The Hobbit

Transition Booklet

English – Chipping Campden School

Vocabulary Inference Predictions Explanations Retrieval Summary

Lesson 1- Making Predictions about the book

TASK 1: Annotate the book covers below with predictions that you can make about the book The

Hobbit. An example has been given for you.

Use modal verbs to indicate how likely your predictions are: may, might, could, should, will.

Justify your predictions using connectives such as because, as suggested by, for example, thus.

There may be a secret code, because

of the letters at the bottom of this

cover.

TASK 2: Look carefully at the chapter titles and images below. Try to predict what happens in

each chapter, thinking about how the main character or protagonist, Bilbo, will move from one

stage of the story to another. The first has been completed for you as an example.

1- An Unexpected Party

2- Roast Mutton

3- A Short Rest

4- Over Hill and Under Hill

5- Riddles in the Dark

6- Out of the frying-pan into the fire

7- Queer Lodgings

8- Flies and Spiders

9- Barrels out of Bond

Bilbo could have some friends over and it turns

unexpectedly into a party with a treasure hunt.

They find a treasure map and decide to follow it.

10- A Warm Welcome

11- On the Doorstep

12- Inside Information

13- Not at home

14- Fire and Water

15- The Gathering of the Clouds

16- A Thief in the Night

17- The Clouds Burst

18- The Return Journey

19- The Last Stage

Lesson 2- Making inferences from the opening

TASK 1: The opening paragraphs of The Hobbit describe the protagonist, Bilbo’s, home.

What can you infer about the character from this description of his door? Try to make at least 3

inferences. An example has been given for you.

It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a

shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle.

Success Criteria:

Use modal verbs and adverbs of possibility

Use evidence to justify your ideas

Identify word / clause types

Think about what the words / phrases suggest about Bilbo

• Bilbo could be…

• Possibly…

• This may suggest…

• The character might…

• This is shown in the quotation “…”

• One word which suggests this is “…”

• For example, “…”

• Noun phrase

• Simile

• Verb

• Adjective

• Prepositional phrase

• This could suggest…

• This might show…

• Suggests…

• Highlights…

• Emphasises…

1- The description could suggest that Bilbo is a perfectionist,

because of the noun phrase ‘perfectly round door.’ The adverb

‘perfectly’ emphasises how precise and perfect the door is, suggesting

that Bilbo likes everything to be just right.

2

3

4

TASK 2: Annotate the extract explaining what you can infer about the protagonist, Bilbo, from

the description of his house.

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty,

wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor

yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or

to eat; it was a hobbit hole, and that means comfort.

It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green,

with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door

opened onto a tube shaped hall like a tunnel; a very

comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and

floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and

lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats – the hobbit was fond

of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not

quite straight into the side of the hill – The Hill, as all the

people for many miles round called it – and many little round

doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another.

No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms,

cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole

rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms, all were

on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best

rooms were all on the left hand side (going in), for these were

the only ones to have windows, deep set round windows

looking over his garden, and meadows beyond, sloping down

to the river.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• Do you think that Bilbo seems like the type of character to do on an adventure? Why, or

why not?

• What is a hero? Does Bilbo seem like a hero?

• Why do you think the author, Tolkien, chose to start the book with a description of Bilbo’s

house rather than Bilbo himself?

Bilbo

might like

to stay at

home.

Lesson 3- Writing a description of a dragon

In The Hobbit, Bilbo and his friends go on a quest to find a dragon. This lesson, we’re going to write

a description of a sleeping dragon.

TASK 1: Watch this video showing dragons in film and TV. Write down some ideas you can use for

your description.

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•

•

•

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TASK 2: Look at the images below. Surround them with words and phrases to describe parts of the

pictures, then share ideas together as a class.

You will be writing a description of a sleeping dragon at the end of this lesson. Use the criteria below to plan some interesting sentences.

Write a sentence describing a movement using an interesting adverb.

Write a sentence describing the scales using an adjective.

Write a sentence describing a movement beginning with a verb.

Write a sentence describing something around the dragon using a preposition.

Write a sentence beginning with a pronoun.

Write a beginning with a connective.

Write a sentence beginning with a noun.

Write a sentence which includes onomatopoeia.

Write a sentence describing his wings using a simile.

Write a sentence using a metaphor.

Task 3: Number your descriptions in the order you want to include them. Think carefully about what you

might notice first if you walked into a cave with a sleeping dragon. Then, write up your description of a

sleeping dragon below.

As I entered the cave, I noticed straight away….

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Lesson 4- Create a leaflet for a book-based theme park

JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit and his adult series The Lord of the Rings are so popular that they have inspired a

studio tour / theme park.

TASK 1: Have a look at the pages of the brochure below, and label feature you’d expect to see on a travel

brochure.

Links to social media

TASK 2: Imagine you were creating a tourist destination based on literature and texts you’ve read or studied. Plan below what sort of things you would include.

Task 5: Create a leaflet of your destination on the next page. Don’t forget to include all the persuasive devices you found in the Hobbiton brochure!

Some ideas:

• A theme park based on Alan Gibbons’ The Shadow of the Minotaur

• A zoo with a Greek Mythology theme

• A wax museum of real life heroes and villains

• A movie set of one of your books which has been made into a film

Name of destination:

Slogan:

Food and drink locations

Key attractions

Facts about the destination

What visitors say about the destination /

attractions

Location, climate, and best times to visit

Place name: Slogan: Image: Book it is based on:

Key facts: Main Attractions: Food and Drink:

What visitors say: Location, climate, and best times to visit: Map:

Lesson 5- Biography: The Life of J.R.R. Tolkien

TASK 1: Read the short biography about Tolkien, who wrote The Hobbit.

