Roald Dahl Day
Lesson duration is: 25 minIntroduction
Instructions
Items in this lesson
Welcome to this lesson!
Celebrating Roald Dahl Day offers a powerful entry point for stripping back the intimidating mechanics of creative writing and focusing on vivid characterisation, playful language, and inventive storytelling. This resource bridges that gap by anchoring key literacy concepts around Dahl’s iconic narrative style, keeping students actively engaged without overwhelming them with abstract theory.
It focuses on the works of Roald Dahl and the worlds he created rather than the writer himself, who held terrible prejudices that should not be ignored.
https://www.roalddahlmuseum.org/our-story/anti-racism-statement/
The focus of this lesson is celebrating the stories themselves and the creativity they inspire in children.
Welcome to this lesson!
Use this mind map to think of as many Roald Dahl chatracters as you can!
Crowdsourcing character names onto a shared display instantly reactivates students' prior literary knowledge while establishing a collaborative reference bank for upcoming characterisation analysis.
Stretch: Have students select one character from the generated cloud and identify the primary personality trait or physical feature Dahl exaggerates for comic or villainous effect.
Device-Free: Execute a rapid-fire whiteboard pass where table groups have 60 seconds to pass a single board around and list as many distinct characters as possible.
Who is your favourite character and why?
Prompting students to justify their personal preference shifts them from passive recall into active evaluation of Dahl's distinct characterisation techniques.
Stretch: Require students to cite a specific quote or character action to back up their choice, explaining how the narrative's tone would shift without them.
Device-Free: Run a rapid pair-share whip-around where partners have 30 seconds each to pitch their favourite character using two distinct physical or behavioural traits.
Pairing iconic props and objects with their respective characters uses spatial manipulation to strengthen associative memory and reinforce key narrative motifs across Dahl's stories.
Stretch: Challenge students to explain how a specific object acts as a catalyst for a major plot turning point for that character.
Device-Free: Distribute physical object cards to students and have them walk to designated corners of the classroom marked with each character's name.
Which book features a monkey called Mugglewump?
The Giraffe, the Pelly, and Me
The B.F.G.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
The Twits
This choice-based prompt acts as a lively diagnostic check, gamifying the retrieval of key details from Dahl’s bibliography and keeping the classroom energy high.
Stretch: Challenge students to recall the main protagonist or a significant plot twist from the correct book once the trivia answer is revealed.
Device-Free: Project the trivia options on the main board and have students signal their chosen answer by holding up one, two, three, or four fingers simultaneously.
Who accompanies Charlie on his visit to the chocolate factory?
Grandpa Joe
Grandma Josephine
Grandpa George
Grandma Georgina
This choice-based prompt acts as a lively diagnostic check, gamifying the retrieval of key details from Dahl’s bibliography and keeping the classroom energy high.
Stretch: Challenge students to recall the main protagonist or a significant plot twist from the correct book once the trivia answer is revealed.
Device-Free: Project the trivia options on the main board and have students signal their chosen answer by holding up one, two, three, or four fingers simultaneously.
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I've taken some artistic liberties with the list, namely certain omissions.
There is a disclaimer about not trying this at home which I urge you to emphasise! I'm sure you don't need that though!
Get your learners to memorise the list in the time limit...then go to thenext slide!
Stretch: Ask learners why this would be dangerous in real life and shouldn't be copied.
Device free: Use posters or mini whiteboards to test recall.
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!
This is more of a fun demo of what you can do with a drag and drop question rather than a totally serious activity......it's intended to be fun but you could use it as an opportunity to remind your learners of the dangers of misusing everyday household substances!
A slide to check the answers.
In the BFG who does the BFG convince to help him and Sophie/?
The Prime Minister
The Queen
Henry Sugar
Mrs. Twit
This choice-based prompt acts as a lively diagnostic check, gamifying the retrieval of key details from Dahl’s bibliography and keeping the classroom energy high.
Stretch: Challenge students to recall the main protagonist or a significant plot twist from the correct book once the trivia answer is revealed.
