The Call of the Wild
Complete the full lesson with your squad.
Browse the Instruction portion of the lesson link to recall important points. Review and possible add to important main ideas or graphic organizers in your notebook that you will need to do the activity.
Use the lesson link or notes in your notebook only if you need to look back at the resource to help you remember what is required.
Insert Link
Insert Link
Insert Link
STOP and pay close attention when you see one of these lesson links on a slide. Be sure that you understand the content in the linked lesson and that you have notes on the material in your notebook before you continue.
When you see this symbol, it means that the activity should be on the squad spreadsheet and that it is due today. The entire squad should look at each other’s work and give one of these grades:
3: Complete
2: Lots of work, but not finished
1: Started, but lots of work remaining
0: Not started
A: absent
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When you see the class discussion symbol, it means that the topic on the slide is extremely important! You should keep working through your assignments for the day, but expect your teacher to call the class together at some point to hear what you are learning and to ensure that everyone is on the same page.
(What does the figure of speech is “on the same page”mean?)
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Student Work
Every Call of the Wild lesson will have the usual homework and chapter questions discussions AND chapter activities. These discussions and activities will take most of your day. Most chapter activities will require you to take notes in your class ELA notebook, write in your The Call of the Wild Student Packet or build slides in your Call of the Wild Student Presentation. Please put your name on your Student Packet and follow teacher instructions to create your copy of the presentation slides.
Book Facts
Activity Name
Read this article about Jack London and add this information to the Author Background section in your Student Packet
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The Klondike Gold Rush
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The Call of the Wild
Ch 1 Into the Primitive
Ch 2 The Law of Club and Fang
Ch 3 The Dominant Primordial Beast
Predictions
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Chapter 1
Day 1
VOCABULARY
HOMEWORK
The Call of the Wild is rich in vocabulary. You should read with access to a dictionary so that you don’t miss important parts of the story.
Each night you will add three words to the vocabulary section of your student packet. The packet provides you with a list of vocabulary words for each chapter. Choose three of those words and provide the page number, definition, how it is used in the book, and use the word in a new sentence. An example is provided in the packet.
Chapter 1 Homework
P. 1 Explain the purpose that the first paragraph serves in the book. (Think about these questions...What do you know? What are you wondering? What are you expecting?)
Add three vocabulary words to your list.
P. 1 RL.8.4
What was the “yellow metal” in the first paragraph? How do you know?
P. 1 Rl.8.6
This story is told from the point of view of Buck.
How does Buck view the judge and his family?
P. 1 Rl.8.1
What kind of dog is Buck?
How big is he?
Credible Sources
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Chapter 1
Day 2
Chapter 1 Night 2 Writing Homework
One of the purposes of this chapter is to describe the transformation of Buck from the king of his realm to an object to be bought and sold. It is the first step in heeding the call of the wild. Find a passage in the chapter that is key to describing this transformation and explain how the author uses the passage to create this transformation. Be sure to include a citation.
Add three vocabulary words to your list.
RL.8.2 A major theme of The Call of the Wild is that one must adapt in order to survive. To adapt is to adjust to new conditions. In order to adapt, one must learn and then change in response to that learning.
P. 4 What does the club symbolize for Buck? To what is he adapting? How does this relate to this theme?
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P. 5 “The man with the club was a lawgiver, a master to be obeyed, though not necessarily conciliated.”
RL.8.4 What do you infer conciliated means? Look it up to confirm.
RL.8.3 What does this tell you about Buck? (What is Buck willing to give the man with the club? What will he not give him?)
“...and as Curly and he looked at receding Seattle from the deck of the Narwhal, it was the last he saw of the warm Southland. Curly and he were taken below…” p. 6
What are those … called? What do they mean?
Explain what is happening in this excerpt using context clues as your evidence.
Buck’s Journey
We are going to track Buck’s journey using a cool mapping tool from Google.
Watch the Tour Builder lesson and then go to the next slide to start a Tour of Buck’s Journey.
For each location on the journey provide:
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Dyea Beach, Alaska
Seattle, Washington
Santa Clara,
California
CANADA
U.S.A.
Gilroy!
Enter these first three locations of Buck’s journey into Tour Builder.
Chapter 2
Dyea Beach
Traces - the lines that connect the dogs to the sled
Gee Pole - the steering pole used by the driver
Visual Vocabulary
Chapter 2 Day 1 Homework
Now that you have read the chapter, look back at your prediction about the chapter title. What is “The law of club and fang”? Be sure to address both the club and the fang.
