Storm Catchers – Tim Bowler
Reading Year 3 MAVO MLF
This reader belongs to:
_________________________________
Class:
_________________________________
Reading Year 3 MAVO
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
2
Table of Contents
Introduction
3
Assignment 1: Reading comprehension - individually
4
Assignment 2: Deeper meaning of the story - individually
6
Assignment 3: Research - pairs
7
Rubric
9
Grade sheet
11
Helpsheet for creating research questions
12
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
3
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
4
Introduction
This project is evolved around the young-adult mystery-thriller novel “Storm
Catchers”, written by Tim Bowler and first published in 2001. Set over the course
of a four-day storm in a coastal English town, the story follows Ella Parnell, who
is kidnapped by an unknown intruder. As the drama unfolds, a complex web of
family secrets is revealed.
Tim Bowler has written over twenty books for teenagers and won fifteen awards,
including the prestigious Carnegie Medal, which he won for his book “River Boy”.
His books have been translated into over thirty languages and have sold over a
million copies worldwide. Other works from his hand are “Frozen Fire”, “Night
Runner” and “Game Changer”.
If you wish to get the book for yourself at the library or a bookstore:
ISBN: 978-0-19-275445-5
This project consists of three assignments:
-
reading comprehension
: individually
accounting for 25%
-
deeper meaning of the story
: individually
accounting for 25%
-
research
: pairs
accounting for 50%
The work that you hand in for the research part of this project has to contain the
following:
●
Front page: first and last names, class, teacher and a nice cover
●
Table of contents: have a good reference to the pages.
Tip: use Microsoft Word’s “references” option
●
Assignment 3: research
o
Introduction
o
Answering the sub-questions
o
Survey / interview / observation
o
Conclusion ​(= answering the main question)
o
o
Bibliography ​(sources with APA)
Appendix
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
5
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
6
Assignment 1: Reading comprehension - individually
Answer the following questions in English:
1.
Chapter 1: How does Ella convince her little brother to hide in his secret
place?
2.
Chapter 2: When Fin comes home, his sister Ella and little brother Sam are
gone. He calls his friend Billy and Mr Langworthy - the owner of the Coppa
Dolla – but he doesn’t tell them that they are missing. Why doesn’t he?
3.
Chapter 2: Why doesn’t Ella like to be alone in the old house?
4.
Chapter 3: Where does Ella’s kidnapper bring her? Be specific.
5.
Chapter 4: Why did Sam leave his secret hiding place, even though Ella
had told him not to come out until he hears mum, dad or Fin?
6.
Chapter 5: What does Ella find in the cave? Be specific.
7.
Chapter 6: What do the Parnell’s say to other people when they ask where
Ella is?
8.
Chapter 7: Fin reads about dowsing and using it to find missing persons.
He creates his own pendulum. What is it made of?
9.
Chapter 8: On a boat trip to the Rocky Islands, Billy explains that sailors
used to call them “The Furies”. What were the islands named after?
10. Chapter 9: Fin catches Dad on a lie. What is his father lying about?
11. Chapter 10: What causes Sam to run away all the time?
12. Chapter 11: Fin has a conversation with a policeman about the tramp who
is hanging around in Newquay. What does he learn?
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
7
13. Chapter 12: Fin receives ​special​ instructions from the kidnapper about the
ransom. What does Fin need to do with the money?
14. Chapter 13: What is the explanation Dad provides when Fin asks him who
the tramp is?
15. Chapter 14: Fin goes to the cave underneath Fengrig’s lighthouse and finds
out that Ella was there. How does he know?
16. Chapter 15: Sam uses the pendulum again to find out where Ella is. What
does he find out?
17. Chapter 18: Francis Kelman blackmailed Peter Parnell. Based on which
information? Mention ​two​ things.
18. Chapter 18: Ricky wanted revenge on Peter. He always intended to kill Ella,
despite the money. Why DIDN’T he kill Ella?
19. Chapter 18: Peter made sketches of the lighthouse then years ago. Why
did he take up on this hobby?
20. Chapter 19: Sam visits Ricky in intensive care. He hears a new voice inside
his head. Whose voice?
