Novel Study

Because of Winn-Dixie
By: Kate Dicamillo
Study By: Abigail Hancock

Novel Study
Because of Winn-Dixie
By: Kate Dicamillo

Table of Contents:
Tab 1: Explanations of all
activities
Tab 2: Novel Study Calendar,
Genre Web, and Summary
Tab 3: Student Novel Study
booklet
Tab 4: Summative Assessment
Tab 5: Extra Resources

Tab 6: Bibliography

Genre Web

Theme:
Friendship

Summary
Because of Winn-Dixie follows the story of a 10 year old girl
named India Opal. Opal recently moved to Naomi, FL and does
not have any friends. Her mother left her when she was little, and
her father is a preacher and is always busy. However, her life
changes one day in the Winn-Dixie grocery store when she brings
a dog home. After that Opal meets many people and begins to
feel less and less lonely. She learns any things through these
relationships, and her view of the world begins to grow.
Everything changed in her life all because of Winn-Dixie.

About the Author

Kate DiCamillo wrote the book Because of Winn-Dixie. She
has written a number of other childrens books such as The Tale
of Despereaux, and The Tiger Rising. As a child, she was sick
which lead her family to decide to move to Florida. She grew up
with a dog, which influenced her decision to write this book. In the
apartment where she now lives, she is not able to have a dog and
she misses dogs. Kate is not married and does not have any
children, but she loves writing books for children.

Overview
This novel study is made for 4th Grade
Introduction
To introduce this novel study, I would teach the students
about the author, Kate DiCamillo, and activate the prior
knowledge they have to help them connect to the book. In
their packet, each student would have a sheet to introduce
the author. We would talk about it as a class and note on the
whiteboard the things we find most interesting about her. I
would ask the students if there is anything about Kate that
they can relate to. Some examples may be that they have a
dog, they have read another one of her books, or that they
have moved. We would also discuss the reason Kate wrote
the book Because of Winn-Dixie. Then I would have the
students discuss with a partner and then share with the class
if there is anything that has happened in their life that might
motivate them to write a book. After doing this, the teacher
would formally introduce the book by having the students
look at the cover and discuss what they think will happen in
the book. Then the teacher will read the first chapter to the
class modeling fluency and a lot of expression. After listening
to the teacher, the students will fill out the Making
Predictions graphic organizer to write down what they think
will happen based on the first chapter. This page will be in
their packet, so the students will be able to look back at it
after reading the whole book and see if they were close.
These activities would activate the students prior knowledge
and get them excited for the novel study.

Closure
The class will watch the movie Because of Winn-Dixie to
close out the novel study as a celebration of the book and all
that they did with it. After watching the movie, the students

will discuss in groups and then share with the class what
they thought about the movie, and what they had imagined
differently than how it was portrayed in the movie. Next,
they would complete the Making Comparisons and Visual
Comparisons activities. These require the students to
compare the book with the movie both in writing and in a
visual way. They will also discuss all together as a class why
movies are not the exact same as the book, and whether or
not they think a movie could ever follow the book exactly.

Extension Project:
To extend the book, and what they students are learning,
they will complete a project in groups that requires them to
create a tree like Glorias. They will also each decorate a
water bottle and write a regret they have to put inside of it.
They will be given specific materials and requirements they
must meet to complete the project. These are outlined
specifically on the Bottles on a Tree activity pages, included
in the student booklet.

Cross Curricular Activities

Science
o Standard: Describe the life cycle of plants, including
seed, seed germination, growth, and reproduction
[SC.3.7].
Describing how plants occupy space and use light,
nutrients, water, and air
o Objective: When given a graphic organizer, students
will correctly identify the difference between a tree that
receives light and a tree that receives no light.
o Activity: The teacher will discuss with the students the
life cycle of a tree, and how the tree needs light,
nutrients, water, and air to survive. To display this, the
teacher and students will plant a sapling in a pot and
put one by the window and one in a cabinet. They will
give each plant the same amount of water and soil and

see how they differ based on the amount of sunlight

they receive. The students will record their findings at
the end of each week for a month on the sheet
provided. This connects to Because of Winn-Dixie with
the wait-and-see tree that Gloria and Opal planted in
Chapter 10.
Music
o Standard: Identify the four families of instruments in an
orchestra [AED.3.11].
o Objective: When given an image of a guitar and
listening to a sample song, students will correctly
identify it as a part of the string family.
o Activity: The teacher will explain the difference between
the four different instrument families in an orchestra:
strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. She will then
play an excerpt of each type. To connect it to the book,
the teacher will have the students figure out which
instrument family the guitar that Otis plays belongs to
by showing them a picture and playing a guitar musical
excerpt.
Excerpts:
Guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=mYoThRu4anc
Strings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=2yKGTMuPRgU
Brass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpvkBZqk3Q
Woodwind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=kUEJmAM2-x0
Percussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=tY6Jg3n9fX8
Math
o Standard: Solve real-world and mathematical problems
involving perimeters of polygons, including finding the
perimeter given the side lengths, finding an unknown

