Kaleidoscope
Actividades para acompañar y fortalecer las trayectorias educativas en las Escuelas Secundarias Orientadas en Lenguas Extranjeras según el currículum prioritario definido para el bienio 2020-2021.
Creado: 4 marzo, 2021 | Actualizado: 4 de septiembre, 2023
| PRESENTACIÓN |
Queridas y queridos estudiantes:
Esta propuesta de trabajo tiene por objetivo acompañarlas y acompañarlos en la lectura de un texto que, de algún modo, se relaciona con el momento que están atravesando. Para ustedes está terminando una etapa y, al igual que en el texto que les acercamos, cada una y cada uno emprenderá un trayecto hacia un destino diferente, como los fragmentos de un caleidoscopio. También como en el texto, esa finalización las y los iguala y hermana como egresadas y egresados de sexto año de la escuela secundaria ya que están completando un recorrido para comenzar otro nuevo.
Durante esta secuencia, cada actividad les dará alguna pista para recorrer el texto en inglés y les propondrá generar respuestas a partir de la predicción, la interpretación de las motivaciones y emociones de los personajes, su interacción y los recursos que el autor utiliza. Recuerden que no es necesario comprender cada palabra sino interpretar el sentido global.
Aunque el texto pueda parecer distante, ya que se desarrolla en el espacio, los personajes reflexionan acerca de cómo vivieron sus vidas y qué esperan de sus finales. Esto invita a mirar atrás y pensar en el camino recorrido y en el nuevo comienzo. Las actividades de personalización proponen una reflexión y proyección de ese nuevo punto de partida. Esperamos que disfruten de los textos y de las propuestas, y que se animen a usar el inglés para jugar y expresar sentidos propios.
Kaleidoscope: a science fiction story
📝| Activity 1: Read the dictionary entries for kaleidoscope and match with the images
Kaleidoscope
NOUN
1. A toy consisting of a tube containing mirrors and pieces of coloured glass or paper, whose reflections produce changing patterns when the tube is rotated.
2. A constantly changing pattern or sequence of elements.
e.g. The dancers moved in a kaleidoscope of colour.
A)
Flickr. Jack Devant
B)
Flickr. Crystal Writer
C)
Clément Bucco-Lechat en Creative Commons Org.
📝| Activity 2: Read the words and circle the odd one out
1. The Sun – Earth – the Moon – Illinois
2. Horse – rocket – space suit – glass mask
3. Meteor – star – Pluto – house
4. Miles per hour – kilometres per hour – metre per second – light year
📝| Activity 3: Match the phrases to the images
1. The rocket blew up.
2. An astronaut falling in space.
3. Burn like a match.
Flickr. Zen Whisk
A)
Flickr. Dan Browne
B)
Flickr. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
C)
📚 | Reading: sections of Kaleidoscope (by Ray Bradbury*)
Part 1
Kaleidoscope is the story of a group of astronauts falling in space. The story starts with the destruction of their rocket by an explosion. The astronauts are thrown into space like fragments, and the pieces of the spaceship look like a meteor shower. The astronauts are shocked. They can listen to one another by the phone in their spacesuits.
*Bradbury, Ray (1997). "Kaleidoscope" en The Illustrated Man. New York, USA, Harper Collins Publishers.
Barkley, Barkley, where are you?”
The sound of voices calling like children on a cold night.
“Woode, Woode!”
“Captain!”
“Hollis, Hollis, this is Stone".
“Stone, this is Hollis. Where are you?”
“I don’t know. How can I? Which way is up? I’m falling. Good God, I’m falling".
[...]
After ten minutes of terror, there was calm.
[...]
“What happened?” said Hollis a minute later.
“The rocket blew up, that’s all. Rockets do blow up".
"Which way are you going?”
“It looks like I’ll hit the moon".
"It’s Earth for me. Back to old Mother Earth at ten thousand miles per hour. I’ll burn like a match.” Hollis thought of it with a queer abstraction of mind".
[...]
“It’s a bad dream,” said someone.
“Shut up!” said Hollis.
“Come and make me,” said the voice. It was Applegate. He laughed easily, with a similar objectivity. “Come and shut me up".
*
Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) Born in Illinois, USA, Bradbury. Is one of the most celebrated 20th and 21st century American writers. He wrote fantasy, horror and science fiction. Among his best known books are The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951) and his first novel Farenheit 451 (1953)
📝 | Activity 4: Read the first part of the text quickly and answer
1. Name the six (6) characters that appear in this part of the story.
2. Where are they?
3. Why are they there?
4. Write five (5) words related to space.
📝| Activity 5: Read again and complete
1.Hollis had different feelings in this part. Complete with the following words (angry, frightened, objective)
First Hollis was......
Then he was......
Finally he was......
