Lesson Plan: Trapped in a Cave

Essential Questions

• What does it take to survive? 
• Why are teamwork and cooperation valuable? 
• What role does weather play in our lives?

Literature Connection

• Novel: Five Boys in a Cave by Richard Church
• Nonfiction: All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat

Build Background Knowledge (5 minutes)

Prepare to read the story by viewing our engaging video “Behind the Scenes: Trapped in a Cave.” In the video, author Christina Soontornvat explains why she felt compelled to write about the cave rescue and how she set about doing it.

Preview Text Features (15 minutes)

Guide students to locate the article in their magazines or at Action Digital. Preview the text features by asking the following questions:

• Read the article’s title and subtitle, and look at the main image. Who became trapped in a cave? In which country did this happen?  A youth soccer team became trapped in a cave. It happened in Thailand. 
• Look at the map of Thailand. True or False: The cave that the boys became trapped in is located in the capital of Thailand. False. The capital of Thailand is Bangkok. You can tell because it is marked with a star. The cave is in northern Thailand, almost at the border with Myanmar. 

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

• Point out the vocabulary box. Read the words (climate, stalactites, filtered, caver, murky, current) aloud and discuss their definitions.
• Play the Vocabulary Slideshow.

Make a Plan for Reading

Before students start to read, walk them through a reading plan:

• Set a purpose for reading by 2018 rescue of a group of boys in a flooded cave in Thailand.
• Point out the Pause and Think boxes. Tell students they can check their understanding of what they’ve read by answering these questions.
• Tell students that as they finish each section, they should think about how the text features on the page (e.g., photos, captions, and section headings) relate to what they’ve just read.
• Point out the activity at the end of the article and tell students they’ll complete it after reading. Encourage them to keep the Think About It! question at the bottom in mind as they read.

Read the article. (Higher- and lower-Lexile versions are available on the Story page at Action Digital. Click Presentation View to access an audio read-aloud.) Then discuss the following close-reading and critical-thinking questions.

Close-Reading Questions (15 minutes)

• What caused the Tham Luang cave to fill with water and trap the Wild Boars and Coach Ek inside? (cause and effect) Heavy rains that began earlier than the usual rainy season caused the Tham Luang cave to flood. The team believed it would be safe to enter the cave because the rainy season hadn’t started yet. But a changing climate caused the area to get more rain than usual.
• What challenges did divers and other team members face during the rescue mission? What challenges did the Wild Boars face inside the cave? (summarizing) The divers and other team members faced heavy rain, a lack of equipment and experience, cold and murky waters, and strong currents. Inside the cave, the Wild Boars were challenged with staying warm, dealing with hunger, and managing the emotions caused by being trapped. 
• Who wrote this story? What else has this author written? Why did she choose to write about this subject? (author’s craft) Christina Soontornvat wrote this story. She is the author of a book called All Thirteen, which deals with the same subject. She became “obsessed”  with following the story of the 12 boys and their coach as it was unfolding. She happened to be in Thailand visiting family when it was happening. 

Critical-Thinking Question (5 minutes)

• What can be gained from learning about the soccer team’s rescue and other survival stories? (critical thinking) Answers will vary. Students may say that learning about the soccer team’s rescue and other survival stories can remind us of the power and strength of nature. Such stories can also remind us of the resilience and strength of the human spirit. Survival stories can strengthen our faith in human goodness by showing us people like the more than 1,000 volunteers and experts from around the world who cooperated to save the Wild Boars, putting their own lives at risk to save others.

• Have students work in pairs to complete the Spotlight Skill Workout: Text Evidence activity. As a class, discuss students’ answers and the Think About It! question.
• Have students work independently to complete our Central Idea and Details Skill Builder, available in higher- and lower-level versions. (Click here to view all your Skill Builders for this article.)
• Writing prompt: Imagine you’re a news reporter covering the Tham Luang cave rescue mission. It’s July 8, and you’re at the mouth of the cave, waiting for the first boy to be brought out to safety. Finally, the moment comes, and you see Note. The camera starts rolling, and you are now on live TV, reporting the events. In a few sentences, describe what you see, explain why it’s important, and give viewers an idea of what the overall mood is at the cave site. Imagine the questions you might be asked by the news anchor, and write your answers to them.