LESSON 9 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Saved from the Sea
by Elizabeth West
Fountas-Pinnell Level S
Nonfiction
Selection Summary
During the nineteenth century, most long-distance travel occurred by
ship. Using ships was fast and allowed for both people and goods
to come and go. One unpredictable factor caused much peril during
some of these trips: weather. This text examines how people found
ways to make sea travel safer.
Number of Words: 1,376
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Nonfiction
• Third-person narrative
• Underlying structures include description, cause/effect, and problem/solution.
• Shipwrecks and rescue missions at sea
• History of Life-Saving Service and the U.S. Coast Guard
• The national government has a responsibility to ensure public safety.
• Saving lives at sea is hard but important work.
• Settings of life at sea and the work of sea rescuers
• Figurative language used to describe inclement weather at sea
• Primarily simple sentences; some complex sentences
• Introductory phrases
• New words and vocabulary dependent upon context
• Some unfamiliar words, such as Powhattan, vessel, inspectors, snatched
• Some multisyllable words: annoyance, commotion, critical, demolished, elite
• Fine art, maps, illustrations, and photographs
• Fourteen pages of text, with illustrations or photos and captions on most pages
• Headings, maps, map keys
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Saved from the Sea
by Elizabeth West
Build Background
Help students use their knowledge of the dangers of the sea to visualize the story. Build
interest by asking a question such as the following: What do you think some of the
challenges of a rescue at sea would be? Read the title and author and talk about the cover
illustration. Explain that the weather at sea was even more difficult to predict prior to many
of today’s technologies and innovations.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas and nonfiction features. Help with
unfamiliar language so they can read the text successfully. Give special treatment to target
vocabulary. Here are some suggestions:
Pages 2–3: Point out that captions can give clues about information in the text.
Suggested language: What do the captions on these pages tell you? These two
pages describe a tragic sea disaster. How does the illustration on page 2 support
this idea? What do you think happens to a ship that is demolished by the sea?
Page 7: Read the caption. Have students examine the picture of the rescue crews
and point out that they are having a drill, learning to use the surfboats. Ask: Why
would rescue drills sometimes be an annoyance? What kinds of skills do you think
would be urgent and critical for rescuing people lost at sea?
Page 9: Point out the photo and caption to students. This man is out in clammy
weather looking for shipwrecks. Ask: What does this tell you about the type of job
a rescue worker has?
Pages 10–11: Point to the heading. Explain that the three dates in this section are
subheadings to describe commotion at sea.
Now turn back to the beginning of the text to find out more about how the
response of rescue workers helped saved lives on the sea.
Target Vocabulary
annoyance – something that
is irritating, p. 7
critical – of great importance,
p. 4
realization – sudden awareness,
p. 5
bundle – to dress or wrap
someone warmly, p. 6
demolished – completely
destroyed, p. 3
secured – held down tightly,
p. 5
clammy – cold, sticky, and moist,
p. 9
elite – a small group of
individuals who are the best
at what they do, p. 6
squalling – loud crying, p. 9
commotion – a lot of noise
and confusion, p. 11
Grade 5
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Read
As the students read, observe them carefully. Guide them as needed, using language that
supports their problem solving ability.
Remind students to use the Infer/Predict Strategy
to figure out what isn’t directly stated by the author as they read.
and to use text clues
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the story.
Suggested language: Why do you think it was important for the Life-Saving Service and
the Coast Guard to work together at sea?
Ways of Thinking
As you discuss the text, help students understand these points:
Thinking Within the Text
Thinking Beyond the Text
Thinking About the Text
• Many people died in shipwrecks
on the seas during the 1800s.
• Some people are willing to take
great risks to help others.
• Captions help to explain the
illustrations and photographs.
• After bad publicity, the
government created the
Life-Saving Service to respond
to shipwrecks.
• Rescue workers need special
training and equipment.
• A map details shipwrecks along
the North Carolina coast.
• Headings help readers anticipate
the content of each section.
• Today the Life-Saving Service
is part of the Coast Guard, an
agency that saves lives on
shore and at sea.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite students to choose a passage from the text to use for a readers’
theater. Remind them to pay attention to punctuation. Remind readers to adjust their
reading rate between paragraphs during long passages, such as on page 4.
• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion,
revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go
back to the text to support their ideas.
• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using
examples from the text. Tell students that elite is a cognate from the French. It is a
past participle of the verb eslire, meaning “to choose.” Tell students that the root word
surf in surfboat means to ride on a wave. Other words that share this root include
surfboard and surfer.
Grade 5
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Writing about Reading
Vocabulary Practice
Have students complete the Vocabulary questions on BLM 9.1.
