Image from Little, Brown and Company
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Otis and Will Discover the DeepThe Record-Setting Dive of the Bathysphere
By Barb Rosenstock
Illustrated by Katherine Roy
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Research & Writing ProcessBarb Rosenstock and Katherine Roy present wonderful opportunities to explore how narrative tension is developed through specific word choice and illustrations. They also offer us an important window on how biographies are researched and created.
The Publisher’s Webpage for Otis and Will Discover the Deep includes a Book Chat with Katherine Roy and an essay by Barbara Rosenstock. |
Who is Barb Rosenstock?Barb Rosenstock loves true stories. She’s the author of many award-winning nonfiction and historical fiction picture books about history’s heroes including the 2015 Caldecott Honor book, The Noisy Paint Box, illustrated by Mary Grandpré. Her recent books The Secret Kingdom and Otis & Will Discover the Deep were honored by the NCTE Orbis Pictus committee and Through the Window received a Sydney Taylor honor. Barb loves to visit schools and share ideas about reading and writing with students. She was born, raised and grew up in Chicago where she still lives with her family and her standard poodle named Nikki. For more information about Barb, visit barbrosenstock.com.
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Barb's Process & ArtifactsListen to Barb explain how she researched and wrote Otis and Will Discover the Deep. In particular she addresses:
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Who is Katherine Roy?
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Katherine Roy loves science, history, and big adventures, and am endlessly fascinated by the way things live. She is the award-winning author and illustrator of How to Be an Elephant: Growing Up in the African Wild, Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California’s Farallon Islands. In addition to illustrating Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record-Setting Dive of the Bathysphere, Katherine illustrated the Expeditioners series by S. S. Taylor and Red Rover by author Richard Ho. She lives in Oregon with her husband and son. For more information about Katherine, visit katherineroy.com.
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Katherine's Process & Artifacts
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Listen to Katherine explain how she researched and illustrated Otis and Will Discover the Deep. In particular she addresses:
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Craft & Structure
Crafting Suspense with Words and Illustration
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As Barb Rosenstock relays the details of the Bathysphere’s descent into the ocean depths, she has readers on the edge of their seats. How does she use words to create such a feeling of tension and suspense for the reader? Similarly, how does Katherine Roy create a similar emotional experience with her illustrations? Listen to Rosenstock and Roy discuss the creation of suspense in the story in the interviews linked above and then engage your students in a close reading of the words and illustrations. Create an anchor chart to record students’ observations. For example, students might note the repetition of the phrase “Breathe in. Breathe out.” as the Bathysphere descends. They may also notice how Roy has created a sense of movement as the Bathysphere sways on its tether and the bright colors and alarmed facial expressions that are depicted when Will and Otis experience an electrical problem.
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Extend your learning about narrative tension by providing students with additional examples, such as Candace Fleming and Eric Rohman’s Giant Squid (2016, Roaring Brook Press) and by guiding students through quick write exercises that focus on moments of tension in their own lives and/or in current events.
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Vivid Verbs and Precise Language
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Throughout Otis and Will Discover the Deep, Rosenstock uses vivid verbs and precise language, such as: wriggled, untangled, scooted, ducked, pounded, scattered, tracked, sputtered, and showered. During our recorded interview with Rosenstock, you may have heard her say that “picture books run on verbs.” Extend your learning about vivid verbs by looking at other picturebooks, such as: the biography Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreño Played the Piano for President Lincoln by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Rafael Lopez, the picture book poem One Today, written by Richard Blanco, illustrated by Dav Pilkey, and other biographies and historical fiction picturebooks by Rosenstock.
Writing picturebooks is a bit like writing poetry: every word has to count. Rosenstock develops a word bank for each book that she draws upon as she drafts and revises. What are some of the ways that Rosenstock has used precise language in order to convey meaning, build tension, and engage readers within a limited word count? Have students identify some of those specific words in Otis and Will Discover the Deep. After they have identified these words, have them look at Rosenstock’s word bank. |
As students work on a current piece of writing, have them develop a word bank like Rosenstock’s to assist in their use of precise words and vivid verbs.
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Backmatter
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After the narrative of Otis and Will Discover the Deep ends, the reader is treated to four full pages of back matter. In the interview, you hear Rosenstock discuss the relationship between the main text and the back matter. Here at The Biography Clearinghouse, we love back matter. From it, we learn more about the subject of the biography, the source material used to research the subject, and the processes used to create the book.
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After reading Otis and Will Discover the Deep, have your students read the back matter.
