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Creative Teaching Ideas for

THE GOLDEN GOBLET

by Eloise Jarvis McGraw (1961)


ON THIS PAGE: LitWits hands-on activity ideas and instructions, teaching topics, learning links, and more. Scroll on!

Printables for purchase

About the story

The orphaned Egyptian boy Ranofer has one big dream: to be an apprentice in a gold shop, so he can learn to be a goldsmith like his father was. His cruel half-brother Gebu won't allow it, though--and Ranofer, who fears him, must work in a stone shop instead. His life is miserable, despite his friendships with Heqet and The Ancient.  But when he discovers The Golden Goblet  that Gebu has stolen,   Ranofer finds himself in a sinister underworld--literally. Terrified and alone, he must prove to himself that he does have the courage to do what he must, and, in that doing, reshape his destiny.

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Hands-on Fun

Making a plan . . .


There are many ideas in this Hands-on Fun section—don't feel you have to do them all! Go with whatever works best for you and your kids. If you want to focus on a particular teaching point, our Takeaway Topics section can help you narrow down the activity options. And you can enhance discussions during any activity with audiovisual aids from Learning Links or story objects from Prop Ideas.

In our workshops, we do all the activities on this page, in order of the story's narrative arc. You might find our narrative arc worksheet helpful for sequencing your activities, teaching the important concept of the arc, and helping kids learn how Eloise Jarvis Mcgraw put The Golden Goblet  together.  Two versions are included in our printables for this book:  fill-in-the blank, and order-the-scenes, both with keys.
Narrative arc worksheets & other printables

Showing, Not Telling

A LitWits discussion from the story's Exposition

In the first three sentences of this story, Eloise McGraw shows us important details about the protagonist and setting. This gave us the chance to talk about how a good author shows  us what we need to know, instead of coming right out and telling us facts. Telling can be useful when backstory is needed (like this), but in general, we readers like to figure things out as we go, picking up on clues and reading between the lines.  

So to help kids "get" what the author is doing here, and how tightly packed her writing is, we asked our kids for at least five  facts that we can figure out for ourselves in the opening lines of Chapter 1:
From the very first sentence . . .

The stream of molten gold flowed smoothly from the crucible, reflecting in its surface the cloudless blue of the Egyptian sky.  
. . . we can figure out these unsaid facts:

1.  Someone’s working in a gold shop (melted gold is being poured from a crucible)
2.  It’s a hot sunny day ("cloudless blue")
3.  The gold shop is in Egypt ("Egyptian sky")
From the next two sentences . . .

The boy Ranofer slowly tightened his grip on the two stones between which he held the crucible as he tilted it farther and farther, devotion in every careful movement of his hands and bare brown shoulders.  Presently the last drop of flame-colored liquid had run without splash or bubble into the hollowed stone.
. . .we can figure out these unsaid facts:

4.  He’s a good worker (“devotion in every careful movement;" "without splash or bubble")
5.  The story is probably set in ancient times (using stones instead of a machine; not wearing a shirt or safety gear; vessel is just a hollowed stone)

What a Releaf!

A LitWits project from the story's Rising Action

Remember how thrilled Ranofer is when his master, Rekh, gives him the chance to work with gold?  He pushes aside his fear of making a mistake, and draws on his skills and work ethic to make a perfect leaf.  Rekh's impressed, but he questions whether Ranofer would do equally good work on a fifteenth or fiftieth leaf, when he'd be tired and his boss might not be looking. Ranofer can't even imagine doing inferior work, no matter how repetitive it might get:

"To be sure, Master," Ranofer said in surprise. "How could I do otherwise? Without care, the leaf is ruined and must be done over."  - Ch. 3

This scene is critical because it shows us Ranofer's desire, fear, work ethic, and goldsmithing skills. And it's a big turning point, as Rekh offers him a huge break:

Rekh picked up the leaf and examined it once more, then put it aside on the bench. “Very well. This day the Lady Irenma’at has ordered a necklace of many strands, ornamented with greenstones and golden leaves. Fashion me those leaves, fifty of them, each one the twin of the last. When you have made them, bring them to me in the shop.” - Ch. 3

What a relief, to him and to us, that he's finding a way toward his dream despite hardships--neither he nor we yet knowing that Gebu will thwart his progress.

