A Guide for Using
Old
Yeller
in the Classroom
Based on the novel written Fred Gipson
This guide written by Michael H. Levin
and illustrated by Cheryl Buhler
Teacher Created Resources, Inc.
6421 Industry Way
Westminster, CA 92683
www.teachercreated.com
ISBN: 978-1-55734-427-4
©1993 Teacher Created Resources, Inc.
Reprinted, 2010
Made in U.S.A.
The classroom teacher may reproduce copies of materials in this book for classroom use only. The
reproduction of any part for an entire school or school system is strictly prohibited. No part of this
publication may be transmitted, stored, or recorded in any form without written permission from the
publisher.
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Sample Lesson Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Before the Book (Pre-reading Activities) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Book Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Vocabulary Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Vocabulary Activity Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
SECTION 1 (Chapters 1 through 3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
◆ Quiz—What Do You Know?
◆ Hands-On Project—Making Soap
◆ Cooperative Learning Activity—Left in Charge
◆ Curriculum Connections—Social Studies: Texas Facts
◆ Into Your Life—Reading Response Journals
SECTION 2 (Chapters 4 through 6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
◆ Quiz—What Do You Know?
◆ Hands-On Project—Which Way the Wind ?
◆ Cooperative Learning Activity—A Big Windy
◆ Curriculum Connections—Math: Figuring the Mileage
◆ Into Your Life—That’s Entertainment!
SECTION 3 (Chapters 7 through 9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
◆ Quiz—What Do You Know?
◆ Hands-On Project—Growing Corn
◆ Cooperative Learning Activity—Onomatopoeia
◆ Curriculum Connections—Art: Branding
◆ Into Your Life—Constellations
SECTION 4 (Chapters 10 through 12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
◆ Quiz—What Do You Know?
◆ Hands-On Project—Texas Recipes
◆ Cooperative Learning Activity—For Pets’ Sake
◆ Curriculum Connections—Science: Canine Diseases and Parasites
◆ Into Your Life—What’s In a Name?
SECTION 5 (Chapters 13 through 16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
◆ Quiz—What Do You Know?
◆ Hands-On Project—Storyboard
◆ Cooperative Learning—Foreshadowing
◆ Curriculum Connections—Mime Time
◆ Into Your Life—Becoming an Adult
After the Book (Post-reading Activities)
Any Questions? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Book Report Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Research Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Culminating Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Unit Test Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Bibliography of Related Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
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Pre-reading Activities
Old Yeller
Before the Book
Before you begin reading Old Yeller with your students, do some pre-reading activities to stimulate
interest and enhance comprehension. Here are some activities that might work for your class.
1. Predict what the story might be about just by hearing the title.
2. Predict what the story might be about just by looking at the cover illustration.
3. Discuss other books by Fred Gipson that students may have heard about or read.
4. Answer these questions:
• Are you interested in:
– stories about children and their
pets?
– stories about the old West?
– stories with adventure and life or
death struggles?
– stories about dealing with young
people having experiences that
make them grow up?
– stories that show a young person is
capable of making important
decisions and taking action?
– stories that depict how life
continues even after tragedy
strikes?
• Why might a person need to kill a
dog?
• How could a dog make someone
angry?
• In what ways can a dog be a useful
pet?
• Do you have a dog? What makes your
dog special?
• Should people be allowed to cry
when they feel sad?
5. Work in groups to create a factual and/or fictional story about a dog.
6. Write descriptions or brainstorm ideas about what makes a person strong or courageous in the
face of tragedy. Determine what the source of such strength might be.
7. Use the picture on page 48 to help introduce Old Yeller to your class. The picture can also be used
as a journal cover for Reading Response Journals or as the centerpiece of a bulletin board display
of student work.
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Old Yeller
About the Author
Fred Gipson was born February 7, 1908, in Mason, Texas, to Beckton and Emma (Dieshler) Gipson. He
went to the University of Texas from 1933-1937. He married Tommie Eloise Wynn in 1930 and had
two sons, Phillip Michael and Thomas Beckton.
