Michael Chinn - Book Review 2

Osborne, Mary Pope. Magic Tree House #2: The Knight at Dawn New York: Scholastic, 1993. Print.

This is the second book in the Magic Tree House series with Jack and his sister Annie. This time they visit a castle in Medieval times. The story follows a similar pattern as the first book where they choose a book and visit that location. The difference being this time that the time of day is different than the last book.

This book and the other books in the series are a great foundation for generating interest in history. Rather than history being a boring list of facts, names, and dates to be memorized using these books as a foundation to build interest could bring history to life. The book could be done as a read aloud or possibly in small groups and then based on the reading choose a facet of Medieval times that interests them and research it. This gives students an opportunity to explore an aspect of history that interests them rather than what a school board or curriculum determines they should learn. Students could also compare and contrast how closely the book matches what actual history is thought to have been like.

The research might even be expanded into a project where students create a presentation and educate the class on the aspect of Medieval times they learned utilizing the student as expert idea. The students could research an a facet or facets of Medieval times alone or in groups and compare what the book said about that aspect and how experts generally think it was.

This book provides a wide variety of choices for teachers to incorporate activities into history and change history from a dry, boring subject into a lively, interesting one. The book lends itself directly into history as it focuses on many of the aspects of history that might interest students.