To learn even more about the process of creating this book, have students listen to our interviews with Barb Rosenstock and Katherine Roy. When students are next researching and writing nonfiction, have them draw upon these processes as they research and illustrate their own work. Ask students to include back matter, drawing upon what they have learned from Rosenstock and Roy about how authors and illustrators decide what goes in the main text and what goes in the back matter. |
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Content & Disciplinary ThinkingWe learn a great deal about the process of doing science through Barb Rosenstock’s powerful writing and Katherine Roy’s detailed and varied illustrations. In this section, we share an assortment of other resources to help you embed the reading of Otis and Will Discover the Deep in an exploration of marine animals, the design history of submersible vehicles, and the ways in which contemporary scientific research continues to be conducted by conservation organizations that run zoos and aquariums, as they did during Will Beebe and Otis Barton’s lifetimes.
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The Processes of Science
Engage your students in conversations about what it means to ‘do’ science. Reread Otis and Will, allowing the students the opportunity to study the illustrations closely. On an anchor chart record their observations about the scientific processes engaged in by Will Beebe and Otis Barton. Guide students to notice the processes of observation, experimentation and documentation as they are presented in the text and the illustrations. Be sure to note the people depicted in the illustrations - who does science? Note that while Will and Otis are both white men, their support team includes women and people of color.
Researching Deep Sea Animals
Otis and Will both wanted to be the first person to observe marine life in the depths of the ocean. In her author’s note, Barb describes the impact of their discoveries: “Will’s descriptions of the diversity of and beauty of deep-sea creatures helped scientists and the public see the ocean as a complete habitat that deserved attention.” Katherine Roy’s research-based illustrations provide a glimpse of the diversity of ocean species across the depths that the bathysphere traversed. What do your students know about deep sea animals? What more do they want to know? Provide time and resources for students to learn more about deep-sea creatures. The links below provide a starting point. Books such as Candace Fleming and Eric Rohman’s Giant Squid (2016, Roaring Brook Press), Steve Jenkins’ Down, Down, A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea (2009, Houghton Mifflin) and Molly Bang’s Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas (2012, Blue Sky / Scholastic) can serve as mentor texts for writing about ocean regions and creatures.
Contemporary Scientific Research of Animals & Habitats
When Will Beebe and Otis Barton built the Bathysphere, Will Beebe was already a famous researcher at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in New York City. Today, and then, the WCS runs several zoos in New York City as well as The New York Aquarium, outside of which the original bathysphere remains on display. The WCS continues to sponsor original research on animals and their habitats.
What are some of the ways that organizations around the country and around the world are doing research? In what ways are they collaborating with other research organizations? Have your students explore the different organizations listed below. How are these organizations doing similar work? How does their work differ from one another? If possible, connect with a local zoo or aquarium and invite employees and researchers there to speak with your students in your classroom, at the zoo or aquarium, or over video conference.
What are some of the ways that organizations around the country and around the world are doing research? In what ways are they collaborating with other research organizations? Have your students explore the different organizations listed below. How are these organizations doing similar work? How does their work differ from one another? If possible, connect with a local zoo or aquarium and invite employees and researchers there to speak with your students in your classroom, at the zoo or aquarium, or over video conference.
Note: Zoos and aquariums, like so many other institutions founded in the previous two centuries, have painful histories with the people of North America as well as the other continents around the world. It is important that these scientific organizations recognize their participation in racist systems and structures in the past and in the present, as they partner with organizations around the world to conduct new research and share that new research with the diverse populations of the United States. For example, in July 2020, The Wildlife Conservation Society issued an important statement “Reckoning with Our Past, Present, and Future.” We recommend that you are prepared to address these issues with your students as you explore the resources that we have shared.
Social & Emotional Learning
Personal Passions and Childhood Interests
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In the opening pages of Otis and Will Discover the Deep, we learn about the childhood interests of Will Beebe and Otis Barton. Otis’ love of the ocean began in childhood, when he began to experiment with different methods of breathing underwater. Will’s childhood was spent in the forest, tracking animals. Even as children, each observed the natural world like a scientist. How can our personal passions and interests in childhood shape who we become as adults?
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Invite students to share their hobbies and interests with one another. What interests and expertises are shared within the class? What can students learn from one another? Encourage your students to talk to their grown-ups at home, extended family and neighbors, religious leaders, and other members of their community about what their childhood interests were and how those hobbies and interests led to the work that they do today.
