Lesson Plans for Dog Sledding Unit

English Lesson Plans

Vocabulary List with Definitions

Day 1 - Balto

Vocabulary Word of the Day

frontier - a region just beyond or at the edge of a settled area.

Page 5 - Nome was a frontier town.

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Read Balto to students.

Make Edible Dog Sled      

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Day 2 - Balto

Vocabulary Word of the Day

relay - a fresh team, as of horses or dogs, to relieve weary animals in a hunt, task, or journey.

Page 16 - What about a dog-sled relay?

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Students partner read Balto.

File Folder Activities http://www2.grand-forks.k12.nd.us/ms/iditarod/baltofoldermenu.html

Fact and Opinion
Compound Words
Base Words
Subject and Predicate Match
Analogies

Take Balto quiz.

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Day 3 - Stone Fox

Vocabulary Words of the Day

hitched - connected, tied, harnessed, hooked, fastened, attached

proceeded - continued, moved forward, moved onward, pushed ahead, pressed on, stepped forward

Page 7 -- Little Willy hitched Rex to the wagon, and then they rode back to Grandfather's farm.

Page 7 -- Doc Smith proceeded to examine Grandfather.

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Vocabulary Worksheet

Discuss setting - Wyoming http://www.mce.k12tn.net/dogs/fox/wyoming.htm

Read Chapter 1

Answer comprehension questions.

Portals Page 8 (Syllables) - Orally

Scarecrow Craft

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Day 4 - Stone Fox

Vocabulary Words of the Day

irrigation - supply with water, soak with water, watering, water artificially, dig waterways, causing water to flow over dry lands

credit - an arrangement for postponed payment of a loan or purchase, lending, loan, debt

Page 12 --  Hadn't Grandfather been overly concerned about the crop this year? Hadn't he insisted that every square inch of land be planted? Hadn't he gotten up in the middle of the night to check the irrigation?

Page 17 --  Everything they had needed since Grandfather took sick little Willy had gotten at Lester's General Store on credit against this year's crop.

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Vocabulary Worksheet

Read Chapter 2

Answer comprehension questions.

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Day 5 - Stone Fox

Vocabulary Words of the Day

outskirts - limits, perimeter, boundary region, outlying areas, outpost, edge

lunged - go headfirst, dashed ahead, lurched, thrust, jumped, nose-dived

Page 24  -  Little Willy rode on the sled standing up and Searchlight would pull him five miles across the snow-covered countryside to the schoolhouse, which was located on the outskirts of town.

Page 27  -  At the first stroke of six, Searchlight lunged forward with such force that little Willy was almost thrown from the sled.

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Vocabulary Worksheet

Read Chapter 3

Answer comprehension questions.

Portals Page 11 (Compound Words)

Make Cinnamon Snowflakes.  

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Day 6

Vocabulary Words of the Day

ricocheting - bouncing back, springing back, returning, skipping, rebounding, reversing

authority - command, power, domination, master, control, rule

Page 30 - "Get over here!" The voice cut through the air like the twang of a ricocheting bullet.

Page 32   -  "Name's Clifford Snyder. State of Wyoming," the man said with authority.

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Vocabulary Worksheet

Read Chapter 4

Answer comprehension questions.

Portals Page 13 (Cause & Effect)
Portals Page 14-15 (Meaning Through Context)

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Day 7

Vocabulary Words of the Day

pried - pushed out, tugged, lifted, levered, pulled, forced out

represented - stood for, illustrated, depicted, characterized, symbolized, designated

Page 43  -  "Sure," Lester said as he pried the nail loose and handed little Willy the poster.

Page 43  -  People came from all over to enter the race, and some of the finest dog teams in the country were represented.

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Vocabulary Worksheet

Read Chapter 5

Answer comprehension questions.

Portals Page 16-17 Where When How - Orally

Dog Bone Craft

What you will need: Small Dog bone treat, Large dog bone treat, wiggly eyes, ribbon, black felt, brown felt, pink felt.

What to do:

1. Cut out some ears from brown felt, a nose from black felt, and a tongue from pink felt.  Glue them onto the small dog bone treat.
2. Glue the small dog bone treat to the large dog bone treat as shown in the picture. Glue on a Christmas bow to finish.

Dog Magnets

These cute magnets were made from dog biscuits. To make them you will need the following items:

• medium sized dog biscuits
• 2 wiggle eyes
• three small pompoms - two for the cheeks and one for the nose
• small piece of felt to cut out tongue
• round magnet

Using a hot glue gun, glue the magnet onto the back of a medium sized dog biscuit. On the front glue the two eyes, pompom cheeks and nose,  and felt tongue.

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Day 8

Vocabulary Words of the Day

granite - a type of very hard rock - If a person was like granite he is hard like a rock  rigid, unbending, inflexible, firm, fixed, steadfastness

cunning - devious, sly, tricky, foxy, crafty, wily

Page 51  -  The Indian looked at little Willy. His face was solid granite, but his eyes were alive and cunning.

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Vocabulary Worksheet

Read Chapter 6

Answer comprehension questions.

Portals Page 19 Synonyms
Portals Page 20 Classifying Words

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Day 9

Vocabulary Words of the Day

beamed - glowed, smiled, laughed, sparkled, shine, gleamed

treacherous - unstable, difficult, unsafe, risky, unsound, dangerous

Page 56-57  -  "Win, Willy. Win that race tomorrow." Little Willy beamed. He tried to speak, but couldn't find the words.

