Sailing Home: A Story of a Childhood at Sea by Gloria Rand illustrated by Ted Rand

Study Skills Genre: Historical Fiction Comprehension Skill: Author’s Purpose; Main idea Comprehension Strategy: Predict Comprehension Review Skill: Sequence; Plot Vocabulary: Synonyms, Antonyms, Homonyms

Summary Can you imagine eating, sleeping, playing, and going to school all at sea? That’s exactly what the Madsen family children did aboard their father’s cargo ship, the John Ena. The Madsen family shared many memorable events on the ship, from surviving frightening storms to celebrating the holidays.

GenreGenre: Historical Fiction Historical fiction is made up of stories that take place in a certain time and place in the past. Real historical figures and settings may be included in a fiction story. Historical fiction is based on real events in history, but it is a story to which the author has added details from his or her imagination.

Comprehension Skill Author’s Purpose is the author’s reason or reasons for writing the story. An author might have more than one reason for writing. Authors don’t usually tell you this. You have to figure the reasons out. It might be to inform or teach, to entertain, to express their feelings or ideas, and to persuade or convince you.

Comprehension Strategy Predict Good readers think about what will happen next. Before you read, look over the passage to predict the author’s purpose so you have an idea of how to read the piece. Hint: Illustrations and diagrams are clues to the author’s purpose.

Comprehension Skill- Sequence Sequence means the order in which things happen. Dates, times, and clue words such as first, then, next, and last can help you understand the order of events. Sometimes two or more events happen at the same time. Words such as meanwhile and during can show this.

Vocabulary Skill: Homonyms and Homographs When reading, you may find a familiar word used in a new way. It may be a homonym or a homograph. Homonyms are spelled differently, but are pronounced the same. Homographs are spelled the same, but are pronounced differently and have different meanings.

Research Skill Parts of a Book TE 537L Parts of a Book Table of contents – a list of the chapter and lesson titles and the page on which each one begins; found in the front of the book. Glossary– dictionary of important terms in the book; found at the end of a book. Index - an alphabetical listing of topics covered in the book; found in the back of the book.

Research Skill Parts of a Book TE 537L Parts of a Book A bibliography lists books and other references that an author used to write his/her book. An appendix contains graphs and charts. The copyright page tells the year a book was published. The title page gives its title, author, and publisher.

Chapter Title - Section heads, captions, marginal notes, and headnotes are text organizers found within a chapter. Section heads are titles of sections. Captions are text under pictures. Marginal notes are additional facts noted in the margin. Numbered Footnotes – appear at the bottom of a page or at the back of a book. Research Skill – Parts of a Book

Weekly Fluency Check - Pauses TE a` ● Good readers pause in certain places as they read to make the reading easy for listeners to follow. ● Periods, dashes, and commas provide clues for pauses.

Fun Stuff and Practice Other Books by Gloria Rand Pronouns Homophones More Homophones and Homographs More Practice

Question of the Week TE 516m What is it like to live at sea?

Day 2 - Question of the Day What would you like about life at sea? What would you miss from your life now?

How is a ship like and unlike other types of homes? Day 3 - Question of the Day

Day 4 - Question of the Day - Review Why do you think someone would be willing to face danger and loneliness to sail around the world?

Review Questions 1.What is an important theme of this story? 2.Why did the author include the “Afterword”? 3.Why do you think they chose Hawaii for their home? 4.What happened when the ship “quivered a strange quiver and slowly righted herself? 5.How would you describe the mother?

Review Questions 1.How was the crew like a family to the children? 2.What happened after Captain Madsen became a steamship captain? 3.What was the author’s purpose for writing this story? 4.Where did the children probably get their animals? 5.How were Miss Shipman and Albert alike ?

Vocabulary - Say It stern cargo celestial conducted dignified navigation quivered bow

More Words to Know nautical plush blasts tempest tide

stern The rear part of a ship or boat

quivered shook; shivered; trembled

navigation skill or process of finding a ship’s or aircraft’s position and course

dignified having dignity; noble; stately

conducted directed; managed

celestial of the sky or outer space

cargo load of goods carried by a ship, plane, or truck

bow the forward part of a ship, boat, or aircraft

blasts strong, sudden gusts of wind or air

tempest a violent windstorm or a violent disturbance

tide the rise and fall of the ocean about every twelve hours, caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun

nautical of or about ships, sailors, or navigation

plush luxurious; expensive; stylish

The captain knew all the methods of navigation.

The John Ena carried cargo all over the world.

The captain was a dignified figure as he stood on the upper deck.

There is often a fancy carving of a woman on the bow of a ship.

From the bow to the stern, sails work very hard.

Sails used instruments or steered a course using the celestial bodies, or stars

Sails used instruments or steered a course using the celestial bodies, or stars.

The captain was the commander of the ship, and he conducted all the ship’s business.

The John Ena quivered in the heavy storm.

The moon causes high tides and low tides.

The violent tempest had winds that were very strong.

The southwest winds will blast the shore away.

The ship was not very luxurious, but to the Madsen family, it was home.

The sailor taught them how to make nautical knots.