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The Wild Robot Pre-Reading MMTS With 3-2-1 visual thinking bridge activity.

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The Wild Robot Pre-Reading MMTS With 3-2-1 visual thinking bridge activity.

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This is a Mulit-Media Text Set that will help your students build background knowledge prior to reading TWR. This version includes a 3-2-1 bridge activity to push critical thinking about the topic.
by Micah Carlin-Goldberg

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The Wild Robot 3-2-1 Bridge and MMTS Pre-Reading Activity

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This is a Mulit-Media Text Set that will help your students build background knowledge prior to reading TWR.
by Micah Carlin-Goldberg

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The Wild Robot - MMTS Pre Reading Activity

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So, I wrote my first children's novel. It wasn't a graceful process, but I survived the stress and the solitude and the crippling self-doubt, and now my novel has entered the world. It's called The Wild Robot. If you have a few minutes I'd like to tell you about it.

Back in 2008, while working on a picture book called The Curious Garden, I spent a lot of time making sketches like this-

I loved imagining scenes of nature living in surprising places. And that got me thinking about scenes of unnatural things living in surprising places, and I made a few sketches like this-

I was really intrigued by the image of a robot in a tree, and a question suddenly popped into my mind: What would an intelligent robot do in the wilderness?

I had to get back to work on The Curious Garden, but that question never left my mind. In my free time I scribbled notes about a robot in the wild. I drew more pictures of robots in trees. I'd always enjoyed reading science fiction, but now I was studying science fiction-

Most people don't know that the word "robot" comes from a 1920's science fiction play by Karel Čapek. The play is called R.U.R., which stands for Rossum's Universal Robots. Karel Čapek (with a little help from his brother) invented the word "robot." But he also invented one of the most familiar tropes of science fiction. In R.U.R., robots realize they don't need their human masters, so they rise up and destroy all of humanity. And sci-fi writers have been telling variations of that story ever since.

However, I wanted to tell a different kind of robot story. I wanted to tell the story of a robot who finds harmony in the last place you'd expect. I wanted to tell a robot nature story.

The years rolled by. I finished The Curious Garden, and went on to write and illustrate several more picture books. And all the while I was quietly tinkering with my robot nature story and studying everything from artificial intelligence to animal behavior to outstanding children's novels.

In 2012, after years of studying and thinking, I returned to the question that started this whole process: What would an intelligent robot do in the wilderness? To answer that question, I invented a robot character named Rozzum (a subtle nod to Čapek's play), and tried to imagine how she'd handle life in the wilderness.

Robots can take almost any shape and so I considered different designs and capabilities and purposes for Roz. She had to be strong and intelligent, but not too strong and not too intelligent. If readers were ever going to relate to a robot she would have to be vulnerable, not invincible. And it might help if she were humanoid-that is, if she had arms and legs and a head-so readers could imagine themselves in her shoes. Most important, she had to be able to learn.

And then there was the issue of Roz's gender.

We all know that real robots are neither male nor female. But the gender issue gets complicated when dealing with robot characters. Authors and filmmakers and playwrights almost always have to choose a pronoun (he, she, it) for each character, and by doing so they're committing to a gender, or lack thereof, for each character. At first, I assumed "it" would be the appropriate pronoun for Roz. But I had trouble caring about her when she was an "it." So I considered using a gender-neutral pronoun, like "ze," or inventing a pronoun just for my robot characters, like "re," but the story was challenging enough without having to explain invented grammar. Like so many science fiction authors before me, I decided to choose a gender-specific pronoun for my robot character. I looked closely at Roz's personality and the way others saw her and I decided she would be female.

For this to truly be a "robot nature story" Roz would need to encounter a wide variety of natural elements. And the story would have to take place in the future to explain the existence of intelligent robots. I imagined how the wilderness might look in a few hundred years, and two things occurred to me: 1) because of climate change and rising sea levels, animals from far and wide might eventually be forced together as they all seek higher ground, and 2) some of that higher ground might become completely surrounded by water, forming new islands. With that in mind, I set the story far in the future, on a rugged northern island that was formed by rising seas, and that had a diverse array of weather and flora and fauna.

