Free Teacher's Guide Is Here — And It's Ready for Your Classroom

Mar 19

By Andrew Signore | Brave Hearts Publishing

We built this book to take kids somewhere extraordinary.

But we always knew the story didn't have to stop at the last page.

Today we're excited to share something we've been working on alongside the book itself — a completely free, classroom-ready Teacher's Guide for Adventures of Charlotte and Henry: The Mariana Trench.

Whether you're a classroom teacher, a homeschool parent, a librarian, or a reading specialist — this guide was made for you.

What Is This Book, and Why Does It Matter in a Classroom?

Charlotte is a curious young girl. Henry is her loyal, goggle-wearing dog. And together, they discover a glowing book that sweeps them seven miles below the ocean's surface — all the way to the Mariana Trench.

Along the way they rescue a sea turtle tangled in a net, kitesurf past a coral reef, ride a humpback whale named Blue, and descend in a real submersible alongside Sylvia Earle — one of the greatest ocean scientists who ever lived.

It's an adventure story. But it's also a science lesson. And a conversation about courage.

For kids in Grades 1–3, this book hits a very specific sweet spot — it's longer and richer than a picture book, but written in short chapters with lyrical, accessible prose. It's the kind of book that gets kids who "don't like reading" to ask for one more chapter.

Why We Created the Teacher's Guide

When teachers and parents started reaching out after the book launched, one of the most common questions was simple:

"How do I use this in my classroom?"

So we answered it — thoroughly.

The Teacher's Guide was built from the ground up to save teachers time and make the book as useful as possible across a range of classroom settings. It's not a list of random worksheets. It's a genuine curriculum companion that respects how much teachers already have on their plates.

What's Inside the Teacher's Guide

Here's everything included — completely free:

Pre-Reading Activities A KWL chart, prediction questions, an ocean map activity, and discussion prompts to activate background knowledge before the first page is turned.

Vocabulary Development Fifteen key terms — from bioluminescence to submersible to conservationist — each with a kid-friendly definition, an example sentence drawn directly from the book, and an extension activity.

Chapter-by-Chapter Comprehension Questions All 12 chapters are covered with three question types per chapter — literal, inferential, and critical thinking — so teachers can meet students at every level.

STEM Connections An ocean zone explorer, a deep-sea pressure experiment using nothing but a plastic bottle, a bioluminescence science talk, and profiles of every real explorer in the book. Aligned with NGSS.

SEL Discussion Prompts Four themed discussion sets built around courage, curiosity, kindness, and teamwork — with specific moments from the story as the jumping-off point.

Writing Activities Five creative prompts including writing your own ocean adventure, inventing a deep-sea creature, and previewing the next book in the series — Mount Everest.

Extension Projects Six hands-on activities including ocean zone dioramas, submersible design challenges, real explorer research, and the Brave Hearts classroom wall.

Answer Key Suggested answers for every comprehension question, plus the in-book Brave Learning guide questions on the final pages of the book.

How Teachers Are Using It

The guide is flexible by design. Here's how it fits into different settings:

Whole-class read-aloud — with natural discussion stops after each chapter
Small group reading instruction — using the leveled comprehension questions
Literacy centers — vocabulary cards and writing prompts work independently
Homeschool unit studies — science, literacy, and character all in one resource
Sub plans — self-contained enough that any adult can pick it up and run with it

The STEM + SEL Connection

One of the things we're most proud of is how naturally the science and the emotional content live side by side in this book.

The ocean facts aren't bolted on. They're woven into the story — in dialogue, in the "Ocean Fact" boxes that appear throughout the chapters, in the creatures Charlotte and Henry encounter, and in the real explorers they meet.

And the emotional journey is just as carefully built. Charlotte doesn't start out fearless. She starts out curious — and keeps going anyway. That distinction matters enormously to kids who are facing something hard, whether that's learning to read, navigating friendships, or just trying something new.

Sylvia Earle says it best in Chapter 11:

"Bravery isn't about fear going away — it's about what you do when problems appear."

That's a sentence worth discussing in any classroom.

Standards Alignment

The Teacher's Guide includes alignment to:

Common Core ELA — Reading Literature, Writing, Speaking & Listening, and Language standards for Grades 1–3
NGSS — Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Engineering Design standards at the elementary level

You don't need to build the alignment documentation yourself — it's already done.

A Note From Andrew

This book started as a letter to my niece Charlotte.

I wanted to show her — and every kid like her — that the world is enormous and extraordinary, and that bravery isn't something a few special people are born with. It's a choice. One that gets easier the more you practice it.

The Teacher's Guide is an extension of that same belief. Because the best stories don't end when the book closes — they keep going in the conversations that happen afterward.

I hope this guide gives you the tools to keep that conversation going in your classroom.

Big Places. Brave Hearts.

— Andrew Signore Brave Hearts Publishing LLC