Reading Level
Y

Word Count
1781

Pages:
20  

Text Summary
Where would you go if you didn't have anything but a ship to call your own? Ships of Discovery is an informational text about the ships that great explorers used when discovering new lands. The book also talks about the people who set out on those first great journeys and their motivations for going. Ships of Discovery is a great book for imagined journeys.

Vocabulary
Content Words
Egyptians
hull
exploration
continent
Mediterranean
Greeks
African
Asian
New Guinea
catamaran
voyage
Polynesian
Vikings
knarr
caravels
Endeavour

Reproducibles
Worksheets
Worksheet 1-Compare and contrast early ships of discovery built by different ethnic groups.
Worksheet 2-Parts of speech: nouns, adjectives

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: Compare and contrast information from within the text.

Word Work

Contractions
Identify and list contractions.

Parts of speech

Nouns
Describe and use nouns.

Adjectives
Describe and use adjectives.

Visual Literacy
Read and interpret a Time line.
Read and interpret a map.

Before Reading

Introduce
Before handing out the book, introduce it by showing the front cover.

Ask: What do you see on the cover? What do you think the book will be about?

Turn the book over to the back cover. Ask: What other information does this give us about the book?

Elicit Prior Knowledge and Build Background
Make a mind map with students around the words Ships of Discovery. Have students suggest what they already know about ships of discovery. Write their suggestions around the title.

Skim and Scan
Have students turn to the contents page. Explain that a contents page shows where they might find information on a particular subject within the book.

Ask: In what chapter might you find information on the Polynesians? On what page does that chapter start?

Have students look for each topic listed in the contents page. They should be able to find the beginning page for each topic. Explain how students can figure out how many pages are in each section by counting the pages between each section (5,6,7,8,9 equals five pages), or by subtracting the page number that a section begins on from the page number of the following section. This means that if a section begins on page 5 and the following section begins on page 10, the section will be five pages long (10 - 5 = 5).

During Reading

Set the Purpose
Introduce Worksheet 1. Explain to students what the worksheet requires them to do.

Say: You will need to read the text Ships of Discovery and then fill in the spaces on this worksheet.

It may be easier to read a chapter and fill in the area relating to that chapter as you go.  

Hand out the books and have students read quietly at their own pace. Remind students that the photos and illustrations may have information in them that will help with understanding the text.

After Reading

Building Comprehension
Refer to the comprehension worksheet. Ask students to share their summaries of each section.

Ask students to restate facts and details in their own words.

Ask: What is the difference between a Viking ship and a Chinese ship? How were they alike?

Ask: Which ship was your favorite from the text?

Ask: Have you ever seen or been on a ship or boat? What was it like? Compare the boat that you have experienced with your favorite craft from the story. 

Discuss any other information from the story that students found interesting. 

Word Work

Contractions
Explain to students that a contraction is a combination of two words where the apostrophe represents letters that have been left out when the two words are joined.

Use the following example from the story: didn't, page 7.

Ask: Can you find any other contractions in the story?

Write these on a chart as students find them. Discuss what two words have been joined to form the contraction. Write these on the chart alongside the contraction.

Ask: What two words have been used to make the new word?

Have students look closely at the words to identify which letter or letters have been dropped in favor of the apostrophe.

Ask: What letter has been dropped?

Make a list of the contractions and the two words used to make them. Have students think of other contractions. Add them to the list.

Nouns
Explain to students that nouns are naming words. Use the following example from the book: boat page 4. Can you find any other nouns in the story?

Adjectives
Explain to students that an adjective helps describe a noun. Use the following example from the book:

fast (adjective) boat (noun), page 4..

Ask: Can you find any other adjectives in the story?

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

Learning through Visual Devices
Have students look at the map on page 10. Match this with a map of the world either in the classroom or from the Web. Point to where your students live. Now show them where the Vikings were traveling on the global map.

This will help students to imagine the distances and areas traveled by the Vikings.

Writing Link
Have students choose one of the ships talked about in the text. Think about what it may have been like to be a sailor in those days. Students may need to do further research. The library or internet may help. Write about a journey of discovery in which they participate as a sailor.

Students should include information such as the following:

• Where they went
• What they did, jobs on board the ship.
• What they ate
• Other people on board the ship
• Feelings they had during the journey

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.
• Monitor students' knowledge of parts of speech, nouns and adjectives, and contractions.