So, with that moment of relief in mind, we came up with this beautiful releafing  project, for which the kids fashioned ten leaves, "each one the twin of the last." We didn't hold the kids to Rekh's standard--we're all about the joy, not the pressure!--but they were so careful as they worked, already influenced by Ranofer's work ethic.

Since Ranofer's an artisan who works in several mediums--not just the gold he loves, but stone and also clay (when he fixes Gebu's seal in Chapters 10 and 11)--we used all three to turn our kids into  "gold"smiths. (The girls in the photo above are wearing an earlier version of this project, made without the green stones.)

SUPPLIES


DIRECTIONS

Here's the video with specific directions for the whole project:

Template & other printables

It's Like This

LitWits activities from the story's Rising Action

Thank you, Eloise McGraw, for your great examples of great writing! All we teachers have to do now is help kids "see what you did there."  These three discussion and/or writing activities enhance kids' awareness of the author's creative comparisons.
Comparison worksheets & other printables

Heqet's Groaners

Heqet's meant-to-be-funny analogies are often atrocious--which just adds to his delightful personality.  Explain how analogies work, then pick a few of your favorites (or the most mystifyiing--we call them what-the-Heqets), and unpack each one for the kids.  Or take advantage of the unpacking we already did, and use our analogies worksheet.

Straining, But Not for Gold

Eloise McGraw's metaphors and similes in The Golden Goblet work flawlessly, like a pharaoh's finely-tuned Porsche--but wait, that doesn't work, does it! Talk about the importance of suiting comparisons to their context. Show the kids examples of the author's metaphors, discuss why those work, and then, to make your point, make them NOT work .  Or use our own strained examples, on our metaphors worksheet.  

Characterization by Career

In Chapter 2, Eloise McGraw makes the most of Gebu's raw materials--inside and out. Her creative use of stone to describe his appearance works also serves to implicitly describe the kind of person he is--certainly not soft and cuddly. Talk about the way she uses "rocky" terms to convey the idea that Gebu has no soft spot at all.  Or use our imagery worksheet, which also gives kids a chance to descdribe Ranofer based on his  chosen career.

BookBites

A Fairer Trade

A LitWits activity from the story's Rising Action

 BookBites is the part of our literary experience when we get to “taste the story.”  In Chapter 7, when Heqet suggests he and Ranofer meet for lunch each day, Ranofer's embarrassed that he doesn't have more to eat than a piece of bread, half an onion, and  a muddy lotus root. When Heqet tries to share his own food, Ranofer is offended. This scene not only shows us Heqet's sensitivity and kindness, but Ranofer's pride--which is really a kind of fear, a  fear of vulnerability.

The Ancient shows up and, after the boys work it out, he offers to trade his nelumbo nuts for a fig. Ranofer hesitates because he LOVES figs. The Ancient gets it, and offers to accept "a fairer trade" of bread instead.  (Hence our "Fairer Trade" lunch bag label, included in our printables.) 

Now Ranofer has lotus seeds, figs, bread, and more-- "a feast suitable for Pharoah himself." Most importantly, this sharing of food results in a trio of friends.

...the reeds rustled stiffly in the sun- heated air, and the old donkey chewed patiently on the leaves a little distance away, where he had rolled himself out another nest. Before the meal was finished and the story ended there were three friends instead of two in the little green-walled chamber. - Ch. 7
Lunch label & other printables

Stolen Goods

A LitWits project from the story's Rising Action

We couldn't take a field trip through The Golden Goblet without a golden goblet--it's literally THE object of the book!  This project centers around that moment when Ranofer discovers the goblet hidden in his half-brother's room, and realizes it's been stolen from Thutmose III's tomb:

For a moment he stood perfectly still. Then he sank to his knees, for his legs had suddenly become too weak to support him. In a shaft of moonlight he examined his find more closely. It was pure gold, exquisitely fashioned in the shape of a lotus blossom. An inlaid band around its rim was of priceless silver, and so was its delicate stem.  [. . . ] He read the inscription again, and still again, but there was no mistake. This treasure bore the name of Thutmose the Conqueror, Pharaoh of Egypt over a hundred years ago. - Ch. 10


The background is an actual Egyptian illustration of goldsmiths at work--we let the kids decide which one was Ranofer.  To give this artwork an even more lustrous and authentic look, we had them gild the objects that were made of gold.  And because so much is made of saving and weighing the clippings and trimmings of gold in the goldsmith shop, we added plenty of gold leaf bits and pieces at the bottom of the page, to be swept up by the ancient goldsmiths at the end of the day.

