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☠️ Treasure Island
☠️ Treasure Island — Retrieval & Summarising
⚓ Captive at Sea
⚔️ Battle & Hunt
💰 The Treasure
1
⏱ 6 min
📖 Your Story Begins…
"Fifteen men on the dead man's chest —
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"
You are a captive of the fearsome Long John Silver and his pirate crew. Your life depends on remaining useful… otherwise, you may be forced to walk the plank.
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"
You are a captive of the fearsome Long John Silver and his pirate crew. Your life depends on remaining useful… otherwise, you may be forced to walk the plank.
🧑🏫 Tutor:
You see Silver murder an honest seaman in cold blood, and feel faint… The pirates demand to know what you saw. Before you can answer, you must understand the question. Click on the parts of the question you think are most important.
You see Silver murder an honest seaman in cold blood, and feel faint… The pirates demand to know what you saw. Before you can answer, you must understand the question. Click on the parts of the question you think are most important.
I do not know what it rightly is to faint, but I do know that for the next little while the whole world swam away from before me in a whirling mist; Silver and the birds, and the tall Spy-glass hilltop, going round and round and topsy-turvy before my eyes, and all manner of bells ringing and distant voices shouting in my ear.
Read lines 1–4. Identify two things that Jim hears as he faints.
👇 Click each underlined part to learn whether it is a key word or not.
Read lines 1-4.
Identify
two
things that
Jim hears
as he faints.
Clicked 0 of 5
📚 What kind of question is this?
This is called a retrieval question. It asks about what the text directly tells you. It does not need your opinion or your general knowledge.
Retrieving is like searching for treasure with a metal detector:
This is called a retrieval question. It asks about what the text directly tells you. It does not need your opinion or your general knowledge.
Retrieving is like searching for treasure with a metal detector:
- If asked about a name, capital letters may make your detector beep.
- If asked about a time, numbers may get you warmer.
- But always check the full text — don't just grab the first answer you see, or you may dig up an old tin can!
2
⏱ 6 min
📖 Morning on the Island
It is time for a pirate breakfast…
🧑🏫 Tutor:
To retrieve information, you must first understand the text. Read it carefully and keep asking yourself questions.
To retrieve information, you must first understand the text. Read it carefully and keep asking yourself questions.
In the morning, a man hailed us from the fire that breakfast was ready, and we were soon seated here and there about the sand over biscuit and fried junk. They had lit a fire fit to roast an ox, and it was now grown so hot that they could only approach it from the windward, and even there not without precaution. In the same wasteful spirit, they had cooked, I suppose, three times more than we could eat; and one of them, with an empty laugh, threw what was left into the fire, which blazed and roared again over this unusual fuel. I never in my life saw men so careless of the morrow…
Even Silver, eating away, with Captain Flint upon his shoulder, had not a word of blame for their recklessness.
Even Silver, eating away, with Captain Flint upon his shoulder, had not a word of blame for their recklessness.
🧑🏫 Tutor:
The 5 W's & 1 H help you understand the key information in any passage: Who, What, When, Where, Why, How. Answer each one — short answers are fine!
The 5 W's & 1 H help you understand the key information in any passage: Who, What, When, Where, Why, How. Answer each one — short answers are fine!
WHEN
When in the day is this meal taking place?
✓
WHAT
What are they eating?
✓
WHERE
Where could you approach the fire from?
✓
WHY
Why does the fire roar?
✓
HOW
How does Jim describe the men?
✓
WHO
Who has Silver got upon his shoulder?
✓
⚔️ The Battle Begins!
Suddenly, the calm of breakfast is shattered. A war-cry rises from the trees — the mutinous pirates are attacking the stockade!
3
⏱ 7 min
Nor had we much time left to us for thought. Suddenly, with a loud huzza, a little cloud of pirates leaped from the woods on the north side and ran straight on the stockade. At the same moment, the fire was once more opened from the woods, and a rifle ball sang through the doorway and knocked the doctor's musket into bits.
The boarders swarmed over the fence like monkeys. Squire and Gray fired again and yet again; three men fell, one forwards into the enclosure, two back on the outside. But of these, one was evidently more frightened than hurt, for he was on his feet again in a crack and instantly disappeared among the trees.
Two had bit the dust, one had fled, four had made good their footing inside our defences…
The boarders swarmed over the fence like monkeys. Squire and Gray fired again and yet again; three men fell, one forwards into the enclosure, two back on the outside. But of these, one was evidently more frightened than hurt, for he was on his feet again in a crack and instantly disappeared among the trees.
Two had bit the dust, one had fled, four had made good their footing inside our defences…
🧑🏫 Tutor:
Three retrieval questions about the battle. Read carefully — wrong answers will cost you a life!
Three retrieval questions about the battle. Read carefully — wrong answers will cost you a life!