Once I'd settled on Roz's design and a setting for her story, I began working on the plot. I started with the same exercise I use for my picture books: story mapping.

I spent a year mapping all the possible directions for the story. There was so much to consider! How might a robot become wild? Do robots have anything in common with wildlife? What kinds of lessons could Roz learn from a tree, or a storm, or an opossum? And why is Roz on an island in the first place?

After I'd mapped and plotted absolutely everything it was finally time to write. But I was nervous. So I procrastinated by making myself some writing rules:

You're not a poet, just tell the story plainly

Keep Roz mysterious by writing in the 3rd person

Make the chapters as short as possible

Write with symmetry and repetition, to mirror robots and nature

Give the narrator a conversational voice, especially during slow scenes

Understand the motivation behind each of Roz's actions

With my writing rules and my story maps and my research and my notes and my sketches in tow, I drove out to a cabin in the woods, brewed a pot of coffee, and opened my laptop. There was nothing left to do but write.

I began typing. I was no longer looking at the story with binoculars, but with a microscope. Up close, I realized just how hard it is to find the right words. But I tried not to self-edit and I let the words flow.

I spent over a year cobbling together my first draft of The Wild Robot. It was rough. Very rough. But Little, Brown & Company liked it enough to sign it up and in July of 2014 it became official: my robot nature story would be published! There was just one problem...I didn't know how to finish it.

Luckily, the wonderful Alvina Ling was on my side. My old friend and editor gave me her notes and I got back to writing. Over the following year-and-a-half I rewrote the entire story. Repeatedly. In the first draft, Roz was a soldier who arrived on the island via plane crash. But many of my early ideas presented serious logistical problems and I routinely went back to the drawing board. I did more research. I resumed story mapping. I lost all confidence. Things were moving in the wrong direction.

But I kept going. I simplified everything. The plot, the characters, the writing all became simpler, and they gradually started fitting together like puzzle pieces. The story grew more metaphorical and philosophical. The Wild Robot was feeling less like science fiction and more like a fable.

Dave Caplan is the creative director who worked with me on the book's design. Together, we made decisions about the jacket art and the case cover, chose paper stock and typefaces, and planned the placement of each illustration.

Most authors have very little control over the appearance of their books. But as an author and illustrator, I worked on every aspect of my book's appearance.

One day, Alvina informed me it was almost time to print the Advanced Reader Copies of The Wild Robot, so I should polish the text and complete the cover art and as much interior art as possible. ARCs are the early, unfinished copies of a book that publishers give to booksellers and reviewers to drum up excitement before publication. I wanted the ARCs to make a great first impression, but there was only so much I could do in the time allowed. I sent in the final cover art, a few rough sketches, and the best draft I could muster. The ARCs were printed in July 2015, but I wouldn't finish the words and pictures for another six months.

I had mixed feelings when the ARCs arrived. It was exciting to see The Wild Robot in physical form, but I knew the finished book would be very different. Oh well. My publisher sent out the ARCs and responses started rolling in. The Wild Robot received its first official review in November 2015, two months before I finished working on it. Miraculously, it was a starred review.

I rewrote entire chapters.

I changed character names.

I obsessively examined every word.

When I wasn't furiously typing, I was furiously sketching.

It was now time for the "First Pass Pages." Alvina explained that we'd reached the home stretch, and going forward, all text changes should be minor and would be made by marking up printouts with a pencil. This seemed a little archaic, but it's easier for everyone to keep track of changes if they're all in one physical document. So they sent me the pages, I marked them up, the copyeditor reviewed my changes, and the designer updated the master file.

The last six months of the process were chaotic. My social life and sleeping habits went straight down the drain as I frantically reworked the text and frantically created the final art. I didn't want the illustrations to tell the whole story, just to set the tone, so I tried to keep them simple and moody. Simple or not, I had sixty-five illustrations to create, which was daunting. It seemed like this project would never end.

Dave and the production team reviewed proofs of the jacket and some of the interior art, and then worked with the printer to ensure that the final books would look just right.

And then things took a tragic turn. On December 25 Alvina's husband lost his long battle with cancer. His passing devastated everyone. Alvina immediately took a leave of absence. Suddenly, the book I'd been obsessing over seemed meaningless. All I wanted to do was curl up in a ball. But my publisher needed me to finish this book, once-and-for-all. At the end of a marathon project, I crawled across the finish line.