Add three vocabulary words to your list.
P. 7 Paragraph 2
“Buck did not comprehend that silent intentness, or the eager way with which they were licking their chops.”
RL.8.4 What does this idiomatic expression mean? Google it to be sure.
P. 7 Paragraph 2
“Buck did not comprehend that silent intentness, or the eager way with which they were licking their chops.”
RL.8.2 A major theme of The Call of the Wild is that one must adapt in order to survive.
How does the death of Curly change Buck? How does this build this theme?
P. 7 What new job does Buck learn the first day at Dyea beach?
P. 8 What new trick does Buck learn the first night?
P. 9 “As a courier for the Canadian Government, bearing important despatches, he was anxious to secure the best dogs…”
What do you infer COURIER and DESPATCHES mean? Look them up to confirm.
What is Perrault’s job?
Character Development
RL.8.3
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Begin the Character Chart in the Student Packet so that you can keep track of the men and dogs.
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Chapter 2 Day 2
Chapter 2 Night 2 Non Fiction Reading Homework
Read the Dogsledding by Dan Meredith in the Canadian Encyclopedia
This first theft marked Buck as fit to survive in the hostile Northland Environment. It marked his ability to adjust himself to changing conditions, the lack of which would have meant swift and terrible death. It marked, further, the decay or going to pieces of his moral nature, a vain thing and a handicap in the ruthless struggle for existence. (p. 10)
Vocabulary:
“moral nature” means someone’s understanding of what is right and wrong
“A vain thing” here means something that is extra and unnecessary
L.8.4.a What context clues help you determine which definition of “divide” applies here.
...and over the great Chilcoot Divide, which stands between the salt water and the fresh and guards forbiddingly the sad and lonely North. P. 9
RL.8.4 How does London use word choice and figurative language in his description of this setting to build the tension and mood in the novel? What does he mean by salt
water and fresh?
...and over the great Chilcoot Divide, which stands between the salt water and the fresh and guards forbiddingly the sad and lonely North. P. 9
Dyea Beach
“...late that night pulled into the huge camp at the head of Lake Bennett, where thousands of goldseekers were building boats against the break-up of the ice in the spring.” p. 9
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a·gainst
əˈɡenst/
Preposition
"the fight against crime”
2. in anticipation of and preparation for (a problem or difficulty).
"insurance against sickness and unemployment"
RL.8.4 Which definition is used in this sentence?
RL.8.3 How does the ice affect the boats and the gold rush journey?
The placement of the dogs on Buck’s team is described on page 9. Write in the names of the dogs on the diagram in your packet.
Quickly discuss this as a squad in preparation for class discussion.
RL.8.3 Read the paragraph at the top of page 11 that begins with, “And not only did he learn by experience, but instincts long dead became alive again.”
Which phrases in this paragraph show us that Buck is hearing the Call of the Wild, that he is changing from the tame dog that works on a ranch to a wild creature.
Relate this to the title, The Call of the Wild.
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Interaction Between Literary Elements
RL.8.3
Complete the lesson.
Enter the following into the RL.8.3 chart in your packet:
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Chapter 3
Chapter 3 Night 1 Reading Homework
RL.8.1 Find two pieces of evidence from the chapter to support this statement on p. 11. Which evidence is stronger? Support your position.
Add three vocabulary words to your list.
“The dominant primordial beast was strong in Buck, and under the fierce conditions of trail life it grew and grew.”
p. 11
P. 12 RL.X.10
This is a complicated sentence with lots of difficult vocabulary. Look up any vocabulary that you do not understand and then reword the sentence in your own words.
“An oath from Perrault, the resounding impact of a club upon a bony frame, and a shrill yelp of pain, heralded the breaking forth of pandemonium.”
P. 12 RL.X.10
Why do the huskies attack their camp?
Cite two key times in this chapter when we learn about Spitz’s character. What kind of a dog is he? (This is a question about his personality, not the breed.)
What happens to the rest of the pack when Buck and Spitz go to war?
“Its wild water defied the frost, and it was in the eddies only and in the quiet places that the ice held at all.” p. 13
RL.8.4 Is this personification or hyperbole, and what does it tell us about the river?
What do you think this is?
This amazing lights display in the sky is the
aurora borealis
also known as the northern lights. Buck and the team saw these beautiful lights.
