Winn Dixie Teachers Guide - Candlewick Press

1 Because of winn -DixieTeacher s Resource GuidePage 1 ABOUT THE BOOKB ecause of winn -Dixieis a funny, poignant, and utterlygenuine novel that has quickly become a children s literatureclassic. This Guide provides an array of thoughtful, student-friendly activities that deepen students understanding ofcharacterization and make teaching this NewberyHonor winning book a fun and enjoyable SUMMARYWhen ten-year-old Opal returns home with a stray dog shenames winn - Dixie , things begin to change in Naomi,Florida, the sleepy town where Opal and her father, areticent preacher, have recently settled. winn - Dixie helpsOpal make friends with the endearing outcasts of Naomi,including a woman rumored to be a witch; the elderly townlibrarian, who gives Opal candies that taste like melancholy;and an ex-con musician who runs the local pet these new friendships, Opal learns not to judgepeople including the mother who abandoned her fortheir past mistakes, but to appreciate people for who they arein the present.

2 These unassuming characters become adependable community in which everybody has a sorrow tolet go of and a story to THE AUTHORWhen Kate DiCamillo was five years old,she and her mother and brother movedfrom Philadelphia to a small town inFlorida in hopes that the warm southernclimate would alleviate young Kate schronic pneumonia. She spent her sicklychildhood reading books I learned torely on stories as a way of understanding the world anddressing her standard poodle Nanette in a tutu and, later,disco clothes. When she was in her twenties, Kate DiCamillomoved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she lived in anapartment that did not allow dogs. I wrote winn -Dixiebecause I was homesick for Florida .. and because I wanteda dog and couldn t have one .. It allowed me to go homeand to spend time with a dog of the highest order. Theauthor continues to live in Minneapolis, where she writestwo pages a day, five days a week.

3 Her biggest challenge as awriter is to get out of the way so that her characters cantell her their stories. About India Opal Buloni, theprotagonist in winn - Dixie ,she says, India Opal Buloniseems so real to me, I don t think I could have made her , I feel like I discovered her. written and developed by Marilyn Bousquin and Rhonda Berkower My name is India Opal Buloni, and lastsummer my daddy, the preacher, sent me to thestore for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, somewhite rice, and two tomatoes and I came backwith a dog. This is what happened.. CANDLEWICKPRESST eacher s Resource Guide Grades 3 5 Because of winn -DixieTeacher s Resource GuidePage 2 BEFORE READING The following prereading activities set a context for thestory, spark students interest, and set a purpose for reading. MAKE PREDICTIONSE ncourage students to make predictions about the setting,characters, and plot of the story based on the informationprovided on the book cover.

4 Prompt students to check andmodify their predictions as they read. WHOSE POINT OF VIEW? Read aloud the first page of the novel. Talk with studentsabout the author s use of the first-person voice. Ask: Who istelling the story? What can you tell about Opal from the wayshe speaks? What do you think of the opening sentence? Does itmake you want to read more?ASK QUESTIONS After reading the first page of the book, ask students, Whatare some things that you would like to know about Opal?What are some things you would like to know about thedog? What other questions do you have about the story?Record students questions on a chart to revisit duringreading. DURING READINGE ncourage students to apply the followingCOMPREHENSION STRATEGIESand SKILLSas theyread or listen to the story. Read aloud Chapter One andmodel the strategies and skills for students. Ask students tothink about how these strategies can help them tounderstand the story and its characters.

5 MAKING CONNECTIONS helps readers draw on priorknowledge as they incorporate and assimilate newinformation from a text. Encourage students to make text-to-self connections between the story and their own questions such as the following to help students makemeaningful connections: Does Opal remind you of anyone in your life? Who?Describe him or her. Opal compares her father, the preacher, to a turtlehiding inside its shell, in there thinking about thingsand not ever sticking his head out into the world (pp. 16 17). Do you know anybody like that?Describe him or her. Opal is afraid that the preacher will get mad if she askshim about her mother. Have you ever been afraid toask someone something? When?SUMMARIZING portions of a text during reading helpsstudents identify main ideas and remember what they haveread. Have students brainstorm a title that sums up themain idea and reflects the plot, character, or mood of eachchapter.

