Where the Red Fern Grows

Literature Focus Unit

Where the Red Fern Grows by: Wilson Rawls

Submitted by:

Eric Pilsl

November 29, 2011 Scholastic reading level: 6.4 Guided reading level: X source: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/where-red-fern-grows-discussion-guide Unit grades: 5th – 6th

Themes:  Family  Love o Pets o Family  Perseverance  Work ethic  Goals  Relationships  Friendship  Loyalty  Spirituality  Pets

Objectives/Goals:  Students will be able to summarize the book and discuss the deeper meanings of the story.  Students will be able to draw comparisons between the book and their own lives through writing activities and reflections during reading.  Students will learn vocabulary words relative to the context of the story compare the definitions with those in the dictionary and rewrite them with their own words.  Students will compare and contrast the overall themes of the story with one of three selections of poetry.

Standards:  RL.6.1. Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.  RL.6.2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.  RL.6.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone. Source: http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards/english-language-arts-standards/reading- literature-6-12/grade-6/  W.6.10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences. source: http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards/english-language-arts-standards/writing-6- 12/grade-6/

Background knowledge:  Students will need to have information about the following topics to facilitate understanding of this novel. Mini-lessons will be taught relative to these concepts prior to reading the book. o Realistic fiction o Flashback writing o Dogs o Raccoons/coon hunting o Ozark Mountains/mountain life o Great Depression Vocabulary:  Gnawing (p. 7)  Festered (p. 17)  Determination (p. 21)  Depot (p. 25)  Provisions (p. 28)  Snickered (p. 38)  Grit (p. 41)  Querying (p. 51)  Hampering (p. 53)  Nonchalantly (p. 100)  Belligerent (p. 102)  Destined (p. 103)  Predicaments (p. 104)  Slough (p. 106)  Leering (p. 125)  Begrudgingly (p. 125)  Resistance (p. 139)  Impulsively (p. 176)  Eliminated (p. 177)  Gingerly (p. 185)  Doused (p. 190)  Momentary (p. 199)  Numb (p. 205)  Gawking (p. 205)  Scourge (p. 228)

Vocabulary Activities:  Find each word on the corresponding page. In your journal, write down what you feel the meaning of the word is based on the context of the sentence/paragraph in which it is used. After your definition, find the word in a dictionary and write the definition that is most similar to the one you wrote.  In your journal, create a sentence for each word based on personal experiences. Each sentence should be based on an event (or events) in your life.  Visit the website: http://www.puzzle-maker.com/CW/. Create a crossword puzzle using 20 of your 25 vocabulary words. The clues should be your own words derived from the contextual definition and the dictionary definition. Comprehension strategies:  Using inner voice (Chapter 1) o I will read the first chapter aloud to the class. During the reading, I will pause and ask questions, make predictions and draw comparisons to real life. I will model the behaviors that will build comprehension for the students who are reading the book. This will provide the students with a basic framework in which they will proceed to read the book on their own.  Partner practice (Chapter 2) o Students will read chapter two in pairs. They will practice what I have just modeled in chapter one. They will be charged with coming up with one question, one prediction and one connection per person. We will then reconvene as a group to discuss what each student thought while they were reading. This will give the students the opportunity to discuss what they are thinking, receive feedback about their practices and hear what others are thinking.  Practicing using inner voice (all chapters) o As the students are reading, they will be given the task of writing one question, one connection and one prediction for each chapter. The students can use sticky notes so they can paste them on the corresponding page of the chapter or use their literary journal. By doing this activity throughout the book is the student will continuously think of what they are reading and build comprehension. Throughout the unit, we will discuss what the students have written from time to time to monitor their progress and gain insight from their peers. Graphic organizer 1:  Students will use the organizer below to describe characters in the story who have a relationship with Billy.

Billy Graphic organizer 1 (sample key):

Dad Loving Supportive Hard working Role model

Grandpa Mom Supportive Nurturing Friend Worried Helpful Loving Proud Spiritual

Sisters Old Dan and Caring Little Ann Helpful Loyal Curious Hard working Playful Smart Companions Graphic organizer 2:  Students will use the organizer below to compare and contrast Rainie with Billy.

Billy Rainie Graphic organizer 1 (sample key):

Billy Rainie

Well liked Liked coon hunting Disliked by everyone

Had a good family Loved their Beat up by Rubin life dog(s) Liked to bet Spiritual Same age Discussion Questions: 1. Explain why Billy wanted Coon Hounds rather than the Collie that his dad suggested. (comprehension) 2. Describe what Billy found at the fishing camp and how that changed his life. (knowledge) 3. Sequence the events of how Billy earned his money to buy his dogs. (knowledge) 4. Discuss what Billy was feeling as he was walking through the city to pick up his dogs. (comprehension) 5. Illustrate the reaction of each of his family members when he came home with his new puppies. (application) 6. Appraise the father’s belief that the family will move to the city someday. (evaluation) 7. Explain why Billy was not allowed to trap any more raccoons. (comprehension) 8. Describe how Billy trained the dogs to hunt coons. (knowledge) 9. Analyze what Billy was thinking when he wasn’t able to continue chopping down the big tree where the dogs treed their first coon. (analysis) 10. Examine how Billy felt after his dad encouraged him to keep chopping down the tree. (analysis) 11. Evaluate grandpa’s decision to accept the bet. Was it a good decision? (evaluation) 12. Analyze why Billy didn’t want to kill the ghost coon. (analysis) 13. Examine what Billy was thinking when Rubin fell on the axe. (analysis) 14. Identify the reasons that grandpa entered Billy and the dogs in the hunting contest. (comprehension) 15. In chronological order, organize the events from the time that they arrived at the competition to the time they left. (synthesis) 16. Judge Billy’s decision to keep hunting when the snowstorm hit during the competition. (evaluation) 17. Describe what was going through the mind of Billy during the fight with the cougar. (knowledge) 18. Express your feelings as you learned of the fate of the two dogs. (comprehension) 19. Propose what Billy was thinking as the family was planning their move to the city. (synthesis) 20. Interpret the significance of what grows between the graves of Old Dan and Little Ann. (evaluation)

