The Bishop's Candlesticks: read-along
The Bishop's Candlesticks as a read-along for the projector: 12 pages, 1972 words, level 16, beyond grade 8.
Page 1 of 12
In 1815 the bishop of Digne, a small town among the mountains of southern France, was an elderly man named Charles Myriel, and he was unlike any bishop the inhabitants had ever encountered. When he arrived, the government had given him with a magnificent palace beside a cramped, overcrowded hospital, where twenty-six patients were squeezed into a few narrow, airless rooms. After a single visit to the hospital, the bishop summoned its director and proposed an exchange: the sick would move into his spacious palace, and he would occupy their tiny building. He distributed nearly his entire salary among the poor, and he walked through rain and snow to visit isolated mountain villages, where the peasants affectionately called him Monseigneur Bienvenu, which means "Bishop Welcome." He lived simply with his gentle elder sister, Mademoiselle Baptistine, and their devoted old housekeeper, Madame Magloire. His only luxuries were six silver forks and spoons, a silver ladle, and a pair of heavy silver candlesticks that he had inherited from his great-aunt.
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 16, beyond grade 8
- 12 pages, 1972 words, about 15 minutes aloud
- A classic tale, gentle
Related
About The Bishop's Candlesticks
Jean Valjean has spent nineteen years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread, and now every door in town slams in his face, except the bishop's. That night he steals the bishop's silver, and in the morning the police drag him back, and the old man does something that changes Valjean's whole life.
Words to preview
- galleys (GAL-eez)
- prison ships
- convict (KON-vikt)
- prisoner
- alcove (AL-kove)
- small nook
- serene (suh-REEN)
- calm
- wretch (RETCH)
- miserable person
- relentless (rih-LENT-lis)
- never stopping
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 The Bishop's Candlesticks take to read aloud?
It has 12 pages and 1972 words, so about 15 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 The Bishop's Candlesticks?
Level 16, 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.