Lesson 10 — Ch. 1, Ch. 2, Ch. 3, Ch. 4, Ch. 5, Ch. 6, Ch. 7, Ch. 8, Ch. 9 'A Pretty Nice Beach'

The Green-Face Virus: A Classic Words Novel · pp. 9-103 (heavy) · VT: Finding Complexity · 50 min total

Lesson context

Phase position: Phase 3 of 3 — synthesis posture; produce-level deployment of the system across the closing novel.

Program Adjustment Notes:

Lean into Produce posture — students compose their own similes/metaphors, not just identify them.
Review/assessment units held for downstream — focus workshop time on the deployed similes/metaphors capstone.

Spark · 5 min

Routine: I Used to Think / Now I Think · Disposition: Finding Complexity

Opening hook: Mud's vision of paradise at Nothing Atoll versus his return to green-faced Sentence Island.

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

Navigator note: The G3-4 version puts more on the student — they recall their own prior thinking rather than relying on navigator to surface it. Navigator may scaffold the recall ('what did you think about [character] when we started this chapter?') if needed. The key push at this level is for specificity in step 3 — push past 'because the chapter was good' toward a specific moment ('which part of the chapter made you think differently?'). Accept the smallest specific anchor; that anchor IS the complexity-finding work.

Students may anchor on Mud's rejection of paradise as simple heroism — push toward the complexity of his torn feelings (pp. 93-96).

Guided Reading · 12–15 min

Required Reading: The Green-Face Virus: A Classic Words Novel, pp. 9-103 · Suggested passage: pp. 93-96 — Mud's torn decision to leave Nothing Atoll.

These questions are entry points to deeper discussion. The full novel is today's pre-read.

Comprehension Questions

What does Marjorie Harbinger tell Mud he must find to cure his friends? 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."
What does Shoilee offer Mud if he stays at Nothing Atoll instead of returning home? 81 — "Why don't you just stay here. Live on Nothing Atoll and be our friends. I can give you special sauce that will make all of you live three times longer than at home."

Discussion Questions

Why does Mud choose to return to Sentence Island even though the paradise offer tempts him? 96 — "There was a part of him that really liked Shoilee and Aye-Aye, and he had a vivid sense of what fun it would be to explore Nothing Atoll and live three lifetimes. Losing all of that left Mud with a doleful melancholy, particularly as they began to lose sight of Nothing Atoll in the distance."
What does the green-face virus do to the animals' altruism, and why does that matter to Mud? 22 — "Altruism was who they were—part of their caring animal spirits. They were truly altruistic, deep in their hearts. If one animal was sad, it made every animal sad."

Heavy pre-read — students read the entire novel before today. Protect discussion time; let them process the whole arc.

The Workshop · 15–18 min

Music of the Hemispheres — Similes and Metaphors primary

pp. 147-161

This unit distinguishes similes (openly expressed comparisons using like or as) from metaphors (comparisons that say two things are the same, often using is or are). Per The Music of the Hemispheres' design, students study poet-examples (Burns, Byron, Dickinson, Shakespeare) and Aristotle's principle that metaphors should connect 'things far apart' for originality.

Suggested Exercises

analytical

Application: Identify three similes or metaphors from The Green-Face Virus (e.g., 'The ocean is a moving plain, with flowers made of foam' p. 129; 'Night, that shady coward, was slinking down the mountain' p. 161). Name the two things compared in each and explain the connection.

Extension: Pick one metaphor from the novel and rewrite it as a simile, or vice versa. Discuss how the change affects the image's power.

creative

Application: Compose two original similes and two original metaphors about Sentence Island or Nothing Atoll, using the unit's poet-examples as models. Follow Aristotle's principle — compare things 'far apart.'

Extension: Write a four-line stanza about the green-face virus using at least one simile and one metaphor. Read it aloud to a partner.

discussion

Application: In pairs, discuss why Thompson uses metaphor rather than simile for 'Night, that shady coward' (p. 161). What does the metaphor reveal that a simile ('Night was like a shady coward') would not?

Extension: As a small group, rank the novel's three strongest metaphors by originality. Defend your ranking using Aristotle's 'far apart' principle.

Spiral revisit — students met figures of speech in Phase 1 and used them implicitly in Phase 2. Produce posture here means students compose their own.

Student-Formed Conclusion · 7 min

Routine: I Used to Think / Now I Think · Disposition: Finding Complexity

Student leads entirely. Navigator may scaffold the recall step but does not supply the shift.

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

Students may default to plot-level shifts — push toward metaphor-level shifts (how seeing similes/metaphors changes how they read the novel).

Wrap-Up & Preview · 5 min

Workshop recap: Students identified similes and metaphors across The Green-Face Virus and composed original figures of speech using Aristotle's 'far apart' principle.

Next lesson preview: Next lesson closes the trilogy with dual capstone — meter and poem synthesis from The Music of the Hemispheres.

Next lesson required reading: The Green-Face Virus: A Classic Words Novel, pp. 9-103

Leave students with the metaphor question — how do figures of speech change what a story can say?