Class 1: Introductions and a fun horse game. Learners will already have read pages 7 - 38 prior to this first class. We will discuss the early pages and learn about where and when our story takes place. We will learn about where the Bahamas are and who our main characters of Beatriz, her mother and Islander, Annie are and how they are important to this story. We discuss how Beatriz and her mom come to live on a boat in the Bahamas. This class period discusses the geography of the Bahamas and Great Abaco Island. We even toss in a little science and learn about jellyfish. 
Class 2: Learners will have read pages 39 -88 for this class. Beatriz went on an adventure alone. See where she went, what did she find and what dangers lie wait on the island. Quicksand thwarted her adventure, but what happened? We start to uncover the mystery of where the horse comes from. Beatriz travels back into the past and discovers a mystery. What could it mean? Find out in these pages. The class also discovers the true area of Spain where the Barb horse comes from and learns a bit about geography too. 
Class 3: Learners will have read from pages 89 to 133. We learn more about Annie in these pages and her connection to the wild horses. Flashing back and forth from 1400's to present time, we learn more about the mysterious Felipa and how she is connected to the Spanish horses. As the mystery unfolds, we also learn about the history that is accurate of this time and about the characters such as Queen Isabella I and Christopher Columbus. There is truth to every work of fiction, find out which pieces of the book are true and which are not. 
Class 4: Learners will have read from pages 134 to 175. As Beatriz goes back time and time again to the island and to visit Annie, she learns more about the wild horse herds and more about Annie herself. As a class we discuss the techniques Annie is using to gentle the horse and how Beatriz feels about it. 
Class 5: Learners will have read from pages 176 to 215. We delve more into the life of Felipa and the late 1400's in Spain and learn about what dangers awaited her and how she disguised herself as a boy in order to hide from those who wanted her and her magnificent horse. Find out why Beatriz needed to help her older friend Annie and how she could help the horse herd on the island too. 
Class 6: Learners will have read from pages 215 to the end of the book. We will wrap up our study and talk about opinions, thoughts and ideas that the author used to tell this story. As a class each learner can critique the story and rate what they thought about the book. 
Learners will use critical thinking, unpack the writers creativity ideas and their own opinions to rate how well they thought the book was written. We can discuss possible options of what the author could do/have done differently. 
Each learner will need to purchase a copy of The Island of Lost Horses by Stacy Gregg for class. This can either be a digital book or paperback book. Paperback is avail at most book stores and Amazon.com for approximately $8 or less.