Subject(s): Language Arts, Social Studies Grades(s): Grades 6-7, Junior High/High School

Title – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Communism!
By – Christine Shirley
Primary Subject – Language Arts
Secondary Subjects – Social Studies
Grade Level – 6-8

Note from LessonPlansPage.com:

One of the links in this lesson, www.RoaldDahlFans.com was not working on the day this was published. We feel that this broken link does not distract from Mr. Shirley’s lesson because she offers other options or the material in question was optional.

Overview:

• This lesson plan is written for a M-W-F 6th grade class that meets for about 50 minutes.
• After students read Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (a 6th grade level reading book), incorporate an introduction to Marxism and have the students read the first two chapters from Marx and Engels’ The Communist Manifesto.
• Also incorporate a brief introduction to Henry Ford and his creation of the assembly line.
• For the selection of the five-point group selection, have the students complete the Who Are You Learning Styles Inventory created by Professor Carolyn Donelan and found at the educational resource TrackStar #155142.

Class 1 (Friday):

1. For class today, the kids will have read chapters 1-12 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
2. Divide students into their five-point groups to discuss their findings from their homework reading for about 10-15 minutes. The assigned speaker for that day in each group will share their findings to the class. Expand upon important questions that the students may have and material that you want to address.
3. Introduce Roald Dahl to the class (10-15 minutes); allow the students to ask questions if they have any. Give students a handout about Dahl’s biography to browse. This information was under the biography tab at http://www.RoaldDahlFans.com, but can also be found on many other good biography sites or even Wikipedia.com.
4. Give students a handout with the CIBC’s 10 questions. Discuss the relevance of each of the questions with the class. This resource can be found at http://www.teachingforchange.org/node/101.
5. Have students read Charlie and Political Correctness by Cassandra Pierce found under the articles tab at http://www.RoaldDahlFans.com (optional).

Class 2 (Monday):

1. For class today, students will have read the first two chapters of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ book, The Communist Manifesto. You might mention that the complete The Communist Manifesto can be found free at http://www.mamma.com. If the students have a book report project coming up, you might suggest that they read the entire book if they are interested.
2. Hold a five-point group on the reading at the beginning of class.
3. Then, explain an excerpt from Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ The Communist Manifesto. Discuss the tenets of their philosophy. In your lecture to the students, expand any questions that were raised in the five-point group discussion.
4. Then, divide students into small groups to discuss one of the newly assigned vocabulary words. If you have computer access, sign up for a lab and have the class go to the lab to look up the definitions on their own using a site like the Oxford Online Reference Dictionary or Dictionary.com. Also, give students time to look up additional websites that will give the students an additional feel for their vocabulary word or concept. It will be each group’s job to explain their concept to the class. If you cannot get access to a computer lab, hand out copies of the definitions and have students clarify the longer meanings. During class time, walk around the classroom and make sure to speak with each group to ensure that they have an understanding of their concept before reiterating it to the class. Correct or help the students while they speak to the class to make sure that they get it. You could make the exploratory constructivist internet assignment part of a homework assignment, but I prefer to do the assignment in class because it will ensure that the students will complete the assignment.

Class 3 (Wednesday):

1. For class today, the students will have read chapters 21-30 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
2. Hold a five-point group on the reading assigned for homework at the beginning of class.
3. Introduce the students to Henry Ford and his creation of the assembly line. Show a short video clip about his invention and its impact. Give the students a brief handout to look at while you discuss any of the assembly line’s history that is omitted in the video clip. The handout is located at http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/ford.htm. The video clip can be found under the title Ford Model T at http://www.youtube.com. Then, discuss the impact of the assembly line, mass production, and its relation to the novel with the students. How would life be different today if we did not have assembly lines in factories?
4. Have the students read Dahl’s The Chocolate Revolution from Sunday Magazine found under the article tab at http://www.RoaldDahlFans.com, at this WakeGov site, and elsewhere on the Web.

Class 4 (Friday):

1. For class today, the students will have read chapters 22-30 of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
2. Hold a five-point group about the reading assigned for today.
3. Today, the class participates in a teacher-created Jeopardy-style quiz game for the Marxist, assembly line, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory material that were covered thus far. The group with the highest amount of points gets 2 bonus points added to their test results.
4. Give students a handout explaining a class debate that will happen next class period on what should happen to Willy Wonka’s factory after Charlie and his family move into the factory. The debate assumes that the Bucket family has a say in the factory and the way it runs. The students will be assigned characters/roles in the novel to represent. Divide the students into groups so they can come up with plans for their argument.

    

   Debate Assignment What should happen to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory after Charlie Bucket gains ownership or part-ownership of the factory? The groups to be represented are: The Oompa-Loompas, Charlie Bucket, The Bucket Family, Willy Wonka, the Government, other Capitalist nations that love Chocolate, the Bourgeoisie Class (such as the four brat children and their parents), and other Proletariat families/children like Charlie Bucket’s initial situation. You may research Labor Union information, chocolate sales data, and any other various information that you might find helpful in your argument for the possible viewpoints of your group.

Class 5 (Monday):

1. After 5 minutes of group preparation, instruct the different sides of the debate to explain what they think should happen to the factory and why.
2. Hand out the essay questions for the test, and explain the format.

3. After the debate, allow the students to watch 20 minutes or so of one of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movies.

Class 6 (Wednesday):

1. The students take their vocabulary and short answer/essay test during the first 15-25 minutes of class.

Name:__________________________________ Date:______________________ Test for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Unit True or False Industrialization only occurs within a capitalist system. T F A Command Economy is controlled by market forces. T F Industrialization occurs when a economy shifts from being agrarian-based to industry-based. T F A free market is where all people have “common ownership of economic resources” (Oxford Reference Online). T F Trade is important because of the unequal distribution of natural resources. T F The surplus value allows the bourgeoisie to have more capital than the proletariat. T F The bourgeoisie class is often characterized by their exploitation of a people because of their need for their labor-power. T F

2. For the remaining 20-30 minutes of class time, after all students are finished, allow the class to watch either the rest of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie from the last class period or watch part of another version of the movie.

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