side length, and exhibiting rectangles with the same

perimeter and different areas or with the same area
and different perimeters. [3-MD8]
o Objective: When given the dimensions of a rectangle in
a real world situation, students will correctly solve for
the perimeter.
o Activity: Students will be given a scenario in Gloria
Dumps yard. They will have to plan for the party by
calculating the perimeter of her yard in order to know
how many lights they would need to decorate. Then the
students will draw out how they would decorate the
yard for a party.
Arts
o Standard: Create classroom dramatizations based on
personal experiences, imagination, literature, heritage,
and history; including characters, settings, dialogues,
and situations.
o Objective: When given a specific scene from the text,
students will bring the text to life in dramatizations
according to their plan.
o Activity: The class will be split up into 5 groups. Each
group will be given a scene from the text and a scene
planning organizer where they will plan out how they
will act out the scene. The students will then present
their dramas to the class.
Technology
o Standard: Explain the influence of technology on
society [TC.7.3-5].
o Objective: Students will be able to defend whether or
not they think technology is helping or hurting our
society using at least 3 reasons to support their opinion.
o Activity: The students will explore how adding
technology such as cell phones and I-pads would
change different scenes in the book. They will then
come up with pros and cons to technology in our
society which will help them form an opinion for
whether technology is helping or hurting our society.

Then they will write out their answer using at least 3

reasons to support their opinion.
Social Studies/Geography
o Standard: Identify conflicts within and between
geographic areas involving use of land, economic
competition for scarce resources, opposing political
views, boundary disputes, and cultural differences.
o Objective: When given a graphic organizer, students
will explain at least 5 reasons that Fort Sumter was
significant.
o Activity: The students will research the importance of
Fort Sumter. Miss. Franny mentions in the book the
story of Littmus W. Block, and how he was very young
during the firing on Fort Sumter. The students will use
history.com to research the significance of this event
and why there was conflict. A graphic organizer to
guide their research will be provided.

Comprehension Strategies:
Visualization
o I will help students with visualization in a variety of
ways. One is that they will complete a stretch to sketch
activity on a scene in the first 3 chapters. This causes
the students to think about how a scene in the book, in
writing, might look if it was draw out or brought to life.
Predicting
o The students will practice the comprehension skill of
predicting thought a graphic organizer during the
introductory part of the study. This organizer helps the
students think about what the book will be about after
only hearing the first chapter. This causes the students
to predict and at the end of the study they can look
back and see how close they were.
Summarizing
o I am helping the students understand and be able to
summarize though an activity that requires the

students to pick out key events from the bear story

Miss. Franny tells. This activity helps scaffold the
summarizing because it requires the students to first
pick out 4 main events from Miss. Frannys story, and
then combine those events all together in a summary.
Recall
o The students practice recall though each of the chapter
guides. Many of the questions on the guides are recall.
These guides along with each of the activities will all be
in a packet for the students so that they can keep track
of everything in an easy place. It is important for the
students to be able to recall important information from
the book because they will also be tested on this
material.
Making Inferences
o The students will acquire the inference making skill
through an activity that requires the students to think
about why Littmus W. Block created the Littmus
Lozenges that taste like sadness. This requires the
students to think about why he did this, even though it
is not explicitly stated in the book.
Questioning
o The students will participate in a 3, 2, 1 activity that
teaches the skill of questioning. This activity requires
the students to think beyond what the text say. It helps
the dive deeper into the text and what the characters
are really thinking.
Determining Importance
o The activity Importance vs. Interesting will teach the
students the skill of determining importance. They will
be able to see that important things would change the
whole story if they were left out. Meanwhile interesting
things are just extra details that make the story more
interesting.
Making Connections:
o In this novel study, I include a text to text, text to self,
and text to world activity. It is extremely important that

students are able to connect to the text themselves and

connect the text to other things such as other texts and
the world because the students will be able to relate
more to the book which will help them remember it and
truly learn from it. There are a number of other areas in
the study where I ask the students to connect to the
text. One example of this is when Opal and Gloria are
planning for the party, I have an activity and questions
that ask the students to think about a time when they
had to plan for a party and what they did to prepare. I
would teach students to make these connections by
modeling the connections myself. I would connect the
text to thinks in my life or things we have done in our
classroom. This would help students see the importance
of making connections and how they can do it. To help
the students think deeper about the book and different
perspectives, I could ask them how the book might be
different if the main character were a boy, or if it was
Opals father who had left them rather than her mother.
Questions like these would be great for the students to
discuss and it would really deeper their thinking about
the book. In addition, there are many big, important
themes in this book. Some of these include: friendship,
loneliness, judgement, regret, and sadness. I have
many activities and questions throughout this study to
help the students see these themes throughout the
book. I would also have the students look at how these
themes were displayed in many of the characters, and
how they looked different in each persons life. This
could lead to great, meaningful discussions about how
these themes are found in their own lives or how they
see them in others around them.

