Song for a Whale

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-16

Reading Check

1. Who or what is Iris named after?

2. What does Iris like to read in her free time at school?

3. What is the name of the hybrid whale that swims by himself because of the high frequency of his call?

4. What punishment does Iris receive for pushing Nina?

5. What does Tristan help Iris collect from the junkyard?

6. Which of Iris’s friends is gone the weekend Iris is grounded?

7. Where does Iris’s Grandmother want her to transfer to?

8. Whom does Iris ask at school to help her write a song for Blue 55?

9. Who helps Iris make a recording to play for the whale?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What misunderstandings and misconceptions occur between Iris and her classmates?

2. What connection does Iris make with Blue 55?

3. According to the whale, what difficulties does he face communicating with others, and how has it affected his life?

4. What does Andi describe as the greatest mystery about Blue 55?

Paired Resource

Sound Waves

• This 10-minute video describes sound, how it is created, and how it translates to sound in your ear.
• Connected themes include Singing Without Being Heard and The Gap Between the Deaf and Hearing Worlds.
• How does sound travel? How do humans interpret sound? What are pitches that are too high and too low to hear called? What animals can hear sounds humans cannot? What is the Doppler Effect?

“Why Do Whales Sing?”

• This 5-minute video describes the communication of whales.
• Connected themes include Singing Without Being Heard and The Gap Between the Deaf and Hearing Worlds.
• Why do whales sing? How do whales communicate underwater? What is the difference between whale songs among populations? How do whale songs change? What may interfere with whale communication?

Chapters 17-32

Reading Check

1. Which book in Wendell’s mother’s classroom catches Iris’s attention? 

2. Where does Iris want to go to see Blue 55?

3. What does Iris decide to sell to get her ticket to Alaska?

4. Who decides to go to Alaska with Iris?

5. What does Iris suggest Tristan and Adam should pour on the truck to fix its battery?

6. What is Iris’s new favorite food?

7. What is the name of the naturalist’s daughter who befriends Iris?

8. How does Blue 55 respond after the whales on the surface reject him?

9. Where is the cruise ship’s second stop in Alaska?

10. What is Grandma doing on the cruise ship that draws a crowd?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Iris disappointed when she tries to communicate with the students at Wendell’s school?

2. What does Wendell tell Iris he would visit if he was able to locate it?

3. How does the trip to Alaska help Iris’s Grandma?

Paired Resource

Bubble-Net Feeding

• This 4-minute video shows humpback whales participating in a bubble-net hunt.
• The information in this resource connects through discussion to the theme of Self-Reliance and Collaboration.
• How do whales work together to build a bubble net? What does the bubble net accomplish for the whales?

“The Search for the Loneliest Whale in the World”

• This article describes the discovery and search for 52 Blue, the whale Blue 55 is based on.
• Themes connected to this video include Singing Without Being Heard and The Gap Between the Deaf and Hearing Worlds.
• Where does 52 Blue live? How was 52 Blue discovered? What is unique about 52 Blue’s song? What creatures can hear 52 Blue’s songs? 

Chapters 33-48

Reading Check

1. What creatures cause a break in Blue 55’s loneliness?

2. Where is Andi’s team going after Blue 55 changes direction?

3. Where does Iris plan to take a train to before catching a shuttle to Lighthouse Bay?

4. Who does Bennie encourage Iris to be sympathetic to, comparing her interactions with Iris to Iris’s interaction with Blue 55?

5. Where does Iris plan to go to in Icy Harbor?

6. When Iris writes to Wendell, what does she compare her journey on the cruise to?

7. What does Iris use to navigate her way to the sanctuary?

8. When Blue 55 approaches Iris, what does she communicate to him in sign language?

9. What kind of scientist does Andi think Iris should become?

10. Who does Blue 55 sometimes swim with?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Blue 55 feel when he hears Iris’s song?

2. Why has Iris’s mother been afraid to send Iris to a school for the Deaf?

3. Why does beginning at her new school make Iris think of Blue 55?

Recommended Next Reads

Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly

• This novel is about a shy Filipino boy who longs to meet a schoolmate and must learn to work up the courage to introduce himself.
• Shared themes include Singing Without Being Heard and The Gap Between the Deaf and Hearing Worlds.
• Shared topics include social isolation, courage, and friendship.
• Hello, Universe on SuperSummary

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

• This graphic novel is a dual narrative that follows the story of Ben in 1927 and Rose in 1977 who are both deaf and in search of a place where they belong.
• Shared themes include Singing Without Being Heard, Self-Reliance and Collaboration, and The Gap Between the Deaf and Hearing Worlds.
• Shared topics include the search for belonging, the natural world, and friendship.
• Wonderstruck on SuperSummary