Chopsticks by Jon Berkeley

A magical story of the friendship between a mouse and a dragon, set in Hong Kong. The dragon is carved out of wood and is wound around a towering red and gold pillar of the Jumbo Floating Restaurant in Hong Kong. The restaurant is the home of Chopsticks, a little gray mouse who comes out at night to collect the scraps of food left by the cleaners. The dragon longs to soar into the sky and see the world. One day, he enlists the help of his new friend. Chopsticks learns the secret to set the dragon free from the Old Fu, the dragon's creator. On a moonlit night, during the Chinese New Year, when the moon is shining round and bright, the two friends take to the skies and start their journey around the world.

This picturebook is filled with vibrant illustrations of Hong Kong scenery, from the inside of the restaurant featured on the dedication page, to the sampans and skyscapers at Aberdeen Harbour. And in the middle of the book there is a two page spread that shows a wide view of Asia from the sky.

This delightful book will spark the imagination of children.


About the author

Jon Berkeley was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland. His love of art led him to study at the National College of Art and Design. From there he went to work as an illustrator in Hong Kong, Barcelona, London, and Sydney.

Jon worked as an illustrator for twenty years before turning his hand to writing. His illustrations appear in high-profile publications worldwide, including Time, The Sunday Independent, Backbone, and The Washington Post, and regularly feature on the cover of The Economist. He wrote and illustrated Chopsticks in 2004, and illustrated several books by other authors. He is the author of The Wednesday Tales trilogy, which has been praised for its vivid storytelling, humor, and one-of-a-kind characters.

Jon currently lives in Spain with his wife and their five kids, five cats, and a "small colony of stick insects."

Unit lesson plan

Book Title: Chopsticks

Author: Jon Berkeley

Illustrator: Jon Berkeley

ISBN: 0-19-272456-8 Paperback

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2005

Reading Level*: Lexile 810L / Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level reading Test - 5

Suitable for Ages: 10 to 11 years

Proposed grade level: P5

Themes: Friendship, being free

Connection to Hong Kong Curriculum: English Language, Language Education KLA:

Values: Care for others, honesty

Modules: Perseverance, respect for others

General Studies Curriculum: Community and Citizenship

Lesson duration: 30 minutes per lesson


* for reference purposes only
Unit Lesson Plan for Chopsticks.pdf

Skill Allocation

Reading

  • L3 (Jumbo Floating Restaurant)

  • L10 (Boardgame)


Listening

  • L3 (Jumbo Floating Restaurant)

  • L7 (Dragons, KWL)


Writing

  • L1 (Present participle as an adjective)

  • L2 (Cohesion & Coherency)

  • L10 (Boardgame)

Speaking

  • L5 (Present perfect tense speaking)

  • L10 (Boardgame)


Grammar

  • L1 (Present participle as an adjective)

  • L4 (Present perfect tense)

  • L5 (Present perfect tense speaking)


Literature

  • L4 (Present perfect tense)

  • L6 (Character development)

Vocabulary

  • L7 (Dragons, KWL)


Culture

  • L8 (Chinese auspicious symbols)


Craft

  • L9 (Paper cup dragon)


Boardgame

  • L10 (Boardgame)

Download complete set of lesson plan and teaching materials

( Please email to engl.rcpce@polyu.edu.hk for the ZIP decompression password. )

Download individual lesson plan and teaching materials

( Please email to engl.rcpce@polyu.edu.hk for the ZIP decompression password. )

Lesson plans and teaching materials

Lesson 1 - Present participle as an adjective


Aims:

  • To be able to understand the function and use of the present participle as an adjective.

  • To be able to use the present participle as an adjective to make sentences.


Focused skills: Writing, Grammar


Assessment Criteria:

  • Students are able to identify adjectives in the present participle form in the story.

  • Students are able to use the target language to make sentences..


L1 Lesson Plan - Present participle as an adjective.pdf

Lesson 2 - Cohesion


Aims:

  • To be able to understand how the writer constructs the text.

  • To be able to identify and write coherent and cohesive sentences.


Focused skill: Writing


Assessment Criteria:

  • Students are able to explain the construction of text in the story.

  • Students are able to edit and write coherent and cohesive sentences..


L2 Lesson Plan - Coherence and Cohesion.pdf

Lesson 3 - Jumbo Floating Restaurant


Aims:

  • To learn more about the Jumbo Floating Restaurant.

  • To be able to practise reading comprehension skills and complete a reading exercise.


Focused skills: Reading comprehension, listening


Assessment Criteria:

  • Students are able to practise reading comprehension skills such as making inferences and locating key information..


L3 Lesson Plan - Jumbo Floating Restaurant.pdf

Lesson 4 - Present perfect tense


Aims:

  • To learn about the function of the present perfect tense.

  • To be able to think from the character’s perspective.


Focused skills: Grammar, Literature


Assessment Criteria:

  • Students are able to identify and write sentences with the present perfect tense.

  • Students are able to use the present perfect tense to write a self-introduction from the perspective of Chopsticks..


L4 Lesson Plan - Present perfect tense.pdf

Lesson 5 - Present perfect tense


Aims:

  • To be able to ask and give information about one’s life experiences.

  • To be able to identify true and false information in a speaking activity


Focused skills: Speaking, Grammar


Assessment Criteria:

  • Students are able to ask and give information about their life experiences.

  • Students are able to identify false sentences about their classmates..


L5 Lesson Plan - Present perfect tense speaking.pdf

Lesson 6 - Literature


Aims:

  • To understand the character traits of the main character.

  • To create character profiles.


Focused skill: Character description


Assessment Criteria:

  • Students are able to choose the appropriate adjectives to describe the characters and to express personal opinions about their character traits..


L6 Lesson Plan - Character description.pdf

Lesson 7 - Dragons


Aims:

  • To practice constructivist learning strategy KWL to learn about dragons.

  • To practice listening for details


Focused skills: Listening, KWL


Assessment Criteria:

  • Students are able to listen for details to answer the comprehension questions correctly.

L7 Lesson Plan - Dragons, KWL.pdf

Lesson 8 - Chinese auspicious symbols


Aims:

  • To learn about the different auspicious symbols in Chinese culture.

  • To create an auspicious symbol and write a description for it.


Focused skill: Culture


Assessment Criteria:

  • Students complete a matching exercise about auspicious symbols correctly.

  • Students are able to draw and write about their own auspicious symbol.


L8 Lesson Plan - Auspicious Chinese symbols.pdf

Lesson 9 - Paper cup dragons


Aims:

  • To practice listening to instructions.

  • To be able to follow steps to make a paper cup dragon.

  • To write about their dragon and what it symbolizes


Focused skills: Listening and craft


Assessment Criteria:

  • Students are able to complete the instructions.

  • Students are able to use fine motor skills to make a paper cup dragon

L9 Lesson Plan - Paper cup dragon.pdf

Lesson 10 - Boardgame


Aims:

  • To consolidate students’ understanding of festivals in the story.


Focused skills: Reading, speaking and writing


Assessment Criteria:

  • Students follow the instructions and play the boardgame correctly. Students will answer questions about the book to reinforce their understanding of the story..


L10 Lesson Plan - Boardgame.pdf