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
8
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
9
Assignment 2: Deeper meaning of the story - individually
Answer the following questions in English:
1.
In chapter 11 the kidnapper is giving instructions on the money drop off.
He sounds arrogant and confident. This changes when he hears Sam
saying: “There’s a storm coming. Going to catch it.” The kidnapper
sounded scared even. Explain this.
2.
In chapter 16 the kidnapper brings Ella to the largest of the Rocky Islands.
He intends to kill her there. What is the significance of the islands to him
wanting to kill her there?
3.
In chapter 17 you read that Sam has followed the little girl with the golden
hair to the cliffs again. Suddenly, the girl begins to scream. She starts
running towards the lighthouse. She is out of her mind with terror. Then,
all of a sudden, she isn’t there anymore. Explain who the girl was and
what happened to her.
4.
Explain the title of the book. Use the information in chapter 18 to help you
with your answer.
5.
You could state that the moral of the book is ‘guilt’. Give at least ​three
examples from the book to help support this statement.
6.
What is the message/life lesson of the story? Explain it by using at least
50 words.
7.
Does the story have a happy ending? Choose ​yes​ OR ​no​ and then explain
why. Use at least 50 words.
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
10
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
11
Assignment 3: Research - pairs
The book “Storm Catchers” contains a lot of different themes. You use one of
these themes as the starting point for your research. This means that you ​use
the book only as an inspiration​. You’re going to use different sources for this
research. This is what we want your research to contain:
Introduction ​(use your “help sheet”)
●
Introduce the area that you chose to research.
●
Explain why you chose this research subject.
●
State your main question and sub-questions.
Answering the sub-questions
● Research the answers to your sub-questions by finding as much information as
you can in books and on the internet ​(not Wikipedia)​.
● Make sure to start a new chapter for each sub-question that you answer.
● Finish each chapter by writing a conclusion in which you answer the
sub-question briefly. You basically write a summary of that chapter.
Survey / interview / observation
Apart from finding information on the internet and in books, you must do a
survey, interview or observation. Depending on your research question, select an
appropriate way of collecting this data:
● Survey: at least 10 questions amongst 20 participants;
● Interview: at least 10 questions amongst 5 participants;
● Observation: the goal of your observation is clear, and you managed to
observe at least 3 different situations;
● If in doubt, discuss the best method for your research question
with your teacher;
● Write a short conclusion to your survey / interview / observation.
Conclusion ​(=answering the main question)
In your conclusion, you:
● Restate the main question.
● Use the conclusions to the sub-questions to answer the main question. Do not
just copy paste them but combine them into a coherent story.
Note: The answer to the main question does ​NOT​ contain N
​ EW​ information!
All your information should have been given in your sub-questions.
Bibliography
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
12
● Here you cite all the websites, articles, pictures or books that you have used
to gather information for your research. These sources are presented in APA
(see APA-quoting)​.
Note: ​You must use at least ​three​ different sources ​(Wikipedia is NOT a
source)​.
APA-quoting
You will APA-cite: sources, ideas, and texts that are not your own in order to
avoid plagiarism (copy-pasting texts). APA-quoting is a great way to use
information and make your research more professional and reliable!
You can use Microsoft Word’s build-in References menu to do APA-citing in your
research. How to do this will be explained in class.
Last but not least
● All the assignments must be done in English!
● The research itself is at least 600 words long. All the work that you cite is not
included in those 600 words.
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
13
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
14
Rubric
Date:
Name:
Class:
All parts are handed in and no plagiarism is
committed?
Yes? Mark - No? 1.0
2
1
0
Correct answers 20-19 questions are 18-16 questions are
15-13 questions are
answered correctly.
12 or less questions
are answered
correctly.
This part is missing
and/or the
execution is not
worth 1 point.
Fantastic, almost no Well done, just a few
spelling or grammar
small errors.
mistakes.
A couple of mistakes,
but still well done.
Quite a few mistakes,
please come to a
KWT and ask for
some extra practice.
This part is missing
and/or the
execution is not
worth 1 point.
Assignment 1
4
answered correctly.
Correct use of
language
3
answered correctly.