“With the aurora borealis flaming coldly overhead, �or the stars leaping in the frost of dance…” p. 15
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Enjoy this video of the aurora borealis.
In your notebook, write four facts about the aurora borealis that you learn from the next few slides.
WHAT ARE NORTHERN LIGHTS?
The bright dancing lights of the aurora are actually collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth's atmosphere. The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres. They are known as 'Aurora borealis' in the north and 'Aurora australis' in the south..
Auroral displays appear in many colours although pale green and pink are the most common. Shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet have been reported. The lights appear in many forms from patches or scattered clouds of light to streamers, arcs, rippling curtains or shooting rays that light up the sky with an eerie glow.
The northern lights occur above the north and south poles. They can only be seen from the extreme northern and southern parts of the globe.
Locate
Alaska &
The North Pole.
Where is the United States?
Collier's World Atlas and Gazetteer
had the satisfaction of watching Spitz receive the worst whipping as yet administered to any
Descriptive Writing
Jack London is a master craftsman. His powerful use of words draws us into his stories. In our reading about Mr. London we learned that he trained himself to be a great writer by studying the works of other authors. Let’s do the same. Let’s look closely at this piece of writing to see if we can glean any writing strategies.
Squad Talk:
First consider the purpose of the paragraph. Is it descriptive, informative, persuasive, action or dialogue? How do you know?
What is the mood and/or tone? How does the author want the reader to feel? How do you know?
What have you learned from this discussion that can help you with your own writing?
Chapter 3
‘Day 2
Chapter 3 Night 2 Writing Homework
(This homework is in your packet, so you do not have to write it all down.)
1. Look closely at the paragraph that begins with, “In the days that followed, as Dawson grew closer…” on page 15.
2. Define these words: (This is in place of your three nightly vocab words.)
Covert
Mutiny
Insubordination
Bickering
Apprehension
Strife
3. Rewrite the paragraph. Be sure to:
Explain what Buck is doing.
Show how it affected the other dogs.
Show how it affected Francois.
P. 16
Seven days from the time they pulled into Dawson, they dropped down the steep bank by the Barracks to the Yukon Trail, and pulled for Dyea and Salt Water.
Why are they turning around and going back to Dyea?
P. 15
Why is it considered interfering when Buck punishes the dogs in the pack?
RL.X.4 p. 16
“All that stirring of old instincts…” are the first words of a confusingly terrible and beautiful passage. Read the paragraphs again and select a phrase that stands out to you. What do you like about it? How does it affect you?
RL.X.4 P. 17
To what is London referring with this metaphor, “Time and again he tried for the snow-white throat, where life bubbled near the surface…”?
RL.X.4
P. 18 “The dark circle became a dot on the moon-flooded snow as Spitz disappeared from view.”
What is this metaphor describing?
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Interaction Between Literary Elements
RL.8.3
Add new events to the RL.8.3 chart in your packet:
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Chapter 4
Ch 4 HOMEWORK
RL.8.2
Make a list of the the major events that happen in the plot in Chapter 4. Write up to 20 words to summarize Chapter 4 based on those events.
Don’t forget your three vocabulary words!
Rl.8.4
P. 18. Francois was obdurate. (Bottom of page)
What context clues help you guess at the meaning of obdurate. What do you think it means?
Look it up to confirm.
P.19
List a few human qualities that Mr. London gives Buck when Buck is insisting on being the lead dog.
What does your pet do when s/he wants something?
P. 19 & 20
Each person in the squad give unique
evidence that Buck was an exceptional lead dog.
Buck’s Journey
Add new locations to Buck’s journey in Google Tour.
Chilcoot Pass
Lake Bennett
Dawson, Alaska (their destination)
Return Trip
Tahkeena
Lake Le Barge
White Horse Rapids
Marsh
Tagish
Bennet
Skaguay
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** Since there are so many locations today, provide only ONE picture of each place.
Chapter 4 Day 2
P. 20 Why did Francois and Perrault leave Buck? (Look carefully. This is not explained in great detail. It’s just one quick comment.)
Who is the new owner? (He is also a government courier delivering mail.)
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P. 21 To what historic period are Buck’s thoughts and dreams by the fire referring?
P. 20 & 21 Each person in the squad give evidence that the”Scotch half-breed” was not a wise dog owner.
Why do you think Mr. London never gives this character a name?
P. 21-23 RL.8.10
London writes at length about Dave’s death indicating that this is important. What do you think London wants us to understand as we watch Dave’s dignified struggle against disease and death?
