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Copywork
About This Passage
This passage is worth slow study because of how Wendy Orr builds a complete portrait of a character in just two sentences. Notice how the description moves from general (wild hair, bright eyes) to specific (three cords, three objects). Each object tells you something different about Nim — the spyglass tells you she watches the world carefully, the whistling shell tells you she communicates with animals, and the pocket knife tells you she does practical work with her hands. By the end of these two sentences, the reader knows what kind of girl Nim is without ever being told directly.
Nim's hair was wild, her eyes were bright, and around her neck she wore three cords. One was for a spy glass, one for a whirly whistling shell, and one for a fat red pocket knife in a sheath.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell the chapter, paying special attention to the moment Nim watches her father's boat sail out through the reef. What is she feeling at that moment, and how do you know without being told?
Discussion Questions
- Nim is described as wearing three cords around her neck for a spyglass, a shell, and a pocket knife. These three objects are her tools. What does it tell you about Nim that she keeps her most important things on her body, ready to use, instead of in a backpack or a drawer at home?
- Wendy Orr opens the book with Nim watching her father sail away. The author could have started the story with Nim already alone, or with Jack saying goodbye. Why does Orr choose to start at the EXACT moment of separation — the boat going out through the reef? What does this opening accomplish that a different starting point would not?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
a ridge of coral, rock, or sand at or just below the surface of the sea — a feature that protects shorelines and creates rich habitats for ocean life
Item 2
a small handheld telescope of the kind once used by sailors and explorers — older than binoculars and more romantic than them
Item 3
a large herbivorous lizard with a crest of spines along its back, found in tropical regions; marine iguanas are a specific kind that lives near salt water
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Critical Thinking
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