Mau Sets Sail
MODULE 1 | THE SEA
BOOK SUMMARY
Long before compasses and radios, there were way finders who navigated the ocean by using stars, swell waves, and other signs from nature. By the 20th century, Pius “Mau” Piailug from the island of Satawal was one of a few people who still performed this art. In Mau Sets Sail, readers follow Mau from babyhood, when he first starts learning way-finding techniques. In the mid-1970s, a group wants to prove that ancient Tahitians could have sailed to Hawai’i by using the art of way finding. This group builds the Hokule’a, a voyaging canoe, and asks Mau to navigate a similar voyage. With Mau as navigator, the group successfully sails the Hokule’a more than 2,400 miles between Hawai’i and Tahiti. Afterward, Mau passes on his skills to young navigators. Now, his students teach others, ensuring that the art of way finding will live on.
WORLD KNOWLEDGE
✔ Tahiti and Hawai’i are islands in Polynesia, a region in the central and southern Pacific Ocean.
✔ Traditional Polynesian sailors travel by using way finding, a navigational system that relies on signs from nature.
✔ It takes many years for way finders, such as Mau Piailug, to gain a deep knowledge of the sea and stars.
✔ The Hōkūle’a’s voyage proved that early Polynesians could have used way finding to navigate from Tahiti to Hawai’i.
WORD KNOWLEDGE
DECODING PATTERNS
consonant
FLUENCY PRACTICE
What fluency challenges do you hear when your students read? Use the supports below to plan targeted exercises for practice.
FOCUS PURPOSE
ACCURACY
Do students accurately decode most words? If not, are there error patterns?
practicing decoding: syllable patterns
PHRASING
Do students chunk words together into meaningful phrases as they read?
noticing periods and commas
INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT
• Remind students that they can use what they have learned about syllable division to read multisyllabic words accurately.
• Choose a word from the passage and model breaking it into syllables that follow a familiar pattern, such as V/CV or VC/V.
• Instruct students to identify another word that follows the pattern. Provide feedback as needed.
• Echo Read the passage, listening for accurate pronunciation of words with the targeted syllable pattern.
• Instruct students to partner read the passage.
• Review similarities and differences between the pauses indicated by periods and commas.
• Read the passage aloud, modeling appropriate pauses after periods and commas. Instruct students to use nonverbal signals when they notice you pause (e.g., raise one finger when you pause for a comma and two when you pause for a period).
• Echo Read the passage.
• Instruct students to take turns reading the passage with a partner, pausing appropriately for periods and commas.
EXPRESSION
Do students demonstrate understanding of the text through proper expression?
reading with emphasis
• Read the sentence on page 8, starting with “Soon, he could,” without stressing any of the words.
• Reread the sentence three times, each time emphasizing a different word in the sentence (e.g., soon, he, deep).
• Instruct students to explain how changing emphasis affects the meaning of the sentence.
• Echo Read the selected sentence several times, emphasizing a different word each time.
• Instruct students to take turns reading the sentence with a partner, changing the stressed word each time.
• Instruct students to discuss with their partners which emphasis supports the text best.
PRACTICE PASSAGES
chapter 2, pages 6–7
e/ven vis/it chapter 3, page 34 be/lieved thou/sands trav/eled
chapter 1, pages 2–4 chapter 5, pages 56–57
chapter 2, page 23
“And Mau kept learning.” chapter 5, page 57
“But he had so much more to learn.”
WORKBOOK PRACTICE – COMPREHENSION
What comprehension challenges are your students facing? Use the targeted activities below for practice.
ACTIVITY PURPOSE ASSIGN
Note Catcher, page 8 summarizing after chapter 2
INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORTS AND EXTENSIONS
• Support: Read the first question together. Facilitate a brief discussion to help students generate ideas. Instruct students to complete the remaining questions with a partner.
• extension: Remind students to use information from text features such as diagrams, captions, and illustrations to add details to their note catchers.
Interview Questions, page 12
generating questions after first full read
• Support: Instruct students to review the text. Encourage students to develop one or two questions per chapter as they review.
• extension: Pair students to conduct mock interviews. Reinforce that while students may not know exactly how Mau would answer the questions, they can use text evidence to support their answers.
Prepare to discuss,
page 14 applying knowledge after first full read
Prepare to Write, page 16
summarizing after first full read
• Support: Before students complete the activity, facilitate a brief discussion based on these questions: How did Mau learn from his grandfather? How did Mau teach his students?
• extension: After students complete the activity, plan 10–15 minutes for small groups to discuss the question on page 14. Following small-group discussions, invite students to share with a partner one important takeaway from the discussion.
• Support: Provide sentence frames for students to guide their note-taking:
¨ Before Mau’s journey to Tahiti, he __________.
¨ During the trip to Tahiti, Mau __________.
¨ After the trip to Tahiti, Mau __________.
• extension: Instruct students to work with a partner and to compare their notes after completing the activity. Tell students to discuss the similarities and differences between Mau’s journeys.
Journal Prompt, page 18 writing to express knowledge after first full read
• Support: Before students complete the activity, direct them to the questions at the top of pages 18 and 20. Facilitate a brief discussion about each question to help students generate ideas.
• extension: Facilitate a brief discussion of these questions: In your opinion, which of Mau’s journeys to Tahiti was the most successful? Why?
