Comet's Nine Lives Unit Study

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It all begins when Comet walks away from the lighthouse close to his birthplace on Nantucket Island. He visits a garden, a bookstore, a boat, and a party, and at each place he gets into trouble and loses one of his lives. Comet starts to worry. He longs for a home, a place where he’ll be safe. Will he find one before he uses up all nine lives?
from Comet’s Nine Lives at amazon.com

Jan Brett has crafted a clever tale about a cat that will keep your kids guessing about what will happen next to curious Comet.

Our Comet’s Nine Lives unit study lessons will enrich your time with the book, and the printables will provided a memorable learning adventures that your student can review again and again.

Thanks to Ginger A. and Wende for contributing this Comet’s Nine Lives unit study to Homeschool Share.

Comet’s Nine Lives Unit Study Lessons

Here are some of the lessons you’ll find in the Comet’s Nine Lives unit study:

Science

Hurricanes
Comet got caught by Hurricane Elmadore. Hurricanes are powerful, whirling storms. They form over the warm oceans close to the equator and can travel hundreds of miles. As the sun heats up the seas, warm water vapor rises into the air forming large thunderclouds. Wind causes the masses of clouds to whirl strongly. The hurricanes move across the ocean creating huge waves that can crash on the shore. Often times, the hurricane never makes it to land. When they do come to land, they bring high, destructive winds and heavy rains.

Social Studies

Geography: Massachusetts
Comet lived in Massachusetts. If desired, do a brief study of the state. Massachusetts is part of what are called the “New England States,” located in the northeastern part of our country. Have student locate Massachusetts on the US map. Your child may be familiar with the state, having learned in the past about the Mayflower landing at Plymouth in 1620, the Boston Tea Party, the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, or maybe the Salem Witch Trials. Well Massachusetts was also among the first states to experience rapid city growth, and today is one of America’s most urbanized and industrialized regions. Massachusetts has been the home to many famous people including John Adams, our second president, and his son, John Quincy Adams, our sixth president. The state flower is the Mayflower, and the state bird is the chickadee. Looking at a map of Massachusetts, have your child locate the capital, Boston, as well as Nantucket, where Comet lived.

Nantucket
Comet lived in Nantucket, a small island off the south east coast of Massachusetts. While Nantucket is now used mostly as a summer vacation spot, during the 1800’s it was a very prosperous whaling village. By 1835, large fleets of ships were sent out from Nantucket to as far away as the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Alaska to hunt whales. These voyages often lasted three or more years. Most of the people living in Nantucket in some way depended on the whaling industry for their livelihood. The whales were used to meet the high demand of whale oil, the chief illuminant of the day. As the sale of petroleum-based oils took the place of whale oils, whaling greatly decreased. Nantucket is still rich in nautical history, with stately captain’s houses and fishing shanties, and it was depicted in Herman Melville’s classic novel Moby Dick.

Math

Ordinal Numbers
Comet had nine lives. Discuss the ordinal numbers with your student (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.). Learn the ordinal numbers (first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth).

Language Arts

Action Words
As your child listens to the story have him identify some of the action words that relate to Comet. Examples: trotted, flicked, staggered, jumped, pranced. Tell your child to demonstrate each action word.

Go-along book about verbs: Kites Sail High by Ruth Heller.

You can grab a copy of the entire Comet’s Nine Lives unit study and printables in an easy-to-print file at the end of this post.

Comet’s Nine Lives Printable Activities

In addition to the lessons, this Comet’s Nine Lives unit study also includes the following printable activities:

Ordinal Numbers Flaps (for story sequencing)
Cat Sayings Mini-book
Action Words Fan
Cat Facts Shape Book
Books We Read Mini-book
Ocean Shell (printable poem)
Is It Absorbent Chart
Ice Cream Shop Math
Where in the United States Is Massachusetts? Shutterfold

How to Get Started with the Comet’s Nine Lives Unit Study & Printables

Follow these simple instructions to get started with the Comet’s Nine Lives unit study.

Buy a copy of the book, Comet’s Nine Lives, or check it out from your local library.
Print the Comet’s Nine Lives unit study.
Choose the lessons you want to use with your student (a highlighter works great for this).
Choose and prepare the printables you want to use with your student.
Enjoy a week of interactive learning with your student.