Responding
Have students use their Reader’s Notebook to complete the vocabulary activities on page
15. Remind them to answer the Word Teaser on page 16. (Answer: bundle)
Reading Nonfiction
Nonfiction Features: Captions and Maps Remind students that nonfiction texts have
many features to help readers find and understand important information. Captions and
maps are two of these features. Explain that captions can be complete sentences, as
in this book, or short phrases. Captions tell what a photo or map or diagram is about.
Reading the captions in a nonfiction book is a good way to preview the book before
reading the main text. Ask students to rewrite one of the captions in this book.
Have students turn to the map on page 3. Ask students what the map’s title is (North
Carolina Shipwrecks). Have a volunteer locate the key. Ask students what the key shows
(whether each shipwreck was a sailing vessel or a steamship). Explain that the compass
rose shows direction. Ask students what conclusions they can draw about shipwrecks
along North Carolina’s coast by examining this map (Many occur near the shore; More
were sailing vessels, not steamships; Some even occurred in the Cape Fear River). Ask
students to write down a section of the book that could benefit from having a map added
to it.
Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text
Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they
think beyond the text, they use their personal knowledge to reach new understandings.
Assessment Prompts
• What can readers conclude about shipwrecks in the 1800s after reading pages 2
and 3?
• Which words on page 11 help the reader understand the meaning of the word
commotion?
• How is this text like other texts or stories you have read about shipwrecks or
life at sea?
Grade 5
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English Language Development
Reading Support Pair beginning and intermediate readers to read the selection softly
aloud, or use the audio or online text. Or have beginning students read the caption.
Vocabulary Most students will have familiarity with ships and sea travel, but may not
be familiar with some of the terminology. Explain how crew, rescue, and keeper are used
in this text.
Oral Language Development
Check student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’
English proficiency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.
Beginning/Early Intermediate
Intermediate
Early Advanced/ Advanced
Speaker 1: What is the text about?
Speaker 1: What were some problems
with life-saving stations before the LifeSaving Service?
Speaker 1: What does the U.S.
Coast Guard do?
Speaker 2: shipwrecks and rescues
Speaker 1: Sumner Kimball was the
head of what service?
Speaker 2: U.S. Life-Saving Service
Speaker 2: The workers weren’t well
trained; tools were broken or missing.
Speaker 1: What special tool was used
on surfboats?
Speaker 2: The U.S. Coast Guard
protects the shores and the water
along shores. It also makes sure
that boats and tools are used
safely. It even rescues people
who are in trouble at sea.
Speaker 2: The Lyle gun was used on
surfboats.
Lesson 9
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 9.1
Date
Target Vocabulary
Saved From the Sea
Target Vocabulary
Fill in another synonym and antonym for critical in the FourSquare Map below. Then create your own Four-Square Maps for
each of the remaining Target Vocabulary words.
Possible responses shown.
Vocabulary
critical
annoyance
squalling
elite
secured
bundled
commotion
realization
clammy
demolished
Synonyms
significant
Definition
important
major
critical
Sentence
It is critical to wear a
life jacket when riding
in a boat.
Antonyms
minor
insignificant
3
Target Vocabulary
Grade 5, Unit 2: Wild Encounters
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5
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Name
Date
Saved from the Sea
Thinking Beyond the Text
Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in one or two
paragraphs.
Remember that when you think beyond the text, you use your personal
knowledge to reach new understandings.
On page 4, the author states that newspapers called for changes to
life-saving stations that did not save many lives. Why did newspapers
play a major role in bringing important issues to people’s attention?
Do newspapers play the same role today? Why or why not? How do
people find out about important issues today? Use examples from the
text and from your experience to support your answer.
Grade 5
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Lesson 9
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 9.1
Date
Target Vocabulary
Saved From the Sea
Target Vocabulary
Fill in another synonym and antonym for critical in the FourSquare Map below. Then create your own Four-Square Maps for
each of the remaining Target Vocabulary words.
Vocabulary
critical
annoyance
squalling
elite
secured
bundled
commotion
realization
clammy
demolished
Synonyms
significant
Definition
important
critical
Sentence
It is critical to wear a
life jacket when riding
in a boat.
Grade 5
Antonyms
minor
7
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Student
Lesson 9
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 9.23
Saved from the Sea • LEVEL S
page
Saved from the Sea
Running Record Form
Selection Text
2
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
The year 1854 was a bad year at sea. Killer storms raged
along the eastern coast of the United States. The peaceful seas
turned deadly very fast. Huge waves swamped ships. These
storms caused many ships to crash.
One unlucky ship was the Powhattan. Over 200 German
men, women, and children were on the ship. All were looking
forward to new lives in America. They had almost reached their
new home when a wild storm hit the ship.
Suddenly snow, howling winds, and high waves attacked
3
the ship. Waves tossed the ship around as if it were a
child’s toy.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/100 ×
100)
Behavior
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 5
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
cat
1414131
%
Error
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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