On January 12, 2016, I sent off the very last revisions. Years of studying and thinking and mapping and sketching and typing and illustrating and revising had finally come to an end. My work on The Wild Robot was over.

A month later, this showed up.

The Wild Robot is the story of Rozzum unit 7134, a robot who wakes up for the very first time to find that she's alone on a remote, wild island. Roz doesn't know how she got there, or where she came from: she only knows that she wants to stay alive. And by robotically studying her environment she learns everything she needs to know. She learns how to move through the wilderness, how to avoid danger, she even learns how to communicate with the animals. But the most important lesson Roz learns is that kindness can be a survival skill. And she uses kindness to develop friends and a family and a peaceful life for herself. Until her mysterious past catches up with her.

It took eight years, but I finally found an answer to the question that led me down this path. What would an intelligent robot do in the wilderness? She'd make the wilderness her home.

The Wild Robot is now available wherever books are sold. As always, I encourage everyone to buy books from Indie Bookstores for reasons I explain in this .

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So, I wrote my first children's novel. It wasn't a graceful process, but I survived the stress and the solitude and the crippling self-doubt, and now my novel has entered the world. It's called The Wild Robot. If you have a few minutes I'd like to tell you about it.

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Playlist of Book Trailers and videos of robots.

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Detailed resource!

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What Is a Robot? | Social Studies, Professional Development, Engineering & Technology | Lesson Plan | PBS LearningMedia

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What Is a Robot? | Social Studies, Professional Development, Engineering & Technology | Lesson Plan | PBS LearningMedia

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Lesson Summary

Overview

Most people think of robots in humanlike terms - communicating and doing things like people would. But this specific subset of robots is actually not very common. A robot can be defined as a mechanical device that is capable of performing a variety of tasks on command or according to instructions programmed in advance. Engineers design robots to perform complex tasks more easily and with greater accuracy. Some everyday examples of robots include:

automatic car washes

vending machines

automatic doors

robotic arms used in manufacturing

remote control cars and trucks

automatic teller machines (ATMs)

In this lesson, students learn about the kinds of things that robots do, the excitement that goes with the design and testing, and what inspires ideas for different robots.

Objectives

Understand what makes something a robot

Identify several different robots and the tasks that they do

Understand that engineers design robots to do specific tasks

Grade Levels: 3-5

Suggested Time

Multimedia Resources

Use these resources to create a simple assessment or video-based assignment with the Lesson Builder tool on PBS LearningMedia.

Materials

science/technology notebooks

drawing materials (pencils, crayons, etc.)

Before the Lesson

If possible, arrange computer access for all students to work individually or in pairs.

The Lesson

Part I: Determining Current Class Understanding of Robots

1. Have students do the first three steps in their science/technology notebooks and write the date at the top of the page. This will allow them to return in Part III to their original ideas about robots and see how their ideas have changed (and what changed them).

1. Write the word robot on the board and ask students how they would describe a robot. Have students record the class comments in their science/technology notebooks.

2. Have students draw a picture of a robot in their notebook. Leave this very open-ended: The image can be of a real robot or an imaginary one.

3. Have students list the task(s) that the robot they drew is capable of performing.

4. Ask for volunteers to say what robot means to them. Have students share their drawings with the person next to them or among members of a small group. Ask: What did your ideas about robots have in common? Were there differences? What were they? Listen for students' ideas about why engineers design and build robots.

Part II: Providing Depth to Knowledge About Robots

2. Introduce the definition of a robot: "A mechanical device that is capable of performing a variety of tasks on command or according to instructions programmed in advance." Compare how their ideas and drawings fit with this definition.

3. Show the LEGO® Robots QuickTime Video followed by the Engineering for the Red Planet QuickTime Video. After viewing the videos, start a class discussion about why engineers design robots, and brainstorm some of the more routine tasks that are done by robots. Make sure to highlight some of the reasons for using robots - for example, they're good for performing boring, repetitive tasks and can go where it is not practical or safe for humans to venture. In short, robots are developed for practical purposes, including efficiency, safety, and convenience.

