Lesson 03 — Ch. 3 'The Green-Face Virus'
Lesson context
- Phase 3 deploys only core units — review/assessment units held for downstream home_review integration.
Spark · 5 min
- Student names what they used to think — about a character, event, or idea
- Student names what they think now
- Student names what made the shift happen — the specific chapter moment, line, or reveal
Guided Reading · 12–15 min
- What three physical changes does Mud see in Cow Loon? 31 — "Cow Loon was sitting on the sand staring at his feet before him—his green feet. He was holding out his wings, staring at his flight feathers—his green flight feathers. He heard Mud approaching. "Mud," he said, "look at my feet!" He turned toward Mud, and Mud stopped dead in his tracks. Cow Loon's whole face was green, as green as grass, from noggin to beak."
- What does Marjorie tell Mud he must find at Nothing Atoll? 36 — "You must leave Sentence Island and sail to Nothing Atoll. Find the Shadow Maker. She will tell you how to procure a shake of shock-shade, a glowing jungle fern that opens only at midnight. Bring the shake of shock-shade back to Sentence Island, and blow it in each of your green-visaged friends' faces."
- Why does the virus make the animals claim things are 'MINE' instead of sharing? 32 — "Clack whirled around suddenly with an angry countenance. "Stay back!" he called, fixing Mud with a steely eye. "This coconut is MINE! Exactly!" Clack's face and claws were as green as grass."
- What does Mud's nightmare at the chapter's opening suggest about what he fears most? 29 — "He could not understand the wind's words. The palm fronds quietly rattled out a code, but Mud could not quite catch the pattern. The moon would not hold still. Mud woke twice and checked on his friend, Cow Loon, but even when Mud was asleep he had disturbing visions—images of Cow Loon's beak turning green and Cow Loon saying "Oh, no, oh, no" and trying to rub the green off with his flight feathers"
The Workshop · 15–18 min
This unit introduces rhyme as a sound pattern poets use — end rhyme, internal rhyme, rhyme scheme notation (abab), feminine rhyme, near rhyme, and eye rhyme. The Music of the Hemispheres builds sound awareness through examples from Shakespeare, Blake, Dickinson, Hardy, and Emerson, preparing students to recognize and deploy rhyme in their own compositions.
Application: Identify the rhyme scheme of the Shakespeare sonnet excerpt on page 83 using letter notation (a, b, a, b). Label which words rhyme and whether the rhymes are end or internal.
Extension: Find one example of rhyme in today's chapter (The Green-Face Virus) — it may be internal rhyme, near rhyme, or alliteration that creates a rhyme-like effect. Explain how the sound pattern strengthens the moment.
Application: Write four lines with an abab rhyme scheme about one character from today's chapter. Use end rhyme for lines 1-3 and 2-4.
Extension: Add internal rhyme to one of your four lines, modeling Blake's 'Double, double, toil and trouble' pattern from page 86.
Application: Compare the Dickinson poem (page 84) and the Blake excerpt (page 87). Which uses more internal rhyme? Which uses more end rhyme? What effect does each choice create?
Extension: Compare two moments in today's chapter where the author uses sound repetition (e.g., 'lopsh, lopsh' on page 30; 'glubblersnorff' on page 34). Which moment feels more like internal rhyme? Why?
Student-Formed Conclusion · 7 min
- Student names what they used to think — about a character, event, or idea
- Student names what they think now
- Student names the specific moment from today (or this phase) that prompted the shift
Wrap-Up & Preview · 5 min
Workshop recap: Students identified rhyme schemes in Shakespeare and Blake, wrote four-line abab verses about chapter characters, and compared internal versus end rhyme effects.
Next lesson preview: Next chapter: Mud and Fishmeal set sail for Nothing Atoll — the voyage begins.