Kensukes Kingdom Novel Study

Dear Students,

I wanted to provide you with an overview of this week's lessons.

Kensuke’s Kingdom Lesson 3

Shared Reading Questions: Class discussion

1. Why has Michael decided now to tell his story?
2. Who are the members of Michael’s family?
3. What do the family do together on the weekends? Can you describe how it makes them feel?
4. Why do the family stop sailing?
5. What is the atmosphere like in the house?
6. What happened to Michael’s best friend?
7. What happens to Michael’s father and why?
8. What do you think happens next?
9. Describe the father when they meet up again. What sort of mood is he in?

Questions on Chapter 3: Write the answers in your Vocab/Literature notebook.

1. When Michael and his family first set sail, how many miles a day do they want to do?
2. How many miles a day do they actually do?
3. What game to Michael’s parents play?
4. What do they eat?
5. What creatures do they see off the coast of Africa?
6. In November they went to Brazil. Where did they stop?
7. What did Michael do in Brazil?
8. What did they do on Christmas Day?
9. Describe, in your own words, the incident with Stella Artois.

Kensuke’s Kingdom Lesson 4

Task: By finding and understanding in specific detail in Chapter 4, I can draw and label a detailed picture of the island. Look at the cover of the novel. Can you describe the picture, the setting and what is happening? Now, CAREFULLY read the description of the island Michael is living on (Page 53). In your Vocab/Literature notebook, draw an illustration of the island and then label it.

Be sure to use an entire page (11 X for your island picture.


Kensuke’s Kingdom Lesson 5

Objective: I can recognize techniques that make writing descriptive and I can write a descriptive account of a scary situation. This task to be completed in your survival story.

Journal: What would you take with you on a journey like this? What if you could only take 10 items? List your items and reasons for your choices.

Complete the following table:

Emotion Ways to describe emotion











Chapter Questions to be answered in Vocab/Lit Notebook:

1. How does Stella react to Kensuke?
2. What does Kensuke suggest to Michael about the way they share the island?
3. Kensuke leaves food and water for Michael and Stella every morning. What does it mean?

Read the two paragraphs from novel posted on the Forum.


Kensuke’s Kingdom Chapter 6

Objective: Rewriting texts from a different perspective.
Task: Using imagination and description to re-write a part of the book from the perspective of an orang-utan.

Read through the extracts describing the actions of the orang-utans. Now, re-write the events from their perspective in your Vocab/Literature notebook. Ask yourself these questions: What were they thinking? Why were they acting the way they were?

p.66
A shadow under the trees moved and came lumbering out into the sunlight towards us. A monkey, a giant monkey. Not a gibbon at all. It moved slowly on all fours, and was brown, ginger-brown. An orang-utan, I was sure of it. He sat down just a few feet from me and considered me. I dared not move. When he’d seen enough, he scratched his neck casually, turned and made his way on all fours slowly back into the forest

p.88
I was heaving a massive branch on to the pile when I felt a sudden shadow come over me. An orang-utan was looking down at me from the rock above - I could not be sure it was the same one as before. He was on all fours, his great shoulders hunched, his head lowered, eyeing me slightly sideways. I dared not move. It was a stand-off, just as it had been before down on the beach.
He sat back and looked at me with mild interest for a while. Then he looked away, scratched his face nonchalantly and sloped off, stopping once to glance back at me over his shoulder before moving on into the shadow of the trees and away.

Kensuke’s Kingdom Chapter 7

Objective: Communicating with words
Task: I can identify some of the emotions expressed in chapter five. Write sentences using each of the words in the table below in your Vocab/Literature notebook.


Angry
Happy
Afraid
Hungry
Nervous

Worried
Shy
Curious
Excited
Unhappy

Calm
Uncomfort-able
Relaxed
Confident
Annoyed


Next, look for examples in the novel when any of the characters felt his emotion. Use a quote and page number from the novel.

For example, Michael’s father was excited that the family would have an amazing time sailing around the world.

“Or, I thought, I could do something really special with it, a once-in-a-lifetime thing: we could sail around the world. Africa. South America. Australia. The Pacific. We could see places we’ve only dreamed of.” (page 6)


Kensuke’s Kingdom Chapter 8

Objective: Describing characters using evidence from the text.

Task: I can describe a character from Kensuke’s Kingdom using evidence from the text.

Vocabulary Search: What are Kensuke’s words for…?
Danger
Sorry
Stop
Goodnight

Using the words from Ms. El-Sioufi’s assignment (brave cowardly lonely determined happy sad confused clever sensible angry foolish naughty) and words of your own, write one paragraph describing Michael’s character and one paragraph describing Kensuke’s character in your Vocab/Literature notebook.

Answer the following Questions
1. Why does Michael feel that he has to hide his message in the coke bottle?
2. What were Kensuke’s hopes for the future?
3. What has been lost now, between Michael and Kensuke?


Kensuke’s Kingdom Chapter 9

Objective: Using research skills to check for evidence.

Task: I can research two articles on the internet, decide if they are true or false and note down key facts.

Read the posted articles. Do you think these articles are true?

Research the articles on the internet!


Kensuke’s Kingdom Chapter 10

Objective: Asking precise questions.

Task: Make a questionnaire about chapter eight for another classmate to answer.

Remember these questions?

1. Why does Michael feel that he has to hide his message in the coke bottle?
2. What were Kensuke’s hopes for the future?
3. What has been lost now, between Michael and Kensuke?