Spelling Tests for real learning

What is the purpose of giving spelling tests?

We want to prepare our students for their future lives
and to become good writers.  If someone is a poor speller,
it then reflects back on all other parts of their performance.

The problem with spelling tests is that students only study for
the test.  Then after the test, everything is forgotten.

One way to combat this attitude, is to have each student to have
a personal spelling chart.

When the student gets back the general spelling test,
they should have a different list ready to put all the
words that were missed on the last test.

Then each student will have to learn the review words
for the next week.

This doesn't have to be a lot of extra work for the teacher
however.  When it comes to the spelling test for the nest week,
the teacher can just collect the personal spelling test sheets
from each student, and pick only 5 words from each list
for the test.

It is also helpful to have the student to practice writing
sentences with the missed words.

Spelling  is an important skill for preparing students
for further academic achievement.

This method can be used for students in all grades.

Classroom Management

Now that the holidays are over, it is time to turn our minds
 as teachers to getting things done in class.

Classroom management is an important part of this.

For the younger kids, 1st to 3 grades, they need hands
 on clues to keep their attention on the lessons.

One way is draw a box on the board, in the upper
 right hand corner.
In the box draw smiley faces at random times during
 the lesson when you
see that the class is working well.
If you see a child acting up, then erase one smiley face.
This is to get peer pressure to work on the trouble makers
to stay on task.

You can use other record keeping systems:  You can
hand out chart for the students to keep themselves, and
at the end of the lesson, the teacher goes around and checks
that the students accurately recorded their behavior,

Another way is to have a card for each student with their name
written on it,  and when the student is good, they get a pink mark,
when they are acting up a yellow mark.  Then the teacher counts up
the pinks and the yellows.  When a pre-determined number of pink
marks, the class get the prizes.

The thing about this system, is that there has to be
a concrete prize at a
specified time each week for the class or for each
child. If your school has the
budget for this, then have the school supply the prizes.
 But usually you have to have a "Kupa" for the class and
the money is supplied by the parents.
The prizes don't have to be expensive,  but it is best
that it be something that the children want to work for.
You could also give time off from classwork, or give the
students a party, they could order pizza if the class
is close to lunch time.

For the real trouble makers in the class, you can
have a class contract, and have them personally
responsible for their behavior.  If they act well,
reward them, if not, then you can call the parents.
You have to be careful with calling parents however.
It is best to have a meeting with the parents and have them
on board with your plans with managing their child.
One of the big problems in our schools, is that the teacher
is often in the middle between the student and the parent.
It doesn't have to be this way. The teacher and the parents have
to be on the same side.  What is the goal of the teacher's phone
call?  To have an influence on the child's behavior.  This has
to be a positive experience for everyone.

These are a few ideas that you can use right now.

For more help:  I have one CD video presentation
from Rob Plevin for sale, never used.

Take Control of the Noisy Class

Strataies you can use in your classroom tomorrow!

*Get their respect
*Get them in
*Get them settled
*How to grab their attention
take control and have them
coming back for more.

Many of his programs sell for $147,
but the price of this important
program is only $60.

Write to rachael5760@yahoo.com

Rachael Orbach
052-750-0608
Located in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem
I could also could ship it to you
at an additional of the packaging and
shipping.  Please write or call for
details.

HOTS Questions to use before a poem or a story

HOTS  Higher Order Thinking Skills  are essential for everyday life, These questions can be used before teaching a poem or a short story in class.


HOTS  Logic (1): Underlying assumptions

What assumptions or emotive implications underlie these statements?

