Reading Level
X

Word Count:
3861

Pages:
22

Text Summary
The Reef, a fictional text, is the diary of Will Reynolds, a fictional crewmember on the ship The Endeavour, led by Captain James Cook. Captain and crew travel around the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand, charting coastal maps. They become stuck on a coral reef, which threatens to finish them. Suspense builds as the danger increases. Eventually, one of the crewmembers comes up with a way to temporarily fix the broken hull, and everyone is saved.

Vocabulary
Content Words
Endeavour
commissioned
esteemed
naturalist
poisonous
surveyed
superstitious
agitated
lieutenant
salvage

Reproducibles
Worksheets
Worksheet 1-Prior Knowledge chart
Worksheet 2-suffixes, homophones

Lesson Objectives

Comprehension
You will likely address a number of comprehension skills as students work to understand the text. The targeted comprehension strategy for this lesson is: Extend prior knowledge by connecting it with information gained from the text.

Word Work

Suffixes
Change words by adding suffixes

Homophones
Identify and list homophones

Visual Literacy
Read and interpret a map

Before Reading

Elicit Prior Knowledge and Build Background
Hand out the worksheet.

Explain to students that the first two parts of the worksheet will be filled out before reading the book.

Say: The first part of this worksheet is designed to find out what you already know about the topic of the voyages of James Cook, the Pacific, and coral reefs.

Have students list everything they already know about the topic.

Say: The second section of the worksheet is designed to find out what you would like to know about the voyages of James Cook, the Pacific, and coral reefs.

Have students discuss and fill out the second section of the worksheet.

Say: The last part of the worksheet is designed to find out what you know after reading the story. You will fill it out after reading the book.

Introduce
Before handing out the book introduce it by showing the front cover. Ask: What does this tell you about the book? Turn the book over to the back cover. Ask: What other information does this give us about the book?

Skim and Scan
Hand out the book and ask students to skim through the chapter headings and illustrations.

Ask: What other information does this give you about the book?

Have students find the word venomous on page 4.

That a glossary is similar to a dictionary, but that it defines special or difficult words used in a book. A glossary appears at the back of this book. Ask: Where might we find the meaning of this word?

Have students find the glossary by looking up the page number in the contents page. Have them find the word and read the meaning from the glossary. Have students read the other words in the glossary

Ask: Are there any other words here that you are unfamiliar with?

Discuss any words that students bring up.

During Reading

Set the Purpose
Discuss ships and with students. Ask: Has anyone ever been on a boat? What do you think it would be like to travel all over the ocean in a boat? Do you think you would like it? Where would you like to go? What would you bring? Would you write letters? What kinds of things might you see in the ocean?

Having children brainstorm what they already know about boats wil help them to relate to the text. Comprehension becomes much easier when children have personal experience with the subject, even if the experience was a class discussion.

Ask the children to keep in mind what they would do if they were in Will's or Captain Cook's situation. This will help them to focus on the content of the story.

After Reading

Building Comprehension
Ask students to share in their own words what they found out.

Discuss if they found out all they wanted to know about the topic.

Ask: Did you find out all they things you wanted to find out about the topic? Where else could you go to find out more about the topic?

Word Work
Suffixes
Explain to students that a suffix is a group of letters that is added to the end of a base word. It can change the word's meaning. Use the following example from the story-cracking-on page 17. Use the following in sentences to show how the meaning can change as the suffix is added.

Cracks-The boat cracks when it hits the coral reef.

cracked-The boat became cracked when it hit the coral reef.

cracking-The boat is cracking.

Ask: Can you find any other words that could have suffixes added? Can you use them in sentences?

Homophones
Explain to students that homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings. They are usually spelled differently.

Use the following example from the story: no / know, page 5.

Ask: What are the meanings of these words? Can you use them in two sentences? Can you find any other words in the story that are homophones? What are they? What are their meanings?

Introduce the second worksheet Explain to students that it is related to the work just covered on antonyms and homophones.

Learning through Visual Devices
Read and Interpret a Map.
Point out the map of the Pacific Ocean where Cook's voyages took place in the text.

Explain to students that there are features of maps that make them easier to read and get information from.

They might include the following:

Title: Tells what the map is about.

Legend or key: Shows what particular markings on the map stand for.

Using these features, ask students to suggest information they can see in the map.

Ask: Using the features we have talked about, what information can you see in this map?

Writing Link
Have students write a description of how the men on the boat would have felt during the time they were stuck on the reef. Remember to include the following:

• Feelings that may come about because of worry of never seeing loved ones again.
• Feelings that may come about due to the work needed to be done to pump the water out.

Assessment

• Review students' completed comprehension worksheet in order to assess whether they understood the reading.
• Have students write sentences or paragraphs using selected words from the vocabulary list, or word work examples from the lesson, in order to demonstrate their understanding of word meaning.
• Assess students' knowledge of suffixes and homophones.