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Families Read Every Day
Mason Dixon Pet Disasters
by Claudia Mills
As families read Pet Disasters together, many parents and children will naturally have some comments and questions to share with each other during reading or at the end of a
chapter. The following ideas are merely suggestions of possible topics that might inspire reflection together but are not intended to replace your own thoughts and feelings or
serve as a test of any kind. Happy reading!
Monday
Kick-Off!!
14
READ CHAPTER 1:
 If you have a pet,
what are your
responsibilities in
caring for the pet?
 If you don’t have a
pet, what kind of pet
would you like and how
would you take care of
it?
NEW VOCABULARY
 Mason Dixon Line
(p. 5)
 Sari (p. 6)
 Capers (p. 6)
 Dimensions (p. 1)
Tuesday
READ CHAPTER 2:
 If you could go to
Wednesday
15
summer camp, what
would you like to do?
 How did Brody feel
after Dunk spilled all
of the water on his
paper? Use evidence
from the text to
support your answer?
 Why do you think
Brody made a picture
of Mason’s hamster?
NEW VOCABULARY
 Medium (p. 18)
 Rectangular (p. 16)
 Vibrant Hues (p. 18)
 Accomplished (p. 21)
 Non-contaminated
(p. 22)
READ CHAPTER 3:
Thursday
16
 If you were making a
costume for Hamster,
what would it be?
 Draw out your costume
idea. Take to school
to share
NEW VOCABULARY
 Sprawled (p. 26)
 Miffed (p. 28)
 Afghan (p. 29)
 Bureau (p. 32)
 Assemble (p. 35)
READ CHAPTER 4:
Friday
17
 Why do you think Dunk
is so mean to Mason
and Brody?
 How would you feel if
Dunk made you knock
your painting into the
water?
 Do you think Mason
will find Hamster?
Make a prediction.
 If you had to paint
something over and
over again what would
it be and why?
NEW VOCABULARY
 Contributing (p. 38)
 Abandoned (p. 42)
 Smirk (p. 43)
 Systematically (p. 45)
 Advantageous (p. 45)
 Jinxing (p. 46)
READ CHAPTER 5:
 Why was Mason
18
uncomfortable around
Cat?
 Brody and Mason had
different reactions to
being invited to Nora’s
house. What were
they?
NEW VOCABULARY
 Oppressive (p. 50)
 Emerged (p. 52)
 Repulsive (p. 53)
 Emotional (p. 54)
 Residence (p. 56)
 Kiln (p. 57)
 Commotion (p.60)
 Quizzical (p. 61)
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
21
22
23
24
25
26
READ CHAPTER 6:
READ CHAPTER 7:
READ CHAPTER 8:
READ CHAPTER 9:
READ CHAPTER 10:
Community
Activity
 What actions did
 Reflect on the
 Talk about how
 If you could invent  Brody said having
the lady in the
last paragraph in
Mason’s feelings
a toy for Dog what
Dog as a pet was
Indian Creek Public
animal shelter do
the chapter: “If
seemed to change
would it be?
the best thing that Library: 2:00 P.M.
that led to Duke
dog was man’s
about Dog during  What are things
had ever happened
12990 S. Black Bob
finding a home?
best friend, did
this chapter.
you find
to him. What is
Rd.
 Discuss the
that mean that
disgusting? Why?
the best thing that
differences
Dog was now
NEW VOCABULARY
has ever happened
between Mason
Brody’s best
to you?
 Gouging (p. 88)
and Brody.
friend? If so,
NEW VOCABULARY
 *What game do you
 Nobly (p. 89)
what did that
like to play with
 Awkwardly
 Crumpled (p. 100)
NEW VOCABULARY
make Mason?”
your pet?
(p. 90)
 Surrounded
 Piteously (p. 63)
 Feeble (p. 91)
(p. 101)
 Critical (p. 65)
 Principle (p. 95)
 Visions (pg. 103)
NEW VOCABULARY
NEW VOCABULARY
 Acquaintance
 Thrusting (p. 96)
 Glorious (p. 103)
(p. 67)
 Rapturous (p. 75)
 Plume (p. 96)
 Standard (p. 104)
 Sandwiched (p. 111)
 Incessantly (p. 67)  Devoured (p. 78)
 Aglow (p. 104)
 Obligingly (p. 112)
 Facility (p. 73)
 Gait (p. 79)
 Retrieving (p. 105)  Distinguished
 Substance (p. 81)
 Humongously
(p. 112)
 Reprimanded
(p. 106)
 Piercing (p. 114)
(p. 83)
 Gales (p. 85)
 Incessant (p. 108)
 Kneaded (p. 119)
 Smitten (p.85)
 Raucous (p. 109)
 Pounced (p. 120)
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
27
28
29
30
Community Activity
READ CHAPTER 11: Community Activity
READ CHAPTER 12:
California Trail
 When and how did
Olathe Public Library  How did Mason
Middle School:
feel when Nora
Mason’s feelings
main downtown
6:30 P.M.
and Brody were
change from not
branch: 2:00 P.M.