1.      This food is composed entirely of natural ingredients, so it is good for you as well as being delicious.

                  ______________________________________________________________________

2.       Everyone knows that the earlier you start learning a language the more successfully you will master it

                  ______________________________________________________________________

3.      This method is scientifically proven to be effective.

                  ______________________________________________________________________

4.      Thousands of people have already signed up: join now!

                  ______________________________________________________________________

5.      He always wanted to be famous: now he is famous, so he must be very happy.

                  ______________________________________________________________________
                                   

6.  Don’t use this method: it is based on outdated and old-fashioned ideas.

                  ______________________________________________________________________

             7. Why do people make assumptions in their daily lives?  How does I help them?

                                   

                  ______________________________________________________________________
                       
             8. Can assumptions be harmful? In what way?

Teaching Two poems, I'm Nobody and Poetry

Literature 11^th grade

 I. Voice

In the study of literature we learn to look for the “voice,” the person who is speaking to us out of the text, giving a personal expression and point of view.  If we find and understand this “voice” we can identify with the person, ideas and issues more easily.  Sometimes the “voice” appears in the first person, or “speaker,” at other times it appears through a secondary character or characters.

II I’m nobody! Who are you?

By Emily Dickinson

I’m nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody, too?

Then there is a pair of us, you know

How dreary to be somebody

How public, like a frog

To tell your name the livelong day

To an admiring bog!

1. What is the voice of this poem? _________________________________

2. To whom is the poet speaking? _________________________________

3. What is the message of this poem? ______________________________

4. Write your own poem on the same theme:

_____________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Poetry by Hezy Lesky

Poetry must stand and talk

Stand on a broken washing machine and talk

In the language of the sock

that caused it to break down.

Poetry must stand on the window ledge and talk

in the language of those who stare out window ledges.

Poetry must dance,

and squeak in the language of the mouse alarmed

by the exaggerated delicacy of the dance.

Poetry must knock on the door

Sweetly or wildly.

Not touching the bell.

Poetry must visit Barcelona and talk English there.

Poetry mush rest, above all it must rest.

Poetry does not have to be poetry.

It can be nourishment that talks.

Poetry can be jam.

That is to say a dead and tasty fruit.

Poetry can be saccharine

that is to say and  artificial and cancerous sweetner.

Poetry can build

residential flats

a hospital

a school

a prison

a synagogue

but it prefers

to discover

a well of milk in the middle of the city.

Poetry must sleep, sleep and dream of poetry.

Poetry must lie, lie and talk while

asleep

Poetry must be buried

In the earth

And talk in the language of the dead.

Poetry must care for sick  . . .

Poetry must live.

           

1. What is poetry according to this poem?

_____________________________________________________________

2. Who is speaking in this poem?

_____________________________________________________________

3. What is unusual about this poem?

_____________________________________________________________

4.  Pick a subject from the poem and write your own poem about it.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What is good writing?

If we want to teach writing to our students we have to have standards
 about what is good writing.
How do we judge good writing?
There are three categories of writing that the teacher and the student
 have to be aware of.
The first is content.
The content has to be interesting, the writing has to have a message.
 If there is no message in the writing, whether it be an e-mail, an essay
or a story, there is no reason to write.
The content has to be coherent.  The ideas must be developed and clear.  
The writing has to be relevant to the topic.  If the assignment is to write a
 restaurant review, then don't give a recipe.   The writing has to be clear.
Your readers need to be able to follow your train of thought.

The second category is technique or skills of writing.  These skills include
 spelling, punctuation, syntax (word order) vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure.
 English is not forgiving if a writer doesn't follow these technical rules.

The last category is form.  This category is also concerned with rules.
This could also be called the page layout. How does the page look to the reader?
 The layout is different for different kinds of writing.  If you are  writing a
formal letter, you have to use the formal letter layout.  A newspaper article
 has to conform to the newspaper space, an essay has to have paragraphing and a title.

Nowadays, more students hand in essay that are typewritten, but here a note
 about font choice is necessary. Choose a font that is readable, and not too fancy.
 You want the reader (maybe your teacher) to focus on your ideas and not be
distracted by a fancy font.

If you do hand write you writing for the teacher to evaluate, then make sure
 that your handwriting is neat and easy to read.  Many times I had to spend
too much time trying to figure out a students' handwriting.

If you pay attention to these three broad categories, you will become a good writer. 

