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Title: The Long Winter
Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder
ISBN: 00644000691 0-06-440006-9
Ages: 10 and up
Number of Pages: 334
The Long Winter Summary: Imagine growing up on the prairie where some of your best friends are the dragon-flies and butterflies fluttering around you. The life on the prairie may seem lonely at times because many pioneer families lived hundreds of miles from neighbors and towns. However, many families found living on the prairie, farming and owning their own land a great way to raise their family. They enjoyed the baby blue skies, the smells of the prairie grass and wild flowers, blaze orange sunsets and the sounds of the birds chirping and wind blowing through the prairie grass! This is some of the wonderful experiences that a little girl named Laura Ingalls enjoyed while living on the prairie in De Smet, South Dakota! The story is based on actual events that happened in Laura's life growing up as a pioneer.
The Long Winter tells the story of Ingalls family struggle to survive the long, harsh winter of 1880-1881 in the Dakota Territory. We are reminded that not so long ago that many families had to use their instincts, hard work, common sense and know-how to get them through hard times. The first clue of the upcoming winter challenges that they were about to face is when Laura's pa spies a solidly built muskrat house. By ingeniously using nature to help predict the weather, Pa was able to help his family prepare for the upcoming blizzard. While it's hard to imagine families being able to survive without the luxuries of electricity and running water, we can begin to imagine what the life was like for those who wanted a better life for their families and were willing to work hard for it! The Long Winter takes us back to a time when the pioneers were one with the land! As the Ingalls family lives day by day, facing one of the harshest winters ever recorded, we come to admire their bravery, patience, and appreciation for each other!
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A train stuck in snow. March 29, 1881
Why you should use this book: The Long Winter is a wonderful book to introduce the basic concepts of about the experiences and challenges of the Pioneers lifestyle! Students will be able to connect their own way of living to the way pioneer children grew up in the 1800's. The students will understand that pioneers used different modes of transportation, endured many hardships along the way to achieve their goals and that life on the prairie was difficult for all family members. The Long Winter will help students connect to terms such as homestead, prairie and partition. The little girl, Laura Ingalls shares her story as she tells it through her own eyes as a child which will connect with the students who are around the same age. This will help student understanding because they will be able to compare and contrast Laura's life back in the 1800's to their own life in the 21st Century!
The Long Winter can be read together as a class or have the students read the book individually. Listed below are the links that can be used to help teach this book to students. For example, the Essential Questions will allow your students to think and question how the pioneers impacted our nation. The Lesson Plan will help engage your students into deeper understanding about the Pioneers experiences during the 1800's!
This is a You Tube video called A Writer's Life by Pamela Smith Hill. It shares with us the pictures and places where of our author, Laura Ingalls Wilder, grew up! We also get to see a map of places where she lived and traveled lived during her life. By having this background information, it will help students make connections and provide a deeper understanding to the book The Long Winter.
The Long Winter Top Ten List
The Long Winter Primary Source Lesson Plan
The Long Winter Lesson Plan
The Long Winter Vocabulary Page
The Long Winter Vocabulary Activities
The Long Winter Summative Research
The Long Winter Essential Questions
The Long Winter Resource Page
Other Links:
NCSS Ten Themes
MNSocialStudiesStandards
Pioneer Music cold frosty morning.mp3
More Free Music at MP3-Codes.com
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