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Unit Plan
Island of the Blue Dolphins By: Scott O'Dell |
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Unit Plan
Island of the Blue Dolphins By: Scott O'Dell |
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Getting Started Spelling Language Arts Social Studies Science Mathematics Art Incorporating the Internet On-Line Resources for Teachers |
Before your class begins reading the book, ask
them questions to get them thinking about and interested in the book.
Some questions to ask students:
Do you think you could
survive alone on a deserted island?
What things do you think
you would need to survive alone on an island?
What things would you
miss the most?
If you were alone, what
things would you have to worry about?
Students can answer these questions in a discussion directed by the instructor. Students could also write a short paper on their answers to the questions and write why they answered the way they did. These activities can peek the interest of the students and get them prepared for the book.
Find a group of words on one or more chapters, appropriate to the grade level, and use them as spelling words for the week. Use words that are meaningful to the story. Discuss the meaning of the words in the context in which they are given. If students do not know the meaning of the word, have them look it up in the dictionary.
Sample Spelling List From Chapter One: Aleut, captain, dolphin, Russian, ornament, mesa, island
Approx. Time: One hour to create
Make crossword and word search puzzles using the vocabulary words.
Give students their own journals. Have students take on the role of being left alone and ask them to write about their experiences. Give them subjects to write on: What would be the first thing you would do when you realized you were left alone?
Approx. Time: A week.
Have students write their own book about life alone on an island. Have a dolphin pattern that students can trace and use as the shape of their book.
Put students into small groups of four or five. Have each group research a certain aspect of the Native Americans of the California coast, the Chumash. Make sure there is a group researching information about, food, clothing, types of housing, and hunting styles. After the information is gathered, have the students share their findings with one another. With the information, have the students create a play about the daily lives of the Chumash people. Invite parents, teachers and community members to come and watch.
Approx. Time: Time to set up a guest speaker, and time for speaker to talk with the class
Set up a Native American guest speaker to come into your classroom. Ask the speaker to discuss rituals, music, dancing, and tradition. Before the speaker is scheduled to come, have students prepare meaningful questions to ask.
Thought the book there are many references to marine animals and wildlife. Have the students research a marine animal of their chose from the book. Have the students research were the marine animals live, their scientific name, what the animals eat, their life span, how humans affect their environment.. Encourage students to find fun facts about their marine animal. After students have found the information, have them hand in a written report. Have students share their finds with the class.
Some marine animals in the book: Dolphins, Sea Lions, Otters, Pelicans, Whales, Crabs
Approx. Time: Two hours.
The book mentions earthquakes and tide waves. Using information that you have found, discuss with students how and why earthquakes and tide waves accrue. Have a scientist come in a to talk to students about earthquakes and tidal waves.
Using the characters in the book, create story problems based an events that did or could happen to the characters.
Example:
Karana was twelve when the Aleut ships first arrived. He was
half the age of Karana. How old was Karana?
Karana lived alone on the island for 18 years before she was rescued. How old was she?
Have students create the Island of the Blue Dolphins based on information from the book. Have them use construction paper, watercolors, crayons. ect . For older students have them create a map with a legend.
Approx. Time: Two days.
Introduce Native American art to students. Discuss why Native Americans created cave paintings and what they might mean. Discuss how the paintings were created. After discussing cave paintings, have students create their own cave paintings, using graphite, and watercolors.
Have the class create it's own web page based on the book. Incorporate students' artwork, journal writings, and research projects. Under supervision, have students search for related web sites that can be used as links in their web page.
Approx. Time: One Hour.
Give students questions about the author, book, marine animals and other related topics and have them find the answers on pre-selected web pages.
About the Author: http://www.randomhouse.com/BB/teachers/bios/odell.html
Marine Animals: http://www.oceanlink.island.net/
Click on Aqua facts
http://www.seaworld.org/animal_bytes/animal_bytes.html
Teachers Resource Center: Ideas and suggestions for other children's literature books. http://www.bdd.com/teachers/index.html
Teacher CyberGuide: Incorporating the internet. http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/blue/bluetg.html