Old Yeller and the Bear

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Old Yeller and the Bear

• From Old Yeller
• By Fred Gipson

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Focus Questions

• What kinds of animals does Arliss encounter on
  the frontier?
• How does he get himself into trouble with the
  bear?
• Who will rescue Arliss?

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Background Information

• In this selection, Traviss father is absent. He
  is on a cattle drive which could mean he would be
  gone for up to two months.
• Ranchers would herd their cattle to sell at a
  cow town.
• After the Civil War, life in Texas was hard. The
  state had fought for the Confederacy and was now
  poor. Many of the people who lived there were
  rugged, hardworking, and courageous, but like
  could be dangerous.
• As we read, make a chart of things in the
  frontier life that you think might be fun and
  those which would be difficult.

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Vocabulary

• When Mama yelled, Travis became spooked.
• That spooked me. Up until now, I was ready to
  fight the bear on my own. Now I was scared out of
  my wits again.
• Spooked
• scared

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Vocabulary

• Generally, it would be a tangled-up mess of
  grasshoppers and worms and praying bugs
• and little rusty tree lizards.
• The playful kitten left a ball of yarn tangled-up
  on the floor.
• Tangled-up
• mixed up and stuck together

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Vocabulary

• She said that if he ever told a bigger whooper
  than the ones Id told, shed yet to hear it.
• We listened as Travis told a whopper of a tale
  about catching a two-foot long catfish with is
  bare hands. We all laughed.
• Whopper
• an exaggerated tale

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Vocabulary

• Little Arlisss second scream, when it came, was
  louder and shriller and more frantic-sounding
  that the first.
• The woman was frantic when she lost her purse.
  She ran up and down every aisle in the store,
  looking for it.
• Frantic
• very worried and afraid

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Vocabulary

• I think Mama let him tell so many big yarns about
  his catching live game that hed begun to believe
  them himself.
• My dad likes to tell yarns about when he was a
  boy, but we know most of them arent true.
• Yarns
• made up stories

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Extra Vocabulary

• spasmschaparralsulledwindiesmarrowlungerowd
  yhorned toad

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Word Knowledge

• hurt harm
• little small
• slim thin
• scared afraid
• What do these pairs of words have in common?
• synonyms
• Can you choose a pair to use in a sentence where
  you can easily use either word?

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Word Knowledge

• wedged
• dislodged
• charge
• general
• allegiance
• What sound and spellings do these words have in
  common?
• /j/ sound spelled dge and g
• Can you think of any other words that fit the
  pattern?

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Word Knowledge

• copperhead
• first
• louder
• further
• What sound do these words have in common?
• How is it spelled?
• /er/ spelled er, ir ,ur
• Can you think of any other words that fit the
  pattern?

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Word Knowledge

• captured
• catching
• ached
• poured
• scrambling
• What endings do these words have in common?
• What are the base/root words?
• How does the suffix change the root?

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Sentences

• The nurse said that it will only hurt at first.
• Identify the words that have the /er/ sound.

15
Sentences

• The gem was wedged between two little rocks.
• Identify the 2 words that have the /j/ sound. How
  is the sound spelled?

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Sentences

• I knew danger was near because the scary noise
  got louder.
• Identify the word that has the /j/ sound and the
  /er/ sound.
• Find a word in the sentence that has a synonym
  and reread the sentence using that synonym.

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Sentences

• The boat workers arms and shoulders ached after
  a day of catching shrimp in nets.
• Identify the words with ed and-ing.