Device-Free: Project the trivia options on the main board and have students signal their chosen answer by holding up one, two, three, or four fingers simultaneously.
In Matilda, what power does Matilda develop?
Flight
Telepathy
Pyrokinesis
Telekinesis
This choice-based prompt acts as a lively diagnostic check, gamifying the retrieval of key details from Dahl’s bibliography and keeping the classroom energy high.
Stretch: Challenge students to recall the main protagonist or a significant plot twist from the correct book once the trivia answer is revealed.
Device-Free: Project the trivia options on the main board and have students signal their chosen answer by holding up one, two, three, or four fingers simultaneously.
In Fantastic Mr. Fox, what is Mr. Fox famous for?
Fighting
Running
Stealing
Streaming
This choice-based prompt acts as a lively diagnostic check, gamifying the retrieval of key details from Dahl’s bibliography and keeping the classroom energy high.
Stretch: Challenge students to recall the main protagonist or a significant plot twist from the correct book once the trivia answer is revealed.
Device-Free: Project the trivia options on the main board and have students signal their chosen answer by holding up one, two, three, or four fingers simultaneously.
In The Magic Finger, what happens when the girl points at someone?
They turn into blueberries
They turn into an animal
They shrink
They explode
This choice-based prompt acts as a lively diagnostic check, gamifying the retrieval of key details from Dahl’s bibliography and keeping the classroom energy high.
Stretch: Challenge students to recall the main protagonist or a significant plot twist from the correct book once the trivia answer is revealed.
Device-Free: Project the trivia options on the main board and have students signal their chosen answer by holding up one, two, three, or four fingers simultaneously.
Complete the title... The Enormous ------------?
Bottom
Sausage
Lie
Crocodile
This choice-based prompt acts as a lively diagnostic check, gamifying the retrieval of key details from Dahl’s bibliography and keeping the classroom energy high.
Stretch: Challenge students to recall the main protagonist or a significant plot twist from the correct book once the trivia answer is revealed.
Device-Free: Project the trivia options on the main board and have students signal their chosen answer by holding up one, two, three, or four fingers simultaneously.
Which fictional illness do Mr and Mrs. Twit contract?
The Shrinks
Purple Pimple Disease
Snozzcumberitis
The Shivers
This choice-based prompt acts as a lively diagnostic check, gamifying the retrieval of key details from Dahl’s bibliography and keeping the classroom energy high.
Stretch: Challenge students to recall the main protagonist or a significant plot twist from the correct book once the trivia answer is revealed.
Device-Free: Project the trivia options on the main board and have students signal their chosen answer by holding up one, two, three, or four fingers simultaneously.
In James and the Giant Peach, which animal apparently ate James' parents?
Lion
Pelican
Rhinoceros
Centipede
This choice-based prompt acts as a lively diagnostic check, gamifying the retrieval of key details from Dahl’s bibliography and keeping the classroom energy high.
Stretch: Challenge students to recall the main protagonist or a significant plot twist from the correct book once the trivia answer is revealed.
Device-Free: Project the trivia options on the main board and have students signal their chosen answer by holding up one, two, three, or four fingers simultaneously.
Which animal is the pet of Mrs. Silver in Esio Trot?
Tortoise
Monkey
Dog
Cat
This choice-based prompt acts as a lively diagnostic check, gamifying the retrieval of key details from Dahl’s bibliography and keeping the classroom energy high.
Stretch: Challenge students to recall the main protagonist or a significant plot twist from the correct book once the trivia answer is revealed.
Device-Free: Project the trivia options on the main board and have students signal their chosen answer by holding up one, two, three, or four fingers simultaneously.
Sequencing these character departures tests chronological retrieval while reinforcing how Dahl uses structured, cause-and-effect narrative beats to deliver moral lessons.
Stretch: Ask students to identify the specific character flaw that triggered each departure, explaining how the cause directly dictated the sequence of events.
Device-Free: Assign four student volunteers to represent each child and have the rest of the class direct them to line up in the correct chronological order at the front of the room.
We hope you enjoyed this lesson!