Yosef Story Part 2

"Yosef" - his other stepmother would call. "Yosef"  you are going to be late for Cheder!"
"Yosef" - his other stepmother Bilha would call, "Yosef! Everyone has already eaten up all the pita that I baked this morning! All that is left is the stale bread from yesterday!

Finally, Leah, Yakov's chief wife would call Yosef, "Just because you are your father's favorite doesn't mean that you can take advantage! Your mother Rachel in Gan Eden can't protect you forever!"  Come and eat and go to Cheder.
But Yosef would not listen and many a day he want to school hungry.  But the other brothers  would not let their brother starve and his best friend Benjy would always sneak an extra pita for his older brother.

But one day, precious children, listen to this, Benjy forgot to bring extra food, and Yosef never watched his temper either in those days. he thought nothing of getting angry.  It was natural for him to raise his voice, he was the best at everything, he knew his Aleph Bet at the age of two and a half, he could speak, 3 languages by the age of six, and by the age of 17 he knew how to speak 70 languages!  But you know all that already my precious children, you go to Cheder too, and learn all about Yosef in class. But Yosef, he also knew some secrets that you and I don't know and will never know.  He knew why the trees grow here in this place, and not in that one, where deep buried in the earth are gold and diamonds but he never told anybody.  He boasted about his secrets so much that his other brothers, the sons of Leah, they number 6 you know, they would circle him and stare at him until he stopped to boast.  Yosef's father, Yakov never was told about Yosef's boasting, but he knew anyway. But even wise old Yakov had no idea what to do about it.

Then came a day that the brothers decided to end the boasting. They knew about  a deep hole, just big enough for a man to stand in. Oh, my precious  children learn from the deeds of others but sometimes don't do the same, judge whether it is good or bad first.
These six brothers, the sons of Leah, she was a bitter woman, the only man she loved was her husband Yakov, but alas, his heart was for his long dead second wife. Even after all this time, he still mourned her. The first love is often the strongest, and hard to let go, even more so because she had died in childbirth of the youngest son, Benjamin. "Ah, had Rachel never asked for the Dudaim, she would still be alive!"  Yakov would often wish.  So Leah, she saw this in Yakov's eyes on certain days, mostly on Benjamin's birthday.  There was never any music, harp or flute on Benjy's birthday, as it was the yarzeit of Rachel.

Benjamin was also wise, and he knew the reason and in his own way, accepted his father sadness, and made it his own.  the two would sit side by side and sigh. One for a wife, and the other for a mother.

Yosef was not the same however, he was make of different feelings, not sensiteve at all.  The brothers, you remember my precious children, especially the six sons of Leah wanted revenge.  A dangerous emotion if you ask me!  As you remember they  dug a hole in the ground, the job was to watch the sheep, they were older you know after school and Yakov had many many sheep, not the pain kind that were white, with only two horns, but he had magnificent sheep.

Yakov kept special spotted and striped sheep with the many curvy horns, some had up to 6 horns on the head!  The wool was soft  of different colors, each sheep was a work of art, and at market fetched a good price too.  Especially the rams, but he would sell only so many, they were his secret, Yakov knew how to cause them to sire the best offspring. He had learned this art while he was minding the sheep of Lavan, his father in law. I'm sure that you know that story however.

So the six brothers. made Yosef  fall into this hole, all of them walking abreast in order to round up the sheep, Yosef yelled and yelled, and only when he was quiet did the brothers take him out. So now you know that later when the brothers sold Yosef for 20 pieces of silver, it was not the first  time.  Things always happen like that  a sin doesn't come to a pious person all at once, it creeps upon you a little at a time, first the brothers drop Yosef into a hole, but they took him out. But the second time they sold him. Oh, my precious children, if only Yosef hadn't been so boastful, he wouldn't have been sold, and the Hebrews wouldn't have gone down in the Egypt, and become slaves!

Idioms Make many, much, remember and remind.

make, many, much, remember, remind.

Make often means to produce or create something that was not there before.