Writing Connection
I would teach a writing lesson with this book by focusing on
placing the students in Opals shoes. They will be given a

prompt that explains they need to write 3 journal entries

from Opals point of view. The entries will show how Opals
feelings toward her mama changed from the beginning, to
the middle, to the end. I will take the students through the
entire writing process. In order to help the students
brainstorm, the page with the prompt also has spots for the
students to jot down their ideas for each entry. Next, the
students will be given 3 pages for their rough draft
(included). After completing their rough draft, the students
will complete the My Editing Checklist in order to edit their
rough draft before conferencing with the teacher. After
conferencing with the teacher, the students will write their
second draft on the same paper as the rough draft paper.
Then with a partner, they will swap writing pieces and edit
each others with the same checklist. Once this has all been
completed, the students will write their final, published draft
on the final draft appear with a border (included). This will
help the students become better writers and more familiar
with the writing process as well as help them grasp a deeper
understanding of how Opal changed throughout the book.

Calendar
Day 1

Introduction
TR: Chapter 1

About the Author

Making
Predictions

Day 2

BR: Chapter 2
HW: Chapter 3

Chapter reading
guide
(Visualization
Sketch to Stretch)
Determining
Importance
(Important vs.
Interesting)

Day 3

TR: Chapter 4
BR: Chapter 5
HW: Chapter 6

Day 4

TR: Chapter 7
BR: Chapter 8
HW: Chapter 9

Day 5

TR: Chapter 10
BR: Chapter 11
HW: Chapter 12

Chapter reading
guide
10 Things about
Me
Poem Connection
(With a Friend 2
pages)
Chapter reading
guide
Summarizing (A
Bear of a
Summary)
Chapter reading
guide
Questioning
(Exploring the
Chapters 3, 2, 1)
Science
Connection (Wait
and See Tree 2
pages)

Day 6

TR: Chapter 13
BR: Chapter 14
HW: Chapter 15

Day 7

TR: Chapter 16
BR: Chapter 17
HW: Chapter 18

Day 8

TR: Chapter 19
BR: Chapter 20
HW: Chapter 21

Day 9

TR: Chapter 22
BR: Chapter 23
HW: Chapter 24

Chapter reading
guide
Making
Connections
(Connecting to
the Text)
Extension Activity
(Bottles on a Tree
2 pages)
Chapter reading
guide
History
Connection(The
Firing on Fort
Sumter 3 pages)
Curious Candy
Chapter reading
guide
Math Connection
(Decorating for a
Party)
Music Connection
(Otis Guitar)
Chapter reading
guide
Technology
Connection
(Introducing
Technology)

Day 10

TR: Chapter 25
HW: Chapter 26

Day 11

Closure

Chapter reading
guide
Arts Connection
(Bringing the Text
to Life 4 pages)
Vocabulary (Word
Fun)
Writing
Connection (An
Absent Mother 8pages) This
writing piece will
take a number of
days and go past
this study but it
will be introduces
on this day.
Movie
Making
Comparisons
Visual
Comparisons

About the Author

Kate Dicamillo
Life

 Kate moved from Philadelphia to Florida

when she was 5.
She grew up with a black poodle named
Nanette.
She was a sickly child with chronic
pneumonia.
She now lives in Minnesota and
writes books for children and adults.
Kate is not married and does not have
any children.

Other Books
Tale of
Despereaux
Flora and

Ulysses

The Tiger Rising

The Miraculous Journey

Tulane

of Edward

Because of Winn-Dixie
Kate wrote Because of Winn-Dixie because she was
homesick for Florida and she wanted a dog but dogs were
not allowed in her apartment

Chapter Guides

 Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day

1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:

Chapters
Chapters
Chapters
Chapters
Chapters
Chapters
Chapters
Chapters
Chapters

1-3
4-6
7-9
10-12
11-15
16-18
19-21
22-24
25-26

Making Predictions
Directions: After reading the first chapter of Because of WinnDixie, brainstorm what you think will happen in the rest of the
book. Then, after reading the book you can see if your predictions
were right!

Because of WinnDixie will be

about

Chapters 1-3
1) Where did Opal find Winn-Dixie and why is this significant to the story?

2) Why did Opal refer to Winn-Dixie as a Less Fortunate when she

introduced Winn-Dixie to her father?

3) Why does Opal tell Winn-Dixie that they are both orphans?

4) Sketch to Stretch: Pick a scene from chapters 1, 2, or 3 and draw how

you imagine the scene looked. Make sure to add a caption.

Caption:

Important vs. Interesting

When we are reading, some things are important to the story, in other words
the story would not be the same without that fact. Meanwhile other facts are
just interesting. These facts add to the story, however if they were missing,
the overall story would stay the same. Lets explore what facts are important
in chapters 1, 2, and 3, and what facts are interesting.

Important

Interesting

Chapters 4-6
1) What are three of the ten things the preacher told Opal about her
mama?

2) What makes The Open Arms Baptist Church of Naomi different from
other churches?

3) Why did Miss. Franny scream and sit on the floor behind her desk?

10 Things About YOU!

On the next page, list 10 things you would want someone to know
about you, just like the 10 things the preacher told Opal about her
mama. Use the space below to brainstorm your 10 things before
writing them on the next page.

10 Things
About ME!

10 Things About Me!

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)