McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XCIX · Part 10: Elephants, the sea and a happy life

105. A Chase in the English Channel (Cooper)

Goal: Your child follows an exciting sea chase from Cooper's "The Pilot" and tells how the American frigate escaped.

⏱ About 40 minutes · 6 steps

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You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • A notebook or lined paper and a pencil

What's in the book

From James Fenimore Cooper's novel "The Pilot." An American frigate, with Lieutenant Griffith and a mysterious Pilot on deck, is chased by English warships. Under the Pilot's whispered orders she spreads every sail, trades broadsides, slips through dangerous waters and escapes. Definitions and notes follow; one note says the Pilot stands for John Paul Jones.

The lesson, step by step

  1. About the author

    The book says James Fenimore Cooper (b. 1789, d. 1851) was born in Burlington, New Jersey; his father founded Cooperstown, New York. He served in the navy as a young man. His novels include "The Spy," "The Pilot," "The Last of the Mohicans" and "The Deerslayer."

  2. Words and meanings

    The words and meanings are printed at the end of the lesson. Read a few together before the reading, so they don't trip your child up:

    Frigate, a war vessel, usually carrying from twenty-eight to forty-four guns, arranged in two tiers on each side.

    Broadside, a discharge of all the guns on one side of a ship, above and below, at the same time.

    Artifice, skillful contrivance, trick.

    Read the notes too: the Pilot is John Paul Jones; "the ninety" is a ninety-gun ship, and the Devil's Grip is a dangerous reef.

  3. Read aloud

    Your child reads the lesson aloud. Let the sea orders ring out:

    Let fall — out with your booms — sheet home — hoist away of every thing!

    The inspiring cry was answered by a universal bustle.

  4. Talk about it

    SayWho is really giving the orders on the frigate? Why does he whisper?

    SayThe frigate was outnumbered. What tricks or skills helped her escape?

    SayCooper had served in the navy. Which details show he knew ships well?

  5. Tell it back

    Close the book.

    SayTell me the story of the chase from the first sighting to sunset.

    Your child may draw the frigate, the English ships and the reef.

  6. Dictation

    Read aloud while your child writes:

    The drums beat the retreat, the guns were lashed,

    Then check spelling against the book.

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