Make a bargain - two people agree about money


We made a bargain when we bought that car, we've never had any trouble with it. 


Make the bed - straighten sheets and blankets 


My daughter has to make her bed in order to get her allowance. 


Make believe - imagine


Young children make believe with toys and other household items such as pots and pans! 


Make a mistake - to err  


I'm afraid I made a mistake on my taxes, I hope I won't have to pay a big fine! 


Make a fire.  - light a fire. 


The Indians made fire with flints and stone, but today we use matches. 


Make noise - to cause a loud sound 


Please don't make noise right now, Jill has a migraine headache and 
needs to rests in the next room. 


Make a statement - to release a statement to the press. 


The President is going to make a statement this evening at 7:00pm on national TV. 


Make war - to cause armed conflict


I don't understand why nations have to make war instead of negotiations. 


Many - We use many before or to replace countable nouns - 
actual items that you can touch. 


The number of cellphones is increasing, many more cellphones are sold today than five years ago.  -
 we can count cellphones, it is a physical thing. 


Much -  We use much before or to replace uncountable nouns  There is much more
 traffic on the roads today than ten years ago.    Traffic is an uncountable noun, 
we can't count traffic in general.  


Remember - is conjugated like a regular verb, We use remember to mean recall.  
I didn't  remember to go to my dentist appointment today at 2:00pm. 
I'll have to make another appointment. 


Remind is to cause to recall 
Remind me to pay the telephone bill tomorrow, I'll have the money in the bank then. 




Exercise :  Write 10 sentences using each of these words at least once


1._________________________________________________


2._________________________________________________


3.________________________________________________


4.________________________________________________


5.________________________________________________


6.________________________________________________


7.________________________________________________


8.________________________________________________


9._______________________________________________


10.______________________________________________ 

A short Story about Yosef - Another story from the Bible by Rachael Orbach

Part 1.

Once, my precious children, there was a boy with many many brothers and one sister. You probably know their names, Yosef, Binyamin, Reuven, Asher Levi, Shimon and the rest.  Yosef was one of their father's favority but as you kow you shouldn't play favorites with children, but you you know the story of the Sriped Coat?  Well, my preicous ones this is not that story, but a different one.

Yosef was very proud of his hair, mirrors were not invented in those days, so Yosef always wanted to look at his hair. expecialy the long and curly payot,  his side locks were his favorite part of his hair.  he would comb and braid them for hours, and he would never cut them. He would go down to the river and catch is reflection in the water when the wind was not blowing.

Learn from the deeds of others, but do not necessarily do the same, my precious children.  Yosef was vain. when he was five years old, and not at all agreeable to other people even his mother!  Can you believe it?  At breakfast, when all his siblings sat down to eat breakfast at the table, he was still getting dressed! And you know it, combing his hair, especially those long payot, he had to comb them for ten minutes each!  His step mother Zilpa would call, "Yosef,!"

A short Story about Yosef - Another story from the Bible

Once, my precious children, there was a boy with many many brothers and one sister. You probably know their names, Yosef, Binyamin, Reuven, Asher Levi, Shimon and the rest.  Yosef was one of their father's favority but as you kow you shouldn't play favorites with children, but you you know the story of the Sriped Coat?  Well, my preicous ones this is not that story, but a different one.

Yosef was very proud of his hair, mirrors were not invented in those days, so Yosef always wanted to look at his hair. expecialy the long and curly payot,  his side locks were his favorite part of his hair.  he would comb and braid them for hours, and he would never cut them. He would go down to the river and catch is reflection in the water when the wind was not blowing.

Learn from the deeds of others, but do not necessarily do the same, my precious children.  Yosef was vain. when he was five years old, and not at all agreeable to other people even his mother!  Can you believe it?  At breakfast, when all his siblings sat down to eat breakfast at the table, he was still getting dressed! And you know it, combing his hair, especially those long payot, he had to comb them for ten minutes each!  His step mother Zilpa would call, "Yosef,!"

