Create a classroom newspaper about Dick King-Smith books. Have the students conduct mock interviews with characters, write features about the settings, do a weather report on England, etc.

Short Stories
If Farmer Budge's house could talk, it could tell some crazy stories about its residents! Write a short story from the house's point of view about day-to-day life at the Budge household.

Projects
Current events
Babe's story is truly amazing. Have your students read the local newspaper for a week and see if they can find any "amazing" articles about animals or anything else. Ask them to cut out the articles and share them with the class.

Art
After reading THREE TERRIBLE TRINS, have each student create a diagram of the mouse "clan system" in the Budge household. Illustrate the living accommodations of the different clans of mice: the Attics, the Ups, the Downs, and the Cellarmice. Have them put in the different tunnels and stairways.

Continuing the stories
When a book is finished, is the story really over? Ask your students to pick a Dick King-Smith book to "continue" - for example, describe what happens to Ace after he and Farmer Tubbs return from London. Or, how do Janie and her new dog Henry get along after the end of THE INVISIBLE DOG? Have each student write a continuation and then share them with the rest of the class.