american)stories) theopenboat,parttwo

American Stories The Open Boat, Part Two

by Stephen Crane

Lesson Plan by Jill Robbins, Ph.D.

This lesson plan is to accompany the American Stories series episode, The Open Boat, Part Two by Stephen Crane.

A transcript of the story is included at the end of this lesson to print so students can read as they listen. Teachers who cannot play the audio from the website can read the story aloud or have students read it.

This lesson plan is based on the CALLA Approach. See the end of the lesson for more informa=on and resources on teaching with the CALLA approach. The following slide shows the five parts of this lesson plan.

Introduc5on

Lesson Elements

Prepare Present Prac5ce

Self-‐Evaluate Expand

Teach vocabulary and new concepts

Prepare

Introduce the theme of the story. “This is the second part of the story we began earlier. When we leC the story the men saw land, or the shore. What do you think will happen in this part of the story?”

Listen to students’ ideas: will the boat be rescued?

Explain the class focus: “Today we will find out what happens as the story ends.”

Vocabulary

afloat -‐ adj. floa=ng on water

shark -‐ n. a large and oCen-‐dangerous sea fish with very sharp teeth

row -‐ v. to move a boat through water using oars

Present

Introduce the story: “Since we know something about the story already, we will use that informa=on to predict what happens next. The strategy predic;ng helps us when we read or listen. We use what we know already to make a beMer predic:on. Let’s try it.”

Play to ‘“If we don’t all get ashore,” said the captain, “I suppose you fellows know where to send news of my death?”’

Ask students “Why does the captain think he might not make it to the shore?”

Guide students to review what they read in the previous part of the story: the captain hurt his arm. He might not be able to swim.

Explain the task and model the learning strategy

Model the strategy: “I read that the men saw a small house on the shore. They also saw a lighthouse. I know that lighthouses are for helping sailors. So I’m going to predict that someone will see them and help them. Let’s read and listen to more and see if that is true.”

Play or read aloud to ‘The sailor turned the boat and took her safely out to sea again.’

Demonstrate how to check your predic=on: “Did we read about someone coming to help the men in the boat? No!? What happened? The waves were too strong. The men had to turn the boat and go out to sea again. I feel sad for them.”

Explain the task and model the learning strategy

“Now it’s your turn. Use what you know to predict. Think about what will happen aCer the men turn the boat to the sea. Write a note about your predic=on on your paper.”

Play the story to ““I was just thinking about ham sandwiches, and …”

“Get together with your neighbor now, and write a predic=on. What will happen next in the story?”

Ask several students to share what they predicted. Write on the board or screen.

Allow students to prac=ce the strategy with the story

Prac5ce

Explain, “We will listen to the next part to check our predic5ons.

Play to ‘If we stay out here much longer, we will be too weak to do anything for ourselves at all.’

Ask, “Did your predic=ons happen in the story? What can you predict now?”

Ask students to turn to their neighbor and compare what they predicted with the events of the next part. Have several share with the class as a whole.

“Let’s read the rest of the story now.”

Allow students to prac=ce the strategy with the story

Ask students to evaluate for themselves whether the strategy helped them

Self-‐Evaluate

Ask students to stay with their neighbor and talk about the ending of the story. “Were there any surprises in the ending? Did you guess, or predict, that the men would be rescued?”

Give students =me to talk about the ending.

Ask, “Now I’d like to ask – what do you think about using this strategy, predict, when you read? Did it help you pay aMen=on to the story? How about understanding the story? Write a sentence or two on your paper to turn in about how predic5ng helped you today.”

Expand

Ask students, “Are there other =mes when you can predict?”

Listen to students’ responses.

Con=nue, “This strategy is helpful if you need to follow a complex story, or a long story. It gives you a kind of ‘handle’ to hold and helps you pay aMen=on when you read or listen.”

Try using this strategy tonight when you do your homework, or in your next class. Let me know how it goes!”

Ask students use the strategy in other contexts

The Open Boat (Part Two) by Stephen Crane American Stories | VOA Learning English http://learningenglish.voanews.com/

1

As we told you last week, the story is based on true events. In eighteen ninety-‐six, Crane

was traveling to Cuba as a news reporter. On his way there, his ship sank in the

Atlantic Ocean. Crane climbed into the last remaining lifeboat.

Three men got into the boat with him. They were the

ship’s captain, the cook and a sailor named Billie. For

three days, the men steered the small boat through high

waves along the coast of Florida. At last, they saw land.

Here is Shep O’Neal with the final part of the story.

A long stretch of coast lay before the eyes of the men.

Slowly, the land rose up out of the mountainous sea. The

men could see a small house against the sky. To the

south, they could see a lighthouse. Tide, wind and waves

were pushing the lifeboat northward. The men thought

someone on land would have seen the boat by now.

“Well,” said the captain, “I suppose we’ll have to attempt to reach the shore

ourselves. If we stay out here too long, none of us will have the strength left to swim

after the boat sinks.”

So Billie the sailor turned the boat straight for the shore.

“If we don’t all get ashore,” said the captain, “I suppose you fellows know where to

send news of my death?”

The men then exchanged some information. There was a great deal of anger in them.

They thought: “If I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods

who rule the sea, was I permitted to come this far and think about sand and trees?”

The waves grew stronger. They seemed always just about to break and roll over the

little boat. The coast was still far away. The sailor said: “Boys, the boat won’t live

three minutes more, and we’re too far out to swim. Shall I take her to sea again,

captain?”

Woodcut by Robert Quakenbush


2

“Yes! Go ahead!” said the captain. The sailor turned the boat and took her safely out

to sea again.

“It’s funny those life-‐saving people haven’t seen us,” one of the men said.

“Maybe they think we’re out here for sport! Maybe they think we’re fishing. Maybe

they think we’re fools.”