Exercise to go with the book Upgrade!

We have just learned the names of places in a city!

You need to complete the sentences with a noun from the word bank there are more words than you need.
Example:
1. Helen is going into the clinic.

2. Dan is ____________________________ to get some money.

3. Tal is sitting at the ________________________ waiting for the doctor.

4. Tom is entering the ______________________ to work out.

5. Lee is exiting the _______________________, he just got off the bus.

6. Shira is waiting outside _______________________ so she can take her mother home.

7.  Guy is going into the ____________________ to eat lunch.

8.  Andrea is waiting in line at the _______________________ to pay for the food.

9. David is waiting at the _______________________ to put gas into the car.

10. Tony ran into the ____________________ to buy milk.

Word bank:  Bank, hospital, clinic, bus station, restaurant, gym, supermarket, clothing store, bakery, mini market, gas station, cash machine

Daylight Saving Time

This is for an English speaker class 9-12th grades.  Have fun!

Here is the link for the article: http://news.consumerreports.org/health/2011/03/daylight-saving-time-health-risks-short-term-health-risks-long-term-gains.html

Here are the questions and vocabulary:

Vocabulary -  Look these words up in the dictionary:

 health risk   sleep deprived    grouchy  temporarily 

heart attack   stress   lingering   cardiovascular 

seasonal affective disorder   motivate  tend   suffer  translate

Students look up the vocabulary as the Do Now to start class. 

Here is the worksheet, the lines are set for a standard A4 page, so you can just cut and paste. 

Name ___________________________________

Questions:

1. What are the health effects of Daylight Saving Time?

a. ______________________________________________________________________

b.  _____________________________________________________________________

2. Which day of the week are people most likely to suffer a heart attack?

a. ______________________________________________________________________

Why? .   

  b. _____________________________________________________________________

3.  What are the advantages of Daylight Saving Time?

a. ______________________________________________________________________

b. ______________________________________________________________________

4.  In your opinion, does Daylight Saving Time help you?

   ______________________________________________________________________

5. What do you do differently in order to get up earlier?

   ______________________________________________________________________

Vocabulary:  Use 5 vocabulary words in a sentence:

1.. ______________________________________________________________________

2 . ______________________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________________

4 . ______________________________________________________________________

5. ______________________________________________________________________

Science Fiction poetry Mars and Earth

Mars and Earth   by Rachael Orbach

Blue sunsets on Mars, I will always remember
But pink sunsets on Earth will always make me feel tender

I look up at the blue ball so far away
I know that I'll never go back there anyway.

Colonists on a one way trip,
We live in domes and can't sip

I miss water that flows from the cup,
instead of the ice to suck.

We live inside
Oxygenated,Pressurized and  Magnetized

Because Mars doesn't have a magnetic field
our fate here is sealed.

We stay in contact with radio
and my family and I will go into limbo

Remember us people of Earth
Mars is a world of truth,

We should have never come here
I really fear.




To teach this poem you need to have some background on the conditions
on the Planet Mars:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars
(if this is too hard, choose the simple English translation)

Go over any vocabulary words: 
 Colonists
Domes
Magnetized

Sealed
limbo
truth
fear

Questions

1.  Which facts does the author use in the poem?

2.  How does the rhyme scheme help the poem?
 
3.  Is the poem realistic? 

4.  How does the main character in the poem feel about the Earth?

5. How does the main character feel about  Mars?

6. What is the conflict in the poem?

7. What happened before the poem started?

8.  What do you think will happen afterwards?



 

The Long Road to Jerusalem

The Long way to Jerusalem   

  
By Rachael Pittler Orbach 

It was a hot day and I had only arrived in Israel that week. I was visiting a family that I had never met, who were friends of a friend of mine. The lived in Beer Sheva, in the southern part of Israel. I had been a bad guest, sleeping when they were awake and awake when they were sleeping. The big excitement in town in the middle of summer was the Bedouin Market near the city. We went there, and saw a shopping mall encamped on the sand. Almost any dry goods that anyone would want to buy, was sold out in the open, clothing, jewelry and full bolts of cloth were all available. If you wanted to buy some wool, you could, as long as you bought the sheep as well. But would it fit on the bus to take it home? 

