Where the Red Fern Grows
by Wilson Rawls
Chapter 1
Focus question:
The narrator doesn’t yet reveal his name.
What does he tell and show about
himself?
Vocabulary Words:
sheen
squalling
Farming in the 1920s
Chapter 2
Focus question:
How do you picture Billy and his home?
Vocabulary:
• aromatic
• canebrakes
• Sparsely
• squalling
Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma
The Cherokee Strip in
Oklahoma
A Cherokee Chief
Chapter 3
Focus question:
How does Billy change during these two
years?
Vocabulary:
dumbfounded
festered
quavering
The Ozark Mountains
Chapter 4
Focus question:
Compare Billy to the townspeople.
Vocabulary:
provisions
Chapter 5
Focus question:
What bonds are already being forged
between Billy and the pups?
Vocabulary:
muster
provisions
Chapter 6
Focus question:
Are you surprised by his parents’ reaction
when Billy comes home with the puppies?
Why or why not?
Vocabulary:
hampering
querying
Rural Life
A corncrib is a
slatted enclosure
for storing and
drying ears of
corn. The spaced
slats let air
circulate and
prevent rotting.
Another example of a corncrib
Chapter 7
Focus question:
What do you learn about raccoons and raccoon
hunting in this chapter?
Vocabulary:
bulldogged
gouge
wiley
Raccoon Hunting
Dogs chase the
raccoon by scent
until it is “treed,”
which means that it
is trapped in a tree.
The dogs then “bark treed,” and then the hunter got the
raccoon down by chopping the tree down or scaring it
out. It was considered unsportsmanlike to kill a raccoon
while it was treed.
Chapter 8
Focus Question:
How does this chapter demonstrate Billy’s
feelings for his dogs?
Vocabulary:
domain
jarred
Chapter 9
Focus Question:
Based on Billy’s actions, what three
adjectives would you use to describe him?
Vocabulary:
limbered
wedge
winced
Chapter 10
Focus Question: What do you learn about the
unusual qualities of Old Dan and Little Ann in
this chapter?
Vocabulary:
abounded
nonchalantly
riffle
slough
Chapter 11
Focus Question:
What do you discover about the
importance of self-reliance?
Vocabulary:
Chapter 12
Focus Question:
Compare Billy and the Pritchard boys.
Vocabulary:
begrudgingly
debris
disposition
surpassed
Prohibition (1920 – 1933)
Chapter 13
Focus Question:
Are you surprised by the outcome of the
ghost coon hunt? Why or why not?
Vocabulary:
clambered
taut
Chapter 14
Focus Question:
This chapter reveals the personalities of
Billy’s mother, his youngest sister, and his
grandmother. What is Billy’s relationship
with each of them?
Vocabulary:
droning
gloated
jubilant
Chapter 15
Focus Question:
What do Grandpa’s actions tell about his
character?
Vocabulary:
dabbing
Chapter 16
Focus Question: How do you predict the
hunt will end? What makes you think so?
Vocabulary:
doused
faltered
flitting
Chapter 17
Focus Question:
Are the Colmans’ actions during the
blizzard responsible or irresponsible?
Explain your answer.
Vocabulary:
gawking
Chapter 18
Focus Question:
What do you learn about love and loyalty
from Billy, Grandpa, and the dogs?
Vocabulary:
awed
haggard
Chapter 19
Focus Question:
In what ways do Old Dan and Little Ann
help Billy and his family?
Vocabulary:
berserk
churring
cleaved
disembowel
entrails
feeble
foliage
jugular
lithe
scourge
Chapter 20
Focus Question:
How does Billy come to terms with the
deaths of Old Dan and Little Ann?
Vocabulary: