The Island of Blue Dolphins

By Scott O’Dell

Day 1 – Content Knowledge

How do people survive in the wilderness?

Video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKs-kTaKv2o

Oral Language

Concept MapAmazing Words:gutted, quartz, flint, blazing

Listen to these words in our read aloud. Think about what quartz is and what is can be used for.

Where would flint belong on our concept map?

Read Aloud

Comprehension Skill: Theme and Setting Comprehension Strategy: Inferring

Vocabulary

Discuss the meaning of each of the words about. In your reading spiral write down a definition for

the vocabulary words. Choose three words and write them in a sentence.

Share your sentences with your neighbor!

Research and Inquiry – Identify Research a topic of wilderness survival. Come up with a few open ended-questions for this topic. At the end of the week you will share your safety tips from your list!

Possible Questions: What does someone need to do to survive in the wilderness?What are some good basic tools?

Work in pairs to come up with a narrower topic and write an inquiry question.

Spelling – Long Vowel Diagraphs Take your Spelling City Pretestws: DVD19

Conventions – Independent and Dependent ClausesAn independent clause has a subject and a predicate and makes sense on its own. Transparency 3 #1-3 as a class or in groups. Students complete 4-9 independently.

Handwriting – cursive packet

Day 2 – Content KnowledgeOral Language

Video – Weekly Concept – How do people survive in the

wilderness? He huddled over his tepee and smacked the

quartz against the knife like a flint. A spark flashed, and the tinder ignited. – “Jenks and the Fire”

What do you think the word flint means? – What context clues can we use?

Why might he be huddled over the fire?

Concept MapAmazing Words: preypursuit

Look at the photographs on page 82-83. What does prey mean?What are some animals that can be prey?

What does pursuit mean?

Previous words:gutted, quarts, flint, blazing

If you eat fish at a restaurant, has it already been gutted?Explain how to use quartz and flint to start a fire.

Word Analysis compound words: words that are made up of two

words. In your reading spiral choose a word below from

the first column. Then choose a word from the second column to create a compound word.

Example: Pick head from the first column. In the second column choose land. Headland is a high piece of land that juts out into the water.

Literary Terms: Imagery

Authors use imagery in stories so the reader experiences the story as the characters do. An image is any detail that stimulates the senses and imagination.

Imagery helps create a mood and visualization of the story.

Look at the first paragraph of “Alone” on page 85. How do you think Jesse feels when he hears, “the summer wind rustling the tall prairie grass” and what is the mood the author created?

look for another example of imagery in “Alone.”

Vocabulary Skill: Unknown Words

Vocabulary Skill: Unknown Words Read “Island

Survival” on page 87.

Write the definitions to the highlighted words in your reading spiral.

If you do not know the definition use a dictionary!

This is a novel. A novel is longer than a short story and can have many characters, more description, and more subplots.

Look at the title and illustration of the girl. What do you think will happen?

Conventions: Independent and Dependent Clauses

After I went to the play I came home. The first clause is dependent because it does not

express a complete thought. The second clause is independent because it can stand

on its own as a sentence. Combine each clause in the first column with the

clause in the second column to form a complex sentence

Only insert a comma when a dependent clause begins the sentence.

Research and Inquiry – Navigate/SearchSearch on ______ website using your inquiry questions

and keywords to guide your research plan. What experts could we ask about wilderness survival?Create some questions you could as a wilderness expert.

Spelling – Long Vowel Digraphs In a vowel digraph, two vowels together stand for one sound, which is the long sound of the first vowel. Reader’s and Writer’s notebook p. 66

Vocabulary – Unknown WordsWS 68

Conventions – Independent and Dependent ClausesWS 65

Day 3 – Content KnowledgeOral Language

How do people survive in the wilderness? Today while we are reading, think about how Karana

overcomes challenges in the wilderness so that she can survive.

“I would have used seal sinew to bind the ribs together, for this is stronger than kelp, but wild animals like it and soon would have gnawed the fence down.” –The Island of Blue Dolphin p. 94

What does sinew mean and why would she build a fence from it?

What does gnawed mean?

Concept MapAmazing Words:shipwreckfamished

What is the definition of the word shipwreck?

Discuss with a partner:Why might a shipwreck happen?

What story do you know that is about a shipwreck?

What does famished mean?

When might someone be famished?

Main Story

Describe the story’s setting. What clue about the story’s theme does the setting reveal?

Why does Karana want to build her home in the southern part of the island?

Pages 96-101

Think Critically

Research and Study Skills SPQ3R

Survey, Predict, Question, Read, Recite, Review

Research and Inquiry – Step 3 Analyze information

Spelling – Long Vowel Digraphs Worksheet 71

Conventions – Independent and Dependent ClausesWorksheet 24

Day 4 – Content KnowledgeOral Language

How do people survive in the wilderness? Video- “They were so numerous that I could never hope to

get rid of them either by traps or with arrows. They were clever thieves and nothing I stored would be safe until I had built a fence.” – Island of Blue Dolphins p. 94

What word could we use instead of numerous? How is describing the red foxes as clever thieves

different from just saying they stole food?

Concept MapOral Vocabulary Amazing Words:

resourcefulwilderness

Karana had to be very resourceful to survive on the island. She had to make a shelter, find and cook food, and protect herself without tools or weapons. What do you think resourceful means?What other ways could she be resourceful?What does wilderness mean?

Discuss with a partner:Imagine you are shipwrecked on an island. How might you use the ship to survive?

Science in Reading How-to Text: Problem Solving.

A how-to text lists step by step instructions on how to do a task.

What kind of situations require you to solve a problem?

Often, it is necessary to follow a how-to text in order to solve a problem.

What are some examples of time we might want to read a how-text?

What are some things we might find in a how-to text?

Work with a partner to write a short how-to paragraph about how to solve a problem or play a game.

Karana was stranded on an island off the coast of California.

What does the word coast mean?

What is a way we can decipher the meaning of coast?

Work with a partner to identify unknown words from Island of Blue Dolphins. In your spiral write down three unknown words and their definitions.

In order for a how-to demonstration to be successful, directions must be clear and concise.

You will need multiple steps and the steps must be in the correct order.

Work in your reading spiral to create a how-to demonstration about building a structure. Think about the tools and materials you will need to have.

When you finish share your how-to with a partner!

Research and Inquiry – Step 4 Synthesize Look over your research. Compare and contrast sources of information and make sure you found expert advice. Make sure you group together similar information.Create a presentation for your report.

Spelling – Together create a vowel digraph word web for each vowel (ai, ee, ea, oa, ow). Individually complete spelling worksheet 25 for homework

Conventions –independent and dependent clauses worksheet 72

Type to learn – 15 minutes

Day 5 – Content KnowledgeOral Vocabulary

Unit Question: What Kinds of challenges to people face and how do they meet them?

Weekly Question: How can people survive in the wilderness?

Finish Video!

Concept Map Amazing words – gutted,

quartz, flint, blazing, pursuit, prey, shipwreck, famished, wilderness, resourceful

Use the concept map and what you have learned from this week’s discussions and reading selections to form and AMAZING IDEA – a realization or big idea about meeting challenges.

In your spiral write down a few sentences about your AMAZING IDEA beginning with, “This week I learned…”

Review Comprehension Skill: Theme and Setting Theme: underlying meaning of a story. Setting: where and when the story takes place. What is the theme of Island of the Blue Dolphins?

Survival

What in the text made you think that this was the theme?

Work on Theme and Setting worksheet independently.

Review Vocabulary Skill: Unknown Words We use a dictionary or glossary to determine

the meanings of unknown words. What else can we find in a dictionary?

pronunciation, syllabication, part of speech, alternate meanings

With a partner use each your vocabulary words in a sentence.

Review Word Analysis: Compound Words Compound Word: A word that has a

combination of two or more words that function as a single unit of meaning.

In you reading spirals break apart the following words by circling the smaller words. Then write your own definition for the word.

starfish, gatekeeper, packhorse, seabird, bedtime, thumbtack

Review Authors use imagery to describe how things

in the story taste, smell, feel, sound, and look.

Read page 93 of Island of the Blue Dolphins. Look for examples of imagery. Find words that

help you understand what your five senses would experience.

Write three examples in your reading spiral.

Test Weekly Assessment p. 13-18

Research and Inquiry – Finish Presentation

Spelling – Post Test Spelling City

Conventions – Worksheet 27