Winnie the Horse Gentler Teaching Plan
Winnie the Horse Gentler #1 – Wild Thing
Winnie the Horse Gentler #2 - Eager Star
Winnie the Horse Gentler #3 – Bold Beauty
Winnie the Horse Gentler #4 – Midnight Mystery
Winnie the Horse Gentler #5 – Unhappy Appy
Winnie the Horse Gentler #6 – Gift Horse
Winnie the Horse Gentler #7 – Friendly Foal
Winnie the Horse Gentler #8 – Buckskin Bandit
By Dandi Daley Mackall
Reading Comprehension Questions
General Questions:
1. In an interesting story, the main character wants something. What does Winnie want in each
book of the series? (In book #1, she wants her mom back and the Arabian horse.) What does she
do to try and get it? What happens to prevent her from getting what she wants?
2. Why do you think the author chose the name Winnie for the main character?
3. Who’s telling each of the stories? What is the point of view? (Winnie – first person)
4. If you could spend one day in Ashland, Ohio, what would you want to do?
5. What are some examples of Winnie’s “horse sense” from each of the books?
6. Which book taught you about trusting God?
7. In which story did Winnie need to learn the same lesson as the horse?
8. Which character would you like as a best friend from the series and why?
9. Winnie calls events “God things.” What are some “God things” that happen in this book series?
Why are they named this?
10. Authors choose their character’s name carefully. Describe what these names say about each
person: Catman, Barker, Winnie, Lizzie.
Activities
Alphabetizing
Winnie and her family lived in three states that began with the letter “I.” Can you name them and put
them in alphabetical order?
Vowels
Fill in the missing vowels to complete words from the story:
B_ck
Gat_
Mar_
App_l_osa
liz_ard
k_tt_n
gu_lt
be_st
b_ckw_rd
le_dr_pe
p_dd_ck
Character Traits
Try to match the following breed of horse with one of the characters from the story based on their
personalities:
Mustang – suspicious of humans; hard to train
Morgan – reliable, trustworthy
Quarter Horse – usually easy going and good-natured
Arabian – often high-spirited
Trakehner – strong dependable, can do it all
Art
1. Winnie has a “photographic memory.” Can you draw some pictures that her memory might have
captured?
2. Create a tie-dyed t-shirt like Catman Coolidge wears.
3. Using art supplies, create a timeline of any story from the Winnie series.
Sayings
Winnie’s Mom had several sayings. Let’s take a look at some of them:
1. “In the beginning, God created heaven and earth and horses.” (from p. 1 Wild Thing) How did
this Scripture change?
2. “A King-size God thing”(p. 11 Wild Thing). What do you think this saying means? Make a list of
“king-size God things” in your life.
Writing Exercises
1. Practice writing a pet email to Winnie, Barker, or Catman to ask their advice.
2. You have to sell Wild Thing and the auction isn’t available. Try to write an advertisement for the
newspaper to sell this special horse. Use strong adjectives to describe Wild Thing.
3. Write a brief newspaper article using Who, What, When, Where, Why and How describing
Winnie’s experience trying to buy Wild Thing.
4. Write a poem describing any of the horses in the series.
5. Horses communicate without making a sound. Describe what you think each action means:
flattened ears, stamping a hoof, switching tail, snorting.
Geography
1. Find Ashland, Ohio on a map. Look up the history, climate and geography of the town and write
a brief report.
2. Create a map of Winnie’s town.
Memory Exercise
Have students study for a few minutes the parts-of-the-horse chart on p. 160 from Wild Thing. Now use
a large picture of a horse in front of the class and ask students to identify parts they remember.