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| Where the Red Fern Grows |
| By Wilson Rawls |
| Book Activities |
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| Activity 1: Introduce the book by having a student dress up as the main character, Billy. (This can be given as an extra credit assignment.) Have thethe student explain who Billy is, where he lives, and why he is poor. This would be an opportune time to introduce the Great Depression to students. Encourage the student to carry a gunny sack (the artifact bag) and tell about each item. Artifact Bag - baking powder can, steel trap, forty dollars, straw hat, strawberry soda pop, coon cap, and magazine. Activity 2: Encourage students to start planning and saving for something they would like to have. Begin your lesson by brainstorming ideas how they could earn fifty dollars. Suggest that they save their money in a can similar to Billy's baking soda can. Then have them record their progress on a weekly earning's chart. Activity 3: Create a map of the river bottome where Billy lived with his dogs in the Ozark Mountains. Include landmarks such as Tahlequah, Grandpa's store, Robber's Cave, the Ghost Coon, the deep canyon, and the river. Activity 4: Write a narrative for Robber's Cave from a third person point of view. Activity 5: Complete a series of 6 drawings that show 6 major events in the plot of the story. Write captions for each drawing so the illustrations can be understood by someone who may not have read the book. Activity 6: Illustrate a Picture Venn Diagram comparing Old Dan to Little Ann. Activity 7: Create a word map for the word determination. Activity 8: Make a time line of the major events in the book. Be sure the divisions on the time line reflect the time periods in the plot. Use drawings or magazine cut-outs to illustrate events along the time line. Activity 9: Write an epitaph for Old Dan and Little Ann. Activity 10: Tape an interview with Wilson Rawls, the author of the book. Pretend the author is being interviewed by a magazine or newspaper reporter. Chapter Questions Chapter 1 Vocabulary Words: residential cur coaxing gleamed sheen Look at the cover of the book and answer the questions below. 1. Describe the three characters in the picture using three words for each. The boy - The two dogs - 2. Describe the setting of the story. Time - Location - 3. Predict what the story is about by evaluating each component below. Who? What? When? Where? Why? 4. From who's point of view is the story told? 5. Describe a day you've had when everything was right and nothing was wrong. Chapter 2 Vocabulary Words: sacrifice corncrib spat romp sycamore 1. What "terrible disease" is the main character stricken with? 2. What how does the main character compare himself to other boys who want a dog? 3. Describe Billy's home. 4. What was the name of the river that Billy lived nearby? 5. What kind of tracks fascinated Billy the most? 6. Why did Billy cry himself to sleep? 7. What kind of animal did Billy catch in his trap first? 8. On page 13, paragraph 3, it is stated that Billy "cleaned out the rats." What is the author's intended meaning? 9, On page 8, paragraph 2, Billy's father "may as well have poured water" on Billy. How else might the author have said it? Chapter 3 Vocabulary Words: chugged eaves abandoned routine wares 1. What "great treasure" did Billy find? Where did he find it? 2. On page 18, paragraph 2, what did the author mean when Billy started "seeing dogs, hearing dogs, and feeling dogs?" 3. How old was Billy? 4. How did Billy hide the money he saved money? Where did he hide it? 5. How long did it take for Billy to save fifty dollars? 6. On page 21, paragraph 5, Billy compared himself to a mountain, stating that he "felt as big as the tallest mountain in the Ozarks." What do you think this type of comparison means? (Metaphor) 7. How did Billy Grandpa react to the money saved by Billy? 8. In the last paragraph of chapter 3, "six little hands helped themselves to the candy." Who's hands was the author describing? |