CHALLENGING WORDS
barbed dangerous mysterious orchard porcupine pranced relieved shivered stalking whimpering
SUMMARY
After his dog tangles with a porcupine, Christopher fears for his pet’s safety until he thinks of a way to pacify the porcupine. --- Conversation Questions---
(1) Retell the story. (Answer) Any logical answer. (Follow Up) Did you enjoy this story? Why or why not?
(2) Describe how you think Christopher felt while playing with Ben. (Answer) Any logical answer. (Follow Up) Do you have a pet? What kind?
(3) Imagine how Christopher felt when he saw Ben with the porcupine needles stuck in his face. Why do you think he felt like this? (Answer) Any logical answer. (Follow Up) Have you ever saw a real porcupine? Where?
(4) Suppose you were playing in a field, and ran up on a porcupine. What would you do? (Answer) Any logical answer. (Follow Up) Would you be scared? Why or why not?
(5) They were going to take the dog to a vet? Explain what a “vet” is. (Answer) A doctor specialized in the care of animals- veterinarian. (Follow Up) Use this word in a sentence.
(6) Tell what Christopher and Ben were playing in the field. (Answer) Ball or baseball. (Follow Up) Do you enjoy playing ball?
(7) Name the place that Christopher discovered the porcupine. (Answer) The orchard. (Follow Up) What is found in an orchard?
(8) Find what sign Christopher’s dad found that showed the porcupine had been at their house during the night. (Answer) The axe handle had been chewed on. (Follow Up) What explanation did his dad give for the porcupine chewing on the axe handle?
(9) Look for the tool that Christopher’s dad used to get the needles out of Ben’s nose. (Answer) A pair of pliers. (Follow Up) Did this hurt Ben? How do you know?
(10) Explain how Christopher kept the porcupine in the orchard. (Answer) Placed his baseball bat under the tree so the porcupine would chew on that. (Follow Up) Did it keep the porcupine away? Activities
1. List all the words you can think of to describe a porcupine.
2. If you have a pet, write at least three sentences describing your pet. Or if you don’t have one, what kind of pet would you like to have and why?
3. Write down in paragraph form another way that Christopher could have used to keep the porcupine away.
4. Summarize the story in your own words.
Introductions
1. Have a picture of a porcupine. Ask students if they know what kind of animal this is and if it would be a friend or an enemy to a dog. Why? In today’s story, we will read about a dog and a porcupine, let’s find out what happens.
2. Have some stuffed dogs or pictures of dogs. Discuss with students what it is like or would be like to have a dog for a pet. Do you or would you want to protect them from getting hurt? Today we are going to read a story about a young boy who has a dog who meets up with a porcupine. What do you think might happen? Let’s read and see.
3. Ask students to list some kinds of animals that might be an enemy to a dog and discuss why. Mention porcupine if they don’t. In our story today, a dog meets up with a porcupine, let’s read and find out what happens.
Book Title: Ben and the Porcupine Author: Carol Carrick Illustrator: Donald Carrick ISBN: 0-89919-348-X # of Text Pages: 20 AR: 3.6 LEX: 410 Building Oral Vocabulary 3 plume 4 quills 18 rustle Prediction Questions 3 What do you suppose it is? 9 What or who do you think is out there? 18 What could his plan to keep the porcupine in the orchard be? This resource is provided by THE LEARNING CORPS—Barren County Board of Education, an AmeriCorps project funded in part by the Kentucky Commission on Community Volunteerism and Service and the Corporation for National and Community Service.