Star in the Storm

Star in the Storm

By: Joan Hiatt Harlow

Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2000

Courageous, Historical-Fiction, Heartwarming, Thrilling, Adventurous, Bravery, Heroism

Awards:

• The Michigan Reading Association 2002 Reader's Choice Award
• Spring 2000 Kids Pick of the Lists
• Disney Adventures Book Award, Best Adventure Book of 2000
• Henry Bergh Children's Book Award

Summary:
This book is about a dog name Sirius and his owner, 12 year old Maggie Wells. The story is set back in the year 1912, (only a few months after the Titanic tragedy) in a little village called Bonnie Bay located on the coast of Newfoundland.  Recently a law was passed that the only dogs families could own were sheepherding dogs. After discovering this, Maggie makes sure to hide Sirius where no one will be able to find him.
But when a boat crashes into an iceberg and it slowly begins to sink with all passengers on board, Maggie must make the toughest decision of her life. Does she risk Sirius' own life to help rescue all the stranded passengers on board? 

Reading Level: Lexile Framework, 600, Grades 4/5

Suggested Delivery: Small Group Read

Key Vocabulary (by page number): pishogues (1), quidnunc (2), yean (9), shrill (11), crosscacklin' (14), constable (14), schooner (15), gunwale (19), brooch (28), pious (32), scrimshank (33), convulsion (36), expedition (47), tumultuous (53), gansey (65), arduous (69), binicky (85), tuckamore (91), conglomerate (95), gale (98), nor'easter (99), slicker (119), breeches buoy (121), bannikin (134), gommel (142)


3 Teaching Suggestions:

1. Use this novel in Language Arts and focus on recognizing central themes of the novel. Help students learn to identify themes within chapters and within the text as a whole.
2. Use this novel in Language Arts/Social Studies to teach students about the concept of heroism and what it means to be a hero.
3. Use this novel in Social Studies to further student's interest in the history of the Titanic. Have them share what they already know regarding the tragedy and ask them to perform further research about the event and any other similar tragedies that have occurred. 

Before Reading: Give students approximately 15-20 minutes to write a paragraph or two on someone who they consider to be courageous. It can be a family member, a friend, another adult, or someone they never even met. Use the following prompts to make them expand and give reasons of why they think this person is courageous: What makes this person courageous? What does he/she do or say that demonstrates courage? When is he/she most courageous? After allowing them time to write down their response, explain to them that they will be reading a book that demonstrates several courageous acts throughout. Discuss their short responses that they previously wrote to see what they perceive as courageous.

During Reading: While reading Star in the Storm, have students keep track of all of the courageous acts that are performed by the characters in the novel. Create individual charts for the students and have them write down the name of the character who performed the courageous act, briefly describe the event, and write down the page number.

After Reading: (Do not read the Afterward yet!) After completing the novel, allow for an open discussion between students and yourself. Provide questions that will prompt answers and keep students on track, but try to allow students to run the discussion themselves. For example: What did you like about the novel? What did you not like about the novel? Was it a realistic story? What parts of the story do you think were true? What did the author make up? Are there multiple heroic characters? What would you have done if you were in this situation? Which character can you relate most to? What other themes were present in this novel? Etc.

Proceed to read the Afterward following the discussion. Have students share their reactions upon reading it. 

Five ravens in flight

Writing Activity: In the novel they discuss a lot about superstitions, especially regarding ravens. Explain how this superstition played into the story and the importance of it. Did seeing these ravens affect her decision making? Did she act more cautious? Each time she saw a certain number of ravens... Did it come true? Why did the author include the idea of superstitions? 

2 Electronic Resources:

1. National Geographic: This link will take you to an educational page all about icebergs. National Geographic has infinite amount of resources regarding icebergs, Newfoundland and the Titanic. Kids should feel free after navigating to this page, to do further research if they still have questions. This article does a good job of explaining what icebergs are and how they form. There are also great photographs to show students what an iceberg looks like. The article also goes on to state that there have been drastic technological advances made to prevent tragedies such as the Titanic from happening again. 

   

   An iceberg - What it looks like above water & under water

2. News For Kids: This website is very child friendly and explains the tragedy of the Titanic in simpler terms. It explains that to this day we are still studying the tragedy to see what else we can learn as well as what we have already learned with the extra technology we have in this day and age. There are a handful of outside resources located at the bottom of the page for students to go to if they want to learn even more about the 1912 sinking of the Titanic. 

   
   

   The sinking of the Titanic
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   Harlow, J.H. (2000) Star in the storm. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books