Lesson Plan: Vanished

Essential Questions

• What risks are involved in doing what’s never been done before?
• How can individuals overcome expectations set by society?

Literature Connection

• Graphic biography: Amelia Earhart: Pioneer of the Sky! by James Buckley Jr. 
• Novel: The Amelia Six by Kristin L. Gray
• Novel: The Last Grand Adventure by Rebecca Behrens

Preview Text Features (10 minutes)

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

• Read the article’s title and subtitle, as well as the article’s definition of the word vanish. Based on these text features, what can you guess about Amelia Earhart’s disappearance? Based on the definition in the article, to vanish is to disappear without a clear explanation. The use of the word vanish suggests that no one knew how Earhart disappeared.
• Study the map. In which city did Earhart’s journey begin? How many continents did she travel through along the way? Where did her plane disappear? Earhart’s journey began in Oakland, California. She crossed five continents. Her plane disappeared over the Pacific Ocean.

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

• Point out the vocabulary box. Read the words (navigator, static, aviator, theories, uninhabited) 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 telling students that the article “Vanished” tells the story of Amelia Earhart, the famous pilot who disappeared on her quest to become the first woman to fly around the world.
• 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 Online. Click Presentation View to access an audio read-aloud.) Then discuss the following close-reading and critical-thinking questions.

Close-Reading Questions (25 minutes)

• Reread the first four paragraphs of the article. How do the maps included in the article help you understand these paragraphs? (text features) The maps show the route Amelia Earhart’s plane took, from the start in Oakland, California, to Papua New Guinea. We see that she flew over five continents on her way to Papua New Guinea. We also see her intended route toward the U.S., which is also mentioned in the article.
• Based on the rest of the first section, what problems did Earhart and Fred Noonan run into? What happened as a result? (cause and effect) Earhart and Noonan could not find Howland Island, where they were supposed to land. They were also running out of fuel, and their radio wasn’t working. As a result, they were never heard from again.
• Reread the section “The Risks.” A pioneer is someone who does something for the first time. In what ways was Earhart a pioneer? (text evidence) In a time when women pilots were not taken seriously, Earhart became an accomplished pilot. In 1932, she was the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean, and in 1935 she was the first person to fly alone across the Pacific. Only a few men had ever flown around the world when Earhart started her trip. She would have been the first woman to make this flight.
• Reread the section “The Risks” and the image caption “The Famous Flier.” Why do you think Earhart had so many fans? (inference) Earhart took great risks and had huge success in her flying feats, which likely inspired many to admire her. People were probably especially interested in her flying skill because it was unusual at the time for a woman to be a pilot. She traveled around the country to speak about her life.
• What do most experts believe happened to Earhart and Noonan? (detail) Most experts believe the plane ran out of gas and crashed, killing Earhart and Noonan and sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

Critical-Thinking Questions (10 minutes)

• In the section “What Happened?,” what are the first two theories mentioned about what might have happened to Earhart? Do you think they seem likely to be true? Why or why not? (critical thinking) One theory is that Earhart survived and moved to New Jersey with a fake name to avoid fame. Another theory is that her plane crashed on Nikumaroro, an uninhabited island, and her body was eaten by crabs. Answers will vary, but students will probably say these theories are not likely to be true because most experts don’t believe the first and there isn’t strong evidence to support the second.
• This article is being published in March, which is Women’s History Month. In what ways did Earhart help make history for women? (critical thinking) By insisting on being a pilot and making many groundbreaking flights, Earhart showed through her actions that women could do the same things as men and should be given the same opportunities.

• 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 Sequence of Events 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 young reporter in early 1937 and you get to write about Amelia Earhart’s upcoming flight around the world. Write a short article describing Earhart’s career and her plans for the future. Include details about how her trip may benefit other women and how it might encourage young people.