The Wild Robot - Ideas and Links
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 purpose is--but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a fierce storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island's unwelcoming animal inhabitants.
As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home--until, one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her.
From bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Peter Brown comes a heartwarming and action-packed novel about what happens when nature and technology collide.
~ Excert taken from Amazon.ca
Themes: Friendship, Sacrifice, Love, Overcoming challenges, Knowing who we are, Animals, Survival, Family
Recommended Grades - 4 to 6, read aloud as young as grade 2, some of the activities appropriate grade 3 to 8.
Reading Level - Grade 4 Equivalent, Scholastic Guided Reading Level R.
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 purpose is--but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a fierce storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island's unwelcoming animal inhabitants.
As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home--until, one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her.
From bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Peter Brown comes a heartwarming and action-packed novel about what happens when nature and technology collide.
~ Excert taken from Amazon.ca
Themes: Friendship, Sacrifice, Love, Overcoming challenges, Knowing who we are, Animals, Survival, Family
Recommended Grades - 4 to 6, read aloud as young as grade 2, some of the activities appropriate grade 3 to 8.
Reading Level - Grade 4 Equivalent, Scholastic Guided Reading Level R.
Activities:
This book is excellent for Read Aloud, its short chapters and episodic nature is ripe for good discussions about the relationships between the characters and human relationship/ impact on the environment. Doing a Author Study of Peter Brown's work would also be a great way to use this book. Have students check out his other works as well as a video where Brown discusses his process for creating his work. Check these out on Brown's Website! Nature Journal - Roz discovers new things as she observes the natural world. Have your student track what Roz sees and does. Tie this into a Science unit about nature and adaptation. Use the school's natural environment as a parallel or a close by park. Have students observe and record the changes in their natural environment as Roz is doing in the novel. Observe the impact that humans make. How is Roz more respectful of the environment? How can we be more like Roz? Cliffhanger - The book concludes with a cliffhanger: "She would get the repairs she needed. She would escape from her new life. She would find her way back home." Have students write their own short stories based on what they think will happen next! |
Comprehension and Discussion Questions to check understanding if using the book in literature circles or as part of a novel read aloud.
Side by Side Novel Study - Read Pax by Sara Pennypacker and The Wild Robot at the same time. Look at how Roz, Peter and Pax all adapt to the change in their environment. Both novels explore survival. How to the characters survive. You could have different groups of students read each novel. Or read one as a classic novel study and the other as a read aloud. Or Read with My Side of the Mountain - Jean Craighead George. How do Sam Gribley and Roz adapt to survive? Their characters can be compared and contrasted. Want to use in Literature Circles - Consider using with a Survival theme some ideas include Pax - Sara Pennypacker Hatchet - Gary Paulsen My Side of the Mountain - Jean Craighead George Use Excerpts from the novel to Spark Inquiry Projects on Robots Picture Writing - The pictures in The Wild Robot are fantastic - Use these images before reading the novel to have students predict the novel Or Use the images as an independent lesson to spark creative writing. |