Story Outline

• Have students summarize the plot of "Seal Surfer" during a small group discussion. Ask them to define the key moments in the story. Get them to focus on the beginning, middle and end of "Seal Surfer." The beginning shows Ben, on crutches, and his grandfather visiting the beach and seeing a mother seal and her seal pup. The middle of the story is made up of four points. First, Ben watches the seal pup growing all through the summer. Then, he loses track of the mother seal and the seal pup through the fall and winter. Later, Ben falls off his surfboard and is saved by the seal pup that is now all grown up. Last, the seal returns the following summer with a seal pup of her own. The end of the story shows Ben knowing that he and the seals will be surfing the waves together with his grandchildren someday. Briefly have the students talk about the characters and establish where and when the events take place. Make sure they can determine the main problem in the story and how it was solved.
  
  

Story Comprehension

• Have the students compare and contrast two events, places or characters that they came across in the story, in small groups. Let them compare or contrast, for example, seals and cats. Encourage them to discuss their similarities and to underline their differences. For example, both seals and cats are mammals, but seals live in the sea, whereas cats live in houses with their owners.
  
  

Character Description

• Ask the students to describe the main character of "Seal Surfer" using adjectives and make sure they support their description. They can say, for example, that Ben was adventurous and athletic, since he liked to surf so much. Encourage them to all take part in the conversation.
  
  

Underlying Theme

• Assist the students in determining the message that the author tries to get across to his readers and encourage them to provide their reasons for thinking so, in writing. If they believe that the message is the importance of friendship, for example, ask them to cite the parts of the story that support this theory.
  
  

Sound Similarities

• Ask the students to spot and list the groups of words that begin with the same sound (alliteration). "Wet winter winds" is one example of alliteration. Also, try to help them recognize words that imitate the sounds they represent (onomatopoeia). One example would be "storms smacked" -- the word "smacked" sounds similar to the noise that it describes. Give them a bit of time to go through the text and look for examples and ask them to write them down. Then discuss them all together in the class.
  
  

Vocabulary

• Have the students define the meaning of the most common words in the story, in writing. For example, make sure they establish the meaning of the word "basked," which is "rested in the enjoyable heat." Help them to also define the words "horizon," "buffeted," "quay" and "swooped."
  
  

Narrator/Speaker

• Ask the students to break the story into parts and identify the speaker or narrator in each section. Sometimes the author uses third person and other times he speaks as Ben. This happens because there are times that the author wants to participate in the story and others that he wants to let the characters express themselves without interfering. Give the students enough time to scan the text and to note examples of either case. Discuss their answers in the class.
  
  

Seals

• Have the students collect information about seals and their habitats, and help them to create their own books about seals. Encourage them to do research online, in encyclopedias and in other books, and gather all the information they can about seals and their behavior during every season of the year. Have the students draw pictures and write down facts, as well as opinions. Split them into small groups and give them time to develop their own books about seals.
  
  

Beethoven

• Bring Beethoven's Fifth Symphony to the classroom and allow the students to carefully listen to it. Remind them of the scene in which Ben's grandfather is listening to Beethoven while both of them feed the seal and play in the water. Ask them what feelings or ideas this scene brings to mind for them. Encourage them to listen to more of Beethoven's music at home and to write a short essay on the emotions the music evoked in them.