6 For example, in Chapter One, Opal rescues winn - Dixie from the pound and takes him home. Students mighttitle this chapter Opal Meets winn - Dixie or winn - Dixie : Lost and Found. Write the chapter titles on a largechart. When students have finished reading the book,prompt them to use the chapter titles to help them recalland retell the story. You may also want to prompt studentsto summarize what happens because of winn - Dixie asthey read the novel. For example: Chapter Three: Because of winn - Dixie , Opal finds the courage to ask her father about her mother and thepreacher starts to come out of his CHARACTERIZATION helps readersto explore the feelings, thoughts, and motivations of thecharacters. Review Chapter Four with the class and createa list of the ten things Opal learns about her mother. Pointout that list characterizesOpal s mother, giving the reader asense of who Opal s mother is, even though she doesn tactually appear in the story.

7 Ask: Do these ten things paint awhole picture of Opal s mother? What else might Opal want toknow about her mother? What else would you like to know? As students read or listen to the book, have them createcharacter collages for the characters. Their collages shouldinclude a drawing or sketch of each character framed byexpressive adjectives (for example, splendidor grand asopposed to good) as well as phrases and sentences thatdescribe the character s physical appearance, personalitytraits, and behaviors. Encourage students to use quotesfrom the book when possible. Use the collages to discusswhat students know and would like to know about eachcharacter. POINT OF VIEWis the perspective from which a story istold. Because of winn -Dixieis narrated in the first personby the main character. In the first-person point of view,everything the reader learns is through the perspective ofone character.

8 Have students experiment with point ofview by retelling scenes from different characters perspectives. For example, challenge students to retell theopening scene in which Opal meets winn - Dixie in thegrocery store from winn - Dixie s perspective. How does adifferent perspective change the scene? What can we learn fromWinn- Dixie s perspective that we can t learn from India Opal s?APPRECIATING THE AUTHOR S CRAFT helps studentsbecome better readers and writers. Conduct a mini-lessonthat explores the vivid language Kate DiCamillo uses todescribe her characters. Explain that a simileis a directcomparison of two things that are usually not alike. Similesuse words such as likeor asto make the use similes to help us to see things in new, oftensurprising, ways. For example, Kate DiCamillo writes thatWinn- Dixie looked likea big piece of old brown carpetthat had been left out in the rain (p.)

9 11). Have studentsnote in a journal the similes they encounter as they these similes and the images they evoke. Helpstudents visualize these similes by folding a piece of paperin half, then drawing the objects being compared on eitherside of the fold. Encourage students to write and illustratetheir own similes that describe a favorite READINGOpen-ended questions encourage students to thinkcritically about the book s themes. Cross-curricularactivities help extend students understanding of the storythrough writing, art, drama, science, geography, and QUESTIONSF amily How would you describe Opal s relationship with herfather at the beginning of the book? How does theirrelationship change by the end of the book? Why do you think the preacher cries when he andOpal can t find winn - Dixie ? At the end of the book, Opal imagines that she isspeaking to her mother and says, I miss you, but myheart doesn t feel empty anymore.

10 It s full all the wayup. What does Opal mean? Why do her feelingsabout her mother change?Love, Friendship, and Community Do you think Because of winn -Dixieis a good title forthis novel? Why or why not? How does winn -Dixiechange Opal s life? How does Opal change winn - Dixie s life? Because Gloria doesn t see well, she tells Opal to tellme everything about yourself, so as I can see you withmy heart (p. 66). What does she mean by this? Whatdo you think it means to see someone with yourheart? How is that different from seeing with youreyes? What does Opal learn about friendship? What didyou learn about friendship from reading Because ofWinn- Dixie ? How do the people in Naomi act like a community?In what ways is Naomi, Florida, like your community?In what ways is it different? Encourage students tonotice differences and similarities in race and class, as wellas the ways people treat and help one the Characters Opal often finds that her first impression of theBecause of winn -DixieTeacher s Resource GuidePage 3 VOCABULARY Encourage students to note unfamiliar words in aWord Log and try to define them from the context ofthe story.