Overview

Glossary Words

Marcus’s parents just love getting

dressed up and acting as Romans. This

weekend they want Marcus to do it too.

Marcus is scared his friends (especially

Celeste) will see him dressed as a

centurion — in a mini-skirt. When his

friends turn up at the Roman Fair,

Marcus ends up having to disguise

himself as a bear, fight gladiators in the

arena, and pose as the family pet in a

competition. He’ll do anything to avoid

embarrassment.

BLM Answers

Additional Activities

by Patricia Bernard

illustrated by Penny Azar

Make a poster advertising the Roman fair.

Role-play the scene where the slaves are

auctioned off. The teacher and class

members can be auctioned.

Using the library or Internet, research

Julius Caesar, Marcus Antonius, Octavian,

and Cleopatra.

Retell the part of the story where Marcus

tries to hide from Celeste (p. 32-38),

from the point of view of Alexa.

Draw a diagram of Marcus in his

centurion costume, and label it using

information from the story.

Write a book review of .

Invite a performing group of Romans to

school.

Marcus the Mighty

BLM 1

1

2 a b c

d e f g h

i j k

3 a

b

c

4

BLM 2

1

2

3

4

5

6 a b c

7 a b c d e f g h

BLM 3

1 a b c d e f g h i j k

2 a

b

c

d

e

f

g

3

BLM 4

was; Patricia Bernard; Penny Azar; was; 2001; Blake Education; 6;

Marcus; told; Marcus.

Marcus Cleopatra Marcus Antonius / Mark Antony

Dad Celeste Alexa Octavian / Tavvy Bob Tanner

Mum Ted O’Brien Dominic

ce; ce; Ce; ci; ce; ce; ci

w; w; u; k; k; gh; gh; w; l

(i) through (ii) poured

un, ed; dis, ed; un, ly

Wham! Whack! Bang! Slam!

People poured in

a Mohawk haircut

Teacher to check.

low; Suddenly; Quickly; Luckily; Unfortunately; obviously

barely very so

P T P T T T T T

F T T F F F F F T F T

He’s a freak about Roman stuff

Way to go, Mum!

nose to nose

I looked like a dork

I was a goner

She had blabbed

It was cool

Teacher to check.

Teacher to check.

Marcus the Mighty

ancient

arena

auction

centurion

concerned

fair

freak

gladiator

mohawk

whirled

wield

wreaths

— from a very long time ago

— an oval-shaped area for sports and contests

— goods are sold to the person who offers

the most money

— a leader of 100 men in the Roman army

— worried

— a show or fete

— an unusual person

— in Roman history, a slave who was forced

to fight

— a hairstyle with only a middle strip of hair

— spun around quickly

— hold and use

— flowers or plants twisted into a circle

Guided reading discussion points

What is the title? Who are the author and illustrator?

What is the name of the publisher, and where and when was the

book published?

What page is the glossary on? What can we use a glossary for?

Look at the page that shows the setting of the story. Where does

this story take place?

Look at the Contents page. How many chapters is the book divided

into?

From the chapter headings and illustrations, predict what the story

will be about.

Do you think this will be a work of nonfiction, fiction, or a bit of both?

Who is telling the story and how did he get his name?

Describe Marcus’s parents’ hobby.

What does Marcus find embarrassing?

Who is Darth Vader ?

Why do Marcus’s parents and sister want to enter the competition

at the fair?

Why, according to Roman law, can’t Octavian, Mum and Alexa vote?

What does ‘nose to nose’ mean?

Who, in real life, overruled the vote on what Marcus should do?

We have now met all the main characters, know the setting and have

an idea what the story will be about. What is this part of a narrative

called?

What does “Way to go, Mum!” mean?

What is a centurion?

What didn’t Marcus like about his centurion’s costume?

What is this part of a narrative called, where the protagonist has to

solve a problem?

Why did Marcus want to know what his friends were doing on the

weekend?

Cover

and about

the book

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

••

••

•

•

•

•••••

•

••

•

•

••

•

(p. 2-6)

(p. 4)

[a character — a ‘baddy’ — from ] (p. 6)

(p. 7)

(p. 9-11)

[having equal chances] (p. 11)

(p. 11)

[orientation]

(p. 10)

[refer to the Glossary, commander of about 100

men in the ancient Roman army] (p. 12)

(p. 12-15)

[complication]

(p. 16-17)

Star Wars

Look at the glossary to find out what ‘wield’ means.