The goblet itself is cut from our template and tucked into pre-cut slits in the background, so that it becomes a three-dimensional secret hiding place. The kids inscribed King Thutmose III’s name inside the cartouche oval and finished the goblet with a silver rim and stem.


SUPPLIES


DIRECTIONS

This video gives full directions for creating the background:




This video gives full directions for creating the goblet and attaching it to the background:

Templates & other printables

Ancient Egyptian History (and Her Story)

A LitWits activity

While Ranofer was stuck in the Valley of the Kings with two villains, we took some time to help our kids get oriented in ancient Egypt. Looking at a  map made the year after King Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered, we had them locate and label key story and history locations (on both sides of the Nile) using cutout images, crayon, and pen.

You can identify story locations on any map that includes the Valley of the Kings, like this one.  If you'd like to use the 2-page worksheet we made--a list of story locations (with images to paste) and map--it's included in our printables.
Setting worksheet with map & other printables

Wordsmithing

A LitWits activity

Our vocabulary worksheet gives kids a visual guide to eight Egyptian words, most of which connect to Ranofer's experience in the tombs.  There are more extensive vocabulary guides elsewhere--like here--if you need those; in our workshops, we focus on a few of the most intriguing words, especially those that can't easily be figured out from their context.
Vocabulary worksheet & other printables

Activity Printables & Academic Worksheets

The worksheets and printables used for our activities are sold as a complete set.

Common Core State Standards Alignment for the comprehensive use of our teaching ideas and materials is also included for grades 3, 4, 5 and 6. 
DETAILS

The LitWits Kit

Pack up for the field trip!

A LitWits Kit is a bag or box of supplies you pack up and give to each child right before you begin your "field trip" through the story.  You might be doing one-off projects as you read through the book together, or you might do everything in this guide from top to bottom after the book has been read. However you explore this book in LitWitty ways, kids love the anticipation of opening their kit.

If you'd like to build LitWits Kits for your kids, you could easily arrange the items in a bag, basket, or story-relevant container.  Honestly, it's just as much fun to create a kit as it is to open one!

Only four of our seven academic worksheets are pictured below. Click the button for a complete list of printables for this book, or scroll up for previews. 
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Takeaway Topics

Why we chose this book for a "field trip"
Somehow we missed this book as kids, but after many requests from parents that we give it the LitWits treatment, we finally read it. Wow, what a treasure! As in, GOLDEN! We love an exciting adventure tale that naturally teaches and is based on serious research.  Beyond the academic value, there's a lot of value in kids seeing Ranofer's core problem as fear of fear itself. So we chose this fine book for one of our experiential workshops. It's packed with great takeaway topics, which we're sharing below.

In our workshops, we did our best to make these teaching points tangible, meaningful, and memorable in the kids' hands. It's amazing how much kids can learn while they're "just" having fun! 

Happy teaching,
Becky and Jenny



Takeaway 1

The Fear of Fear

Ranofer berates himself for being a coward, though his fears of his abusive half-brother are perfectly justified. Throughout the story, though, he confronts Gebu in increasingly courageous ways. He also learns, as he tracks him, that some of his other fears are unfounded. In the end, he rises above fear to follow his tormentor into the most frightening place on earth--and emerges free of Gebu, and no longer bound to fate.  His reward is golden, in many more ways than one.

Hands-on connections in this guide:  "Stolen Goods," "What a Releaf!" project, "Characterization by Career" worksheet, narrative arc worksheets
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Takeaway 2

Ancient Egypt

This well-researched tale, set in the 1300s BCE, makes for a wonderful exploration of Ancient Egypt--if you have a few years to introduce THAT subject. If not, we felt the most book-relevant subtopics were golden treasures of the tombs, ancient Egyptian jewelry, and the Nile River ,on the banks of which Ranofer spent so much time (and an important picnic) with Heqet and the Ancient, and from which he pulled lotus roots to eat. 