Read-Alikes:  Old Yeller by William Armstrong  The Good Dog by Avi  Wanted . . . Mud Blossom by Betsy Byars  Risby by Beverly Cleary  Dog Sense by Sneed Collard  Love that Dog by Sharon Creech  Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo  Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes  Jim Ugly by Sid Fleischman  One Small Dog by Joanna Hurwitz  White Fang by Jack London  A Dog for Life by L. S. Matthews  How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor  Probably the World's Best Story about a Dog and the Girl Who Loved Me by D. J. Smith  The Green Dog: A Mostly True Story by Suzanne Fisher Staples  Marley & Me by John Grogan source: http://2009.onebooknewjersey.org/middle-grade/resources.html?cat=alike Reading/Writing activities:  Think about something that you wanted really badly. Describe why you wanted it so badly, recall the steps that you took to get it and evaluate whether or not all of the work you did was worth it.  Throughout the book, there were many times that Billy took the dogs hunting. Choose one of the hunts and recount the story from the point of view of Little Ann, Old Dan or the raccoon.  Spirituality was a reoccurring theme in this book. Analyze this theme by giving examples from the story in which the character asked for help from a “higher power”. Debate whether the result of the situation was because the character was spiritual or if it was simply coincidence.  Using this website, http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/diamante/, create a diamante poem which begins with Old Dan and Little Ann and ends with Coon. Follow the format on the website and be creative with your vocabulary.

Poems:

Nothing Gold Can Stay by: Robert Frost Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf, So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day Nothing gold can stay. source: http://poemhunter.com/poem/nothing-gold-can-stay/

Your Best Friend by: Senator George Vest - 1870 "The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is the dog.

A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side.

He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world.

He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey thru the heavens." source: http://www.powerofthedog.com/Friendship-Poems.html The Power of the Dog by: Rudyard Kipling There is sorrow enough in the natural way From men and women to fill our day; And when we are certain of sorrow in store, Why do we always arrange for more? Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware Of giving your heart to a dog to tear. Buy a pup and your money will buy Love unflinching that cannot lie-- Perfect passsion and worship fed By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head. Nevertheless it is hardly fair To risk your heart to a dog to tear. When the fourteen years which Nature permits Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits, And the vet's unspoken prescription runs To lethal chambers or loaded guns, Then you will find--it's your own affair-- But ... you've given your heart to a dog to tear.

When the body that lived at your single will, With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!) When the spirit that answered your every mood Is gone--wherever it goes--for good, You will discover how much you care, And will give your heart to a dog to tear.

We've sorrow enough in the natural way, When it comes to burying Christian clay. Our loves are not given, but only lent, At compound interest of cent per cent. Though it is not always the case, I believe, That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve: For, when debts are payable, right or wrong, A short-term loan is as bad as a long-- So why in--Heaven (before we are there) Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear? source: http://www.petloss.com/poems/maingrp/powerdog.htm

Differentiated instruction:  Throughout the reading of Where the Red Fern Grows, I will provide the following opportunities for all students in order to accommodate for all learning styles. o Read chosen chapters aloud to class and facilitating discussion of what was read. o Allow students to partner read specific chapters and discuss what was read. . Students will also partner with me for a period during partner reading. o Offering several different final assessment opportunities for students to express what they have learned (i.e. map drawing, writing, oral presentations). o Using internet sites to facilitate learning. Assessment activities:  Draw a detailed map of the area that Billy and his family lived. Ideas to include are (but not limited to): o Billy’s house o The nearby town . Grandpa’s store o River area . Canebreaks . Specific trees . The path that Old Dan, Little Ann and the coon took during the hunt (use different colored pencil for each animal). o Where Billy and the dogs hunted  In two person groups, write and perform a “play by play” of one of the hunts in the story. One person will be the play by play man and the other will be the color commentator. The pair will detail the hunt from start to finish in similar fashion to how a sports announcer calls a game.  Write an obituary column for Old Dan and Little Ann (one for each) that could be written for the area newspaper. Include examples or descriptions from the story.  Read the three poems that were given out as a part of this unit. Choose one poem and write a one page essay on how that poem relates to the book.  After watching the movie Where the Red Fern Grows, write a paper that compares and contrasts the book version and the movie version of the story. Be sure to cite specific examples of each similarity and difference. Also, critique what you liked and disliked about the book and movie. Lastly, which did you like better and what would you change in the one you didn’t like to make it better?