Curriculum area(s):
Reading/Language Arts

Grade Level:
Elementary -- Lower Grades K-2

Objectives:
1. Students will be able to discuss the visual images they form of the characters and setting.
2. Students will explore and compare the geographical setting of the story to their own.
3. Students will expand their vocabulary using words from the story.
4. Students will be able to discuss the concepts of property taxes, land acquisition, and Indian reservations.
5. Students will be able to discuss details of the story after it is read to them.
6. Students will be able to compare and contrast story elements of plot, characters, and settings with the video version of the story.
7. Children will be able to execute a basic search and print operation using the computer.
8. Students will be able to locate vocabulary words in a computer-generated find-a-word.
9. Students will be able to express through art their favorite part of the book.
10. Students will be able to put the story events in sequential order.

Materials needed:
Stone Fox, book and video
starring Buddy Ebsen
Vocabulary lists for handouts
Drawing paper
Blank U.S. maps showing the po-
litical subdivisions
of the states
Colored pencils or crayons
Pictures/books of Wyoming
Find-a-word puzzle

Time estimated to complete lesson:
2 weeks, 30-40 minutes per day

Procedure:
Lesson 1:
Locate both Wyoming and the home state on a blank U.S. map. Label and color each of the two states. Labeling Canada and the oceans should be considered. Share pictures of Wyoming using library sources or the Internet. Discuss the climate of Wyoming and how it might compare and contrast to that of the home state of your class. Directions can also be discussed.

Lesson 2:
Introduce three vocabulary words either by writing on the board or in a handout:
strongbox
city slickers
twilight
Discuss potato farming.
Read aloud Chapters 1-3.
Discuss visual images of Little
Willy,Searchlight,Doc
Smith, and Grandfather.

Lesson 3:
Discuss and display the following vocabulary:
derringer
legal
property taxes
dog-sled races
contestants
Samoyeds
gold vs.paper money
granite
Shoshone
Read Chapters 4-6.
Discuss visual images of
Clifford Snyder and
Stone Fox.
Discuss similarities
between Stone Fox
and Little Willy-
particularly their
feelings about land

Lesson 4:
Review perceptions
of Stone Fox.
Read Chapters 6-10.
Discuss renewed perceptions of Stone Fox.

Lesson 5:
Begin watching the video of Stone Fox. Discuss, after about 30 minutes of viewing time, the differences between the book and the movie.

Lesson 6:
Watch 30 more minutes of the movie, after which the students will be able to name more differences.

Lesson 7:
Finish both the movie and the discussion of differences.

Lesson 8:
All children will bring to class the name of five dog breeds they wish to find via the Internet. Hopefully enough will be named so that each child will be accessing a different site. All children will locate a picture of "their" dog on the internet and print out the picture.

Lesson 9:
A find-a-word puzzle using characters and vocabulary from Stone Fox will be given to each student. Puzzlemaker.com will be the source used to create the puzzle.

Lesson 10:
Students will draw a picture of their favorite scene from Stone Fox. All students will then be involved in putting them in sequential order.

Extension activities:
1.Shoshone Indians could be investigated.

2.Biographical information about the author, John Reynolds Gardiner, could be found on the Internet.

3.Children may be able to create their own puzzles via the Internet.