Hands-on connections in this guide:  "Stolen Goods" project, "What a Releaf!" project, BookBites activity, "Wordsmithing" worksheet, "Ancient Egyptian History (and Her Story)" worksheet, learning links, audiovisual aids
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Takeaway 3

Work Ethic

From the first paragraph on, this story is gilded with the idea of a strong work ethic. When his boss Rekh admires Ranofer’s gold leaf but suggests that repeating the process might make him sloppy, Ranofer is horrified. He would no sooner relax his standards for the 100th leaf as for the very first one.  And in the end, when the queen will give him anything he wants, he doesn't ask for a fully outfitted gold shop.  He just wants a chance to do what he loves, to make his own way to his dream through diligence, new skills, practice, patience, and very hard work. 

Hands-on connections in this guide:  "What a Releaf!" project, "Stolen Goods" project, all props to do with goldsmithing and stonework, "Characterization by Career" worksheet, narrative arc worksheets 
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The Golden Goblet  is chock-full of other subjects to explore, too--from  the pyramids to the ancient Egyptian belief in the afterlife to the discovery of King Tut's tomb.  Scroll down to see our curated Learning Links for more tangential teaching opportunities, and to see how we brought this book and its ideas to life.

Learning Links

Explore these links to supplement your reading experience, research points of interest, and prompt tangential learning opportunities.


About the Book & Author

The LitWits "Author Chat:"

Obituary - Oregon Encyclopedia
Story Supplements
Ancient Egypt (many categories) - National Geographic
Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis (slideshow with music) - UNESCO
A real golden goblet from Thutmose III reign - Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
All about amulets - The Met
Egypt's Age of Gold - FilmRise Documentaries (video)
Ancient Egypt (video, animated, for young kids) - TropicMind
The Nile River Facts - Ancient Egypt Online
Why the Nile River Was so Important to Ancient Egypt - History.com
About Thebes - Britannica
Punishments for tomb robbers - Julia Herdman
Detailed paper with photos and graphics about stonecutting in Ancient Egypt (PDF) - Cairo University
Egyptian bread - The History Cooking Project
Egyptian Jewelry:  A Window into Ancient Culture - American Research Center in Egypt
The Sacred Lotus (video, 4m) - Royal Botanic Gardens
Fascinating Facts about Hieroglyphics - NatGeo Kids
Egyptian Hieroglyphic Alphabet - Discovering Egypt
Egypt's Golden Empire:  Hieroglyphics - PBS
Hieroglyphics and names of Thutmose III - Pharoah.SE

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Prop Ideas

When choosing props for our live workshops, we always try to focus on two important categories: props that are unique to the setting, because they help kids understand “what that was like,” and props that are symbolic of themes, because they make big ideas visual and tangible. Both kinds of props generate those wide-eyed, “aha!” moments.  

You could easily have your kids contribute props as the book is being read. Sometimes we create a printable prop; click the button to check the list for this book.
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Leaf necklace

"What a Releaf!" project model

Rekh picked up the leaf and examined it once more, then put it aside on the bench. “Very well. This day the Lady Irenma’at has ordered a necklace of many strands, ornamented with greenstones and golden leaves. Fashion me those leaves, fifty of them, each one the twin of the last. When you have made them, bring them to me in the shop.” - Ch. 3

The golden goblet

Thrift store + spray paint + cartouche

For a moment he stood perfectly still. Then he sank to his knees, for his legs had suddenly become too weak to support him. In a shaft of moonlight he examined his find more closely. It was pure gold, exquisitely fashioned in the shape of a lotus blossom. An inlaid band around its rim was of priceless silver, and so was its delicate stem.  [. . . ] He read the inscription again, and still again, but there was no mistake. This treasure bore the name of Thutmose the Conqueror, Pharaoh of Egypt over a hundred years ago. - Ch. 10

Gold debris

Spray paint on rocks

Dropping to one knee and sinking back on his heel in the habitual pose of the goldworker, the boy took up the hare’s foot and began to sweep gold dust, scraps, clippings and bits of wire from the table top into the sheepskin that hung beneath its scooped-out front edge. There was more gold to be recovered from these leavings than one would suspect. -Ch. 1

Papyrus paper

Papyrus paper on Amazon

Sometimes Gebu went to a little storeroom at the rear of the shop and took out ragged rolls of papyrus or coarse linen, selected one, and growled orders to Pai as he showed it to him. Sometimes he brought a new one to add to the store.   -Ch. 6

Nelumbo nuts & pita bread & figs

Nuts and bread and figs on Amazon

Ranofer liked nelumbo nuts, but figs were food for the gods, and to him rare as rain in Egypt. He hesitated just long enough for the Ancient to add quickly, “A fig or whatever else you care to barter.”

