Survival Unit
Book Titles:
1. Hurricane/Jonathan London
2. In Coal Country/Judith Hendershot
3. National Geographic/Jamestown and the Virginia Colony
4. JamesTowne - Struggle for Survival
5. Mr. Maxwell’s Mouse/Frank Asch
6. My America: The Starving Time/ Patricia Hermes
7. The Blue Hill Meadows /Cynthia Rylant
8. The New Americans- Colonial Times 1620-1689
9. The Rag Coat/Lauren Mills
10. The Storm/Cynthia Rylant
11. Waterman’s Child/Barbara Mitchell
12. When I Was Young in the Mountains/Cynthia Rylant
Book Analysis: Hurricane/Jonathan London
Lexile Level: 460
Summary: A young boy describes the experiences of his family when a hurricane hits their home on the island of
Puerto Rico.
Big Idea: sense of community, family, coping with hardship
Genre: Fiction
Vocabulary: Use of sensory details: soft breeze, sea was calm, fins slapped, breathing through our snorkels,
fish flashed by, sky had turned deep purple, air was still, whisper of breeze, breath sucked from lungs, wind
pounded me, punching me sideways, trees bent and trashed in a wild dance, waves crashed against the rocks in a
burst of spray, lightning scribbled on the dark clouds, thunder shook, palms slung coconuts at us, rain slammed into
us, babies cried, grown-ups bustled, wind ripped a shutter barracks shivered and creaked, nail squeaked , glass
shattered, hurricane roared, rain stopped hammering, sky and sea were rosy and calm, sparkle of sun on the water
Word Study:
Fluency:
Comprehension Strategies: Visualizing, Setting (Puerto Rico), background knowledge hurricanes, Questioning,
Prediction, Inference, Literary elements-simile, metaphor, personification, barracks shivered and creaked, nail
squeaked
Guiding Questions:
How did the community members help each other during the hurricane? Would they have survived if they were
alone? Why did they sing Christmas songs while they were in the shelter?
What personality traits helped the people survive in this story?
Writing: Using the story as your starting point, use the graphic organizer attached and write a news story about
the Hurricane. Write a news story using the Reader’s Handbook-pages 145-151
Listening/Speaking: Create a chart of sensory words/details that the author uses to add sound, feeling and color
to the writing. Things that you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch, writers us a lot of these when writing.
Sights-Sounds-Smells-Tastes-Textures- See attached chart.
How do these words help to create a picture in your mind?
Content Extensions:
Weather-hurricanes-forecasting, Why did the boys feel like their breath was being sucked from their lungs?
Technology Extensions: Research Hurricanes
Sights-Sounds-Smells-Tastes-Textures
(As the book is being read aloud, record the sensory words that the author uses in the appropriate column
below)
How do these words help to create a picture in your mind?
Hurricane/Jonathan London
Book Analysis: In Coal Country/Judith Hendershot
Lexile Level: 780
Summary: Narrator simply describes, in plain style, what it was like to grow up in coal country in the '30s (or
earlier): how it looked and smelled, and how her parents worked.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Study:
Comprehension Strategies: Setting, Characterization
Big Idea: resiliency, simplicity,
Vocabulary: miner, mine, shift, furnaces, disagreeable, soot, coal, hauled,
Writing:
Listening/Speaking:
Content Extensions:
Technology Extensions:
Book Analysis: National Geographic/Jamestown and the Virginia Colony
Lexile Level: 700
Genre: Nonfiction
Summary: Covers the founding and growth of the first permanent English colony in America, from 1606 through
1699. It describes the poor living conditions and dreams of wealth that prompted Englishmen to move to the new
land.
Big Idea: colonization, facing challenges
Word Study:
Fluency:
Comprehension Strategies: Lessons Attached:
Features of non-fiction, cause-effect, sequence of events, summarize, draw conclusions
Questions: Why were some English people willing to travel to a strange land to establish a colony? (summarize)
What effect did Pocahontas’ actions have on the way the colonists and the Powhatan got along? (cause and effect)
Why did the Virginia Colony need an assembly? (draw conclusions)
How did the roles of men and women differ on plantations? (compare/contrast)
What effect did the fort’s location have on the colony? (cause and effect)
FACTS/QUESTIONS/RESPONSE-Teacher created graphic organizer
Writing:
Listening/Speaking:
Content Extensions:
Reading a graph, constructing a time line
Technology Extensions:
Book Analysis: James Towne - Struggle for Survival – Sewall
Lexile
Genre: Historical Fiction
Summary: This picture book is told from the viewpoint of one of the settlers and enhanced by original quotations,
of famous leaders in Jamestown. The book discusses the settlers of Jamestown and the difficulty of the early
years in the colony.
