68 pages • 2 hours read
Where the Red Fern Grows
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During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
CHAPTERS 1-3
Reading Check
1. What disrupts the narrator’s otherwise ordinary day in the opening scene of the novel?
2. What is the “terrible disease” the narrator mentions at the beginning of Chapter 2?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How much money does Billy save for his dogs, and how long does it take him to save it?
2. How does Billy’s grandfather respond when Billy shows him the money, and what does that reaction show about Billy’s character?
CHAPTERS 4-6
Reading Check
1. How has the price of the dogs changed in the two years Billy has been saving?
2. What name does the schoolboy call Billy?
3. What animal stalks Billy and his dogs when they are on their way back home?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What does the stationmaster do that gives Billy the courage to enter the depot, and why does this action have this impact?
2. What does Billy name his two dogs, and what is the inspiration for these names?
Paired Resource
“The Science Behind the Human-Canine Bond”
- This article from Animals Matter explores the bond between humans and dogs and how it has evolved over time.
- This resource connects to the theme of The Bond Between A Boy And His Dogs.
- What type of bond exists between humans and dogs, and how has that evolved over time? How does understanding the science behind this connection help you better understand the relationship between Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann?
CHAPTERS 7-9
Reading Check
1. What does Billy need in order to train his dogs to hunt?
2. What is significant about the sycamore tree up which Old Dan and Little Ann chase the raccoon?
3. What does Grandpa make to keep the raccoon treed while Billy and the dogs go home to eat?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. After trapping the raccoon, what does Papa instruct Billy to do with the rest of the traps? What is Papa’s rationale for this?
2. What is Billy’s response when Papa asks him why he is so determined to get this first raccoon, and what does Billy’s response show about his relationship to his dogs?
Paired Resource
“Lost Dog”
- This poem by Ellen Bass explores the emotional connection between an owner and her dog, and the unique worries that relationship sometimes brings.
- This poem connects to the theme of The Bond Between A Boy And His Dogs.
- This poem explores how love for a dog is sometimes fraught with worry and anxiety. How is this reflected in Billy’s relationship with Old Dan and Little Ann, and how does Billy navigate this?
CHAPTERS 10-13
Reading Check
1. What does Mama make Billy out of his first coonskin?
2. What happens to Little Ann during the first hunt after the blizzard?
3. What bet does Billy enter into with the Pritchard boys?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Old Dan respond to Little Ann’s paw injury, and what does this show about the dogs’ relationships to each other?
2. Why does Billy decide to visit Rubin’s grave, and how does this impact Billy’s emotional state?
CHAPTERS 14-15
Reading Check
1. What competition does Grandpa suggest that Billy and his dogs enter?
2. What does Billy notice about Mama in Chapter 14?
3. What does Little Ann win in the hound beauty contest?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why does Old Dan refuse to eat his dinner at first, and what is Grandpa’s response to this?
2. What beverage does Grandpa prepare for himself, Papa, and Billy, and how does Billy feel about being included in this way?
Paired Resource
- This poem by Robert Frost explores the limits of human control over nature and the role that faith plays in navigating one’s relationship to the natural world.
- This poem connects to the theme of Praying And Faith.
- Like the speaker in the poem, Billy also faces moments in nature within which he must surrender control and lean on faith. Consider the various entities in which Billy puts his faith, such as God, his dogs, other people, and nature. When is he likely to call on each source of strength?
CHAPTERS 16-18
Reading Check
1. What does Grandpa lose in the brush when he, Papa, and Billy set out on the first hunt?
2. What unexpected weather event impacts the hunt’s second night?
3. How much prize money does Billy win at the hunt?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What is the “loud roar” that Billy, Grandpa, Papa, and the judge hear, and what does that show about Billy’s reputation among the hunters?
2. What do Old Dan and Little Ann do to keep from freezing in the storm, and how do the other hunters react to their behavior?
CHAPTERS 19-20
Reading Check
1. What animal does Old Dan and Little Ann tree in Chapter 19?
2. Where do Billy and his family move at the end of the novel?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What do the dogs do when the mountain lion turns toward Billy, and what does this show about the bond between the three?
2. How does Little Ann respond to Old Dan’s death, and to what does this ultimately lead?
Paired Resource
- This resource is the website for the Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard in Northwest Alabama.
- This resource connects to the theme of The Bond Between A Boy And His Dogs.
- Billy’s bond with Old Dan and Little Ann is powerful. How does this website place this bond in a bigger context? In what ways is Billy’s connection with his dogs a reflection of the bond forged within a hunting community, generally?