4. Have students explore a Mars rover in detail using the Anatomy of a Rover Flash Interactive. As they examine the rover, they should observe the different types of tasks it is capable of performing. These observations can be added to their science/technology notebooks.

Part III: Student Investigation/Research

5. Assign students the task of identifying and observing robots around them, noting the specific functions that they are designed to do. These robots should be ones the students see in their everyday lives, but the exercise can also be extended to include ones they have read about or seen in movies.

6. Have students share their results. Then reintroduce the class description of a robot that they recorded in their science/technology notebooks. Has their definition broadened?

7. Now discuss where engineers get their ideas for different kinds of robots. For example, engineers will research how other people have solved problems similar to the one that they want their design to address. Expanding on someone else's ideas is often how advancements in technology are made. Sometimes ideas come from nature. Show the RoboSnail QuickTime Video and the Robofly QuickTime Video, discussing the different approaches engineers take in designing robots to perform certain functions. You can expand your discussion to include the concept of biomimicry by also showing the Design Inspired by Nature Flash Image collection.

8. Show the Kismet QuickTime Video and discuss how the idea for this robot was to model how humans interact with one another.

9. Wrap up the lesson with a discussion about what a robot is. Students should write in their science/technology notebooks how their ideas have changed and what influenced the change.

Extension Activity

1. Have students start a new entry in their science/technology notebooks titled "My Robot Invention." Tell them to write a description of what their robot can do and what important need this addresses. (Note: This robot can be different from the one they drew earlier in the lesson.)

2. Included in an engineer's design criteria is a list of what the device can do. Ask students what other design features are important for their robot - for example, size, shape, weight, type of material it is made of, the forces it must be able to withstand, how much it costs to make or run, etc. Have them list these criteria in their notebooks.

3. Next, have students draw at least one picture of what their robot invention might look like.

4. Have students present their robot invention ideas to the class or in small groups. Ask them to include in their presentation what the robot is designed to do, the design criteria, whether they think the design could actually be made given today's technologies and available resources, and a picture of the robot.

Check for Understanding

Have students discuss the following:

1. What is a robot? Does it have to look like a human?

2. Why do engineers design and build robots?

3. Where do the ideas for how robots work come from?

4. Can you think of a situation in which a robot would be necessary or at least helpful?

5. What specific characteristics would designers need to include in such a robot?

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In this lesson, students are introduced to robots, including ones that exist in their everyday lives. They learn about the kinds of things that robots do, the excitement that goes with designing and testing, and what inspires ideas for different robots.

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To take a robot and bring her to life in such a way that readers like her - love her - and can relate to her, is a lesson in character development. As a writer, introducing a character to a reader is crucial because if the reader doesn't like the character, he or she probably won't have much interest in continuing to read the story. Readers can look at What I'm most excited to use
Author: Peter Brown
Illustrator: Peter Brown
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Genre/Format: Science Fiction/Novel Publication Date: April 5th, 2016 GoodReads Summary: When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. Why is she there? Where did she come from? And, most important, how will she survive in her harsh surroundings? Roz's only hope is to learn from the island's hostile animal inhabitants. When she tries to care for an orphaned gosling, the other animals finally decide to help, and the island starts to feel like home. Until one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her...
What I Think: If you had asked me, I would have told you that it was highly unlikely that a story about a robot could make my heart race. Or that a story about a robot could make me cry. Or that I could fall in love with a robot. But it's true. It can. It did. And I did. And it's all Peter Brown's fault.
The Wild Robot isn't just a story about a robot. It's about a remarkable, learning robot and all the wilderness friends she makes. Which is to say it's about relationships. It's about relationships in so many different ways and that's what makes it fascinating but also what makes the story resonate so deeply. Peter takes two seemingly simple things: robots, animals, but he puts them together and creates a multi-faceted story that readers will find captivating.
The Wild Robot and use it as a mentor text to think about what a character might say or do that helps to bring him or her to life for the reader.
The Wild Robot for as a mentor text, is to look at descriptive writing. Peter uses the setting to work for and against his main character in this book. The setting is almost a character in itself because of how it influences Roz and her story. A sense of time and place is very important to a story and Peter takes time to put the reader on the island with Roz by carefully describing her surroundings. He uses alliteration and onomatopoeia and strong word choice to bring the readers right into the story alongside Roz. Students can close their eyes and imagine what their own characters might see, hear, smell, taste, or feel and then try describing similar to how Peter does in The Wild Robot. Read Together: Grades 3 - 6
Read Alone: Grades 4 - 7
Read With: The Curious Garden and Mr. Tiger Goes Wild and others by Peter Brown, Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman, Maybe a Fox by Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee, Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, The Martian Chronicles and There Will Come Soft Rains (short story) by Ray Bradbury