Big Idea: courage, determination
Vocabulary: Record new vocabulary as the book is being read – the book contains a glossary with many of these
words listed.
Create word study cards for the following words to be used with the activities below:
Brunswick Wharf, Susan Constant, God Speed, Discovery, New World, Thames River, London, New World, South
Virginia, England, Christopher Newport, English gentlemen, carpenters, London, London Company, Orient, Canary
Islands, West Indies, Gulf Stream, America, Chesapeake Bay, savages, Captain Gabriel Archer, Council for Virginia,
Edward Maria Wingfield, Spice Islands, South Seas, Roanoke, Cape Henry, Powhatan River, James Towne,
Paspahegh Indians, Captain John Smith, bricklayer, John and Francis, Mary and Margaret, Chickahominy River,
Chief Opechancanough , Pamunkey tribe, Wahunsonacock, Great Powhatan, Sea Venture, Patience, Deliverance,
Bermuda, Lord de la Warr, Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Newfoundland, Hog Island, Sir Thomas West,
The objective is for the students to understand the diversity of cultures, people, represented in the beginnings
of the colony. They should understand that with diversity comes conflict.
Additional Vocabulary Work/Activities:
Use these words to: Play Wordo Bingo, complete the Hierarchy Word Web-think about different classes and
categories of words, Guess and Check Chart-deduce the meaning of words by examining the context clues, Create
a Concept Map to assess knowledge of a topic.
Open Sort of categories/topics – People, Places, Waterways, Methods of Transportation, Events, Conflicts, Misc.
Comprehension Strategies: Build Background Knowledge on James Towne-create a KWL chart prior to reading,
Reader’s Handbook – pages 58-73 (see vocabulary section also) Point of view, (Reader’s Handbook- page 291) ,
Complete a 5W’s and H organizer on the topic of Jamestowne- Reader’s Handbook-page 66
Questioning, Facts/Question/Response strategy.
Dialogue- Reader’s Handbook- 254-259- Use to analyze quotations.
Writing: Pretend you were there with the narrator of the story-write a journal entry giving him your reaction to
his writing, use your KWL and vocabulary work to write your entry. Include as many details from the text that you
can.
Listening/Speaking: DRLTA-Directed Reading Listening Thinking Activity
Set a purpose of reading: Record major events on a timeline as the book is being read aloud. Reader’s Handbook,
page 63
Listen for cause/effect relationships-Reader’s Handbook- page 72
December 20, 1606…….
Content Extensions: Create a timeline of historical events
Technology Extensions:
Title:
Author:
Name:
Facts
Questions
Response
Book Analysis: Mr. Maxwell’s Mouse/Frank Asch
Lexile Level: AD 810
Genre: Fantasy
Summary: A pompous cat in a celebratory mood gets more than he bargained for when he orders the live-mouse
entrée at a restaurant. A wickedly humorous book with thrilling and chilling art. (Sept.)
Big Idea: trickery, don’t panic, manners matter
Vocabulary: promoted, plumpness, politeness, gloated, unaccustomed, courteous, indigestion, bristled, dignity,
personal, squeamish, dispatched, thrust, steady, howl, mayhem, distress
Word Study:
Fluency:
Comprehension Strategies: Elements of fiction (Reader’s Handbook-Page 283), Focus on theme (Reader’s
Handbook – Page 267) Characteristics of fantasy, Schema Lesson (Reading for Meaning) use what you know to
predict. Summarizing-Reading/Writing a news story (Reader’s Handbook- Page 145)
Discuss how the illustrations create a mood for the reader. What makes the illustrations special in this book?
Listen as the story is being read aloud and find evidence of the mouse’s ability to deal with a dreadful situation.
Record your thoughts on the attached sheet.
What is the turning point in the story? Why do you think so?
Characterization- completes a characterization chart for the mouse and Mr. Maxwell? Why does Mr. Maxwell have
difficulty killing the mouse? How are the characters alike/different?
What is the moral of the story?
Why does the mouse write to Mr. Maxwell at the end of the story?
Writing:
Reading/Writing a News Story - Write a summary of the story using the 5W’s and H Organizer- Reader’s
Handbook, page 148
Listening/Speaking: DLTA-See attachment
Listen for evidence of the mouse’s ability to deal with the dreadful situation. Use these details when writing your
news story about the incident.