Score:
Assignment 2
Show insight
into the deeper
meaning of the
story
8
6
4
2
0
Brilliant play with
words. The answers
show great insight.
The answers show a
good understanding.
The answers show a
reasonable
understanding,
however, you
struggle putting it
into words.
The answers show a
lack of
understanding. It’s
unclear whether you
picked up on the
deeper meaning.
This part is missing
and/or the
execution is not
worth 1 point.
Score:
Total score:
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
15
Date:
Names:
Class:
All parts are handed in and no plagiarism
is committed?
Yes? Mark - No? 1.0
Lay-out
1
0
Front page + table of contents
Names, class, teacher, nice cover.
Correct reference to pages.
This part is missing and/or the execution is
not worth 1 point.
Bibliography – sources +
citation
At least three different
sources used.
Correctly APA-cited.
This part is missing and/or the execution is
not worth 1 point.
Survey/interview/observation
Own materials added.
This part is missing and/or less than three
different sources used.
Score:
Assignment 3
4
3
2
1
0
Just voicing your
interest in
something, is not
enough motivation.
This part is missing
and/or the
execution is not
worth 1 point.
The answers show
that you did some
research, but it
lacked here and
there. You wrote a
conclusion to each
sub-question.
Did you decide to
play games instead
of doing some
research? Some
conclusions are
missing.
This part is missing
and/or the
execution is not
worth 1 point.
Introduction You have explained You have explained Your motivation is
your motivation in
your motivation
okay and your
– ​motivation for depth
and you have quite well and you research questions
research subject
stated your
research questions
have stated your
research questions
are stated.
The answers show
The answers show
Answers to
meticulous
that you did a
sub-question research. You wrote proper
research.
s
a good conclusion
You wrote a good
Conclusion –
main question
answered
Own
research
material –
survey /
interview /
observation
to each
sub-question.
conclusion to each
sub-question.
You made a
coherent story
using the
information from
the conclusions to
the sub-questions.
No new information
was provided.
You used the
conclusions to the
sub-questions to
answer the main
question properly.
No new
information was
provided.
The answer to the
main question is
okay. Some new
info was spotted.
The answer to the
main question was
not satisfying. Did
you add a new
chapter to your
sub-questions?
This part is missing
and/or the
execution is not
worth 1 point.
You went above
and beyond to
collect your own
data to draw
conclusions from
and used it for at
least one of your
sub-questions.
Your own research
really helps to
support the
research and
answer your
sub-question.
Okay, you did some
work on your own,
but you are missing
participants, and/or
your heart was not
in it. It didn’t really
add anything to
your questions.
Did you read the
title of the book?
Really, you have 10
aunts and 12
grandmas? You are
aware that this was
needed for
answering your
questions?
This part is missing
and/or the
execution is not
worth 1 point.
Score:
Total score:
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
16
Grade sheet
Assignment 1 + 2:
Total points:
Norm:
Score:
0 -2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
16
10
grade: 10
grade: 6.0
Grade:
1,0
1,3
2,0
2,7
3,3
4,0
4,7
5,3
6,0
6,7
7,3
8,0
8,7
9,3
10,0
Total points:
Norm:
Score:
0-3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
19
12
grade: 10
grade: 6.0
Grade:
1,0
1,4
2,0
2,6
3,1
3,7
4,3
4,9
5,4
6,0
6,6
7,1
7,7
8,3
8,9
9,4
10,0
Assignment 3:
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
17
Helpsheet for creating research questions
What according to you is the theme of the book?
.................................................................................................................
What inspired or touched you the most of the book?
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
The book serves as inspiration for part 3, the research. Use the information from
the previous questions to decide upon a ​main topic​ for your research.
.................................................................................................................
Now make a list of random questions that are related to the main topic that you
chose.
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
Mark one question – from your list – that you like the most. Maybe this question
can be your main question.
Are there other questions that are related to the main question that you chose?
Maybe these can serve as your sub-questions.
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
18
Make sure that your sub-questions combined answer the main question. You do ​not​ research the
main question, but answer it by researching each sub-question.
Authors: Sabine Verheugd-Fransen & Eddy van Onzen
19