Chapter 1

Work on vocabulary skills with a magic square before beginning the book.
Purpose: The magic square strategy allows students to try to infer meaning of unfamiliar words through contextual clues as they read. This book is chock full of big words that most fifth graders will probably struggle with. The magic square will guide their reading, keep them alert to new vocabulary, and immerse them in the practice of inferential reading. This is a during-reading strategy.
Context: The novel at this point is just getting under way, introducing plot, character, conflict, and style of the author. As the whole book will include difficult vocabulary, the magic square is an excellent strategy to use because it prepares students for the type of reading that they will engage in. It gets them in the habit of looking for new words and trying to figure out what those words may mean. Their "guess" is validated and reinforced by finding the concrete definition from the list on the right. In this way, they gain the ability to boost their marginal vocabulary to reading and writing vocabulary. This activity will take approximately one hour, as the students will use it throughout their reading of the introduction as well as chapter one.
Directions: See worksheet
Assessment: Students will hand in their magic square worksheets and the teacher will record if students are grasping the vocabulary, finding the "magic number." Assessment here should be fairly simple.
 

Vocabulary to preview - oblige, quell, decorum, docile, gesticulated, loathsome

Journal activity: Think about a time when you were in an unfamiliar or unusual situation that made you feel uneasy.  How did you get through the experience?  Write about an unfamiliar experience in which you were uncomfortable. Include details that help explain your feelings.

Setting a Purpose:
Read to find out how a thirteen-year-old girl copes when finding herself among unfamiliar people and in unfamiliar situations as she begins a difficult journey.

Explain how students will complete the Predictions and SOS activities.  Read chapter 1.

Follow-up Discussion Questions:
1. Why did the two porters take off as soon as they found out they were taking her trunk to Captain Jaggery’s ship, The Seahawk?
2. What has happened to Charlotte’s traveling companions?
3. Locate and discuss some passages early in the novel in which Charlotte reveals her nature as nurtured by her father and the Barrington School for Girls. What is your attitude toward this thirteen year old?
4. Foreshadowing is a technique writers use to warn the reader of what lies ahead.  What events and descriptions give this chapter a mysterious tone?