Content Extensions:
Technology Extensions:
Listen as the story is being read aloud and find evidence of the mouse’s ability to deal with a dreadful situation.
Below are some suggested strategies that the mouse uses to survive this dreadful situation. You can create your
own chart if these do not meet your needs. Record your thoughts below:
Brain Power
Wisdom
Intellect
Sense of
Humor
Use of
Language
Emotional
Trickery
Mr. Maxwell’s Mouse/Frank Asch
Mary Klink
Thomas Jefferson
August 2006
Book Analysis: My America: The Starving Time-Patricia Hermes
Genre: Historical Fiction
Lexile Level:
Summary: The Starving Time: Elizabeth's Diary, Book Two continues nine-year-old Elizabeth Barker's story of life
and death during the first year settling the Jamestown, Virginia colony. Through Elizabeth's diary entries young
readers come face to face with gnawing hunger as the settler’s dream of food but face the stark realties of
starvation and disease. Elizabeth observes the goodness of people who share what little they have and the evil and
laziness of others who steal from their fellow colonists.
As in her first diary, Elizabeth introduces readers to historical figures in American history from Chief Powhatan
and Pocahontas to Captain John Smith and Lord de La Warre. In The Starving Time, the colonists of 1609 live again
as a nine-year-old encounters fear, hunger, friendship, birth, death, and love in the New World.
Big Idea: courage/bravery, loss of a friend
Word Study:
Vocabulary:
Fluency:
Comprehension Strategies: Understand time order,- Reader’s Handbook- Page 69-73. Create a timeline of
events from the story as told by Elizabeth.
Characterization: Character Map, Questioning
Identify the conflicts that occur in Elizabeth’s journal. Are they between nature, people, groups, etc.
Where is the Conflict?
Character
Nature
Individual
Group/Organization
Self
Imposed
What conclusions can you make about how people survive in desperate situations?
Directed Reading Thinking Activity: Guiding Questions
Why does Elizabeth refer to her journal as a friend? Why does Elizabeth want to use a secret code in her journal?
Why is finding a friend so important to Elizabeth? Find examples in the story of how Elizabeth deals with the
loss of her friends and family. What does she do to help herself? How do others help her? What are her
personality traits? Why does Elizabeth decide not to choose Amelia? (10)
Why was leadership so important to the survival of Jamestowne? What does Elizabeth mean by the common good?
What are the qualities of a real leader in Elizabeth’s mind?
What important lesson does Elizabeth learn about people? Why is it important for babies to be strong in
Jamestowne? Why does Elizabeth think Caleb hears her thoughts? How does the journal help Elizabeth deal with
her feelings about the Bridger family? Why does Elizabeth cry when she is angry? Why does Elizabeth run her
words together when she talks about Master Bridger? What is the conflict between the Indians and the settlers?
How does Francis Collier help Elizabeth? Why do you think Elizabeth is disrespectful to Mistess Bridger? Why
does Elizabeth hate John Bridger so much? (26)
Figurative LanguageWriting: Mini-lesson: Writer’s Express- pages 132-137, writing in a personal journey, capturing your memories.
Listening/Speaking:
Content Extensions:
Technology Extensions:
Book Analysis: The Blue Hill Meadows /Cynthia Rylant
Genre: Fiction
Lexile Level: 840
Summary: Spend a year with the Meadow’s family in their country life in Blue Hill, Virginia. The summer brings
newborn puppies, a fishing trip in the fall, a winter blizzard, and a Mother's Day celebration in the spring. This
book highlights the love of family and the joys of a simple life. (CS)
Big Idea: contentment, memories, family, interdependence
Word Study:
Fluency: Teacher models fluent reading and students Choral read/partner read sections/stories together
Vocabulary: veterinarian, whelping, jubilation, kale, heron, crane, bluegill, largemouth bass, blizzard, stranded,
hedgehog, inspiration, revelations, wits,
Comprehension Strategies: Basic Elements of a Novel-Reading a Novel-Reader’s Handbook- page 225.
DRTA-Directed Reading Thinking Activity
Text to self, text, world connections, Visualizing, Prediction,
Writing: Write a narrative about a special time you spent with a parent. Writer’s Express-page 141
Listening/Speaking:
Storytelling-Students can share family stories
Content Extensions: Virginia Regions
Technology Extensions:
Book Analysis: The New Americans- Colonial Times 1620-1689
Lexile Level: 940
Genre: Non-fiction
Summary: Tells the story of the origins of our rich multicultural heritage. It traces the competition among the
American Indians, French, English, Spanish, and Dutch for land, furs, timber, and other resources of North
America. This book provides excellent background knowledge to support the study of Jamestown and colonization
in North America.