2. Write what each event caused. Use the words helpless, frightened, angry, calm.
| Event | Feelings |
| The spaceship blew up | Hollis and the men were............ |
| After ten minutes of terror | The men were............ |
| Applegate said "Come and shut me up!" | Hollis was............ |
| The men were falling, falling, falling. | They were............ |
3. An antagonist is a character that stands in opposition to the protagonist. In this story, who is Hollis' antagonist?
4. Find two (2) phrases in the first part of the text that show their antagonism.
📚| Reading: Predict
Part 2
Now, in horror, two of the men began to scream. In a nightmare Hollis saw one of them float by, very near, screaming and screaming.
📝| Activity 6: Read parts 1 and 2 and imagine
1. Create a continuation of the story in three frames.
📚|Reading: Focus on events
Part 3
This section starts with Hollis killing the man who is shouting. He thinks that the moon, Earth or meteors will kill him anyway and decides to destroy his glass mask. The man dies instantly.
“Hollis, you still there?”
Hollis did not speak, but felt the heat in his face.
“This is Applegate again".
“All right, Applegate".
“Let’s talk. We haven’t anything else to do".
[...]
Hollis clenched his fists, helplessly.
“I want to tell you something,” said Applegate. “Make you happy. I was the one who blackballed you with the Rocket Company five years ago.
A meteor flashed by. Hollis looked down and his left hand was gone. Blood spurted. Suddenly there was no air in his suit. He had enough air in his lungs to move his right hand over and twist a knob at his left elbow, tightening the joint and sealing the leak.
All of this took place in a terrible silence on his part. And the other men chatted. That one man, Lespere, went on and on with his talk about his wife on Mars, his wife on Venus, his wife on Jupiter, his money, his wondrous times, his drunkenness, his gambling, his happiness. On and on, while they all fell.
[...]
“Are you angry, Hollis?”
“No". And he was not.
[...]
From this outer edge of his life, looking back, there was only one remorse, and that was only that he wished to go on living.
📚| Activity 7: Read part 3 and put the events in order
⬜
A- Hollis wanted to have more time to live.
⬜
B- Hollis killed an astronaut by destroying his glass mask.
⬜
C- A meteor cut off Hollis' left hand.
⬜
D- Applegate told Hollis that he voted against Hollis at the Rocket Company.
⬜
E- Lespere described his happy life.
📚| Activity 8
Applegate said that he 'blackballed' Hollis with the Rocket Company. What is the meaning of blackball?
blackmail – hide – include – vote against – play sports
📚|Reading: Focus on characters
Part 4
In this section Lespere goes on talking about his wives, his gambling and the joy he had. Hollis was jealous of Lespere in the past but he is not jealous any more. Hollis feels that they are the same now because both are dying. Hollis is mean to Lespere.
“When anything’s over, it’s just like it never happened. Is your life better than mine, now? Now is what counts. Is it any better? Is it?”
“Yes, it’s better!”
“How!”
“Because I got my thoughts, I remember!” cried Lespere, far away, indignant, holding his memories to his chest with both hands.
[...] “
What good does it do you?” he cried to Lespere.
“Now? When a thing’s over it’s not good any more. You’re no better off than me".
“I’m resting easy,” said Lespere. “I’ve had my turn. I’m not getting mean at the end, like you.”
“Mean?”
Hollis turned the word on his tongue. He had never been mean, as long as he could remember, in his life.
[...]
“Take it easy, Hollis".
[...]
“I know how you feel, Hollis,” said Lespere, now twenty thousand miles away, his voice fading.
“I don’t take it personally".
But aren’t we equal? he wondered. Lespere and I? Here, now? If a thing’s over, it’s done, and what good is it? You die anyway. But he knew he was rationalizing, for it was like trying to tell the difference between a live man and a corpse. There was a spark in one, and not in the other—an aura, a mysterious element.
[...]
It was a second later that he discovered his right foot was cut away. It almost made him laugh.
📝 | Activity 9: Read part 4 and complete
Read and decide what Lespere and Hollis have in common and how they are different. Choose from the following list:
- He got drunk.
- He was envious.
- He had a full life.
- He was falling.
- He had dreams.
- He was going to die.
- He had many wives.
- He was hostile.
- He had memories of his experiences.
- He was in peace.
- He was an astronaut.
- He was jealous.
| Hollis | Both Hollis & Lespere | Lespere |
📝| Activity 10: Read and find in the text
1. Hollis' body is gradually destroyed. Find another phrase that describes a part of the body that he loses.
e.g. His left hand was gone.
2. Find the opposite of a live man in the underlined description. Write it down.
Live man -
📚 |Reading: Focus on characters and their actions
Part 5
“This is Applegate again,” said the voice.
“Yes".
“I’ve had time to think. I listened to you. This isn’t good. It makes us bad. This is a bad way to die. You listening, Hollis?”
“Yes".
“I lied. A minute ago. I lied. I didn’t blackball you. I don’t know why I said that. Guess I wanted to hurt you".
[...]
“Thanks, Applegate".
“Don’t mention it. Up your nose, you bastard”
“Hey,” said Stone.
“What?”
Hollis called across space; for Stone, of all of them, was a good friend.
