THE TRUE STORY OF NICKEL, The Baby Buffalo Who Thought He Was A Dog
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Thematic Teacher’s Guide: Story Questions
By Nancy Savage and Andrea Krull, Jefferson County School District, Ralston Elementary
Patterns and Illustrations by Kathy Parks
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For this activity, prepare cut outs of the bison stencil pattern (click here). On each bison write a different question from the Levels of Learning listed below.
Bloom's Levels of Learning: |
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
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Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
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| I. |
Knowledge (ability to recall learned information) |
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Name some of the problems Nickel caused as a family pet. |
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Name some of the ways Nickel helped Marty. |
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Where does the story take place? |
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Who are the main characters in the story? |
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| II. |
Comprehension (basic understanding of information) |
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Explain what happened as Nickel began to grow bigger. |
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Do you think Nickel stayed with the family too long? Why? |
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What do you think would have happened if the little boy had not climbed the fence? |
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How did the loss of his horns change Nickel? |
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| III. |
Application (ability to do something new with information) |
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Would you want a buffalo for a pet? What problems might it cause for you? For your family? Your neighbors? |
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What do you think Marty would do differently the next time he found an orphaned bison? |
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What else could park officials do to protect tourists? |
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| IV. |
Analysis (ability to examine the parts of a whole) |
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Why do you think the teenagers climbed the fence into Marty’s yard? |
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Why do you think the Native Americans called Nickel ‘Big Medicine’? |
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Compare Nickel to the other buffalo in the herd. To the family dogs. |
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Describe the personality qualities of Marty. |
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| V. |
Synthesis (ability to bring together information to make something new) |
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What do you think would have happened if Nickel had returned to the herd a few months earlier? |
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How would the story be different if Marty did not have dogs? |
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| VI. |
Evaluation (ability to form and defend an opinion) |
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Do you think Nickel was safer to be around without his horns? |
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Do you think Nickel thought he was a dog at the end of the story? |
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Would you recommend this story to a friend? Why or why not? |
Other good books about wildlife as pets:
How It Was With Dooms, by Carol Hopcraft. Simon & Schuster 1997.
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Copyright Savage Parks Press 2000. All rights reserved. |
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NEXT (ACTIVITIES).......... |