1. Where are the pirates attacking from, and what are they attacking?
2. Who is fighting against the pirates? (type two names)
3. How many pirates died?
Read the second paragraph carefully — count again!
4
⏱ 5 min
🧑🏫 Tutor:
When asked to write an answer, you must always use a full sentence. Look at this question: "What happens to the doctor's musket?"
When asked to write an answer, you must always use a full sentence. Look at this question: "What happens to the doctor's musket?"
❌ Wrong: "knocked the doctor's musket into bits" — broken, no full sentence.
✅ Correct: The doctor's musket is destroyed.
✅ Correct: The doctor's musket is destroyed.
📜 And remember: if a question asks you for evidence, you must use a quotation.
Treasure Chest: What are quotations? Click to open…
Quotations are words or phrases copied directly from the text to support your answer. They must have quotation marks at the beginning and the end.
For example: The doctor's musket is destroyed when the bullet "knocked the doctor's musket into bits."
📝 Summarising
A summary is a report of all the important information, in your own words, from the text. To summarise, you do not need to include every detail — you must focus on the most important points for understanding the story.
A summary is a report of all the important information, in your own words, from the text. To summarise, you do not need to include every detail — you must focus on the most important points for understanding the story.
📜 Battle Extract — back to the stockade
Nor had we much time left to us for thought. Suddenly, with a loud huzza, a little cloud of pirates leaped from the woods on the north side and ran straight on the stockade. At the same moment, the fire was once more opened from the woods, and a rifle ball sang through the doorway and knocked the doctor's musket into bits.
The boarders swarmed over the fence like monkeys. Squire and Gray fired again and yet again; three men fell, one forwards into the enclosure, two back on the outside. But of these, one was evidently more frightened than hurt, for he was on his feet again in a crack and instantly disappeared among the trees.
Two had bit the dust, one had fled, four had made good their footing inside our defences…
The boarders swarmed over the fence like monkeys. Squire and Gray fired again and yet again; three men fell, one forwards into the enclosure, two back on the outside. But of these, one was evidently more frightened than hurt, for he was on his feet again in a crack and instantly disappeared among the trees.
Two had bit the dust, one had fled, four had made good their footing inside our defences…
📖 Example summary of the battle:
Pirates attack from the woods, firing at the stockade. A shot destroys the doctor's gun. Squire and Gray fire back, killing two pirates and frightening one away. Four pirates manage to climb inside the stockade.
Notice — we do not mention every single shot, or the exact actions and positions of every character. Just the important beats.
Pirates attack from the woods, firing at the stockade. A shot destroys the doctor's gun. Squire and Gray fire back, killing two pirates and frightening one away. Four pirates manage to climb inside the stockade.
Notice — we do not mention every single shot, or the exact actions and positions of every character. Just the important beats.
5
⏱ 6 min
⚔️ Cutlasses Drawn
To avoid getting a scrape in this battle, you must answer the following questions correctly. Each wrong answer costs a life.
1. What must you do when you first read a question?
2. Which of these is a retrieval question?
3. What are the 5 W's and 1 H? (type one word in each box)
4. What must you do when writing an answer?
5. What must you focus on when summarising?
6
⏱ 1 min
📜 Flint's Last Words
Tall tree, Spy-glass shoulder, bearing a point to the N. of N.N.E.
Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E.
Ten feet.
Skeleton Island E.S.E. and by E.
Ten feet.
🧑🏫 Tutor:
It is time to search for the treasure! The pirates are becoming impatient. There are two ways to read for the right place — skim and scan. You must master both before you can reach the gold.
It is time to search for the treasure! The pirates are becoming impatient. There are two ways to read for the right place — skim and scan. You must master both before you can reach the gold.
Tall Tree
Skim from the treetop — jump from paragraph to paragraph by their first sentences and find the right place fast.
Spy-Glass Shoulder
Scan the ground inch by inch — sweep with your metal detector for key words.
⚓ You must search both locations before continuing.
7
⏱ 7 min
Skim
Skimming means jumping around the text, trying to find the right place. It helps to look at the first sentence of each paragraph to get an idea of the main topic.
For example:
Silver hobbled, grunting, on his crutch; his nostrils stood out and quivered; he cursed like a madman when the flies settled on his hot and shiny countenance; he plucked furiously at the line that held me to him and from time to time turned his eyes upon me with a deadly look.
The first word is "Silver", and we can see a lot of description about his behaviour and his "deadly look". We can guess that this paragraph will likely focus on him and his thoughts. Let's read on…
Certainly he took no pains to hide his thoughts, and certainly I read them like print. In the immediate nearness of the gold, all else had been forgotten: his promise and the doctor's warning were both things of the past, and I could not doubt that he hoped to seize upon the treasure, find and board the Hispaniola under cover of night, cut every honest throat about that island, and sail away as he had at first intended, laden with crimes and riches.
