Journey to the Center of the Earth: read-along
Journey to the Center of the Earth as a read-along for the projector: 13 pages, 1910 words, level 15, beyond grade 8.
Page 1 of 13
Professor Otto Lidenbrock of Hamburg was the most impatient man in Germany, a brilliant geologist who studied rocks and minerals and who was incapable of waiting for anything, not even his dinner. His nephew Axel, who lived with him and assisted in his laboratory, was precisely the opposite: cautious, quiet, and extremely fond of remaining exactly where he was. One Sunday in May 1863, the professor burst into the house carrying an ancient manuscript from Iceland, and as he turned its crumbling pages, a scrap of parchment fluttered to the floor. It was covered in peculiar old letters called runes, scrambled together into complete nonsense. Underneath was a signature the professor recognized immediately: Arne Saknussemm, a celebrated Icelandic scholar and alchemist who had lived three centuries earlier. "This is a secret message," the professor announced, "and nobody in this household will eat a mouthful until we have deciphered it."
Keys: ← → or Page Up and Page Down turn the page, Space starts and pauses the voice, Home and End jump, F fills the screen. Tapping the right side of a page goes on; the left side goes back.
How to use it
- Press Full screen (F) to put the book on the projector.
- Press Read to me (Space), or read it yourself and turn pages with the arrow keys or a tap. Pick the Pace that suits the class.
- After the last page, three questions come up to talk about.
About this book
- Level 15, beyond grade 8
- 13 pages, 1910 words, about 14 minutes aloud
- A classic tale, a little spooky
Related
About Journey to the Center of the Earth
A secret message in an old Icelandic book tells Professor Lidenbrock how to climb down a volcano to the center of the earth, and his nervous nephew Axel has to come too. Deep below they find a lost sea under a stone sky, forests of giant mushrooms, and monsters from millions of years ago.
Words to preview
- parchment (PARCH-ment)
- old writing skin
- crater (KRAY-ter)
- volcano's bowl
- molten (MOLE-ten)
- melted
- fossilized (FOSS-uh-lized)
- turned to stone
- mastodons (MAS-tuh-donz)
- ancient elephants
- eruption (ih-RUP-shun)
- volcano blast
Questions that fit any book
- What happened at the beginning, in the middle and at the end?
- Which page was your favorite? Why?
- How did the main character feel at the end? What tells you?
Questions
How long does Journey to the Center of the Earth take to read aloud?
It has 13 pages and 1910 words, so about 14 minutes at the Steady pace and a little less at Quick. If you stop to talk on the way, plan for more.
What reading level is Journey to the Center of the Earth?
Level 15, beyond grade 8. The library numbers its levels from 0 to 18 and puts the level of a book on its cover; levels above 13 are beyond grade 8 and have no grade. A level is a guide for choosing, so look at the pages yourself.
Whose voice is it?
Your browser's own. Read to me uses a speaking voice already on the computer, so it sounds like that computer and works without a sign-in. Voices differ: some light each word as it is spoken, and some do not, in which case the highlight follows a steady pace instead. Some browsers use an online voice; if yours does, the browser, not us, sends the words of the page to its speech service. If no voice is installed, turn the pages and read it aloud yourself.
Do students need an account?
No. Nothing is asked of anyone and nothing is sent to us. Project the page, or share the link and let students open it on their own screens.
Is this the original text?
No. It is a retelling in Peabody's own words at this reading level, so it may differ from the edition you know.
Nothing you do here is sent to us. The voice is your browser's own. No sign-in, no ads.