Grade 3 2014 Summer Reading Activity Packet Blair Mill Elementary School Name: To be completed at home during the summer 2014 and submitted to grade 4 teacher by September 11, 2014 1
Take the Stone Fox Challenge! 1. Read Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner. 2. Complete at least one activity from each section: chapters 1-3, chapters 4-6, chapters 7-10. 3. The character analysis and vocabulary activities are required to be completed, in addition to the activity choices. Student Name: Parent Signature: 2
Section 1: required to complete one of the three activities, along with vocabulary. Chapters 1-3: You will meet and learn about Little Willy, his dog Searchlight, and Grandfather. Two important characters and the major problem of this book will be introduced. Before reading chapters 1-3, complete the vocabulary definitions below. Use a dictionary or dictionary.com to locate definitions. Remember, some words may have suffixes attached. You should look up the root word only. 1. harmonica 2. palomino 3. irrigation 4. harvest 5. mare 6. mature 7. outskirts 8. errands 3
9. deposited 10. city slickers 11. whereabouts 12. gully 13. enabled 14. exhausted 15. impatiently Section 1 choices: you must complete at least one Looking at Wyoming Potato Parts Getting Ready for Winter 4
Pacific Ocean Looking at Wyoming: Little Willy and his grandfather lived in Jackson, Wyoming. Use an atlas or Google Maps (USA) to find and label the following states: Colorado Kansas North Dakota South Dakota Montana Nebraska Idaho Utah Wyoming Canada Jackson Mexico 5
Potato Parts: Little Willy know just about everything there was to know about potatoes. For example, he knew that the fleshy, fat part of the potato's stem is a tuber, the part of the potato plant we eat. 1. Label the five parts of the potato plant below. Write each word on the line which points to that part. 2. Did you know that potatoes were first grown by the Inca Indians of Peru? Find Peru on a map. On what continent is Peru located? 6
Getting Ready for Winter: With his grandfather sick in bed, it was up to little Willy to get everything ready for winter on the farm. Think about the kinds of things someone might have had to do to get ready for a hard, cold Wyoming winter long ago. Read the "to do" list. For each item, circle YES if it is something that little Willy might do to prepare for winter. Circle NO if the item describes something that would need to be done. Then give reasons for your answers. Things To Do: 1. Buy extra food. 2. Chop firewood. 3. Put screens on windows. 4. Buy warm boots. 5. Put away blankets. 6. Stack hay in the barn. 7. Buy fuel for the lantern. 8. Plant potatoes. 1. YES NO Because 2. YES NO Because 3. YES NO Because 4. YES NO Because 7
5. YES NO Because 6. YES NO Because 7. YES NO Because 8. YES NO Because 8
Character Analysis: Required Activity Stone Fox is a very complex character. Fill out the chart below to identify the character's description, behavior and beliefs from this section (chapters 1-3). You will use this information to write a paragraph about Stone Fox's motivation and reason to win the race. Make sure to include how and why Stone Fox changed later in the story. Beginning of the story events descriptive words about Stone Fox how Stone Fox behaved toward Willy Stone Fox's beliefs and values 9
Section 2: you must complete at least one of the following, in addition to the vocabulary activity. Pretend you are Clifford Snyder Poster Time Venn Diagram Chapters 4-6: In this part of the story you will find out the reason Grandfather, anxious and overwhelmed, has given up. Willy plans to enter a race to get the money he needs to pay the taxes. He hears about a man named Stone Fox who is also going to race. Vocabulary for chapters 4-6 Write each vocabulary word in the correct part of speech column below: Is the vocabulary word a(n): Action word (verb) Noun Describing word (adjective) contestant contestant ricochet derringer snatch blurt bobble pry saliva expose stunned unison granite amateur cunning 10
Pretend you are Clifford Snyder: When you returned home later that evening you think about what happened that day at Willy's house. You remember what you were like when you were ten years old and you feel very sorry for the way you scared Willy. Although you still want the taxes, you wish you had done things differently. Write a letter of apology to Willy. Explain why you are sorry and describe how the situation could have been different., (salutation) (date), (closing) (your signature) 11
Poster Time: Little Willy found out about the National Dogsled Races when he read a poster in Lester's General Store. Create your own version of the poster in the space below. Be sure to include important information about the race - the date, time, location, prize offered, entry requirements, and so on. Add a drawing to your poster as well. 12
Venn Diagram: Complete the Venn Diagram to compare and contrast Stone Fox and Willy. Use facts you have learned while reading. Make some inferences based on the information about Stone Fox, too. Stone Fox Willy same 13
