1. By Kate DiCamillo Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes Visit the Author
Because of Winn-Dixie
By Kate DiCamillo
Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
Visit the Author

2. Study Skills Genre: Realistic Fiction Comprehension Skill: Sequence
Comprehension Strategy: Summarize
Comprehension Review Skill:
Author’s purpose
Vocabulary: Suffixes

3. Genre: Realistic Fiction
In Realistic Fiction the characters speak and act like real people.
The story describes real-life problems and events.
The outcome, or problem resolution, seems to be reasonable.

4. Summary
Moving to a new town can be hard, and making new friends can be even harder. With the help of her dog, Winn Dixie, Opal is able to get to know Miss Franny Block, the local librarian. Miss Block tells Opal an exciting tale about a bear that once wandered into the library.

5. Comprehension Skill – Sequence
Sequence is the order of the events that occur in a story.
You can determine the order of events by clue words such as first and next, in the beginning, then, following, after, and finally.
Some story events may occur at the same time.
Other clue words to indicate sequence might be in the beginning, then, following, after, and finally.
Other story events, such as flashbacks, are told out of order.

6. Comprehension Skill - Summarizing
A summary is a short statement that tells the main ideas of a selection.
A story summary should tell the goals of the characters, how they try to reach them, and whether they reach them.
A summary of an article should tell the main idea, leaving out unnecessary details.
Tips on Summarizing

7. Question of the Week Pg. 18-19
What experiences bring diverse people together?

8. Day 2 - Question of the Day – Pg. 22-33
Can an elderly librarian and a little girl really be friends?

9. Vocabulary Skill – Word Structure : Suffixes
The suffix –ful means “full of.” For example, prideful means “full of pride.”
The suffix –ly means “in a way that is.”
Sometimes –ful and –ly are added to a base word together as in pridefully, which means “acting in a way that is full of pride.”

10. Let’s Practice Suffixes
Base Word
-ful
-ful + -ly
Sentence
care
careful
carefully

11. Comprehension Review Skill
Author’s Purpose is the author’s reason or reasons for writing this story.
Authors don’t usually tell you this. You have to figure the reasons out.
It might be to inform or teach, to entertain, to express their feelings, and to persuade or convince you.

12. Vocabulary- Say It! memorial prideful recalls peculiar grand positive
selecting

13. grand
excellent; very good

14. helping people to remember a person, thing, or event
memorial
helping people to remember a person, thing, or event

15. peculiar
strange; unusual

16. positive
without doubt; sure

17. overly proud of oneself; vain
prideful
overly proud of oneself; vain

18. calls back to mind; remembers
recalls
calls back to mind; remembers

19. selecting
picking out; choosing

20. You will smell peculiar odors at the zoo!

21. You will smell peculiar odors at the zoo!

22. I hope you can recall your lunch number when you are in line.

23. I hope you can recall your lunch number when you are in line.

24. Are you really positive of that answer?

25. Are you really positive of that answer?

26. Do you need help in selecting your library books?

27. Do you need help in selecting your library books?

28. Do you know anyone that acts like a prideful person?

29. Do you know anyone that acts like a prideful person?

30. Miss Franny thought that would be a grand idea!

31. Miss Franny thought that would be a grand idea!

32. Have you ever visited the Lincoln Memorial?

33. Have you ever visited the Lincoln Memorial?

34. Because of Winn Dixie p. 24-25
Re-read p. 25, paragraph 2. List in order the main events that happen in this paragraph.
Why do you think Miss Franny Block is sitting on the floor behind her desk?

35. Because of Winn Dixie p. 26-27
How does Miss Franny feel about bears? How do you know?
When did a bear come into the Herman W. Block Memorial Library? What time words tell you when it happened?

36. Day 3 - Question of the Day – Pg. 22-35
What do Miss Franny and Opal have in common?

37. Because of Winn Dixie p. 28-29
Find the word “Memorial” on p. 28, paragraph 2. How can word structure help you determine the meaning?
Why do you think Miss Franny says “mosquitoes so big they could fly away with you” instead of just “big mosquitoes”?

38. Because of Winn Dixie p. 30-31
Why do you think the author includes in the description how the bear smelled and how big he was?
Using what you already know about bears, do you think Miss Franny should have thrown the book at the bear? Was she brave or foolish to do so? Explain

39. Because of Winn Dixie p. 32-33
What happened in the story that Miss Franny told about the bear? Summarize the story.
How are Opal and Miss Franny alike? Give details to support your answer.
Opal and Miss Franny are different from each other, but they become friends. Think about your own friends. Based on your experience, why do you think certain people become friends?

40. Day 4 - Question of the Day - Pg. 36-39
Why might it cause problems when people move into black bears’ home territory?

41. Review Questions
What do you think it means to be called a “know-it-all”?
What makes Miss Franny sad after telling the story of the bear?
Why did Winn Dixie stand up at the window?
In what ways are Opal and Miss Franny alike?
What kind of attitude does Amanda Wilkinson have when she comes into the library?

42. Memoir TE 39g
A memoir tells about an interesting event or experience in your life. It may include information about how you felt, what you saw, or why you did something.
Memoirs are also known as personal essays.
A memoir that tells a person's life story is called an autobiography.

43. Writing Assignment
Write a memoir about an experience you have had with a pet or other animal. Tell about the events in sequence. Give details about what you saw and how you felt.
Vary your sentences to make your writing more interesting to read.
Use vivid adjective and strong verbs to make the experience come alive.

44. Spelling Words Short Vowels VCCV
contest
engine
finger
accident
fabric
soccer
flatten
mammal
intend
magnet

45. rally cannon custom method mitten gutter happen sudden admire rascal
Short Vowels VCCV
rally
custom
mitten
happen
admire
cannon
method
gutter
sudden
rascal

46. CHALLENGE
dungeon
magnify
festival
thunderstorm
injury

47. Weekly Fluency Check - Tone of Voice TE 39a
You will use the rise and fall of your voice to show where the story includes questions and where it is full of emotion.
Go to page 33 and let’s reread the last two paragraphs.

48. Research/Study Skill – Map/Globe/Atlas TE 39L
A map is an illustration of a place. It could be a drawing of your yard or a solar system.
A map’s legend contains a compass rose showing direction, a scale showing distance, and a key showing symbols on the map and what they represent.

49. Literary Device – Idioms TE Pg. 39b
An idiom is a type of figurative language that cannot be understood by the ordinary meanings of words.
When Lou said, “I don’t have long to go,” he meant he didn’t have much time to live, not that he had a distance to travel.
Often an idiom can be understood by figuring out what makes sense in context
Find the idiom on page 29.

50. Fun Stuff More on Winn-Dixie Web Quest Spelling Hangman
Spelling Words in ABC Order
More on Maps
Even More on Maps