Big Idea: our multiculturalism, conflict
Vocabulary: conquerors, settlers, trade, traders, Europeans, continent, Mayflower, ancestors, Canada, Pilgrims,
Mayflower Compact, colony, colonists, tribes, Patuxett, Squanto, Wampanoags, treaty, Massasoit, Dutch, Henry
Hudson, Manhattan Island, Puritans, Catholics, Protestants, Massachusetts, migration, frontier towns, dissenters,
persecuted, religious freedom, banished, George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, Maryland, Fort Christina, New SwedenDelaware, Pequots, raids, Iroquois, longhouses, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, income, rivals, Hurons,
Algonquian, produce, interior, Samuel de Champlain, Quebec, voyageurs, couriers de bois, revenge, French, Jesuits,
Husdon Bay Trading Company, competition, Netherlands, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maine,
Spanish Florida, Iroquois, allies, Algonquian, Virginia, Plymouth, rebelled, Wampanoags, seaport, diversity,
Lutherans, Jews, independent, Connecticut Valley, Boston, William Penn, Quaker, Mennonites, Philadelphia,
Carolinas, North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, Charles Town, wetlands, plantations, tobacco, Britian,
Jamestown, slaves, Africa, merchants, landowners, livelihood, British Parliament, Navigation Acts, American, West
Indies, hostility, Marquette Joliet, Mississippi, Arkansas River, Pacific Ocean, expedition, Gulf of Mexico, La Salle,
Great Lakes, Louisiana, Louis XIV, San Augustin, Ohio Valley, rivalries,
Open word sort
Semantic Mapping of Concepts
Comprehension Strategies: Features of nonfiction text-determine structure of this kind of text. Use notes on
genres, summarized and attached.
Questioning, self-talk, Construct a timeline
Why did people come to America? Chart the reasons. Religion/Wealth/Freedom/etc.
Page 45- Understanding- struggle for a continent
What role did wealth/money/greed play in the colonization of America? Find examples.
Writing:
Listening/Speaking:
Directed Listening/Thinking Activity:
Students listen while the book is being read to list how many different groups came to America and what conflicts
they faced.
Individual/Group/Nation/Tribe
Conflict – chart the results, have a class discussion.
Content Extensions:
Explorers
Map the places mentioned in the book. Give out a blank map of the regions; work in groups to label a map.
After listening to the story read aloud, create a pamphlet attracting more settlers to Massachusetts.
Technology Extensions:
Directed Listening/Thinking Activity
Individual/Group/Nation/Tribe
Students listen while the book is being read to record how many different groups came to America and what
conflicts they faced
Conflict
Individual
Group
Nation
Tribe
Create a chart of the results, have a class discussion.
The New Americans- Colonial Times 1620
Why did people come to America?
Chart the reasons.
Religion
Wealth/Greed
Freedom
Opportunity
Other
Page 45- Understanding- Struggle for a continent
What role did wealth/money/greed play in the colonization of America? Find examples.
The New Americans- Colonial Times 1620-1689
Book Analysis: The Rag Coat/Lauren Mills
Lexile Level: AD 630
Summary: Minna’s family was very poor and lived in the mountains. She wanted to go to school, but she had to
have a coat for winter. Her family could not afford to buy one so the local quilters made one for her using scrap
material. When Minna wears the coat to class her classmates laugh at the coat and make fun of her. She explains
why each piece in the coat was important, not only to her but them as well, because many of the pieces came from
things that they had. The students realized the love and pride that Minna had, not only for her coat but for them.
Social Studies Connection: the book explains the need for family, neighborhood, community, and school. It shows
how history is a part of each of our lives. History helps mold who we are through teaching us values and an
understanding of the past. The book also shows the difference between wants and needs.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Big Idea: loss, resiliency, bullies, self esteem, heritage, wants vs. needs, scarcity necessitates choices
Word Study
Vocabulary: burlap, embarrassed, soot,
Fluency:
Comprehension Strategies: Setting, visualizing, text-to-self, text-to-text (In Coal Country), characterization,
compare and contrast to When I was Young in the Mountains.
Writing:
Listening/Speaking: Story telling- students tell stories about their favorite piece of clothing.
Invite a quilter to class to give a talk about making a quilt.
