Literacy Unit - Rowan of Rin #6

We are working through the book Rowan of Rin by Emily Rodda. Last week we read the last three chapters and began discussing the book as a whole. For an overview of activities in earlier chapters please use these links:
Chapters 1 and 2
Chapters 3 and 4
Chapters 5 and 6
Chapters 7 and 8
Chapters 9 and 10

Summary - Chapters 11-13
Rowan, Marlie and Strong Jonn come to two tunnels and must decide which one to follow. They decide to check them both out. The one on the right gets very tight, so they try the one on the left. But the one on the left ends in a steep slide down an underground cliff. They take the tunnel on the right, but first eat and leave their packs behind, as with them, they cannot crawl through the tunnel. Having filled their pockets with the things they will need, Marlie leads the way. However, Marlie is terrified of enclosed spaces and seconds after entering she is pulled screaming from the tunnel. Marlie decides to turn back and catch up with Allun. Strong Jonn suggests that Rowan should also return, but Rowan insists that he will stay.

Rowan and Strong Jonn squeeze their way through the tunnel, occupying their minds with other thoughts to avoid the fear and anxiety building within them. They are relieved to finally make their way out of the tunnel and take a moment to recover at the top. Unfortunately, Strong Jonn is struggling for his life. The tunnel has scratched his body badly and he fears that he cannot go on. He urges Rowan to hurry home to his mother and abandon the journey. Rowan, however, decides to stay with Strong Jonn. He builds a shelter and fire and the two drift off to sleep.

The next morning Rowan and Strong Jonn continue the journey up the mountain. They meet the dragon who traps Strong Jonn against the wall with its tail. Rowan realises that it's all up to him. He also realises that the dragon is in pain. He speaks to it in the tone he uses with the bukshah when they are in pain. He determines that there is a bone lodged in the dragon's mouth and he reaches in to gently remove the bone for the dragon. The bone is removed and the pain subsides. While grateful to Rowan for his help, the dragon is now hungry and turns to Strong Jonn. Rowan remembers the final part of Sheba's verse and throws the compass at the sore part of the dragon's neck. The dragon yelps in pain and releases his tail just long enough for Rowan and Strong Jonn to escape.

A burst of fire blasts from the dragon's mouth, melting the ice around Strong Jonn and Rowan. The ice turns to water and suddenly they are caught up in an underground stream tunneling through the mountain. This is the stream that had stopped flowing in Rin. They ride the stream all the way back through to Rin where Star greets them and carries them the remainder of the way. The village is pleased to see them and surprised to hear how the "skinny rabbit" persisted with the journey and faced the dragon. The stream flows again and Rin is safe.

Activities

Code Breaker

• Find examples of possessive pronouns in the text.

Text Participant

• In groups of three, students act out Rowan and his conscience in determining whether to face the dragon. One plays the role of Rowan, one is his fear and one is his bravery. The person playing fear tries to convince him to leave the mountain and go home. The person playing his bravery tries to convince him to face the dragon and save the people of Rin. (This can work with groups of 5 as well. We then repeated the activity as a whole class with each person putting forth an argument. It was great to see what each person added to the argument. One group was particularly creative with their role play and asked to share it with the class. The fear and bravery actors jumped up into the scene with a "POOF". I recorded it, but to protect identities can't publish it here.)
• Students also create the final interview video for their character. This time they choose their own interview questions and answers.
  

Text User

• Students create a plot profile of the book - writing a one line description of each chapter and graphing each chapter for level of excitement (1 being calm, 10 being exciting). They compare and discuss their profile with others and see that others perceived the text differently so there is no 'right' answer.
  
• Students use their plot profile to assist them as they write a Newspaper Report of the journey. They consider the most important and exciting parts to mention.

Text Analyst

• Reread and discuss Strong Jonn's comments to Rowan about his bravery. How does this tie in with students' own ideas of what it means to be brave?

Here is the complete Rowan of Rin unit.