Page 57  -  This was a treacherous road at night, but the moon was out and Searchlight could see well.

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Vocabulary Worksheet

Read Chapter 7

Answer comprehension questions.

Portals Page 21 Cloze Reading
Portals Page 22 (Antonyms)

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Day 10

Vocabulary Words of the Day

rooted - applaud, cheered, praised, encouraged, approved, hailed

abreast - side by side, equal, next to, alongside, in alignment, beside

Page 64  -  They had a race for the youngsters first, and the crowd cheered and rooted for their favorites.

Page 65  -  They stood nine abreast. Stone Fox in the middle.

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Vocabulary Worksheet

Read Chapter 8

Answer comprehension questions.

Portals Page 23 (Synonyms)

File Folder Activities http://www2.grand-forks.k12.nd.us/ms/iditarod/stonefoxmenu.html

Analogies
Compound Words
Matching
Synonyms

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Day 11

Vocabulary Words of the Day

disqualified - ruled out, unacceptable, incompetent, undesirable, unsuitable, objectionable

inching - move slowly, going ahead little by little, scrambling forward, wriggling ahead, move slowly by small degrees, moving ahead

Page  71  -  Little Willy had asked Mayor Smiley if he was permitted to go across the lake, not wanting to be disqualified. "As long as you leave town heading north and come back on South Road," the mayor had said, "anything goes!"

Page  74  -  Searchlight moved forward, inching her nose ahead.

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Vocabulary Worksheet

Read Chapter 9

Answer comprehension questions.

Make an edible dog.

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Day 12

Vocabulary Words of the Day

forged - spring forward, press on, send forward, move up, get ahead, continue ahead

massive - enormous, bulky, gigantic, tremendous, mighty, heavy

Page 77  -  Searchlight forged ahead. But Stone Fox was gaining!

Page 78 - 80     -   Stone Fox knelt down and put one massive hand on Searchlight's chest.

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Vocabulary Worksheet

Read Chapter 10

Answer comprehension questions.

Worksheet Who Said What to Whom?

Use KidLit to make a story web. Use pictures from Printable Open Ended Questions as well as KidLit program to illustrate story webs.

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Days 13 & 14

Watch Stone Fox Video

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Web Activities for White Fang

http://www.penguinreaders.com/downloads/0582418151.pdf

Day 15 - White Fang

Vocabulary Words of the Day

pack - a group of animals, such as dogs or wolves, that run and hunt together.

Page 9 - She was the leader of the wolf pack.

lynx  - a wildcat having soft thick fur, a black-tipped short tail, and tufted ears.

Page 15 - One morning, he fought with a lynx cat. The lynx was looking for food, too. One Eye fought as best he could, but he was in danger, The lynx was too big. The lynx won.

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Discuss lynxes.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/paint/subjects/mammals/cats/lynx/Lynxprintout.shtml

Pictures of lynx. http://www.tigerhomes.org/animal/curriculums/lynx-pictures-pc.cfm
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/pictures/Lynx.html
http://www.abc-kid.com/lynx/
Facts about lynx http://www.lioncrusher.com/animal.asp?animal=43
http://www.tigerhomes.org/animal/curriculums/lynx-pc.cfm
http://www.lynx-cats.com/

Read Chapters 1-2

Complete Comprehension Check and Vocabulary Check Pages 10-11 & 16-17

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Day 16 - White Fang

Vocabulary Word of the Day

master - the owner or keeper of an animal

Page 27 - His name was Grey Beaver. He was White Fang's master.

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Read Chapters 3-4

Complete Comprehension Check and Vocabulary Check Pages 22-23 & 28-29

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Day 17 - White Fang

Vocabulary Word of the Day

Alaska - the biggest state in the United States. It is very far north, and is cold most of the year

Page 33 - "We are going on a trip to Alaska," Grey Beaver told him one day.

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Read Chapters 5-6

Complete Comprehension Check and Vocabulary Check Pages 34-35 & 40-41

Make a sled

Directions for Making a Diorama

1. Make the dogs from clay. Remember a normal dog team had 9 dogs. Allow these to air dry.

2. To form the sled, we used craft sticks. We hot glued the sticks together in the following shape.

Side View

Top View

3. Next form a pack for the sled from felt. Wrap the "pack" with yard. Hot glue the "pack" on top of the runners of the sled.

4. Tie the dogs together with a piece of yard. Attach this yard to the sled.

5. Add rocks and greenery to the diorama.

6. Sprinkle with flour to resemble snow.

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Day 18 - White Fang

Vocabulary Word of the Day

California - a large state in the U.S. It is very far west, next to the Pacific Ocean. It's warm there most of the year.

Page 51 - "I live in California, and I can't bring a wolf to California."

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Read Chapters 7-8

Complete Comprehension Check and Vocabulary Check Pages 46-47 & 52-53

Continue making dog sled diorama.

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Day 19 - White Fang

Vocabulary Word of the Day

conductor -  a person who collects fares on a train

Page 57 - "All aboard!" shouted the conductor.

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Read Chapters 9-10

Complete Comprehension Check and Vocabulary Check Pages 58-59 & 64-65

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Day 20 - White Fang

Vocabulary Test  http://www.mce.k12tn.net/dogs/vocabulary_quiz_for_dog_sledding.htm

Watch video White Fang