The Twits

By: Roald Dahl

In Roald Dahl’s The Twits, Mr. and Mrs. Twit are a mean-spirited couple who spend their days playing nasty tricks on each other and mistreating the animals around them. Their outrageous behavior and increasingly elaborate pranks set the stage for a humorous story about problem-solving, consequences, and what can happen when clever ideas are put into action.

---

Students will read Roald Dahl’s The Twits and identify problems faced by characters throughout the story. Using the engineering design process, students will explore microelectronics, microchips, and coding while considering how technology can be used to solve real-world problems. Students will then respond to a “client” from the story by designing, coding, and building a micro:bit-based alert system to address the character’s needs. They will test and improve their prototypes before presenting their solutions and reflecting on how their inventions could change the story.

• Core Content: ELA, Computer Science, Engineering, and Microelectronics

• Grade Levels: Grade level 4

• Time Required: 2 weeks

• ME Career Connection: Students explore careers such as electrical engineers, robotics technicians, and computer hardware engineers and learn how these professionals use microelectronics, coding, sensors, and other technologies to solve real-world problems.

• Author: Aaron Hamilton