Carousel Brainstorming - students work in groups to identify how they could help with needs in the areas of family,
school, neighborhood, and community.
Quest Speaker- invites a community speaker to class to discuss how their service project is helping the community.
Content Extensions:
Service Inquiry: Discuss how they can do a class project to meet a need of their community. Students work in
groups to organize the service project.
Use maps; identify regions and characteristics of places.
Art- create posters that show the things that make each person special. The posters should reflect that when you
“look” at a person, you should see the inner, not outer, person.
Create a Story Tellers Vest-lesson attached.
Collage- Think-Pair Share - Create a collage showing Wants vs. Needs
Technology Extensions:
Book Analysis: The Storm/Cynthia Rylant
Lexile Level:
Genre: Fantasy
Summary: The Lighthouse Family: The Storm by Cynthia Rylant. Illustrated by Preston McDaniels. Simon &
Schuster, 2002. In this first title of The Lighthouse Family beginning chapter book series, Pandora the cat
becomes a lighthouse keeper and saves the life of Seabold the dog. Together, they create a family with three
young mice rescued from the sea. Others in the series about Pandora and Seabold include The Eagle, The Turtle
and The Whale.
There are those in the world who choose solitary lives. There are also those who choose vocations that are
solitary. Seabold the dog is one of those who chooses to be solitary, a sailor. Pandora the cat chooses to be a
lighthouse keeper. For her, being someone who can save lives is terribly important even if it means that she is has
to be alone all the time, even if it means that she has to feel lonely.
By chance a storm brings these two animals together and both their lives change forever. Now they have each
other for companionship as Seabold heals under Pandora's care and repairs his ship. Underneath it all, as they go
about their daily chores and enjoy one another's friendship, neither one really knows what to do next for neither
one wants to go back to they way things were before.
Then Seabold and Pandora find some more survivors of a shipwreck. Just like Seabold, these survivors are in need
of care, but these ones are very different in one way. These survivors are just children, mouse children.
In this extraordinary story about love and finding family, Cynthia Rylant once again shows us that she can tell a
powerful story in any format that she chooses. Warm and loving hearts seeking others to share their lives with
them, find solace in this delightful tale, which is made all the more evocative by the beautiful illustrations
rendered by illustrator Preston McDaniels.
Big Idea: blended families, adventure, friendship
Vocabulary: lighthouse, wear, company, schooner, riggings, dense, bewilderment, beacon, destiny, desolation,
weary, migrate, solitary, mallards, warblers, fretted, despondent, tattered,
Word Study: prefixes/suffixes – unpredictable, overwhelming, amazement, unwelcoming, dangerous, faithfully,
darkness, unsure, gratefully, sociable, rebuilding, emptiness, miserable, undaunted, sorrowful, resourceful,
disassembled, unhappy, goodness, unable, unending,
Fluency:
Comprehension Strategies: Text to self connections, prediction, inference
Figurative language: quotes
Writing:
Listening/Speaking:
Content Extensions:
Technology Extensions:
Book Analysis: Waterman’s Child/Barbara Mitchell
Lexile Level:
Summary: Readers grades K-4 will get a glimpse of the unusual lifestyle of families living on Tilghman Island in
Chesapeake Bay. Students may use the book and the map at its close to learn about ecology, the fishing industry,
and how family and community culture are affected by the watery environment. The book reveals how the
Chesapeake Bay has changed over time.
Genre:
Big Idea: family, change, heritage, ecology
Word Study
Fluency:
Comprehension Strategies: Author’s purpose, Point of view (told by child), prediction, inference
Writing:
Write a narrative about the work your family does.
Listening/Speaking: Story telling
Discussion-How can the bay continue to survive? How can groups of people/families/communities work together to
preserve environments such as the bay?
Content Extensions:
Technology Extensions:
Research careers on the water.
Book Analysis: When I Was Young in the Mountains/Cynthia Rylant
Lexile Level: 980
Genre: Memoir
Summary: Cynthia Rylant’s memoir is rich with details about living with her grandparents in the mountains of West
Virginia. The clear text and warm illustrations draw readers in to appreciate a simpler time.
Big Idea: environment and life style, humility, contentment vs. refinement, where we live determines how we live.
Word Study:
Vocabulary: dust, okra, Johnny house, swimming hole, well, pumped, congregation
Vocabulary Stroll Lesson; (pasture, pumpoed, congregation, dusk, bobwhite) Use the Context Clues to recognize
new words.
Fluency:
Comprehension Strategies: Lessons attached:
Then/Now Activity-compare and contrast events in the story with our lives today.