Snatch of Text:
"Animal sounds filled the forest. Chirps and wingbeats and rustlings in the underbrush. And then, from the sea cliffs, there came new sounds. Heavy, crunching footsteps. The forest animals fell silent, and from their hiding places they watched as a sparkling monster stomped past." (p. 16)
"Roz stood on the peak and watched the sun sink behind the ocean. She watched shadows slowly spread over the island and up the mountainside. She watched the stars come out, one by one, until the sky was filled with a million points of light. It was the first night of the robot's life." (p. 25)
"'...and sometimes I see you waddling behind your funny-looking mother and you seem so nice that I thought I'd come down and introduce myself but now I'm nervous and I'm talking too much and my name is Chitchat I think I said that already.'
There was a pleasant silence.
Brightbill stood on one foot for a moment.
Then the gosling took a deep breath and said, 'It's very nice to meet you Chitchat I don't think you talk too much I think you talk just enough and I like you so let's be friends.'
A big smile appeared on the squirrel's tiny face. For once, Chitchat was speechless." (p. 109)
"'We're a strange family,' said Brightbill, with a little smile. 'But I kind of like it that way.' Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you needed to gain someone's trust and what you did.
'Me too,' said Roz." (p. 126) Topics Covered: Family, Friendship, Loyalty, Determination, Trustworthiness

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To take a robot and bring her to life in such a way that readers like her - love her - and can relate to her, is a lesson in character development. As a writer, introducing a character to a reader is crucial because if the reader doesn't like the character, he or she probably won't have much interest in continuing to read the story.

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Peter Brown: Let’s Get Busy, Episode 247 | All The Wonders

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Peter Brown: Let’s Get Busy, Episode 247 | All The Wonders

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About the Author

Matthew Winner

Matthew Winner is an elementary library media specialist in Elkridge, Maryland. He is is the co-founder and content director of All The Wonders, a children's literature website and more, and host of the Let's Get Busy podcast, a weekly podcast where Matthew talks to authors, illustrators, award winners, up-and-comers, and everyone in between. In 2013 Matthew was named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker and was invited to the White House as part of the Champions of Change program. For more information, connect with Matthew on Twitter at @MatthewWinner .

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Peter Brown: Let's Get Busy, Episode 247

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About the Author Matthew Winner Matthew Winner is an elementary library media specialist in Elkridge, Maryland. He is is the co-founder and content director of All The Wonders, a children's literature website and more, and host of the Let's Get Busy podcast, a weekly podcast where Matthew talks to authors, illustrators, award winners, up-and-comers, and everyone in between.

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The Wild Robot
Written and Illustrated by Peter Brown

Published by Little, Brown April 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-38199-4

Note: This review was written using an advanced reading copy.