Once more, the sailor rowed the boat and then the reporter rowed. Suddenly, they

saw a man walking along the shore.

The man stopped walking. He moved his hand in the air to wave at them. He saw

them! Now he was running to the house.

The captain tied a cloth to a stick and waved it. Now there was another man on the

shore. The two men waved their hands in the air, as if they were saying hello to the

men in the boat.

Now, what was that moving on the shore? It was a bus – a hotel

bus. A man stood on the steps of the bus and waved his coat

over his head. The men in the boat wondered what he wanted

to say. Was he attempting to tell them something? Should they

wait for help? Should they go north? Should they go south?

The men waited and waited but nothing happened. The sun

began to go down. It got dark and cold. They could no longer

see anyone on the beach.

The sailor rowed, and then the reporter rowed, and then the sailor rowed again.

They rowed and rowed through the long night. The land had disappeared but they

could hear the low sound of the waves hitting the shore. This was surely a quiet

night.

The cook finally spoke: “Billie, what kind of pie do you like best?”

“Pie,” said the sailor and the reporter angrily. “Don’t talk about those things!”

“Well,” said the cook, “I was just thinking about ham sandwiches, and …”



3

A night on the sea in an open boat is a long night. The sailor continued to row until

his head fell forward and sleep overpowered him. Then he asked the reporter to

row for a while. They exchanged places so the sailor could sleep in the bottom of the

boat with the cook and the captain.

The reporter thought that he was the one man afloat on all the oceans in the world.

The wind had a sad voice as it came over the waves.

Suddenly, there was a long, loud swishing sound behind the

boat and a shining trail of silvery blue. It might have been made

by a huge knife. Then there was another swish and another long

flash of bluish light, this time alongside the boat. The reporter

saw a huge fin speed like a shadow through the water, leaving a

long glowing trail. The thing kept swimming near the boat. He

noted its speed and power. The reporter wished the men would

wake up. He did not want to be alone with the shark.

The reporter thought as he rowed. He was angry that they had

come so close to land and yet might still die at sea. Then he remembered a poem

that he had learned as a child. It was a poem about a soldier of the French Foreign

Legion. The soldier lay dying in Algiers. Just before he died, he cried out: “I shall

never see my own, my native land.” And now, many years after he had learned this

poem, the reporter for the first time understood the sadness of the dying soldier.

Hours passed. The reporter asked the sailor to take the oars so that he could rest. It

seemed like only a brief period, but it was more than an hour later, when the sailor

returned the oars to the reporter. They both knew that only they could keep the

boat from sinking. And so they rowed, hour after hour, through the night.

When day came, the four men saw land again. But there were no people on the

shore. A conference was held on the boat.

“Well,” said the captain, “if no help is coming, we might better try to reach the shore

right away. If we stay out here much longer, we will be too weak to do anything for

ourselves at all.”



4

The others agreed. They began to turn the boat toward the beach. The captain told

them to be careful – that when the boat came near the beach, the waves would sink

it. Then everyone should jump out of the boat and swim to the shore.

As the boat came closer to land, the waves got bigger and more violent. At last, a

large wave climbed into the air and fell on the small boat with great force.

The boat turned over as the men jumped into the sea. The water was like ice. The

reporter was tired. But he swam toward the beach. He looked for his friends.

He saw Billie, the sailor, in front of him, swimming strongly and quickly. The cook

was near him. Behind, the captain held on to the overturned boat with his one good

hand. Soon, the reporter could swim no longer. A current was carrying him back out

to sea. He thought: “Am I going to drown? Can it be possible?”

But the current suddenly changed and he was able to swim toward the shore. The

captain called to him to swim to the boat and hold on. The reporter started to swim

toward the boat. Then he saw a man running along the shore. He was quickly taking

off his shoes and clothes.

As the reporter got close to the boat, a large wave hit him and threw him into the air

over the boat and far from it. When he tried to get up, he found that the water was

not over his head, only half way up his body. But he was so tired that he could not

stand up. Each wave threw him down, and the current kept pulling him back to sea.

Then he saw the man again, jumping into the water. The man pulled the cook to the

shore. Then he ran back into the water for the captain. But the captain waved him

away and sent him to the reporter. The man seized the reporter’s hand and pulled

him to the beach. Then the man pointed to the water and cried: “What’s that?”

In the shallow water, face down, lay Billie, the sailor.

The reporter did not know all that happened after that. He fell on the sand as if

dropped from a housetop. It seems that immediately the beach was filled with men

with blankets, clothes and whiskey. Women brought hot coffee. The people

welcomed the men from the sea to the land.


5

But a still and dripping shape was carried slowly up

the beach. And the land’s welcome for the sailor’s

body could only be its final resting place. When night

came, the white waves moved in the moonlight. The

wind brought the sound of the great sea’s voice to the

men on the shore.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

afloat -‐ adj. floating on water

shark -‐ n. a large and often-‐dangerous sea fish with very sharp teeth

row -‐ v. to move a boat through water using oars


About the CALLA Approach The Cogni=ve Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA)is an instruc=onal model for second and foreign language learners based on cogni=ve theory and research.

CALLA integrates instruc=on in priority topics from the content curriculum, development of the language skills needed for learning in school, and explicit instruc=on in using learning strategies for academic tasks.

The goals of CALLA are for students to learn essen=al academic content and language and to become independent and self-‐regulated learners through their increasing command over a variety of strategies for learning in school. CALLA can be used in ESL, EFL, bilingual, foreign language, and general educa=on

classrooms.

CALLA was developed by Anna Uhl Chamot and J. Michael O'Malley, and is being implemented in approximately 30 school districts in the United States as well as in several other countries.

See a list of language learning strategies below.

Metacogni5ve Strategies

Task-‐Based Strategies

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