Recommended Next Reads
- Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson is a young adult novel about two unlikely friends, Jesse and Leslie, who create a magical, imaginary forest kingdom. Through his friendship with Leslie, Jesse learns valuable lessons about love, compassion, adversity, and, ultimately, how to heal from tremendous loss.
- Shared themes include Coming-Of-Age.
- Shared topics include growing up, loss and grief, class divides, and friendship.
- Bridge to Terabithia on SuperSummary
- Written by Kate DiCamillo, Because of Winn-Dixie is a middle grade novel about 10-year-old Opal, who moves to a small town in Florida with her father and befriends a stray dog that she names Winn-Dixie. Through her relationship with Winn-Dixie, Opal is able to process the loss of her mother and find healing from her pain and grief.
- Shared themes include Coming-Of-Age.
- Shared topics include loss and grief, family relationships, growing up, and compassion.
- Because of Winn-Dixie on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
CHAPTERS 1-3
Reading Check
1. A dog fight (Chapter 1)
2. The desire for a dog (Chapter 2)
Short Answer
1. Billy saves $50 and it takes him two years. (Chapter 3)
2. Billy’s grandfather is speechless and in awe, and this shows that Billy’s ability to work and save so diligently is unusual for a boy his age. (Chapter 3)
CHAPTERS 4-6
Reading Check
1. They each cost $5 less (Chapter 4)
2. A hillbilly (Chapter 4)
3. A mountain lion (Chapter 5)
Short Answer
1. Billy watches the stationmaster give water to a canary in a cage and decides that if someone could be kind to a bird, he would be kind to a person. (Chapter 5)
2. Billy names his dogs Old Dan and Little Ann. He chooses them because they are the names carved into a tree at the old fishermen's camp. (Chapter 6)
CHAPTERS 7-9
Reading Check
1. A coonskin (Chapter 7)
2. It is the largest tree in the bottoms. (Chapter 8)
3. A scarecrow (Chapter 9)
Short Answer
1. Papa instructs Billy to take the nails out from the remaining traps so he won’t trap any more racoons, because he doesn’t think that the traps are ethical. (Chapter 7)
2. Billy tells Papa that he made a promise to his dogs and if Billy goes back on that promise on the very first hunt, his dogs won’t ever learn to believe in him. This shows Billy’s understanding of the partnership that exists between a hunter and his dogs. (Chapter 8)
CHAPTERS 10-13
Reading Check
1. A coonskin cap (Chapter 10)
3. She falls through the ice and nearly drowns. (Chapter 11)
3. That Old Dan and Little Ann can tree the ghost coon (Chapter 12)
Short Answer
1. Old Dan refuses to hunt without Little Ann while she is injured. He just lies down outside the corn crib. This shows how connected the two are—they will not hunt alone. (Chapter 10)
2. Billy decides that in order to move on, he must pay his respects at Rubin’s grave. This seems to relieve some of Billy’s guilt, and he decides to resume hunting. (Chapter 13)
CHAPTERS 14-15
Reading Check
1. The championship coon hunt (Chapter 14)
2. She is pregnant. (Chapter 14)
3. A small silver cup/first place (Chapter 15)
Short Answer
1. Old Dan won’t eat his dinner until Little Ann gets hers. Grandpa is astounded and says that he’s never seen a dog who won’t eat before. (Chapter 15)
2. Grandpa offers Billy a cup of coffee, which makes Billy feel very manly and important. He thinks to himself that not only is he big enough to help Papa on the farm, but he is also big enough to drink coffee. (Chapter 15)
CHAPTERS 16-18
Reading Check
1. His hat and glasses (Chapter 16)
2. A sudden blizzard (Chapter 17)
3. Over $300 (Chapter 18)
Short Answer
1. The loud roar is the other hunters cheering on Old Dan and Little Ann. This shows how much Billy has endeared himself to the other hunters. (Chapter 16)
2. The dogs circle the treed raccoon nonstop, as they know that they would freeze if they stopped moving. The other hunters are amazed with the dogs’ tenacity and say they’ve never seen dogs stay with a tree through a storm like that. (Chapter 18)
CHAPTERS 19-20
Reading Check
1. A mountain lion (Chapter 19)
2. They leave the Ozarks and move to town (Chapter 20)
Short Answer
1. Old Dan and Little Ann both jump between the mountain lion and Billy to save his life. This shows how loyal and devoted the dogs are to Billy. (Chapter 19)
2. Little Ann loses her will to live after Old Dan dies. She stops eating and quickly fades away before she, too, dies. (Chapter 19)
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