“I’ve got myself into a meteor swarm, some little asteroids".
“Meteors?”
“I think it’s the Myrmidone cluster that goes out past Mars and in toward Earth once every five years. I’m right in the middle. It’s like a big kaleidoscope. You get all kinds of colors and shapes and sizes. God, it’s beautiful, all that metal".
Silence.
“I’m going with them,” said Stone.
“They’re taking me off with them. I'll be damned” He laughed.
[...]
Now all the voices were fading, each on his own trajectory, some to Mars, others into farthest space. And Hollis himself... He looked down. He was going back to Earth alone.
📝| Activity 11: Find who did what
- ............apologised to Hollis for telling lies.
- ............felt better after the apology.
- ............went away with a meteor shower.
- ............was going to Earth.
📚 | Reading: Focus on the resolution
Part 6
At the end of the story every astronaut goes their separate way and they say goodbye to one another.
And I? thought Hollis. What can I do? Is there anything I can do now to make up for a terrible and empty life? [...] Tomorrow night I’ll hit Earth’s atmosphere.
I’ll burn, he thought, and be scattered in ashes all over the continental lands. I’ll be put to use. Just a little bit. Ashes are ashes and they’ll add to the land.
He fell swiftly, [...] only wishing he could do a good thing now that everything was gone, a good thing for just himself to know about.
When I hit the atmosphere, I’ll burn like a meteor. “I wonder,” he said, “if anyone’ll see me?”
The small boy on the country road looked up and screamed. “Look, Mom, look! A falling star!” The blazing white star fell down the sky of dusk in Illinois. “Make a wish,” said his mother. “Make a wish.”
📝| Activity 12: Answer these questions
1.What was Hollis' last wish?
A- To be saved.
B- To die quickly.
C- To do good.
2.Hollis said 'I wonder if anyone'll see me?' Why do you think? Because...
A- He needed help.
B- He wanted his death to be noticed.
C- It was dark.
3.Who saw Hollis as he fell to Earth?
A- A young boy and his mom.
B- A lonely woman in Illinois.
C- Nobody.
4.How did Hollis' last wish come true?
A- He made a boy happy.
B- He became a planet.
C- He returned to Earth.
📝| Activity 13: Explain the title
1. A Kaleidoscope is made of fragments of coloured glass or paper. Circle the things that are described as fragments in the story?
A- The astronauts and the pieces of spaceship.
B- The planets.
C- The meteor shower and Stone.
D- The child in Illinois and his mother.
2. The text is dominated by the use of direct speech. What is the effect on the reader? Tick the right explanations.
- The text is more realistic.
- The text is more fragmented.
- The text is uniform.
- The text has variety depending on who speaks.
- The reader can 'listen' to the characters' voices.
- The text is more formal.
- The text is more interesting.
3. Write down quotes from the text to support your answer.
Language work
📝| Activity 14: Read and rewrite
Imagine Hollis, Lespere and Applegate are three women astronauts. Write the dialogue between them. Use phrases from the text.
e.g. Well, I had a good time / It’s all over! / Silence. / T’s just as if it never was / Now is what counts. / I’ve had my turn. I’m not getting mean at the end, like you. / Take it easy. / I know how you feel,”
Personalisation
📝| Activity 15: Experience and dreams
Look at the word square and find the following verbs in the past.
GO........
PLAY......
SEE.......
VISIT......
MEET......
STAY......
FALL IN LOVE......
FIGHT......
UNDERSTAND......
CREATE.......
WRITE......
READ......
WORD SQUARE
📝| Activity 16: Experience and dreams
1. Write five (5) memories from the years in Secondary school.
2. Write five (5) dreams, five (5) things you would like to do after secondary school.
I would like to
I would
Agradecimientos
Gracias a quienes colaboraron con esta tarea y compartieron sus obras desde la más absoluta generosidad y el compromiso con la educación:
Susana Lange, Augusto de Campos, Mario Lavista, herederos de Esteban Peicovich, Roberto Chavero, Charly García, Universal Music, Agencia literaria Schavelzon Graham, Luis Pazos, Lucía Delfino, Carolina Donnantuoni, Jazmín García Saticq, Melisa Paruchevski, Hernán La Greca, Heredera de Francisco Solano López, herederos de Héctor Oesterherld, Grupo Editorial Penguin Random House, Rubén Eduardo Goldín, Editorial Losada, Silvina Salinas, Diario La Vanguardia (México), Sylvia Iparraguirre, heredera de Abelardo Castillo, Editorial Siglo XXI, Diego Enrique Pérez - Nación Ekeko, María Paz Ferreira (Miss Bolivia), Guillermo Beresñak, León Gieco, Grupo Dharma, Javier Roldán, Fundación Pablo Neruda, Agencia Literaria Carmen Balcells y Gloria Martin.
Disclaimer
Esta carpeta fue elaborada por la Dirección General de Cultura y Educación de la Provincia de Buenos Aires con fines educativos. Se entrega en forma gratuita. Prohibida su comercialización.