Responding to Questions: Students listen, discuss the book and share their own childhood memories in letter
form- Scoring Guide included.
Writing: My Own Memoir- Brainstorm four special memories and describe each one in a short paragraph. Use the
pattern attached to create a memory mountain.
Listening/Speaking:
Compare/Contrast with In Coal Country, The Rag Coat
Guided Discussion
Content Extensions: Lessons attached:
The Appalachians- people, culture, lifestyles. ,
Regions of the United States –Where we live determines how we live. Compare/Contrast settings.
Technology Extensions:
Book Analysis: Season of Promise-Elizabeth’s Jamestown Colony Diary -Patricia Hermes
Lexile-430
Genre: Historical Fiction
Summary: Lizzie meets new challenges, even as hard times give way to happier ones.
Big Idea: challenges, hard work, determination, fear, choices, telling the truth
Word Study
Vocabulary: vanity, brave, necessities, adept, dreary, revere, sustain, forlorn, summon, thudded, vows, content,
ashamed, pompous,
Fluency:
Comprehension Strategies: By activating schema, make predictions to increase understanding of text, visualizing
DRTA- See guiding questions below.
Why does Lizzie decide not to give Papa the message from Mistress Whistler?
Why was it important to have rules in the colony?
What role did fear play in the lives of the colonists? How did it impact their ability to survive?
Why did Lord Delaware praise Lizzie? How do Lizzie and her friends make a difference?
How does trying to survive the conditions in the colony affect the childhood experiences of Lizzie and her friends?
Return to the text to find examples, chart your examples.
Why does it hurt Lizzie to hear Abigail call Mistress Whistler, mama?
Why does Miss Tisket irritate Lizzie so much? Why does Lizzie want to be a baby some times?
What does it mean when Mary says, “speak your mind” to Lizzie? Why does Lizzie hate sewing so much? Why does
mistress Barlett let Lizzie give up sewing? Why do Lizzie and Caleb tell their father it is okay to marry Mistress
Whistler? Why does Lizzie change her feelings about Miss Whistler? How does Mistress Whistler help Lizzie?
How does Lizzie describe Lord Delaware? Find examples of how Lizzie changes during the story. How does she
change/grow? What does Lord Delaware think of the children in the colony? Why? Why does Lord Delaware allow
flowers in the chapel for the wedding? Why does Papa tell Lizzie that she can begin to dream big again? Why is
Lizzie happy at the end of the book?
Listening/Speaking:
Content Extensions:
Technology Extensions:
Book Analysis: Season of Promise-Elizabeth’s Jamestown Colony Diary -Patricia Hermes
Lexile-430
Genre: Historical Fiction
Summary: Lizzie meets new challenges, even as hard times give way to happier ones.
Big Idea: challenges, hard work, determination, fear, choices, telling the truth
Word Study
Vocabulary: vanity, brave, necessities, adept, dreary, revere, sustain, forlorn, summon, thudded, vows, content,
ashamed, pompous,
Fluency:
Comprehension Strategies: By activating schema, make predictions to increase understanding of text, visualizing
DRTA- See guiding questions below.
Why does Lizzie decide not to give Papa the message from Mistress Whistler?
Why was it important to have rules in the colony?
What role did fear play in the lives of the colonists? How did it impact their ability to survive?
Why did Lord Delaware praise Lizzie? How do Lizzie and her friends make a difference?
How does trying to survive the conditions in the colony affect the childhood experiences of Lizzie and her friends?
Return to the text to find examples, chart your examples.
Why does it hurt Lizzie to hear Abigail call Mistress Whistler, mama?
Why does Miss Tisket irritate Lizzie so much? Why does Lizzie want to be a baby some times?
What does it mean when Mary says, “speak your mind” to Lizzie? Why does Lizzie hate sewing so much? Why does
mistress Barlett let Lizzie give up sewing? Why do Lizzie and Caleb tell their father it is okay to marry Mistress
Whistler? Why does Lizzie change her feelings about Miss Whistler? How does Mistress Whistler help Lizzie?
How does Lizzie describe Lord Delaware? Find examples of how Lizzie changes during the story. How does she
change/grow? What does Lord Delaware think of the children in the colony? Why? Why does Lord Delaware allow
flowers in the chapel for the wedding? Why does Papa tell Lizzie that she can begin to dream big again? Why is
Lizzie happy at the end of the book?
Listening/Speaking:
Content Extensions:
Technology Extensions: