Island of the Blue Dolphins

By: Dan Gutman Thinking Strategy Resources, Graphic Organizers, and Reading Responses

About the Author Scott O’Dell

Hometown: ________________________

Other Books They’ve Written:

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Interesting Facts About the Author:

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STORY SUMMARY Island of the Blue Dolphins

By: Scott O’Dell

Reader’s Name: _______________

CHARACTERs PLOT SETTING

Island of the Blue Dolphins By: Scott O’Dell

Characters Character

One:

How They Are

Alike How They Are

Different

Character Two:

CHARACTER At the beginning of the story… At the end of the story…

Island of the Blue Dolphins By: Scott O’Dell

Characters

CHARACTER Action What did they do?

Motivation Why did they do it?

Island of the Blue Dolphins By: Scott O’Dell

Characters

Character Traits

Island of the Blue Dolphins By: Scott O’Dell

Character Character Traits

Karana

Rontu

Tutok

Ramo

Character Traits

Island of the Blue Dolphins By: Scott O’Dell

Character Character Traits

The Aleuts

Ulape

Chowig

Captain Orlov

Character Traits

Island of the Blue Dolphins By: Scott O’Dell

Character Character Traits

Kimki

Matasaip

Nanko

Tainor

Character Traits

Island of the Blue Dolphins By: Scott O’Dell

Character Character Traits

Lurai

Mon-a-tee

Rontu-Aru

The White Men

Character Traits

Island of the Blue Dolphins By: Scott O’Dell

Character Character Traits

TIME PLACE

Island of the Blue Dolphins By: Scott O’Dell

Setting

PROBLEM SOLUTION

Island of the Blue Dolphins By: Scott O’Dell

Plot

External Conflict Solution

Island of the Blue Dolphins By: Scott O’Dell

External Conflict

Internal Conflict Solution

Island of the Blue Dolphins By: Scott O’Dell

Internal Conflict

Determining Importance of Plot in Island of the Blue Dolphins

By: Scott O’Dell

Green Light Very Important events

Yellow Light

Important events

Red Light Not Important events

Before Reading

During Reading

After

Reading

Questions I Had in Island of the Blue Dolphins

New Words I Found

Island of the Blue Dolphins New

Word (and page number)

What I Think it Means What the Dictionary Says it Means

Figurative Language I Found

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Figurative Language Example From Text

Simile

Metaphor

Onomatopoeia

Hyperbole

Text-to-Text Connections Connecting Fiction Texts

How can we connect these two texts?

Island of the Blue Dolphins

By: Scott O’Dell

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Text-to-Self Connections Connecting Our Lives to a Fiction Text

How can you connect with this text?

Island of the Blue Dolphins

By: Scott O’Dell

Text-to-World Connections Connecting Large Groups of People to a Fiction Text

How can we connect this text to the world?

Island of the Blue Dolphins

By: Scott O’Dell

Text-to-Self Connections: Characters Island of the Blue Dolphins

By: Scott O’Dell Character Character

Noticing

How can you connect to this character? Give

evidence from the text.

Karana

Rontu

Tutok

Ramo

Text-to-Self Connections: Characters Island of the Blue Dolphins

By: Scott O’Dell Character Character

Noticing

How can you connect to this character? Give

evidence from the text.

The Aleuts

Ulape

Chowig

Captain Orlov

Text-to-Self Connections: Characters Island of the Blue Dolphins

By: Scott O’Dell Character Character

Noticing

How can you connect to this character? Give

evidence from the text.

My Important Thoughts While Reading

Island of the Blue Dolphins By: Scott O’Dell

Thoughts Page Number and Evidence from Text

Sensory Images in Island of the Blue Dolphins

By: Scott O’Dell

What I Could

See What I Could

Hear What I Could

Taste What I Could

Smell What I Could

Feel

Describing the Setting

Sensory Image What This Tells Us About the Setting

Reader’s Name: __________________ Title of Book/Story: Island of the Blue Dolphins By: Scott O’Dell

Inferring Character Feelings

Character

How do they feel? Evidence from Text to Support My Thinking

Island of the Blue Dolphins By: Scott O’Dell

My Inference Picture

I can infer that _______________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________

Cause and Effect in Island of the Blue Dolphins

Cause Because of this…

Effect This happens…

Inferring Reader’s Name: _______________

Title of the Book: Island of the Blue Dolphins

By: Scott O’Dell

Evidence from the Text:

What I Already Know:

Inference:

Inferring

My Inference:

CLUE:

CLUE:

CLUE:

Reader’s Name: _______________

Title of the Book: Island of the Blue Dolphins

By: Scott O’Dell

“I felt as if I had been gone a long time as I stood there looking down from the high rock. I was happy to be home. Everything I saw - the otter playing in the

kelp, the rings of foam around the rocks guarding the harbor, the gulls flying, the tides moving past the sandspit - filled me with happiness.”

-Island of the Blue Dolphins

Explain this quotation and the importance it has in the story.

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“Below me, Rontu was running along the cliff barking at the screaming gulls. Pelicans were chattering as they fished the blue water. Far off I could hear the

bellow of a sea elephant. But suddenly, as I thought of Tutok, the island seemed very quiet.”

-Island of the Blue Dolphins

Explain this quotation and the importance it has in the story.

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“Ulape would have laughed at me, and others would have laughed, too - my father most of all. Yes this is the way I felt about the animals who had become my friends and those who were not, but in time could be. If Ulape and my father had come back and laughed, and all the

others had come back and laughed, still I wouldhave felt the same way, for animals and birds are like people, too, though they do not talk the same or do the same things. Without them the

earth would be an unhappy place.”

-Island of the Blue Dolphins

Explain this quotation and the importance it has in the story.

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“Until that summer, I had kept count of all the moons since the time my brother and I were alone on the island. For each one that came and went I cut a mark in a pole beside the door of my house. There were many marks, from the roof to the floor. But after that summer I did not cut them any more. The passing of the moons now had come to mean little, and I only made marks to count the four seasons of the year. The last year I did not count those.”

-Island of the Blue Dolphins

Explain this quotation and the importance it has in the story.

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“Now that the white men had come back, I could not think of what I would do when I went across the sea, or make picture in my mind of the white men and what they did there, or see my people who had been gone so long. Nor, thinking of the past, of the many summers and

winters and springs that had gone, could I see each of them. They were all one, a tight feeling in my breast and nothing more.”

-Island of the Blue Dolphins

Explain this quotation and the importance it has in the story.

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How is loneliness a theme in Island of the Blue Dolphins? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

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Island of the Blue Dolphins Comprehension Questions

How does Karana change throughout the story? Include details from the text in your answer.

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How is trust a theme in Island of the Blue Dolphins? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

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Island of the Blue Dolphins Comprehension Questions

How is Karana able to survive throughout the story? What techniques does she use?

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Dolphins are a symbol in Island of the Blue Dolphins. Why? How do you know this?

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Island of the Blue Dolphins Comprehension Questions

Does the end of the story surprise you? Would you change the ending or keep it the same? Why?

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Letter to the Author Activity

Write a letter to Scott O’Dell, the authors of Island of the Blue Dolphins.

In this letter, please explain your favorite part of the book. Include

details from the book and two reasons. Be sure to use all of the elements of a

friendly letter in your writing. Have fun!

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Dear Scott O’Dell,

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Book Commercial Why should people read Island of the Blue Dolphins?

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What We Can Learn from Island of the Blue Dolphins

My Picture of the Theme/Lesson

Thank you to…