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Copywork
About This Passage
Colin becomes a tiny priest under the plum-tree and makes up a chant that names every good thing happening to him — the sun, the flowers, the roots, his own strong body. Burnett lets Colin invent his own prayer, which is the first time he speaks not as a Rajah giving orders but as a boy thanking the Magic.
“Then I will chant,” he said. And he began, looking like a strange boy spirit. “The sun is shining—the sun is shining. That is the Magic. The flowers are growing—the roots are stirring. That is the Ma...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell Chapter 23 as the day Colin decides to do a Magic experiment. Begin with Dr. Craven warning him not to stay so long, and Colin answering 'It has made me well.' Then tell how Mary said Colin was queer and rude, how Colin decided to go to the garden every day to stop being queer, how he called Ben and Dickon and Mary into a circle under the tree, how he chanted the Magic into himself, and how he walked all the way around the garden saying 'The Magic is in me! The Magic is making me strong!'
Discussion Questions
- Mary tells Colin, 'It is always having your own way that has made you so queer.' Colin frowns and then decides he will stop being queer by going to the garden every day. What in the story shows you that Colin is starting to see himself differently now that he has friends?
- Colin says he is going to make a 'scientific experiment' with Magic. How do you know Colin believes the Magic is real, even when he also calls it science? What makes you think he does not see a difference between the two?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
To say or sing the same words over and over, the way a song repeats; Colin chants 'The sun is shining—the sun is shining' under the tree to call the Magic into himself
Item 2
Able to lift, hold, and do hard things with your body; Colin chants that being strong is the Magic and keeps saying 'The Magic is making me strong!' as he walks around the garden
Item 3
Not dead, filled with breath and growing and feeling; Colin says 'Being alive is the Magic' because he is amazed to feel his body living and growing like the flowers
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Critical Thinking
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