The City of Ember

by Jeanne DuPrau

The City of Ember

Follow the links below to find free resources and book unit samples.

 

Book Information

Publication Date: May 31, 2003


Reading Level: Lexile Measure 680L, Scholastic Guided Reading Level W


Interest Level: Age Range: 8 - 12 years, Grade Level: 3 - 7


Major Awards: 2009 ALA Notable Children's Books


Number of Pages: 144 pages


Approximate Word Count: 107,360 words


Audible Book Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins


Book Themes: Friendship, Greed, Family, Dreams, Power


Genre: Doomsday Dystopia


Setting: Our World -- 200+ Years in the Future -- Underground


Important Quote: The trouble with anger is, it gets hold of you. And then you aren't the master of yourself anymore. Anger is. And when anger is the boss, you get unintended consequences.


First Line: When the city of Ember was just built and not yet inhabited, the chief builder and the assistant builder, both of them weary, sat down to speak of the future.


Point of View: Third Person (Limited Omniscient)

 

Free Resources from Gay Miller @ Book Units Teacher


Story Map Booklet


Get your free book unit sample here.


 

Vocabulary List

announce
anticipation
appeal
approximate
assume
beckon
blackout
blotches
civic
comprehend
concentration
confidence
consequence
curiosity
current
deciphering
demonstrate/demonstrators
descend

dread
egress
endeavor
endured
engage
entrance
evaluate
fascinated
frantic
fungus
generator
glimpse
grave
groped
immense
impatient
impudence
indicate

kiosk
leash
megaphone
misfortune
nevertheless
ponder
refugee
rehearsals
rivulets
scowled
sheer
shortage
solemn
square
strode
tendrils
thus
utter

 

Discussion Questions

Scholastic The City of Ember Discussion Guide

Books on Tape Discussion Guide: The City of Ember

Shmoop The City of Ember Questions



 

Links to Resources and Teaching Ideas

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Writing

Mini Poster for Said is Dead

The City of Ember Story Map

Idioms PowerPoint
(This idioms lesson may be used with  Chapter 8.)

 

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Activities to Use with The City of Ember



Activity #1 Pineapple



Granny remembered eating pineapple as a special treat when she was a young girl. After reading about Granny's experience eating pineapple, students created a special pineapple treat of their own. This dish is classroom friendly and simply delicious!

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Students measured milk for

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instant vanilla pudding.

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While the pudding thickened, students sliced Twinkie's Hostess Cakes in half.The cake was placed in a single layer at the bottom of a large serving container.

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The pudding was spread over the Hostess cakes.

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Crushed pineapple was added on top of the pudding. The pineapple was then covered with whipped cream.

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Students loved this delicious sweet treat.

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Activity #2 A Hodge-Podge Bulletin Board



I teach with a wonderful team of teachers. One of them came up with the fantastic idea. The bulletin board was relatively empty when we began reading The City of Ember. As the book progressed, so did the board.

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Activity #3 Drawing Lina's Dream City



Students draw the city of Lina's dreams. This was a guided drawing exercise with a lesson of prospective. Notice how the street narrows down to a point and the buildings are drawn toward a focal point. These 5th graders drew beautiful pictures that were worthy of hanging in a museum.

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Activity #4 Moth Life Cycle



The author, Jeanne DuPrau, included the storyline of Doon finding a caterpillar which turned into a moth as part of this book. The students created the life cycle of a moth as part of this integrated science-art project.

The leaves were cut from a die machine to sped up the project.

Egg - Stage 1 - The eggs were created using cotton rolled into balls.

Larva - Stage 2 - Caterpillars were made from clay and pipecleaners.

Pupa - Stage 3 - Cotton was used to create the cocoon. Small twigs were added to give the cocoon a realistic look.

Adult - Stage 4 - Butterflies were created from tissue paper and pipecleaners.

The end result was amazing. Students were extremely proud and learned a lot.

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