Do you want to add a little fun to your next novel study? Try reading The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling. Your students are sure to love this book about a boy who takes eating chocolate to the extreme. Are looking for some activities to do with your novel study? Check out these The Chocolate Touch teaching ideas.
The Chocolate Touch Summary
John Midas is a boy who loves chocolate more than anything else. His appetite for sweets causes him to convince all his friends to give him their sweets. John finds a special coin that he spends at a candy store on a box of chocolates.
After eating the only chocolate in the box, everything that touches John’s mouth turns to chocolate. Spider teases John about eating his glove. John ruins his friend’s silver dollar when he bites it. John’s pencil turns to chocolate during his math test. John is getting very thirsty by lunch when everything turns to chocolate. Next, John’s trumpet turns to chocolate.
John ruins Susan’s birthday party when the water in the bobbing-for-apples barrel turns to chocolate. Next, John turns his mother to chocolate. He then goes back to the chocolate store where he purchased the magic chocolate. There, John proves to the storekeeper that he is not selfish by saying he will keep the chocolate touch if his mother can be returned to normal. Because of his vow, everything John turned to chocolate returns back to its original form.
The Chocolate Touch Teaching Ideas
Book Unit Samples
Grab your novel study samples including vocabulary, comprehension questions, and constructed response writing prompt here.
You can get the book unit sample by clicking the button.
Teaching Idea #1 – The Story of Chocolate Video
This 2:20 minute video is a great introduction to the history of chocolate.
Teaching Idea #2 – Chocolate Tasting
Chocolate Tasting:
Since chocolate is the central theme of the book, it can be fun to do a chocolate-tasting activity. You can gather different types of chocolate. Have students taste and compare them. Talk about the different types of chocolate (milk, dark, white, etc.), where they come from, and how they are made.
S’mores
Making s’mores in the classroom is really easy. Have students work in small supervised groups. Students place marshmallows on shish kabob sticks. They then toast the marshmallows over a candle flame. Once toasted, students assemble the s’more by placing the melted marshmallows on graham crackers. Add chocolate. Then sandwich the treat together using a second graham cracker.
I used this activity with a small group of students who earned a reward by reading a specific number of books.
Teaching Idea #3 – Chocolate Timeline
In the “History of Chocolate,” you will find a timeline. A group of my students created this timeline as part of a project a number of years ago. Unfortunately, it is six pages long. YIKES! Students would be bored out of their minds trying to read through the timeline. Because of this, I created a scavenger hunt to make finding details fun. Students skim through the facts to find specific dates or information from these web pages. They add the information to the printable creating their own mini-timelines. Download the free printable here to get started. Students can use the timeline to write a paragraph similar to this one.
Teaching Idea #4 – Activities on the Web
Snowy Chocolate Pine Cones – This easy-to-make delicious treat is made from cereal, pretzels, peanut butter, Nutella, butter, and powdered sugar. Ingredients just need to be mixed and formed making it an easy classroom favorite.
The Chocolate Touch Teaching Ideas #5– More Activities
Math
Have students measure and weigh chocolate bars or calculate the percentage of cocoa in different types of chocolate.
Art
Students can create their own comic strip based on the book, using the characters and scenes from the story.
Students can use modeling clay or other materials to create sculptures of their favorite chocolate treats.
See the product that inspired this post.
The Chocolate Touch Novel Study includes vocabulary practice, comprehension questions, constructed response writing, and skill practice.