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Dramatic Tableaux
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In her illustrator’s note and in her interview for The Biography Clearinghouse, Katherine Roy discusses the role of reference photos in her illustration process. She describes how she and her husband took on the roles of Otis and Will in order to gain a deeper understanding of how these men experienced their explorations. Roy notes, “There are gaps in any historical record - gestures, conversations, and expressions lost forever to time - so acting through the missing moments helped me to plan each pose.”
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Invite your students to experience this process through dramatic tableaux, an activity in which students create frozen scenes based on a text they have read, listened to, or watched. Invite your students to select and recreate an important moment from Otis and Will Discover the Deep. Using the process described by Dr. Jan Currence, allow each student in the scene to speak in the voice of their character. What are they doing and what are they thinking and feeling? After each group of students has has a chance to display their tableaux, debrief the process in a whole group discussion. How did participation in the creation of these frozen images deepen their understanding of Otis Barton and Will Beebe’s experiences and accomplishments.
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New Texts & ArtifactsInformed by the Investigate and Explore sections, here are some ways in which students can explore the processes of science and collaboration. We envision the following instructional possibilities to build upon one another. Thus, the 1-2 hour activities are independent; however, they serve as building blocks for the activities described for those of you who have more than a couple of hours. The more time you have, the more in-depth and nuanced the activities can be. Also, while we offer class compositions for the activities, they are guideposts and should change depending on your learning environment.
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Unlikely Collaborators
When we interviewed Barb Rosenstock about researching and writing, Otis and Will Discover the Deep, we were so surprised to discover that Otis and Will didn’t like each other! Given the incredible teamwork displayed in the book, we were a bit dumbfounded. But as Rosenstock points out, getting a job done does not always require that people like each other. It’s about the commitment to the task at hand and the sharing of talents and information to make it happen. How does teamwork and collaboration happen? Why is it so important?
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If you have 1-2 hours...
Discuss the ways in which Otis and Will, along with an unnamed team of workers, refined their process of collaboration within the book.
Next, listen to our interviews with Rosenstock and Katherine Roy. How did each collaborate with other people in order to research and create the book? What collaborations take place in your classroom on a regular basis? In your school? Have students brainstorm additional ways that they might be able to collaborate across the school day. |
If you have 1-2 days...
Compare and contrast the collaborations you discussed previously and consider the collaborations within the following picturebooks:
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If you have 1-2 weeks...
Have students identify people in your community who collaborate with one another. For example, your local grocery store might collaborate with a local food bank. A local church might partner with a homeless organization. A local artists’ collective might collaborate with a restaurant to display work.
Have students generate interview questions and then conduct in-person or virtual interviews with them about the importance of collaboration. Students could commemorate these collaborations through art and poetry. Or, students could brainstorm a list of new collaborations that might be beneficial to the community, that they can share with local leaders. |
History of Submersibles and Ocean Exploration
Across time, submersibles have been used for both ocean exploration and for military purposes. Invite students to learn more about ocean exploration and advances in submersible technology over time. Students can work together to create a timeline and small groups become experts on the explorers and vehicles used for deep-sea exploration. Extend the study by interviewing contemporary ocean scientists about their work and their pathway to becoming ocean explorers. Using mentor texts as guides, students can write and illustrate their own picture book biographies about ocean explorers past or present.
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If you have 1-2 hours...
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If you have 1-2 days...
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If you have 1-2 weeks...
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Watch the Wildlife Conservation Society’s video Bathysphere and Beyond. Discuss Otis and WIll’s motivation to explore the ocean and ask students to list questions that they have about the ocean depths and the history of its exploration.
Examine the National Geographic Ocean Exploration Timeline and invite students to map out the included events on a linear timeline. What do they notice about this history? What surprises them? What would they like to learn more about? |
Divide students into small groups based on interest to become experts on the explorers and vehicles represented in the National Geographic Ocean Exploration Timeline. Group members will collaborate to prepare a brief presentation using a tool such as Google Slides or PowerPoint.
Students can use the following resources and others that you identify through collaboration with your school or local public librarian: |
Arrange for students to do a video interview with a NOAA / WHOI scientist currently engaged in ocean exploration. Brainstorm questions ahead of time, making sure to ask the interviewee how they became interested in the field and their pathway to their current role as an ocean scientist.
Using picture book biographies of ocean explorers as mentor texts, students can work individually or in groups to write and illustrate their own picture book biography about an ocean explorer from a past time or a contemporary ocean explorer. Picture Book Biographies of ocean explorers to compare and contrast as mentor texts:
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Cappiello, M.A., & Thulin Dawes, E. (2020). Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record-Setting Dive of the Bathysphere. The Biography Clearinghouse.]