Grades 4-8

Book Review
" As you may know, robots don't really feel emotions. Not the way animals do. And yet, as she sat in her broken crate, Roz felt something like curiosity." So, too, will readers of popular picture book author and illustrator Peter Brown's debut middle grade novel. When a hurricane causes a cargo ship to sink, five crates, each packed with a single robot, manage to float their way to shore, but only one robot survives: ROZZUM unit 7134. Roz, as she prefers to be called, is programmed to adapt to her environment "and learn to be a better robot." From the moment she goes online, powered by solar energy, Roz believes that she is at home, and stands ready to serve others, as she is programmed to do. But the only others on this island are wild animals - beavers, bears, porcupines, geese, and more, and they want nothing to do with her. Roz learns to adjust and adapt to her environment; she camouflages herself, like the animals around her, to fit into various habitats across the island, and she learns animal languages and communication behaviors. Once Roz demonstrates her good intentions through action, such as pulling porcupine quills from the face of a fox and adopting a motherless goose egg as her own, the animals invite her into their community. Over the course of the novel, the reader experiences the internal changes that occur within Roz as she learns how to think and behave more like an animal, and less like a robot. In her own words: "I was just a machine. I functioned. But you- my friends and my family - you have taught me to live." The bonds of her community are threatened when even bigger robots arrive to retrieve Roz and her broken companions, and the cliff-hanger ending almost assures a sequel. Throughout the novel, Brown gives readers just enough hints to keep them guessing as to Roz's intended robot role, and he offers valuable insight into animal adaptations as well as mechanical design principles. Roz the robot models the value of community and a life spent in service to others. Ripe for read aloud, with its short chapters and episodic nature, The Wild Robot can play many roles in class explorations of family and community, the genres of science fiction and animal fantasy, the human impact on the environment, and the relationship between mechanical design and the natural world.
Teaching Ideas and Invitations
Grades 4 -8

Author Study. This is not the first time that Peter Brown has explored the ways in which the animal and human world meet and adapt to one another. As you are reading The Wild Robot, have students explore his picture books, particularly Children Make Terrible Pets and Mr. Tiger Goes Wild. What are some of the connections that they can see across Brown's picture books? Make sure that the students explore the video available on Brown's webpage in which he discusses his process for creating his work. How do they see the impact of this body of work on his illustrated novel? To demonstrate this synthesis, have students write their own illustrated works of animal fantasy, borrowing techniques from Brown, in picture book or short story format.

Exploring Adaptation & Design Principles. Throughout the novel, Roz possesses a clear eye for design. She identifies useful plant and animal adaptations and attempts to mimic them with her robot body. She learns to walk like a crab on the beach and camouflages herself in a variety of ways to fit into her surroundings. She even models her "Nest" on beaver dams. When she loses her foot, the animals work together to design and build a new one for her, a design that they continue to refine. As your students read the novel, have them be on the "lookout" for animal adaptations and their connection to design principles in our world in the context of structures, footwear and clothing, and simple and complex machines. While reading the novel, you might want to have students explore the concept of adaptation and design in a Duet model using Bird Talk by Lita Judge and Wild Ideas by Elin Kelsey. After completing the novel and the picture books, have students identify some aspect of the natural world that they think would make an ideal machine to fit a particular purpose. Have students draw designs for the machine and write paragraphs that describe it. Scan their drawings and record students reading their explanatory paragraphs into Explain Everything, VoiceThread, Keynote or whatever technology you have available at your school.

Research and Design: Robots Today. Over the course of the novel, we find out that Roz was intended for a variety of service positions, and that there are thousands, if not millions, of robots just like her working in homes and businesses in the United States. Upper elementary and middle grade students have grown-up in a world in which Siri is ubiquitous, cars have voice-activated features, robot vacuums clean our floors, and cell phones allow us to see inside our homes when we're away. What else are robots doing? How far are we from having such ROZZUMS in our homes? Use some of the resources below to explore robot technology with your students. It would be ideal to integrate the reading of this novel in the context of an integrated unit that focuses on engineering and design. Have students conduct research on current technology. Next, have students choose to either forecast what kinds of robots are in our future, and make presentations on their research, or create a design for a robot they would find useful, and present their designs.

Nature Observation Journals and Found Poetry. In the early part of the novel, Roz decides to observe the natural world and learn as much from it as she can. She keeps track of what the various animals are doing as she moves about the island camouflaging herself. Have your students mimic what Roz does. Have them keep a nature journal for the duration of time you spend reading the novel. Have students record what they see happening around them at school, at home, in neighborhood parks, wherever they find a "patch" of nature in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Build it into the school day as well. What can you observe on or near the school at the same time each day? Or, what can you observe animals doing at the same time each day via webcam? Use some of the webcams below to build animal observation into your practice. Every few days, have students compare and contrast what they are seeing. Use excerpts from their journals to create small group "found poems," modeling student work on Chapter 20: The Observations in the novel. If you would like to learn more about found poetry, learn more from the Academy of American Poets.