"A loaf, perhaps?" Ranofer said self-consciously. He could not yet feel lit was really his loaf to barter.  -Ch. 7

Wilted onions

From the grocery store, warmed in the oven

To Ranofer he added, “I’ll show you where the nelumbos grow. There’s a good stand of them just yonder, toward the river. You could have them every day if you wanted them. Who is it sets your table, young one, that you have only a wilted onion for your midday?” - Ch. 7

Heavy stone

From the yard

Stonecutter’s apprentice? Apprentice to Gebu! Within reach of his fists all day, pounding chisel against stone with great heavy mallets instead of fashioning leaves or watching the gold turn crimson in the crucible? Seven years of bondage, all the while learning a craft he hated, with never a chance for the one he loved?  -Ch. 3

Papyrus plant

We got ours at a local plant store. Here's a very realistic (and expensive) faux papyrus plant on Amazon, in case you want one for your home anyway.

“Therefore I wish to take away the burden of myself. I will leave you and not live on your bread, or sleep in your courtyard. Instead I will build my¬ self a little house in the desert out of bricks that I shall make myself, and I will cut papyrus in the marsh and sell it to the sailmakers and buy my own bread and fish and you will not need to trouble about me ever again, any longer."  -Ch. 5

Acacia branches

We have acacia trees at home; you may find one at Lowes, depending on the season.

Gone like everything else, like my father’s house, and the garden with the acacia trees, and old Marya who used to make me date cakes; and the workshop with the shelves all around the walls, and golden collars and daggers hanging from them. Gone like my father.

The workshop came clear into his mind, until it seemed as if he were there again, this minute, smelling the acacia blossoms just outside the door.   -Ch. 1

Great Quotes

Splendid images drifted through his mind, golden forms and shapes, any one of which might be the destiny of this very small ingot that he, Ranofer the son of Thutra, had poured. - Ch. 1
*
I’ll not do it, he told himself fiercely. Never, never! Not a grain of gold, not a scrap will I bring that Evil One, let him beat me all he likes. Let him have his bread. I’ll find my own somehow, or do without, but I’ll be no thief. - Ch. 2
*
“I cannot learn these things,” he told Heqet finally one day. “Not this way. It is useless. Could you shape a bowl if someone merely told you how to do it? Nay. Not until you held the hammer in your hand, and learned the sound it must make, and the way the stake must ring.  - Ch. 8
*
“Son of my old friend, it is clear that I can do nothing for you at the present. You must reshape your life into some other form. When you have done this, come to me again, and I will teach you."  - Ch. 8
*
A fine spy I have turned out to be! Ranofer told himself. I am as great a bumbler as I am a coward. The Ancient was right. I would be better occupied in learning the stonecutters trade as well as I can. It is at least a way to earn my bread when I am a man... - Ch. 10
*
It was pure gold, exquisitely fashioned in the shape of a lotus blossom. An inlaid band around its rim was of priceless silver, and so was its delicate stem. It was the work of some master who was Zau’s equal or superior, and worth a prince’s ransom. - Ch. 10
*
He was not someone else, though, He was Ranofer the son of Thutra, who loved his pharoah and the gods of Egypt, and wanted to be free. - Ch. 8
*
To the east lay Thebes, spread on both sides of the swollen river like a many-figured carpet, stained in a hundred delicate colors by the morning light. - Ch. 13
*
So I am to die, he thought furiously. So be it, I will die now, at once, and not wait for Gebu's help,  But first I will yell out some of it, some of it! - Ch. 15
*
"Lord Merya," she said softly. "Give this boy the finest donkey in all Egypt. And tell Zau the goldsmith that the first necklace made by the hands of his new pupil must belong to no one but Queen Tiy." - Ch. 16
*
. . .  he could go tomorrow to Zau the Master and say, "I have done as you told me. I have reshaped my life into another form." - Ch. 1
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Happy teaching,
Becky and Jenny
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Now get ready for a bunch of wide-eyed kids having “aha!” moments . . . and you, grinning ear to ear because your kids are happily engaged with a great book.

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LitWits teaching ideas and materials for The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
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