Why did Marcus slouch low in the back seat?

What does ‘ at the football ground’ mean?

What did the family have to do in preparation for the Roman fair?

What is an ‘opponent’?

What did the centurions and gladiators have to do as soon as they

beat their opponents to the ground?

What did Caesar do if he wanted the opponent to live? What did the

‘thumbs-down’ sign mean?

Why did Marcus think he would be ‘a goner’?

What does Dad ask Marcus to do?

Why does Marcus not want to be seen by Dominic and Leon, and

what does he do to escape them?

What does Marcus do so that Celeste won’t recognise him?

Had Dad really said Marcus had to be a bear or was Marcus just using

this as an excuse to get into the bear costume to hide from Celeste?

Look back at page 29 to check.

How helpful do you think his sister, Alexa, is in hiding him from

Celeste?

From the chapter heading, predict what will happen.

Marcus ended up in the arena by mistake. How did this happen?

How did Marcus manage to put on such a good show as a fighting bear?

What does ‘blabbed’ mean, and what had Alexa blabbed?

Is the zip really stuck?

Why does Mum think there are times Alexa has all the brains in the

family?

What is the name of the part of a narrative where the problems or

complications are all finally solved?

Is there a coda or end statement in this narrative which states what

the protagonist has learnt?

What do the final words tell you about what Marcus may have learnt?

What are the themes of the story?

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

•••

•

••

•

•••

••

•

•••

•••

•

•

•

•

(p. 18)

(p. 20)

[ as we arrived

there] (p.21)

(p. 18-23)

(p. 24)

(p. 24)

(p. 25)

(p. 26-27)

(p. 29)

(p. 26-29)

(p. 32-35)

(p. 34)

(p. 33-37)

(p. 38)

(p. 39-45)

(p. 47)

(p. 47)

(p. 50)

[resolution]

[e.g. you have to be prepared if you want to be a fighting bear; his friends

find Roman fairs fun; there was no need to be embarrassed]

[embarrassment; children can have

fun sharing their parents’ hobby]

Once as soon

Name

BLM 1

�������� ������������&

1 written by and

illustrated by . It first published in the year

by . There are chapters. The main character

is . The story is in the first person by .

__________ __________________________________

__________________ ______ ________

_____________________________ ___

______________ __________ ______________

Marcus the Mighty

Blake Education Fully Reproducible – Sparklers Five

Marcus the Mighty

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

i

j

k

I’m named after a famous Roman general.

I was once an Egyptian Queen.

Cleopatra was my girlfriend.

I’ve raised a lot of money for hospitals.

I’m the girl Marcus likes.

I’m Marcus’s big sister.

I’m Marcus’s two-year-old brother, and a slave.

I played the part of Caesar at the fair.

Dad bid for me at the slave auction.

I was sick the day of the fair.

I thought the Roman fair was cool!

(p.2)

(p.2)

(p.2)

(p.5)

(p.6)

(p.7)

(p.8) _______

(p.24)

(p.31)

(p.34)

(p.55)

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

a ‘ce’ and ‘ci’ can make a [ ] sound. Colour the [ ] sounds below.

b Cross out the letters that you don’t hear or say in the words below.

c The letters ‘ ’ can make different sounds. Circle the odd man out in the

following.

s s

silent

ou

once centurion Celeste circular fence concerned announcing

sword wreaths guard knobby knees fight bought two would

pr d ch h r thr gh tr sers sl ched sh ted ann nce

t ches c ntry p red y ng

(i)

(ii)

ou ou ou ou ou ou ou ou

ou ou ou ou

4 Circle the prefixes and underline the suffixes of the following words.

unzipped disappeared unfortunately

Marcus the MightyMarcus the Mighty

Who am I ?2

3

SuffixesPrefixes&Suffixes — syllables at the beginning and end of words

BLM 2

Figures of speech

Connectives ConjunctionsConnectives Conjunctionsand

Adverbs

Blake Education Fully Reproducible – Sparklers Five

Marcus the Mighty

1 Copy four examples of (words that try to copy a sound)

from page 41 and 42.