J.R.R Tolkien, Written by Wayne G. Hammond

From Encyclopaedia Britannica

J.R.R. Tolkien, in full John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, (born January 3, 1892, Bloemfontein, South Africa—died

September 2, 1973, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England), English writer and scholar who achieved fame with his

children’s book The Hobbit (1937) and his richly inventive epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings (1954–55).

At age four Tolkien, with his mother and younger brother, settled near Birmingham, England, after his father, a

bank manager, died in South Africa. On his mother’s death in 1904, her boys became wards of a Catholic priest-

they were looked after by the church. Four years later Tolkien fell in love with another orphan, Edith Bratt. His

guardian, however, disapproved, and not until his 21st birthday could Tolkien ask Edith to marry him. In the

meantime, he attended King Edward’s School in Birmingham and Exeter College, Oxford. During World War I he

was a soldier in the Somme. After the Armistice, when the war was over, he was briefly on the staff of The Oxford

English Dictionary (then called The New English Dictionary).

For most of his adult life, he taught English language and literature, specializing in Old and Middle English, at the

Universities of Leeds (1920–25) and Oxford (1925–59). Often busy with academic duties and also acting as an

examiner for other universities, he produced few but influential essays and books, notably a standard edition of Sir

Gawain and the Green Knight (1925; with E.V. Gordon) and a lecture on Beowulf (Beowulf: The Monsters and the

Critics, 1936). Tolkien had completed a translation of Beowulf in 1926, and it was published after his death, along

with classroom lectures he had given on the subject, some of his notes, and an original short story inspired by the

legend, as Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary (2014).

In private, Tolkien amused himself by writing an elaborate series of fantasy tales, often dark and sorrowful, set in a

world of his own creation. He made this world, Middle Earth, partly to provide a setting in which “Elvish” languages

he had invented could exist. But his tales of Middle-earth also grew from a desire to tell stories, influenced by a love

of myths and legends. To entertain his four children, he devised lighter fare, lively and often humorous. The longest

and most important of those stories, begun about 1930, was The Hobbit, a coming-of-age fantasy about a comfort-

loving “hobbit” (a smaller relative of Man) who joins a quest for a dragon’s treasure. In 1937 The Hobbit was

published, with pictures by the author (an accomplished amateur artist), and was so popular that its publisher asked

for a sequel. The result, 17 years later, was Tolkien’s masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, a modern version of the

heroic epic. A few elements from The Hobbit were carried over, in particular a magic ring, now revealed to be the

One Ring, which must be destroyed before it can be used by the terrible Dark Lord, Sauron, to rule the world. But

The Lord of the Rings is also an extension of Tolkien’s Silmarillion tales, which gave the new book a “history” in which

Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and Men were already established.

Contrary to statements often made by critics, The Lord of the Rings was not written specifically for children, nor is it

a trilogy, though it is often published in three parts: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of

the King. It was divided originally because of its bulk and to reduce the risk to its publisher should it fail to sell. In

fact it proved immensely popular. It had sold more than 50 million copies in some 30 languages by the turn of the

21st century. A film version of The Lord of the Rings by New Zealand director Peter Jackson, released in three parts in

2001–03, achieved worldwide critical and financial success. Jackson then adapted The Hobbit as a trilogy comprising

the films.

Tolkien in his old age failed to complete The Silmarillion, the “prequel” to The Lord of the Rings, and left it to his

youngest son, Christopher, to edit and publish (1977). Study of his father’s papers led Christopher to produce several

other works.

Among other works by Tolkien are The Father Christmas Letters (1976; also published as Letters from Father

Christmas), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (1981), the children’s stories Mr. Bliss (1982) and Roverandom (1998).

Scholar- A specialist in an area of learning. Tolkien was a scholar of languages.

Epic- A long poem telling stories of heroes. Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings, based on epic poems of the past.

Ward- A child who is protected an looked after by someone else. Tolkien was a ward of the church.

Influential- Having impact and power over things. Teachers are influential in educating children.

Contrary- The opposite. Contrary to myth, carrots cannot make you see in the dark.

Bulk- A great size or weight. He heaved the bulk up the stairs.

TASK 2: Complete the fact-file based on Tolkien below.

Full Name:

Date of birth:

Place of birth:

Date of death:

Place of death:

Family:

Places of Education

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Jobs:

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Academic Publications:

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Children’s Fiction:

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Adult Fiction:

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•

TASK 3: Plan a short biography for your favourite author. Research the facts below.

Name:

Date of birth: Date of death: (if applicable) Education: Where did they go to school? Did they go to college or University?

Jobs: Have they had other jobs as well as being a writer? Where? When?

Awards: Have they won any

awards or prizes? When? Family: Who were their parents? Do they

have anyone famous in their family? Are they

married? Do they have children or pets?

What is a famous quotation they’ve said?

Appearance: What do they look like?

Famous Work: What are their 3 most famous books? What are they about? Anything else: Is there

anything else that you

think a reader would like

to know?

TASK 4: Write up your research into a short biography.

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Success Criteria:

✓ Use a formal tone ✓ Include facts and dates ✓ Organise your paragraphs into key

information