The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau by Dan Yaccarino
Schema: flippers on the cover connect with swimming, title mentions sea
Author’s purpose: to share real information about sea scientist, Jacques Cousteau.
Metaphor: Cousteau’s quote on the first page makes a mental image of the sea a casting spell over him and holding him with “its net of wonder.” The sea is like a net in that it can capture you.
Cause and Effect: Because doctors told Jacques Cousteau to swim to build up his strength, the effect was that he started swimming and found that he loved the ocean.
Text-to-Self Connections:
Have you ever taken something apart to see how it works? I had lots of response about this from my second graders such as helping parents repair things such as cars and motorcycles or taking electronic toys apart.
Car Accidents-many kids have been in one
Things that Change your life forever: Jacques had the goggles that changed his life. Students shared things such as art, being baptized, having surgery, losing a loved one, having a new sibling, going to a certain school, pets dying, learning to play soccer, reading a book from a dog’s point of view, and technology.
Sometimes something changes our lives forever and we don’t realize it until later, but Jacques says he knew that very day when he used the goggles for the first time.
Characterization: Use the Describing Wheel to list the traits of Jacques Cousteau: inventor, scientist, explorer, humanitarian, writer, and film maker.
Drawing Conclusions: Jacques Cousteau was curious. What text evidence supports this conclusion? tinkering with gadgets, trying ways to make a snorkel tube, inventing the aqua lung, taking the camera apart, testing his hypothesis about living under the sea, inventing the saucer and sea flea
See the Jacques-Yves Cousteau website.
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