Point of View & Purpose
| Animal Welfare’s Rules and Laws | Animal Rights and the Ethics of Testing |
Author’s Purpose | | |
Author’s Position | | |
Author’s Point of View | | |
Chapter 5
Day 1
To p. 27 “the heavy load they
dragged sapped their strength
entirely.”
Homework RL.8.3
P. 23 What leads to the Canadian government’s decision to sell Buck and the other dogs? (Remember that Francois and Perrault work for the Canadian government, so the dogs are owned by the government.)
P. 23 W.8.3.b
The first two paragraphs of chapter five are a good example of the type of descriptive details that make a narrative interesting.
As a squad, make a list of all of the different ways that London explains to us that the dogs are tired.
P.24-26 Go around the squad taking turns providing citations that show that Charles and Hal do not know anything about dogs or travelling with a sled. Each of you should find one piece of evidence.
P. 25 How do Buck and the dogs get revenge on their new owners?
P. 25 & 26 What do Hal, Charles and Mercedes do to lighten the load?
P. 26 Why don’t experienced mushers use fourteen dogs?
What does it reveal about Charles’ and Hal’s characters that they are willing to do so?
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Add these to the Character Chart in the Student Packet.
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Character Development
RL.8.3
Chapter 5 �Day 2
Chapter 5 Part 2
RL.8.4 Why does Buck refuse to get up at the top of p. 30? (Hint: It is not because he is tired. Read carefully.)
What happens a bit later that proves that Buck was correct?
P. 27 How does the decision to take 14 dogs ultimately affect the six new Outside dogs?
P. 30 Identify incidents in Chapter Five that led to Buck’s rebellion at the end of the chapter.
RL.8.1 p. 28 What does Mercedes begin doing that causes a particular particular problem for the dogs?
RL.8.4 Name metaphors and similes used to describe the pitiful state of the dogs. How are those comparisons helpful in understanding the degree of suffering for the dogs.
Chapter 6
Day 1
Chapter 6 Homework Question
What are two remarkable incidents in the story that showed Buck’s enormous love for John Thornton?
RL.8.1 p. 31 Why had John Thornton been left out on the trail?
RL.8.? p. 32 Why is Buck so afraid that John Thornton is going to leave him?
RL.8.4 p. 32 “Faithfulness and devotion, things born of fire and roof, were his; yet he retained his wildness and wiliness.”
What does the metaphor “born of fire and roof” mean?
wiliness - shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception. craftiness, cunning, foxiness, guile, slyness, craft.
Descriptive Writing
Write about a time when you could relate to Buck, when you were suffering either physically or emotionally and someone who was your rescuer like “John Thornton”. How did you feel before and after you were rescued?
Consider whether you know someone right now who needs a John Thornton. Without naming names, write about how you can rescue them from their situation.
Submit doc to Google Classroom
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Chapter 6
Day 2
RL.8.2 p. 32 & 33 Cite a sentence that expresses how the “wild” continues to call to Buck.
RL.8.3 p. 35 Here we have a perfect example of how dialogue can affect the plot of story. What is said and what happens because of the dialogue?
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Add these to the Character Chart in the Student Packet.
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Character Development
RL.8.3
Interaction Between Literary Elements
RL.8.3
Add new events to the RL.8.3 chart in your packet:
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Chapter 7
Day 1
Chapter 7 Homework Question
As Buck ultimately listens to the call of the wild in this chapter, we see many sides of him. Cite an incident in the story when the reader 1)was proud of Buck and 2) might be shocked by Buck.
RL.8.3 p. 35 How has your view of Buck changed as he gives in to the call of the wild? Are you happy for him? Why or why not?
Chapter 7
Day 2
Plot
RL.7.3
Exposition
Rising Action
Begin your plot map in your packet by entering important episodes from Chapters 1 and 2.
Figurative Language
Before you begin, make sure you have the definitions of simile, metaphor, hyperbole and possibly imagery (ask your teacher) in your notebook.
Also add the following to your notes:
The whole point of using figurative language is that it to help the reader visualize or relate to an idea.
Write a paragraph in the active voice to explain why Buck is well suited to be used as a sled dog for the gold rush. Follow teacher instructions for turning it in.
Writing:
The Active Voice
Read all of the requirements on this slide before you begin.
QC: Make sure everyone knows and meets all of these requirements.
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Take out