DIY Homeschooler

Writing doesn’t have to be a trial. Here is one way to develop reading, critical thinking, and writing skills using the story of a shipwrecked sailor.

Read (or, depending on age, have your student read) the following:

“In search of a proper place for my tent, I found a little plain on the side of a rising hill. I looked about and discovered a hollow place, like the entrance to a cave. Here I decided to pitch my tent.

“Before I set up my tent I drew a half circle sixty feet across before the hollow place. In this half circle I set two rows of stakes, driving them into the ground till they stood very firm.

“Then I took the pieces of rope, which I had cut from the ship, and laid them in rows, one upon another within these two rows of stakes up to the top. This fence was about five and a half feet high and was so strong that neither man nor beast could get through it or over it. The entrance I made to be not by door, but by a short ladder over the top.

“Into this fence or fortress, with much labor, I brought all my riches, all my tools, my provisions, ammunition and stores. I must not forget to mention that we had in the ship a dog and two cats, which I brought into the tent with me.

“After I had been there about ten or twelve days, it came into my mind that I should lose my reckoning of time for want of books and pen and ink, and should even forget the Sabbath days for the working days.

“To prevent this, I made a great cross, and I cut with my knife upon it in large letters:

“‘I CAME ON SHORE HERE ON THE THIRTIETH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1659.’

“I then set it up on the shore where I first landed.

“Upon the sides of this square post I cut a notch every day, with my knife, and every seventh was as long again as the rest, and every first day of the month as long again as that long one. Thus I kept my calendar, or weekly, monthly, and yearly reckoning of time.

“In managing my household affairs, I found myself in need of many things, which it was impossible for me to make. However, I made many things without proper tools. For example, if I wanted a board, I had no other way but to cut down a tree, set it on edge before me, and hew it flat on either side with my ax, till I had brought it to be as thin as a plank, and then smooth it with my adze. By this method, it is true, I could make but one board out of a whole tree and at a cost of a deal of time and labor. But my time and labor was of little worth, so it was as well employed one way as another.

“When I had wrought out some boards, I made large shelves of the width of a foot and a half, one above another, all along one side of my cave, on which to lay my tools, nails, and iron-work.

“I was at a great loss for candles; so that as soon as ever it was dark, which was generally by seven o’clock, I was obliged to go to bed. The only remedy I had was, that when I killed a goat, I saved the tallow; and with a little clay dish, which I baked in the sun, I added a wick and made me a lamp. This gave me a light, though not a clear steady light like a candle.

“I had now been on this unhappy island about ten months. All hope of escape was taken from me, and I firmly believed no other human being had ever set foot upon the place. Thinking thus, I desired to see more of the island. Accordingly, I set out on a little journey which took me from home several days. I came upon a large patch of grapes which I gathered, some to eat and some to dry in the sun. These latter made excellent raisins.

“On my way home I killed a small goat. The next day I found a very large turtle with twenty-four eggs in her, which was a treat to me—the eggs were.

“My meals now were thus: for breakfast I ate a bunch of raisins; for my dinner, a piece of goat’s flesh or some of the turtle broiled (I had no vessel in which to boil or stew anything) and for supper, two or three of the turtle’s eggs.

“I sat within doors during the wet months and employed my time doing many things. I tried many ways to make myself a basket. When a boy, I used to take great delight in watching a basket maker, in the town where my father lived, to see him make wicker ware; and sometimes lending a hand. I had by this means so full a knowledge of the methods that I wanted nothing but the materials.

“On one of my journeys I came upon a great quantity of willow twigs. I cut down an armful with my hatchet and carried them to my home. When they were dry and fit to use, I employed myself in making (as well as I could) a great many baskets for corn, etc. Thereafter I took care never to be without them.

“Another time I saw many parrots, and fain would I have caught one and taught it to speak to me. At length I did catch a young one, for I knocked it down with a stick and brought it home.

“Within doors, when it rained, I amused myself by talking to my parrot and teaching him to speak. I quickly taught him to know his own name and to speak it out loud, ‘Poll.’ That was the first word I ever heard spoken on the island by any other mouth but my own.

“My next concern was to get me a stone mortar to stamp or beat some corn in. After a great deal of time lost in searching for a stone, I gave it up and decided to look for a great block of wood, which I found indeed much easier.

“Getting a block as large as I was able to stir, I rounded it on the outside with my ax and hatchet; then, with the help of fire, I made a hollow place in it, as the Indians made their canoes. After this I made a great pestle, or beater, of ironwood. These I laid by until my next crop of corn, when I proposed to grind or pound my corn into meal to make my bread.

“Next, I made three small sieves to sift the meal through, out of some muslin saved from the ship.

“The baking part was the next thing to be considered. I had no oven with which to bake. At length I found an experiment for that also. I made some earthen vessels very broad, but not more than nine inches deep. These I burnt in the fire, as I had my pots, and laid them by.

“When I wanted to bake I made a great fire upon the hearth which I had made of square tiles.

“When the firewood was burnt almost into embers, I drew them upon this hearth, so as to cover it all over. There I let them lie until the hearth was very hot, then, sweeping them all away, I set down my barley-loaves and put the earthern vessels over them.

“Thus I baked my barley-loaves and became a pastry cook in the bargain, for I made myself several cakes of rice and puddings.

“In this manner I lived from year to year. If I wanted a new pot, I had but to burn it. If I wanted food, I had but to get it. Everything on the island was mine for the using, and no one to say me nay.

Adapted from Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe

The Lincoln Readers

Suggestions

Have your students do one or more of the following:

• Older students can practice reading the passage aloud for the entertainment and enjoyment of others.
• Provide a narration of the story.
• Draw a picture that represents Crusoe’s home as described above.
• Reread paragraphs 5–9 above. Provide a title for this section of the story.
• Create an outline for the story.
• Read the original (there are options for most ages).
• What happens next? Tell the story.
• Draw a picture of what you think will happen next in the story.
• Create a timeline for the events mentioned in the narrative above.
• Retell the story in your own words. Use all of the elements of a short story. Provide an ending.
• Act like a reporter. Retell the story above as a news story.
• What would it be like to be a shipwrecked sailor? What if the main character was you? Write a diary chronicling your activities.

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Additional Resources

Write Something Every Day: 366 Pencil Sharpeners for Students of Writing
You will find similar writing activities in our book, including free writing, copying, narration, dictation, compare/contrast, cause/effect, and other forms of writing. Learn more.