Genre Study. As you are reading the novel, have your students explore the ways in which the book reads like science fiction and animal fantasy. Keep track on chart paper or in a class google doc. What other books does this remind them of? List those titles as well. When the book is finished, have students explore one of the genres in-depth in book clubs. To locate titles to consider, first and foremost ask your students. Next, ask your school and public librarians. Finally, explore the resources of the Cooperative Children's Book Center and its bibliographies for middle grade fantasy and science fiction (and there will be overlaps between the two).

Literary Practices: The Wild Robot - The Sequel. The book concludes with a cliffhanger ending that cries out for a sequel. Have your students beat Peter Brown to it! What happens to Roz, Brightbill, and Chitchat? Where did the airship take Roz? Will she make it back to the island? Have your students write short stories based on what they think happens next.

Literary Analysis: Tracking Character Change. How does Roz develop from a robot that functions to a robot who lives? Have students compare and contrast the way Roz thinks in the early chapters to the way she thinks in Chapter 81 as she flies towards her "mysterious future." What are the differences in her thinking? What's the evidence? Where are the points in the book where those transitions take place? Have students go back into the book and pull out quotes that reveal changes in Roz's identity that shift her thinking and put them in chronological order in a google doc.

Visualizing: Illustrating "The Nest." Mr. Beaver helps Roz to build a shelter in which she can raise Brightbill. This new home, called "the Nest," is based on the design of a beaver dam. Soon other animals help Roz to make the structure into a home. This includes designing and planting a garden. Have each student draw a picture of "the Nest;" let your students decide whether they choose to draw in the inside or the outside (or both, using a cut-away insert) and the season they depict.
Further Explorations Digital Texts
Peter Brown's Official Website
http://www.peterbrownstudio.com/

Live Science: Robot Technology
http://www.livescience.com/topics/robots/

MIT Technology Review: Five Root Trends to Watch for in 2016
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/545056/5-robot-trends-to-watch-for-in-2016/

Popular Science: Robots
http://www.popsci.com/tags/robots
The New York Times Topic: Robots
http://www.nytimes.com/topic/subject/robots

NASA Robotics
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/robotics/home/#.VubjQYwrI00

NSTA: "Girls, Robots, and Science Education"
http://www.nsta.org/publications/news/story.aspx?id=51677

Academy of American Poetry: Found Poetry
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/poetic-form-found-poem

Cooperative Children's Book Center Bibliographies
https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/bibBio.asp

Animal Webcams:

Cornell Ornithology Lab
cams.allaboutbirds.org/all-cams/
Wolf Conservation Center

http://nywolf.org/webcams Giant Panda Cam, National Zoo

Wild Earth TV https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/webcams/giant-panda.cfm
http://www.wildearth.tv/

Brooks Falls, Alaska
http://explore.org/live-cams/player/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls
Books
Judge, L. (2012). Bird talk. McMillan Kids.
http://classroombookshelf.blogspot.com/2012/05/bird-talk-what-birds-are-saying-and-why.html

Kesley, E. (2015). Wild Ideas. Ill. by S. Kim. Owl Kids Books.
http://classroombookshelf.blogspot.com/2015/12/wild-ideas-let-nature-inspire-your.html

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The Wild Robot Written and Illustrated by Peter Brown Published by Little, Brown April 2016 ISBN: 978-0-316-38199-4 Note: This review was written using an advanced reading copy. Grades 4-8 Book Review " As you may know, robots don't really feel emotions. Not the way animals do.

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This detailed study guide includes chapter summaries and analysis, important themes, significant quotes, and more - everything you need to ace your essay or test on The Wild Robot!

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Storyboard Creator | Comic Strip Maker | Graphic Organizer

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Storyboard Creator | Comic Strip Maker | Graphic Organizer

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Storyboard Creator | Comic Strip Maker | Graphic Organizer

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Storyboard That's storyboard creator makes amazing graphic organizers for digital storytelling! The software is perfect as a comic strip maker too! Try today!

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Wild Robot - Teaching and Technology Ideas

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Wild Robot - Teaching and Technology Ideas

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​ Can a robot survive in the wilderness? When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her...