The Secret Garden: read-aloud with discussion questions
Read The Secret Garden aloud on the projector: 15 pages of big type with each word lit as it is said, 1798 words (about 13 minutes), level 13, grade 8, and 5 questions to talk about.
Page 1 of 15
When Mary Lennox arrived in England, everybody agreed that she was the most disagreeable-looking child they had ever encountered, and they were probably correct. She had a thin little face, a thin little body, and an expression that was permanently sour. Mary had been born in India, where her father worked for the British government and her beautiful mother attended glittering parties every evening, and neither of them had particularly wanted to be bothered with a daughter. Servants had delivered whatever Mary demanded, so she had never learned to say please. Then a terrible fever swept through the household, and within a few days both of her parents had died. Mary was dispatched on a ship to live with an uncle she had never met.
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 the questions come up on the screen. The same questions are below, with what to listen for.
About this book
- Level 13, Grade 8
- 15 pages, 1798 words, about 13 minutes aloud
- A classic tale, gentle
Related
About The Secret Garden
A 1,798-word retelling of the novel about a lonely, sour girl, a locked garden and a boy who has never left his bed. Three children change over its fifteen pages, and the garden's waking is a steady way to see it: the key, the hidden door, the green points, the roses that are "wick."
Lonely, sour Mary Lennox is sent to a gloomy house on the Yorkshire moor, where a robin shows her the key to a garden that has been locked for ten years. As she and her friends bring the garden back to life, it brings them back to life too.
Before you read
Ask the class what it takes for a person to change. Mary's parents die in the first paragraph and the book moves on quickly, so you may want to preview that. Ask them to notice how Mary is described on the first page and how she is described later.
Words to preview
- disagreeable (dis-uh-GREE-uh-bul)
- unpleasant
- moor
- wild open hills
- sallow (SAL-oh)
- pale yellowish
- absorbed (ub-ZORBD)
- deeply busy
- tantrums (TAN-trumz)
- angry fits
- indignation (in-dig-NAY-shun)
- insulted anger
- conspiracy (kun-SPEER-uh-see)
- secret plan
Questions to talk about
- How is Mary described when she arrives in England, and why is she that way?Listen for: Thin, sour and disagreeable. Servants gave her whatever she demanded, so she never learned to say please, and her parents had not wanted to be bothered with a daughter.
- How does Mary find the garden?Listen for: The robin shows her. A key is half buried in the earth, a door is hidden under the ivy, and she turns the key with both hands.
- What does Dickon mean when he says the rose stems are "wick"?Listen for: Alive. He scratches the gray stems and finds green wood underneath, so most of the roses were only sleeping, waiting for somebody to remember them.
- How do Mary and Colin change over the story? What details show it?Listen for: Mary's cheeks turn pink, her eyes grow bright and she finds she likes people. Colin stops believing he will die, stands up, walks, and grows rosy and strong. Ask what the book says made the difference.
- Why do the children keep Colin's recovery secret until his father comes home, and what is his father's reaction?Listen for: They want Mr. Craven to see the change with his own eyes. He laughs until there are tears in his eyes, as if something frozen inside him had begun to melt.
Questions
How long does The Secret Garden take to read aloud?
It has 15 pages and 1798 words, so about 13 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 Secret Garden?
Level 13, Grade 8. The library numbers its levels from 0 to 18 and puts the level of a book on its cover; level 13 sits at grade 8. 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.