So if we were asked a question about Silver's plans, we would find it more easily by jumping straight to this paragraph!
🎯 Your Turn
Match each first sentence to the paragraph it belongs to.
📜 Paragraph A
Now and again I stumbled, and it was then that Silver plucked so roughly at the rope and launched at me his murderous glances. Dick, who had dropped behind us and now brought up the rear, was babbling to himself both prayers and curses as his fever kept rising.
Click here once you've selected the right first sentence below.
📜 Paragraph B
Silver doubled his pace, digging away with the foot of his crutch like one possessed; and next moment he and I had come also to a dead halt.
Click here once you've selected the right first sentence below.
📜 Paragraph C
In this was the shaft of a pick broken in two and the boards of several packing-cases strewn around. On one of these boards I saw, branded with a hot iron, the name Walrus — the name of Flint's ship.
Click here once you've selected the right first sentence below.
📜 First sentences — click one, then click a slot above:
8
⏱ 8 min
Scan
When scanning, quickly run your finger across each line, looking for key words. You don't have to read in detail — only do this once you've already understood the passage.
🔍 Use your metal detector! Move your mouse (or finger) over the passage. Words near your detector will glow gold. Click a word that matches the category to "find" it.
Find words for:
📐 Direction
⏱ 30s
Found: 0 / 0
It was fine open walking here, upon the summit; our way lay a little
downhill, for, as I have said, the plateau tilted towards the
west. The pines, great and small, grew wide apart; and even between the clumps of nutmeg and azalea, wide open spaces baked in the hot sunshine. Striking, as we did, pretty near
north-west across the island, we drew, on the one hand, ever nearer under the shoulders of the Spy-glass, and on the other, looked ever wider over that
western bay where I had once tossed and trembled in the coracle.
9
⏱ 10 min
📖 The Final Test
This will be the final test of your wits. The honest seamen have beaten the pirates to the treasure, and now greet you and Silver at the entrance of a great cave.
A gentle slope ran up from the beach to the entrance of the cave. At the top, the squire met us. To me he was cordial and kind, saying nothing of my escapade either in the way of blame or praise. At Silver's polite salute he somewhat flushed.
"John Silver," he said, "you're a prodigious villain and imposter — a monstrous imposter, sir. I am told I am not to prosecute you. Well, then, I will not."
"Thank you kindly, sir," replied Long John, again saluting.
"I dare you to thank me!" cried the squire. "Stand back."
And thereupon we all entered the cave. It was a large, airy place, with a little spring and a pool of clear water, overhung with ferns. The floor was sand. Before a big fire lay Captain Smollett; and in a far corner, only duskily flickered over by the blaze, I beheld great heaps of coin and quadrilaterals built of bars of gold. That was Flint's treasure that we had come so far to seek and that had cost already the lives of seventeen men from the Hispaniola. How many it had cost in the amassing, what blood and sorrow, what good ships scuttled on the deep, what brave men walking the plank blindfold, what shot of cannon, what shame and lies and cruelty, perhaps no man alive could tell. Yet there were still three upon that island — Silver, and old Morgan, and Ben Gunn — who had each taken his share in these crimes, as each had hoped in vain to share in the reward.
"John Silver," he said, "you're a prodigious villain and imposter — a monstrous imposter, sir. I am told I am not to prosecute you. Well, then, I will not."
"Thank you kindly, sir," replied Long John, again saluting.
"I dare you to thank me!" cried the squire. "Stand back."
And thereupon we all entered the cave. It was a large, airy place, with a little spring and a pool of clear water, overhung with ferns. The floor was sand. Before a big fire lay Captain Smollett; and in a far corner, only duskily flickered over by the blaze, I beheld great heaps of coin and quadrilaterals built of bars of gold. That was Flint's treasure that we had come so far to seek and that had cost already the lives of seventeen men from the Hispaniola. How many it had cost in the amassing, what blood and sorrow, what good ships scuttled on the deep, what brave men walking the plank blindfold, what shot of cannon, what shame and lies and cruelty, perhaps no man alive could tell. Yet there were still three upon that island — Silver, and old Morgan, and Ben Gunn — who had each taken his share in these crimes, as each had hoped in vain to share in the reward.
1. What does Silver do when first meeting the squire?
2. Where is the treasure found?
3. Who is lying in the cave?
Write a full sentence. Remember — if you give evidence, use a quotation!
Click to speak
4. Summarise this passage in your own words.
Focus on the most important points — don't include every detail!
Click to speak
⚓ Pirate Skills
Two final questions to test your skills before you collect your share of the treasure.
5. What should you do when scanning?
6. What should you do when skimming?