The Chocolate Touch

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

ACTIVITY 1: “Create the Coin”

In this activity, students will use details from the novel and symbolism to design the coin that leads to John’s chocolate touch.

The novel offers some ideas about the coin John brings to the store. Use the details you find in the book and add symbolism to design the coin.

• Re-read key scenes.
• Take notes. What does the author reveal about the coin?
• List the major ideas and lessons evident in the novel. Choose 2 or more ideas or lessons and identify ways you can represent them with symbolism.
• Decide on the format of your coin: poster, painting, video, 3D representation, or something else.
• Create your coin. On a separate piece of paper, briefly explain your choices for symbolic images on the coin and how they represent key ideas or messages in the novel.

Display your project and written explanation in our class.

Journal about a specific aspect of your project or a peer’s project and how the details and images included represent a larger idea from the novel.

Teaching Suggestion: It could benefit the class to discuss examples of symbols. Focusing on one of the themes and symbols that could represent that theme will help clarify this high-level abstract concept. Re-reading a scene from the novel together and listing details about the coin could also be beneficial. Students might expand the project to present their coins in a gallery walk format, which would provide additional opportunities to practice speaking and listening as well as learning from each other.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students who would benefit from additional writing practice could extend the accompanying explanation into a longer analysis essay.

ACTIVITY 2: “The _____ Touch”

In this activity, students will choose a power like the one John develops in the novel and apply it in a creative way.

John’s chocolate touch greatly impacts his life in various ways. Imagine a different power someone might wish for. Consider ways this power could affect a person and those around them. Create a presentation to explain this power, highlight its pros and cons, and more.

• Brainstorm ideas for powers.
• Choose one.
• Decide on a format for your project. For example, you might convey your information by writing an original poem, performing a skit, presenting a tableau, creating a visual collage, or something else.
• Develop your project. Before you are finished, share your progress with a peer and consider any questions or recommendations they have about your project.

Share your completed project with the class. Discuss connections between our projects and the novel. Finally, in a small group, confer on the wording of any lasting lessons and share these with the larger group.

Teaching Suggestion: Students might work together in pairs, expanding the opportunity for cooperative learning. This could be a brief activity, with students presenting in small groups; or it might be expanded to include more formal presentations. It might benefit the class to brainstorm powers and/or additional project format possibilities together. This activity also offers an opportunity to return to the before reading activities. If the class completes both activities, they might develop a coin for the power developed here, connecting the two projects.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Consider the title of the novel.

• What does chocolate symbolize in the story? (topic sentence)
• Choose the best 3 examples of scenes that demonstrate what chocolate symbolizes. In the body of your essay, analyze and discuss how chocolate as a symbol is important in these scenes or significant to the overall story.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, summarize the lesson that John learns about chocolate; explain how this lesson is symbolic of greater learning.

2. John’s parents feature prominently in multiple scenes.

• Overall, should John’s parents be praised or criticized for their role in John’s conflict? (topic sentence)
• Think about 3 moments in the story that prove whether John’s parents should be praised or judged. Explain how their actions support your topic sentence. As you write your response, include quotations and additional details to develop your argument.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, offer advice to John’s parents.

3. John’s experience does not affect only him.

• Choose another character John’s ability affects. How does John’s chocolate touch affect this character? (topic sentence)
• Summarize plot points that reveal how the character is affected. Analyze and discuss the extent of the impact on this character; will they be permanently affected? In a good or bad way? Incorporate details to support your analysis.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain a lesson the reader can learn from those in John’s life.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Reflect on how much John changed over the course of the novel. Is John’s decision to give up the chocolate touch more selfish or selfless? How much does he contemplate the decision, and how difficult does it appear to be for him? What seems to be his driving force? Do other actions or words support true change? Write a 3- or 5-paragraph essay judging John’s motivation as selfish or selfless and explaining what this analysis reveals about John as a character.

2. Consider the store where John buys the chocolate. What is the role of the store in the novel? What separate times does John visit, and how is each time different? What could different details symbolize? Write a 3- or 5-paragraph essay analyzing the significance of the store over the course of the novel. Connect your analysis to one or more of the themes of Personal Choice and Responsibility, The Effects of Greed and Selfishness on Others, and The Dangers of Excess.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. What does the box of chocolate that John buys at the mysterious candy store symbolize?

A) John’s generosity

B) John’s distraction

C) John’s unhappiness

D) John’s greed

2. Which adjectives best describe John’s initial reaction to his chocolate touch?

A) Thrilled and excited

B) Worried and angry

C) Intrigued and curious

D) Calm and glad

3. What is Dr. Cranium’s strongest motivation?

A) Advancing his career

B) Helping John

C) Guiding John’s parents

D) Escaping responsibility

4. Which explanation best describes the cause of Susan’s anger?

A) Friends leaving her out of the fun

B) John destroying her possession

C) Her team losing at bobbing for apples

D) A teacher commenting on her essay

5. How is the store different the second time John finds it?

A) It has been freshly painted John’s favorite color.

B) It has no shopkeeper or anyone tending the store.

C) It has boxes of vegetables instead of chocolate.

D) It has the items John has turned to chocolate.

6. Which plot point most develops the theme of The Dangers of Excess?

A) John’s sister at breakfast

B) John’s rash on his nose

C) John’s mother cooking breakfast

D) John’s missing shoes

7. How is John’s reaction to the toothpaste turning to chocolate different from his reaction to the pencil turning to chocolate?

A) John sees mostly negatives in toothpaste turning to chocolate but few problems with the pencil’s transformation.

B) John tries to tell his parents about the toothpaste turning to chocolate but hides the pencil’s transformation.

C) John does not notice the toothpaste turning to chocolate but celebrates the pencil’s transformation.

D) John sees only positives in toothpaste turning to chocolate but notices downsides with the pencil’s transformation.

8. Why does John finally confide in his father?

A) John’s father grounds him until he tells him what is going on.

B) Susan prompts John’s father to ask about the quiz.

C) John has been hurt by his ability and wants his father’s help.

D) John’s mother asks John to talk with his father.

9. What event leads most directly to John changing his chocolate touch?

A) Failing his quiz in math

B) Turning his mother to chocolate

C) Getting banned from Susan’s party

D) Falling down the chocolate stairs

10. Which plot point most clearly develops the theme of Personal Choice and Responsibility?

A) John’s reaction after destroying Susan’s favorite coin

B) John’s dream the night before his orchestra performance

C) John’s conversation during his second visit in the candy store

D) John’s letter to his neighborhood apologizing for the week

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. What role does John’s sister play in the novel?

2. When John runs back to thank the shopkeeper, what does he find? How is the setting symbolic?