13775 W. 133rd St.
giving Dog a
wanting a dog to
201 E. Park St.
bath?
loving Dog?
No reading
 What do you
assignment tonight
think of Brody’s
plan to bring Dog
to the art show?
Why does Mason
think it is a bad
NEW VOCABULARY
idea?
 Vastly (p. 134)
 Wreathed (p. 136)
NEW VOCABULARY
 Indignity (p. 137)
 Fascinated
 Atrium (p. 138)
(p. 125)
 Savagely (p. 143)
 Appalled (p. 126)
 Drenched (p. 144)
 Mimic (p. 127)
 Bewildered
(p. 129)
 Forlorn (p. 129)
 Pang (p. 130)
 Mural (p. 131)
Thursday
Friday
31
READ CHAPTER 13:
 Discuss how you
think Mason
changed over the
course of the story
or what surprised
you about Mason by
the end of the
book.
NEW VOCABULARY
 Veterinary (p. 145)
 Urgent (p. 145)
 Stricken (p. 145)
 Conscience (p. 149)
1
Culminating
Activity at School
Glossary
Abandoned – deserted or given up; forsaken
Accomplished – carried out; completed
Acquaintance – a person whom you have met but do not know very well
Advantageous – profitable; favorable; useful; beneficial
Afghan – a soft woolen blanket, crocheted or knitted, usually in a geometric pattern
Aglow - glowing
Appalled – to upset someone
Assemble – put together
Atrium – the entrance to a building
Automatically - done unconsciously or from force of habit; mechanical
Awkwardly – not graceful; clumsy
Bewildered – puzzled; confused
Bureau - a chest of drawers, often with a mirror at the top.
Capers – onion like vegetable
Commotion – noisy or confused activity
Conscience - inner feeling of what is right and wrong
Contributing - being partly responsible for
Critical – pointing out a mistake
Crumpled – to fall apart
Devoured – to eat something up quickly
Dimensions - a measurement of length, width, or thickness
Distinguished – to make noticeable or different; set apart
Drenched – to wet someone or something completely
Emerged – to rise from or as if from immersion
Emotional – having strong feelings
Facility – a building
Fascinated – to attract and strongly hold the interest of someone
Feeble – weak
Forlorn - sad
Gait – a way of walking or running
Gales – a noisy outburst
Glorious – having great beauty or splendor; magnificent
Gouging – a groove or gash
Humongously – very large
Incessant - continuing without interruption; ceaseless; unending
Incessantly – never stopping
Indignity – anger caused by something unfair or mean
Jinxing – to bring bad luck to
Kiln – an oven or furnace that is used to harden pottery
Kneaded – to squeeze, press or roll with the hands
Mason Dixon Line - the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland, partly surveyed by Charles Mason
and Jeremiah Dixon between 1763 and 1767, popularly considered before the end of slavery as a line of
demarcation between free and slave states
Medium – one of the techniques, materials, or means of expression available to an artist
Miffed – to offend or annoy
Mimic – to imitate
Mural – a painting that is done on a wall or ceiling
Nobly – having or showing courage or goodness
Non-contaminated – not polluted; or unclean
Obligingly – unaware or unmindful
Oppressive – difficult to bear; harsh
Pang – a sudden sharp feeling
Piercing – to sound sharply through
Piteously – a feeling of sorrow
Plume – an especially large feather used for decoration
Pounced – to spring or swoop suddenly
Principle – a rule of behavior
Quizzical – showing some confusion
Rapturous – loving
Raucous - rowdy; disorderly
Rectangular - having the shape of a rectangle
Reprimanded – scolding
Repulsive – disgusting
Residence – a place in which to live
Retrieving – to bring back
Sandwiched – to insert between two other things tightly
Sari - a garment worn by Hindu women, consisting of a long piece of cotton or silk wrapped around the
body with one end draped over the head or over one shoulder.
Savagely – wild and fierce
Smirk - to smile in an affected, smug, or offensively familiar way
Smitten – in love with
Sprawled - to sit or lie in a relaxed position with the limbs spread out carelessly or ungracefully
Standard – normal; familiar; usual
Stricken – ill or misfortune
Substance – something that has weight and takes up space
Surrounded – encircle; to extend on all sides of
Systematically – orderly or methodical
Thrusting – a forceful push
Urgent – important
Vastly – very great area, size or amount
Veterinary – animal doctor
Vibrant Hues – bright color
Visions – a mental picture
Wreathed – light up with; covered with