After the outing of the week, I bought a ticket to Jerusalem. My halting Hebrew was enough to buy the ticket without butchering the Holy language too much. I waited at the outside benches sipping water. Soldiers, only young boys and girls just out of high school walked by, machine guns slung on their backs. The buses to other cities, Tel Aviv, Tsfat, and Masada came and went, while I still waited. An old lady was mumbling to herself. A young family, loaded down with two carriages and many kids was trying to keep the children under control. The bus to Jerusalem was late. Even though it was my second trip to Israel, I was still nervous about seeing the Kotel, the Western Wall. Had it changed? Would it be safe? My trip was after the incident when rocks had been pelted upon the worshippers there. 

Finally, a bus came. But it was not the express, it was the local that went through Hebron. I was so anxious to get to the Holy City, that I got on. The old lady said, ”I wouldn’t take that bus! Better wait for the Express!” But I didn’t care, I hopped on the bus, showing my ticket to the driver and taking a seat near the front, put my backpack beside me. The ride was long, hot and dry. I found out why the old lady didn’t want to take this particular bus.. Every now and then, the bus would stop to let people on. No one would get off. There were a few soldiers that were on the bus and they took whole seats and dozed, their guns uneasily on the seats next to them, within arm’s reach.

The scenery was uninteresting. The green hills soon gave way to brown, and the smooth pavement gave way to bumpy uneven blacktop. The road became narrower, and rock quarries dotted the hills, while white rocks dominated the landscape. Great metal spiders hugged the hills breaking huge boulders from their resting places. 

I asked one of the soldiers why there was no other traffic on the road. He said to me in Hebrew, “We are in the West Bank.” 

I though to my self, “Oh, this is why the bus isn’t too popular. But there was no way the I was going to get off because nothing was going to keep me from reaching Jerusalem,. The road got worse and worse. I began to feel sick as I tried to read my Hebrew Primer, in preparation for the Ulpan that I would be taking upon reaching Hebrew University later that week. It got so bad that I gave up reading and resorted to looking out the window, not that there was anything to see. I saw signs in three languages, Hebrew Arabic and English. Finally I saw it in the distance. The city showed itself by a few warehouses, one story with the doors and windows closed tight, everything looked deserted. As we moved on the soldiers dozed a little lighter opening an eye now and then. One of them was lazily chewing gum. We came to the city itself to find soldiers with guns ready, walking the streets in groups. No one turned around even to acknowledge the bus passing through. It was scary to see the soldiers walking in this way. It was a strike called by the Intifada and all the residents were inside their houses, their businesses closed for the day. 

All of a sudden, we heard a loud smack! Everyone on the bus jumped, and the soldiers reached for their guns. We were afraid that rocks had been thrown at the bus. I tried to take cover, using my backpack as a shield toward the window, which already showed signs that a rock had been thrown at it. Then, laughter broke out on the bus. The gum chewing soldier had cracked his gum! 

After a while, we regained out composure, and the bus went on. We passed the Tomb of Rachel, on the way to Jerusalem and we waved at the guards, who waved back. By and by we came to the Central Bus station. The long way to Jerusalem was over and I gladly traded the noisy environment of the street over the nervous quiet of the bus from Beer Sheva. 