2 Copy the on page 26 that compares the way people moved to

the way a liquid moves.

3 What is the red brush on the helmet compared to, in the on page 3?

onomatopoeia

metaphor

simile

_______________ _______________ _______________ _______________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

4 Join the sentences below using words from the word bank.

a

b

c

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

The spears and swords aren’t sharp.The people aren’t allowed to hurt each other.

We are serious about being Romans. We are not that serious.

We painted our old sofa gold. It looked like a Roman couch.

5 Copy adverbs that tell HOW from the following pages of the story.

6 Circle the adverbs in the following that tell HOW MUCH (to what extent).

a b c

7 Write for TIME or for PLACE to show what kind of adverbs the following

are.

a b c d

e f g h

_________________ _________________ _________________

_________________ _________________ _________________

Example:

(p.20) (p.26) (p.29)

(p.41) (p.47) (p.50)

that serious

it barely covered my belly very interesting so imaginative

down once back early

pretty soon then just as hardly

T P

� � � �� � � �

� � � �� � � �

— How? When? Where? How much (to what extent)?

because

but

so that

Word Bank

l o w

L

S

U

Q u

o

Name

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

i

j

k

Cleopatra was in love with Marcus the Mighty.

Mark Antony is another name for Marcus Antonius.

Mum made Marcus a centurion costume.

Dad wore Mum’s white miniskirt to the Roman fair.

The family painted their old sofa silver.

Marcus had a red brush on his helmet, just like Dad’s.

Slaves were allowed to vote in ancient Rome.

Celeste, Dominic and Leon told Marcus they were going to the fair.

It took 2 hours to drive to the fair.

There were real bears and lions in the animal pit at the fair.

Being embarrassed by your parents is one of the themes of the story.

Slang

BLM 3

The factsThe facts

SlangSlang

The complication stage of the narrative

Name

1 True or false?

2 Find the phrase from the story which says the same as the following.

3

On spare paper make a list of all the steps Marcus took to stop this from

happening.

Marcus does not want any of his friends, especially Celeste, to see him dressed up

as a Roman at the coming fair.

Begin like this:

Marcus the Mighty

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

(p.2)

(p.10)

(p.11)

(p.12)

(p.27)

(p.47)

(p.55)

He loves anything to do with ancient Rome.

Good on you! That’s the right thing to do.

Running equal or even in a race.

I looked stupid.

I was dead, ruined, past help.

She had told everyone.

It was really good.

________________________________________________________________

_________________________

___________________________________

_________________________________________________

____________________________________

__________________________________________

______________________________________________

Write for , forT True F False

Step 1: He tries to make his family change their mind.Step 2: When he sees Dominic and Leon coming towards him

at the fair, he . . .

Blake Education Fully Reproducible – Sparklers Five

BLM 4

Blake Education Fully Reproducible – Sparklers Five

Name

Marcus the Mighty

Creative writing

1 Responding to the storyHow do you think Dominic and Leon would have acted

if they had seen Marcus at the fair?

2 Design a poster advertising the fairThink of things which would encourage people to attend.

Make your poster as eye-catching as you can.

How would you have acted?

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

Write a description of their actions.

Assessment checklist for

On completion of the Black Line Masters the student is able to:

BLM

BLM

BLM

BLM

1

2

3

4

Outcome indicators

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

Identify different parts of a publication.

Insert the passive voice in a cloze format.

Identify the protagonist.

Identify the point of view.

Identify different spelling patterns for the same sound.

Recognise exceptions to a learnt spelling pattern.

Locate silent letters within familiar words.

Recognise prefixes and suffixes in familiar words.

�

�

�

�

Recognise onomatopoeia.

Identify and interpret similes and metaphors.

Use connectives and conjunctions from a word bank to combine sentences.

Recognise adverbs and classify them according to time, place, manner and degree.

�

�

�

�

�

Make decisions as to whether statements about the story are true or false.

Peruse the text to locate information to confirm these decisions.

Find slang expressions in the text, synonymous with given phrases.

Identify the theme of a novel.

Sequence events in the complication stage of the narrative.

�

�

�

Respond to an imaginary situation.

Describe how they themselves might have acted in a given situation.

Design an advertising poster giving relevant details.

Marcus the Mighty