Month: September 2015

For Teachers

elizabethcaulfieldfelt Uncategorized

Comprehension Questions for Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Chapter One
1. Who was making a mess in the grocery store?
2. What did Opal name the dog?

Chapter Two
1. What job does Opal’s father have?
2. Why does Opal’s father let her keep the dog?

Chapter Three
1. What does Opal do to clean Winn-Dixie?
2. How are Opal and Winn-Dixie alike?
3. Why does Opal ask her father to tell her ten things about her mother?

Chapter Four
1. What are the ten things Opal learns about her mother?

Chapter Five
1. What does Winn-Dixie do when he is left alone?
2. What does Winn-Dixie do with the mouse when he catches it?
3. What does the preacher do?

Chapter Six
1. Why does Winn-Dixie scare Miss Franny?
2. Does Miss Franny let Winn-Dixie come into the library?

Chapter Seven
1. What did Miss Franny get for her birthday when she was a girl?
2. What did the bear take with him when he left?

Chapter Eight
1. How is Opal going to get the money for Winn-Dixie’s collar and leash?
2. What does the parrot Gertrude do to show she likes Winn-Dixie?

Chapter Nine
1. What does Gloria give Opal and Winn-Dixie to eat?
2. Is Gloria Dump a witch? Describe Gloria.
Chapter Ten
1. What kind of tree does Opal plant?
2. Where does Winn-Dixie sleep?

Chapter Eleven
1. What is Winn-Dixie afraid of?
2. What is a “pathological fear” ?

Chapter Twelve
1. What happens when Otis plays his guitar and sings?

Chapter Thirteen
1. What three places does Opal go to every day?
2. Who thinks the Dewberry boys want to be friends with Opal?

Chapter Fourteen
1. Why did Gloria hang bottles in a tree?
2. How does Gloria say you should judge people?

Chapter Fifteen
1. What does Winn-Dixie do when Miss Franny has a fit?

Chapter Sixteen
1. What happened to Littmus’s home and family during the war?

Chapter Seventeen
1. What did Littmus do to bring something sweet to the world?
2. What do Littmus Lozenges taste like?

Chapter Eighteen
1. What book does Opal read to Gloria?
2. Who is Carson and what happened to him?
3. What does “melancholy” mean?

Chapter Nineteen
1. Why did Otis go to jail?
2. What does the Littmus Lozenge taste like to Sweetie Pie?

Chapter Twenty
1. Who are the 7 people Opal invites to the party at Gloria Dump’s house?

Chapter Twenty-One
1. What food and drink do Gloria and Opal make for the party?
2. What does Miss Franny bring?
3. What does Sweetie Pie bring?
4. What does Otis bring?

Chapter Twenty-Two
1. What 4 things does the preacher thank God for?

Chapter Twenty-Three
1. When it starts raining, what does Opal forget?

Chapter Twenty-four
1. Why does the preacher cry?
2. Does the preacher think Opal’s mama will come back?
3. What did Opal’s mama leave behind went she left?

Chapter Twenty-Five
1. Where was Winn-Dixie?
2. What happens when Winn-Dixie smiles real big?

Chapter Twenty-Six
1. What does Opal tell her mother under the mistake tree?
2. What is everyone doing when the story ends?

Comprehension Questions: The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

elizabethcaulfieldfelt books, chapter questions, teaching

Chapter One
1. Describe the place where Dorothy lives (use three details).
2. What does Dorothy do when the house is being carried by the tornado?
Chapter Two
1. Who does Dorothy’s house kill?
2. What surrounds the land of Oz and prevents Dorothy from easily returning to Kansas?
3. Why does the Witch of the North kiss Dorothy?
Chapter Three
1. What does Dorothy do to get ready for her long journey to the Emerald City?
2. What is the favorite color of the people of Munchkinland?
3. What does the Scarecrow hope to get from the Wizard?
Chapter Four
1. Is the Scarecrow able to scare crows?
2. Who tells the Scarecrow that he will only be as good as a real man if he has a brain?
Chapter Five
1. What does the Tin Woodman hope to get from the Wizard?
2. Why is the Tin Woodman made of tin? Explain the whole story.
Chapter Six
1. How does Dorothy protect Toto from the Lion?
2. What does the Lion hope to get from the Wizard?
Chapter Seven
1. How do they cross the two large ditches in the road? Who has these ideas?
2. What happens with the Kalidahs?
Chapter Eight
1. How does the raft get out of the current and to the other side of the river?
2. How is the Scarecrow rescued from the pole in the river?
3. Why are the poppy flowers dangerous?
Chapter Nine
1. Who does the Tin Woodman save by killing the wildcat?
2. How is the Lion saved from the field of Poppies?
Chapter Ten
1. What must everyone wear before entering the Emerald City gates?
Chapter Eleven
2. What does the wizard look like to Dorothy, to the Scarecrow, to the Tin Woodman and to the Lion?
3. What does the wizard ask them to do before he will help them?

Chapter Twelve
1. What happens when the Witch’s wolves try to kill Dorothy and her friends?
2. What happens when the Witch’s crows try to kill Dorothy and her friends?
3. What happens when the Witch’s bees try to kill Dorothy and her friends?
4. What happens when the Winkies try to capture Dorothy and her friends?
5. What happens when the Winged Monkeys attack Dorothy and her friends?
6. How does Dorothy kill the Wicked Witch?
Chapter Thirteen
1. How are the Tin Woodman and Scarecrow rescued?
2. What does Dorothy find in a cupboard and take with her when they leave?
Chapter Fourteen
1. How do the friends return to the Emerald City?
2. What trick did the Winged Monkeys do to Quelala?
3. What punishment did Queen Gayelette give the monkeys for their trick?
Chapter Fifteen
1. Who is the Great Oz really?
2. How did the he get to the land of Oz?
Chapter Sixteen
1. How does the wizard give the Scarecrow a brain?
2. How does the wizard give the Tin Woodman a heart?
3. How does the wizard give the Lion courage?
Chapter Seventeen
1. How does the wizard plan to take Dorothy back to Kansas?
2. What goes wrong?
3. Who will rule Emerald City after the wizard leaves?
Chapter Eighteen
1. Why can’t the Winged Monkeys fly Dorothy to Kansas?
2. Who might be able to help Dorothy?
3. Where does she live?
Chapter Nineteen
1. What stops the travelers from going through the trees?
2. How do they solve this problem?
Chapter Twenty
1. What is on the other side of the wall?
2. Why won’t the china princess go with Dorothy to Kansas?
Chapter Twenty-One
1. Why did the animals of the forest call a meeting?
2. How does the Lion kill the monster?
Chapter Twenty-Two
1. How do the armless Hammer-Heads keep people out of their country?
2. How do Dorothy and her friends get past the Hammer-Heads?
Chapter Twenty-Three
1. What will each of Dorothy’s friends (the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Lion) do after Dorothy leaves?
2. How does Dorothy get back to Kansas?
3. What happens to the Silver Shoes?
Chapter Twenty-Four
1. What does Aunt Em do when she sees Dorothy?
2. Is Dorothy happy to be home?

Children’s Literature, Fall 2015

elizabethcaulfieldfelt Uncategorized

I usually post here the books that my students will be reading each semester. I’ve changed things up a bit, which means a lot of extra (and fun) reading for me. We focus on middle-grade books, for children ages 8 to 12.

We start with fairy tales. All students must read Charles Perrault’s “Cinderella” and the Grimm brothers’ “Aschenputtel”. Then, they choose two versions of one other fairy tale to read.

Everyone is required to read The Wizard of Oz by L.Frank Baum.

Next, students choose one book from each genre:

Modern Fantasy:

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

The BFG by Roald Dahl

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Historical Fiction:

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

Bud Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

Contemporary / Realistic Fiction:

The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume

Ungifted by Gordon Korman

Rules by Cynthia Lord

Novel-in-Verse

Love that Dog by Sharon Creech

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

I usually re-read every book I assign before the literature circles meet. I’ve got some work cut out for this semester. It’s great to have a job that requires me to read and re-read great books. I’m so lucky!