Name _____________________________________

Short story Review Page:

Questions:

1. Title of the story _______________________________________

2.Author ________________________________________________

3. What clues does the author give to determine the time and place of the story?

________________________________________________________________________

4. Who are the main characters?   ____________________________________________

5. What do the minor characters add to the story? _______________________________

________________________________________________________________________

6. What are the events that happen in the story?

            a.________________________________________________________________

            b.________________________________________________________________

            c. ________________________________________________________________

            d.________________________________________________________________

            e.________________________________________________________________

7. Climax of the story: _____________________________________________________

8. Author’s tone: circle one  Serious, Ironic, Humorous, Sad, Pity

9. New vocabulary I learned while reading the story

________________________________________________________________________

10. Significance of the title __________________________________________________

11. Choose a quote that you liked from the story. _________________________________

12. What questions would you like to ask the author  about the story?

_________________________________________________________________________

Project about Humour to go with the book Bridges

בס"ד

I just wrote this to go along with the ECB book Bridges, to use
 instead of the project in the book or in conjunction.   This is the
time of year to think about humour because of the upcoming
holiday of Purim. 

Name_____________________________

Humour Project

Objective: To do research about Humour.

Define: What is humour?

Find two definitions in a dictionary.

Copy two definitions on to this page.

1. __________________________________________

Which dictionary did you use? ____________________

2. _______________________________________

Which dictionary did you use? __________________

Write 10 questions about Humor.,

1. _____________________________________

2. ______________________________________

3.______________________________________

4._____________________________________

5._____________________________________

6.____________________________________

7_____________________________________

8._____________________________________

9.___________________________________

10.___________________________________

Ask at least 10 people your questions about humour.

Write a report about your findings. What did you learn about humour?
 What was the most popular answer?

You can use a pie chart to help explain your results.

__________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

Snow Treasure Character Study

Name_______________________________________ Grade Level _____________  

Snow Treasure Character Study   Up to Chapter __________

The opening chapters of Snow Treasure provide background information for the book. Complete a chart that shows the information that you have gathered about characters, using their name and description as well as the central problems in the story.        

Peter _________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________
Uncle Victor ____________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________


Helga _________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Per Garson ________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Mr. Lundstrom________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Michael _________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Central Problem in the story so far _____________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Because of Winn-Dixie: Worksheet for Chapter 1 - 2

Name__________________________________Date___________________

Because of Winn-Dixie:

Think of a person who is close to you — a parent, sibling, friend, relative, etc. List ten things you know about that person. Be specific and descriptive.

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Choose your favorite or most intriguing character from Because of Winn-Dixie. Possible choices for character study: Opal, Winn-Dixie, Daddy (the preacher), Gloria Dump, Otis, Franny Block, etc. 

1. Divide a piece of paper into two columns. Label one column "Traits" and the other "Proof." Under the Traits column, list ten character traits for your character. Be as specific and descriptive as possible. In the Proof column, write page references from the novel (e.g., p. 20) that provide evidence for the individual character traits. Students will need to reread and skim sections of the book to find textual evidence. 

Opal: _____________________________________________________

Winn-Dixie_________________________________________________

The Preacher_______________________________________________

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2. For an artistic twist, students can illustrate the character. Write a brief caption for the illustration that explains a few of the characters' traits.

1. Who do you think is the most interesting character in the novel? Why?  

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2. What does each character teach Opal? What lessons does she learn from those around her?

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3. Which character do you think has the greatest impact on Opal? Why?

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4. Why is the title of the book Because of Winn-Dixie?

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In the story, Opal says that everything that happened to her that summer was because of Winn-Dixie, the dog she found at the supermarket. Think about a person or pet that had an effect on your life. Write about a person or pet that influenced your life in some way.

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In the story, Opal comes to accept the fact that her mother is not going to return. She is able to let go and
go on with her life. Think about a situation in which you had to learn to accept something you weren't
happy about. Write about a time when you had to accept something and move on.

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A gentle, friendly animal can be a source of strength and a good listener for a lonely child. In the story, we
discover a lot about Opal and her situation as she talks to her dog Winn-Dixie. Write a paragraph
describing Opal's life at the time the story takes place.
(This topic is recommended for students who have read through Chapter 3.)
1. How old is Opal at the time the story takes place? Why might her age be important to the story?
2. What does Opal's father do for a living and what is their relationship like?
3. Why does Opal have neither mother nor friends?
4. What does Opal imagine Winn-Dixie wants her to do?

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