Character Analysis: Required Activity Stone Fox is a very complex character. Fill out the chart below to identify the character's description, behavior and beliefs from this section (chapters 4-6). You will use this information to write a paragraph about Stone Fox's motivation and reason to win the race. Make sure to include how and why Stone Fox changed later in the story. Middle of the story events descriptive words about Stone Fox how Stone Fox behaved Stone Fox's beliefs and values 14
Section 3: you must complete at least one of the following, in addition to the vocabulary activity. Art Ideas Writer's Choice What Do You Think? Chapters 7-10: The Meeting The Day The Race Finish Line 15
Vocabulary, Chapters 7-10 Across 3. come near 6. sudden 7. not trying hard 10. large and heavy 11. not to be trusted 12. get back to; reach again 13. a short look; very brief view Down 1. leave 2. not moving 4. chase 5. close tightly together 6. side by side 8. move forward 9. in a steady manner; firmly WORD BANK pursuit treacherous depart glimpse approach motionless abreast clench regain forge abrupt effortless massive steadily 16
Art Ideas: Share your thoughts and feeling about Stone Fox by creating one or more of the works of art suggested below. Make a model of a sled like the one Searchlight pulled. Your sled can be made from paper, cardboard, toothpicks, craft sticks, and other materials. You may also want to draw and cut out a dog to pull the sled. Draw a picture of your favorite part of the story. Then write a caption for your picture that explains your drawing. Make a poster that advertises the book. Include the title and author, a sentence that describes the story, and an illustration that gives an idea of what the book is about. Create a mural that shows the beginning of the National Dogsled Races. Include the snow-covered street, the buildings described in the story, the crowd watching the race, and the dogs, sleds, and drivers who entered the race. 17
Writer's Choice: Choose one of the writing activities below to help you further explore Stone Fox. Patterns in Poetry Little Willy loved everything about his life in Wyoming. He loved his grandfather and his dog, Searchlight. He loved the crisp snow of winter and the tall mountain peaks that towered over the farm. He even loved growing potatoes. Write a cinquain about one of your favorite things on the following page. A cinquain is a poem that has five lines - it doesn't rhyme. The lines have this pattern: Line 1 Line 2 Line 3 Line 4 Line 5 One word (1 noun that tells what the poem is about) Two words (2 adjectives that describe the noun) Three words (3 verbs that tell about the noun) Four words (a phrase that tells how you feel about the subject) One word (1 noun that tells what the poem is about) Race Report Imagine that you are a reporter who watched the race between little Willy and Stone Fox. On the following page, write an article for the Jackson, Wyoming newspaper. As you describe the race, be sure to answer the following questions in order: who, what, when, where, and why. 18
Cinquain _ 19
The Jackson Daily News Sunday, December 5, 1892 15 cents Reported by 20
What Do You Think? Read each of the situations described in the boxes below. Think about what happened in each situation. Then answer the questions next to each box. Situation 1 Doc Smith suggested that little Willy let someone else take care of his sick grandfather. She said that little Willy could live with her, and a neighboring farmer might want to take Searchlight. Little Willy refused to listen to her. He said that he, Grandfather, and Searchlight were family - they would take care of each other. Do you agree with Doc Smith that is would be better to break up the family and let someone else care for Grandfather? Why or why not? Situation 2 When little Willy looked at the snow-covered mountains, he thought of something Grandfather had once said: "There are some things in this world worth dying for." Little Willy was faced with the possibility that his grandfather might die. And if he did die, it was because he was afraid of losing the farm. He had given up on living because he couldn't pay the taxes. Do you think Grandfather is right to give up on life? Is his problem something worth dying for? Why do you feel as you do? Situation 3 Grandfather wouldn't let little Willy use his college money to help pay the taxes. More than anything, he wanted his grandson to get an education. But then little Willy took the money out of the bank to pay the entrance fee for the dogsled race. Do you think little Willy was wise to use his college money to pay the entrance fee? Why or why not? 21
Character Analysis: Required Activity Stone Fox is a very complex character. Fill out the chart below to identify the character's description, behavior and beliefs from this section (chapters 7-10). You will use this information to write a paragraph about Stone Fox's motivation and reason to win the race. Make sure to include how and why Stone Fox changed later in the story. End of the story events descriptive words about Stone Fox how Stone Fox behaved Stone Fox's beliefs and values 22
REQUIRED ACTIVITY Use information from each of your character analysis pieces from pages 9, 14 and 22 to write a paragraph that explains Stone Fox's motivation and reason about winning the race and his treatment of Willy at the beginning of the story. Make sure to include how and why Stone Fox changed later in the story. 23
revised 5/2014 24