He began writing in 1938 becoming a reporter for the Corpus Christi Caller. His first book was
Fabulous Empire in 1946. Old Yeller was written in 1956 and remains Gipson’s most famous novel. He
won several awards for Old Yeller including a Newbery Honor Book award.
Fred Gipson wrote many other books about the West. These include Hound-Dog Man (1950), The Trail
Driving Rooster (1955), Cow Killers (1956), and Savage Sam (1962).
Gipson went to Hollywood to write the screenplays for several of his novels. Old Yeller and Savage
Sam were made into movies by Walt Disney Productions.
In his later life, Gipson raised cattle and hogs on his farm, and enjoyed hunting deer, wild turkey, quail
and doves. He preferred fly fishing to all other sports. Gipson died in 1973 in the same town where he
was born.
Many young people have learned much about the West from reading Fred Gipson’s novels. He once
said, “I’ve always liked true adventure tales and have always felt that I learned more history of my
country from these tales than I ever did from the history books.”
(Quotations and information from Something About the Author, edited by Anne Commire, Gale Research, Detroit, 1971)
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Book Summary
Old Yeller
Old YeIler
by Fred Gipson
(Harper Collins, 1956)
(Also available in Canada, UK, and Australia from Harper Collins)
Old Yeller takes place in the Hill Country of Texas in the late 1860’s. It concerns the maturing of a
young boy who must fight against his own worries as well as against the dangerous Texas frontier. The
story can be considered on many levels, but it is first and foremost an exciting adventure of a boy and
his dog.
Travis Coates takes over for his father who must drive cattle to market. Travis is fairly sure of himself
as his father leaves the boy in charge of the family for several months. Young Travis is certain he can
handle all situations and scoffs at his mother’s suggestion that he needs a good dog. Travis has just lost
his last dog and feels no animal could replace the one he had.
When Old Yeller appears it is Travis’ younger brother, Arliss, who wants a dog. Travis fights against
giving his love to this ugly, dingy yellow dog, but his mother immediately sees how this animal would
fill an important need at the farm. After several occurrences, including saving Arliss from an angry
bear, Old Yeller is accepted by the older boy.
Old Yeller becomes indispensible to the Coates family as he helps them in the many chores around the
farm as well as saving Travis from being killed by wild pigs. Unfortunately, in protecting the mother
and a neighbor girl from a mad wolf, the dog contracts hydrophobia. Travis must summon the courage
to shoot his beloved companion when he realizes there is no way to save Old Yeller.
When the father returns to the family, he learns of all that Travis has done and tells the boy that “you
couldn’t ask more of a grown man.” But Travis is too broken-hearted to hear the words he would have
been proud to hear only a few days before. Yet when his father tells him that life is both good and bad
and “a man can’t afford to waste all the good part, worrying about the bad parts,” Travis comes to terms
with all that has happened.
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Old Yeller
Vocabulary Lists
On this page are vocabulary lists which correspond to each sectional grouping of chapters. Vocabulary
activity ideas can be found on page 9 of this book.
SECTION 1
SECTION 2
(Chapters 1-3)
(Chapters 4-6)
aggravation
brand
bray
clout
depredations
dingy
fierce
frazzle
gnarled
gnawed
plunder
solemn
sulk
trifled
varmints
venison
withers
writhing (writhe)
astride
careened
clamoring
hauling
heave
hydrophobia
knoll
liable
lunge
marrow
poultice
pounced
riled
shiftless
spasms
sumptuous
SECTION 3
SECTION 4
(Chapters 7-9)
(Chapters 10-12)
baying
blizzard
calve
carcass
castration
commotion
flinched
heifer
marveled
panic
plague
precious
rouge
sighed
sober
thicket
anxious
coaxed
entrails
fangs
flustered
fringed
gash
pestering
quiver
searing
squeamish
stunned
turpentine
wretch
SECTION 5
(Chapters 13-16)
evidently
hideous
hulk
buzzards
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nettles
staggered
stench
tote
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