Educators' Guides for The Shark King
HARDCOVER ISBN-13 978-1-935179-16-0
LEXILE LEVEL: GN 150
GUIDED READING LEVEL: N
LEXILE LEVEL: GN 150
GUIDED READING LEVEL: N
Lesson Plan:
Plot | While fishing for her favorite food, the delicious sea snail, in Hawaii, a young woman named Kalei is threatened by a very large shark. She is rescued by a young man, with whom she falls in love, and soon they are married and expecting a child. Little does she know that her husband is The Shark King, and right before he gives birth he must leave her, to prepare a place for their son at the bottom of the ocean. As she raises her son alone, she finds out that Nanaue has a lot in common with his father. How will Kalei protect him from others who might judge his unique markings? Will she be able to keep him safe? |
Characters | Kalei, The Shark King, Nanaue, father and son villager, villagers |
Setting | The beaches and ocean in Hawaii |
Themes | Identity, Family, Destiny, Transformation, Multicultural Appreciation |
Traditional and Contemporary Literary Pairing Suggestions | The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, The Sissy Duckling by Harvey Fierstein, The Family Book by Todd Parr, Giants Beware by Jorge Aquirre and Rafeal Rosado, A is for Aloha: A Hawai’i Alphabet Book by U’ilani Goldsberry and Tammy Yee, The Hawaii Snowman by Christine Le and Michel Le, Aesop’s Fables |
Guided Reading Lesson Plan | Because this early reader comic book is rich with cultural learning opportunities it fits well alongside the IRA/NCTE standards that emphasize teaching reading, research, and multicultural appreciation. For those reasons, the following guided reading lesson plan focuses on how teachers and students can read and then conduct research on the foundational themes found in The Shark King. After they finish reading help students to conduct their own research on Hawaii and/or Hawaiian folklore. Provide students with supplemental fiction, nonfiction, and online resources to help them in their research process. Once they have conducted their research, students can fill out a questionnaire. |
|