Rawls, W. (1996). Where the red fern grows. New York, New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell.
This novel is about a young boy who grows up in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression. The novel is told by the grown man looking back on his childhood. Billy, the young boy, desperately wanted some dogs so he could hunt the raccoons in the woods surrounding his family's property. His family could not afford to get him these expensive hounds in such trying times so Billy spent two years earning the money for the dogs on his own. Billy bought the hounds, a boy and a girl, and trained them to be the best hunting dogs in the Ozarks. This novel is about the love and respect between a boy and his dogs in rural America in the 1920s. Billy, Little Ann, and Old Dan experience great adventure during their hunts and eventually enter a hunting competition. It is an exciting and heartbreaking tale of love, family, loyalty and the simpler things in life.
I think this novel contains important lessons for adolescents to learn. Today's adolescents have cell phones, laptops, and flat screen T.Vs. This novel takes place in a world almost unknown to young teens but a world that is an integral part of our society's culture. I think this story may help our students understand how fortunate they are to live in today's world. Some of our students may be given 50 dollars a week for allowance while Billy worked for two years to earn the 50 dollars he needed to buy his dogs. I think the lessons that can be learned in this novel will give our adolescent students some perspective. Although, most students will not be able to relate to Billy and his lifestyle, it is a time period in American culture that is important to discuss. Billy is a responsible, hardworking and helpful member of his family. This novel will be very beneficial for our adolescent students.
Math teachers can use this novel to calculate the amount of money Billy made per day/week/month if it took him two years to earn the money. They could create problems about how much money his family earned from each coonskin he sold. There are also several math problems that could be made using the family's farmland and livestock. The value of a dollar was vastly different during the Great Depression. It would be neat for students to study how money has changed in value from then until now.
History/Social Studies teachers could use this novel while studying several important topics during the Great Depression. Students could study transportation during the 1920's and the wagons Billy and his family used to travel. The class could research how farmers in the Ozarks made money and what these small rural towns were like to gain a better understanding of Billy's family and the world they lived in. It would also be beneficial for students to study doctors and vets during this time to learn how much school they went to, how it differs from today and what medical professionals were capable of doing given the supplies that were available to them.
Science teachers could relate this novel to their studies about weather and climate changes. Students could evaluate the role the weather played throughout various events in the story. They could compare the weather in the Ozarks to the weather in their region. To enhance their understanding of the animals in the Ozarks, the students could study raccoons and the other wildlife including their eating patterns and natural habitat.
Art teachers can have the students draw scenes of the Ozarks and Billy's family's home. The surrounding nature is described in exquisite detail throughout the novel. They may also draw Billy's family and his dogs.
Language Arts teachers could explore this novel from several angles. For example, the names of Billy's three sisters are never shared in the novel. The class could discuss why the author might have left out their names and simply referred to them as the oldest or the youngest and how this added or subtracted from the story. The class may also explore Billy's growth throughout the novel from when he first begged his parents for dogs to when his family moved out of the valley. They could identify how Billy changed and what caused these changes. At the end of the novel the class could reread the first chapter and compare and contrast their connection to it at the beginning of the story and at the end.
This novel is about a young boy who grows up in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression. The novel is told by the grown man looking back on his childhood. Billy, the young boy, desperately wanted some dogs so he could hunt the raccoons in the woods surrounding his family's property. His family could not afford to get him these expensive hounds in such trying times so Billy spent two years earning the money for the dogs on his own. Billy bought the hounds, a boy and a girl, and trained them to be the best hunting dogs in the Ozarks. This novel is about the love and respect between a boy and his dogs in rural America in the 1920s. Billy, Little Ann, and Old Dan experience great adventure during their hunts and eventually enter a hunting competition. It is an exciting and heartbreaking tale of love, family, loyalty and the simpler things in life.
I think this novel contains important lessons for adolescents to learn. Today's adolescents have cell phones, laptops, and flat screen T.Vs. This novel takes place in a world almost unknown to young teens but a world that is an integral part of our society's culture. I think this story may help our students understand how fortunate they are to live in today's world. Some of our students may be given 50 dollars a week for allowance while Billy worked for two years to earn the 50 dollars he needed to buy his dogs. I think the lessons that can be learned in this novel will give our adolescent students some perspective. Although, most students will not be able to relate to Billy and his lifestyle, it is a time period in American culture that is important to discuss. Billy is a responsible, hardworking and helpful member of his family. This novel will be very beneficial for our adolescent students.