The Storm

Essential Questions: How do we build and maintain relationships? How are conflicts resolved? What are the qualities of a good friend?

Do Now: Journal (5 minutes)

• Project the following on your whiteboard for students to respond to in their writing journals or on a sheet of paper: 

Choose one of the prompts about friendship below.

Why are friends important?

What makes someone a good friend?

Do you have any friendships that are outside of your usual friend group? How do you manage to balance your friendships?

What was the last disagreement or conflict you had with a friend? How did you handle it? Is there anything you would do differently now if you could?

• Invite volunteers to share their responses.

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

• Project the Google Slides version of Vocabulary Definitions and Practice on your whiteboard. Review the definitions and complete the activity as a class. Highlighted words: glowering, roiling, stow, swell, taut, tiller. Audio pronunciations of the words and a read-aloud of the definitions are embedded on the slides. Optionally, print the PDF version or share the slideshow link directly to your LMS and have students preview the words and complete the activity independently before class.

• Read the “Spotlight On” box on page 28 or at the top of the digital story page.
• For students’ first read, have them follow along as they listen to the audio read-aloud, located in the Resources tab in Teacher View and at the top of the story page in Student View.
• Have students reread and annotate the story independently. Here are some symbols you might have them use:

 ∞ = connection

⭐ = important

❓ = I don’t understand

💭 = “I’m thinking . . .” (add words and comments)

💙 = love this

• Alternatively, have students complete a double-entry journal during their reread. In their journals or on a piece of paper, have students create a T-chart. In the left-hand column, have them record three to five lines that jump out at them or feel particularly meaningful. In the right-hand column, have them record their reactions to these lines through questions, comments, connections, or analysis. (You can find both a print and digital version of our Double-Entry Journal handout in the Resources tab.) 
• Divide students into groups to discuss their annotations or double-entry journals. Then reconvene as a whole group and pose the following questions, some of which may draw on students’ reading responses and group discussions. (If you prefer to have students answer these questions in writing, use the Discussion Questions activity in the Resources tab.)

Discussion Questions (30 minutes)

• How has Noah and Emma’s friendship changed recently? How do each of them feel about their changing relationship? Emma and Noah have been the best of friends since kindergarten. Now that they are older, Noah is playing basketball and doesn’t devote as much time or attention to their friendship. Emma feels like Noah sees his new hobby and friends as “cooler” than she is, and this makes her feel sad and dejected. We don’t know exactly how Noah feels about his changing friendship with Emma, because the story is told in first person, from Emma’s point of view. We can infer from his smiling acceptance of Emma’s invitation to go out on the lake that he still values their friendship and enjoys spending time with Emma.
• Scavenger Hunt! Find at least three examples of personification (a literary device in which the author gives human characteristics to something that is not human). What is being personified in the examples you found? Place parentheses around it. Then underline the human characteristics it has been given. Possible answers: “But the (clouds), dark and glowering, hadn’t paid attention to the forecast”; “The wide main (sail) over our heads bit into the storm, grasping the wind’s power . . . ”; “It was all I could do to steer—to hold on to the (tiller) that threatened to wrench itself from my hands”; “My (arms) screamed”; “The (sail) was still stretched taut and angry”; “(Wind) beat the stinging rain into my cheeks.”
• Consider the examples of personification you found in Question 2. What does the author’s use of personification help readers understand? What element of the story does it develop (e.g., character, conflict, plot, setting)? The personification helps readers understand how powerful, violent, and dangerous the forces of nature in the story are. It helps readers visualize what’s happening, and makes it feel as if the wind and the boat are characters in the story that Emma and Noah are struggling against. The author’s use of personification develops the setting and the external conflict Emma and Noah face.
• Reread the lines of dialogue. What’s interesting about the last line of dialogue in the story? How does it change the story’s mood? The story begins with the line “‘I can’t see land!’ Noah shouted over the wind.” Throughout the story, every line of dialogue is “shouted,” “called,” or “cried.” The final line of dialogue—“‘Emma!’ Noah’s whisper carried through the storm”—is said softly and changes the mood. Readers feel a sense of calm and hope along with Emma and Noah. 
• Analyze the story’s title and tagline. The title and tagline refer to the literal storm that Emma and Noah are caught in on the lake and whether they will make it through it alive and unharmed. It might also refer to the storm in their friendship and the question of whether it will survive.
• Do you think anything will change in Noah and Emma’s friendship after the storm? Answers will vary.

• Have students complete the Featured Skill Activity: Conflict, available in the Resources tab, which will guide students to explore types of conflict in literature and conflicts present in the story. This activity prepares them to respond to the writing prompt on page 29 in the printed magazine and at the bottom of the digital story page:

Write a sequel that takes place on Emma and Noah’s first day back at school. How does what happened on the boat affect their relationship?

You may also have students use the Narrative Writing Planner, in the Resources tab, for help brainstorming and organizing their sequels.

• Alternatively, have students choose a task from the Choice Board, a menu of alternate culminating tasks. (Our Choice Board options include the writing prompt from the magazine, differentiated versions of the writing prompt, and additional creative ways for students to demonstrate their understanding of a story or an article.)