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Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources for Stone Fox

The cover for Stone Fox Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources

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Use Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner to turn your read aloud or small group work into a time to improve comprehension and talk about the text in purposeful ways.

This captivating and relatable novel follows ten year-old Willy as he tries to save his Grandfather's farm from tax collectors. If he can find a way to beat the undefeated Stone Fox in the National Dogsled Race, the prize money will be enough to pay the debt. John Reynolds Gardiner's Stone Fox presents rich themes of friendship, loyalty, and generosity that will engage students in asking thoughtful questions and supporting their responses by referencing, synthesizing, and making inferences from the text.

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Explore lesson plans and activities to help you teach with Stone Fox in the drop down below.

Instructional Overview

The instructional overview includes instructional background for asking and answering questions, instructional objectives for each of the Book Club meetings, and a list of the materials and preparation necessary to the Stone Fox Book Club.

Common Core State Standards Alignment

TEKS Alignment

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Management Resources

The management resources include a Book Club Calendar, conversation prompts, Student Self-Evaluation forms, Reading Response Board (with optional Common Core alignment), and an Expectations for Book Club anchor chart.

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Meeting 1

Using Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner, students will discover how asking and answering questions makes them a more focused reader and increases their understanding of the text. This first Book Club meeting challenges students to ask who, what, where, when, why, and how questions using the book's cover.

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Meeting 2

Asking and answering questions about the characters in the story is one way for readers to connect with the characters. This Stone Fox Book Club meeting focuses on not only asking questions about characters, but also answering the questions by citing the text.

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Meeting 3

When asking questions about the events in John Reynolds Gardiner's Stone Fox, readers will be able to better understand what is happening in the story and anticipate what might come next. This meeting provides a ready-to-use activity for students to practice this skill.

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Meeting 4

This Stone Fox Book Club meeting takes answering questions a step further. Sometimes, authors like John Reynolds Gardiner don't leave the answers to our questions directly in the text, but rather provide clues about the characters and events. Students will practice reading these clues to answer their questions about the story.

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Meeting 5

This final Stone Fox Book Club meeting provides readers the opportunity to pull together multiple facts from the text and make a logical guess to answer their questions. Students will also demonstrate their synthesizing skills by creating Searchlight Memory Board as a culminating activity for this Book Club.

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The first page of Asking Questions with A Bad Case of Stripes

Vocabulary Connections with Stone Fox

This set of vocabulary development resources for Stone Fox highlights the words that are most important for students to know and understand while reading the book. Through engaging in fun word games, matching words to definitions, and practicing how to categorize words, students will develop the vocabulary necessary to comprehend this story and many others.

Common Core State Standards Alignment

L.3.4a,L.3.5b,L.3.6

TEKS Alignment

3.7E,3.7F,3.3A,3.3B

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Focus Assessment and Rubric

Use this six-question assessment to determine whether or not students understand the key concepts associated with Asking and Answering Questions.

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Comprehension Assessment with Stone Fox

This 9 question Common Core aligned assessment can be used to determine students' overall comprehension of Stone Fox and their mastery of the Common Core State Standards.

Common Core State Standards Alignment

TEKS Alignment

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Management Resources - Spanish

The management resources include a Book Club Calendar, conversation prompts, Student Self-Evaluation forms, Reading Response Board (with optional Common Core alignment), and an Expectations for Book Club anchor chart.

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About the Book

Title: Stone Fox

Author: John Reynolds Gardiner

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Themes: Perseverance, Adventure, Decision Making, Winter, Family

ISBN: 9780062009661

Publisher's Summary:

Ten-year-old Willy lives on a potato farm in Wyoming with his beloved grandfather. When his grandfather suddenly becomes too ill and despondent to get out of bed, Willy discovers their farm is on the verge of foreclosure. Determined to save both his home and his grandfather, Willy learns about the National Dogsled Race, which offers a cash prize large enough to pay off the farm's debts. With the help of his loyal dog, Searchlight, Willy bravely enters the race—even though he's competing against experienced adults, including the legendary Stone Fox, a Native American racer who has never lost.

Stone Fox is renowned for his skill and stoic demeanor, and his presence adds tension and excitement to the contest. As the story unfolds, themes of perseverance, loyalty, and love shine through Willy's determination and the deep bond he shares with Searchlight. The book is inspired by a Rocky Mountain legend and blends adventure with emotional depth, making it a powerful read-aloud for elementary classrooms. Stone Fox is celebrated for its accessible storytelling, compelling characters, and the important life lessons it imparts, inviting thoughtful discussion about courage, loss, and hope.

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Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources for Stone Fox