Vocab
Identify a phrase of figurative language in this story.
What is Deydey doing to help the family prepare for winter?
Trading fur for other resources
Why did Andeg bring Omakayas twigs and bark?
Andeg was treating her as if she were his mate.
How did Omakayas save her father when he was sick with smallpox?
She hit her father on the head with a block of wood.
Identify a phrase of figurative language in this story.
How did Andeg help the family?
warned Mama about a raccoon trying to steal some of their food, kept Omakayas company while she scraped hides, chased away mice, helped them find food
How did Deydey and Fishtail feel about the chimookoman (white people)? Give 2 descriptive words. "
They thought the Chimookomen were ____ & _____.
They thought the white people were greedy and dishonest.
Did Deydey know what Omakayas did to save him?
Yes, he said, “You could bring down a bear with the strength in your club.”
Reread, “Nokomis drank it all up, stretched her arms, hopped to her feet with a young girl’s agility.”
What phrase in this sentences helps you to know the meaning of the word agility? What is the meaning of agility?
phrase - hopped to her feet like a young girl
Agility = ability to move quickly and easily
How did Omakayas greet the bears?
She said, “Hello, brothers.”
What was familiar about the way Old Tallow looked at Omakayas?
Tallow looked at Omakayas as she looked at her dogs, with true affection.
Why did Omakayas’s family laugh when Albert LaPautre told the story about his new spirit helper?
The family laughed because they realized that Albert’s “spirit helper” was just Andeg.
Reread, "The ferocity of the cold that continued to deepen as the night went on."
What does ferocity mean?
intense, fierce, powerful, extreme
“Listen to them,” was all Nokomis said, touching Omakayas’s face. She spoke so earnestly, with such emotion in her voice that Omakayas was always to remember that moment, the bend in the path where they stood with the medicines, her grandmother’s kind face and the words she spoke.
Discuss the importance of this scene using evidence from previous chapters
Omakayas’s grandmother has the gift of listening to nature and now she realizes that her granddaughter has the gift. Listening to the animals and plants is important to the Native American culture because they respect nature. Nokomis believes that nature will protect the family, so listening is important. During the winter months, listening to nature might lead the family to food or protection.
Who was “the visitor”?
a sick voyageur, smallpox, & death
How did Omakayas feel when her mother sent her to Old Tallow’s house, and why?
happy to have an enjoyable task to do and to avoid scraping the moose hide
Reread, “for the cold had crept in with iron stealthiness”?
What does this phrase mean?
If someone creeps into the room, how do they come in?
What do you know about iron?
The cold slowly but strongly overtook the warmth in the Birchbark House
Explain how Omakayas has changed from the beginning of the novel.
What experiences led to the changes?
What actions support the changes?
Omakayas is less playful now. She is interested in doing chores and helping her family. In the beginning of the text, Omakayas tried often to get out of doing chores. Now, she is volunteering to do chores, such as weaving baskets, dancing on rice, and carrying the medicine packages in this chapter for her grandmother.
"Her admired big sister, her beloved mother, laughing! There was Omakayas - laughter from the front and laughter from behind - and suddenly, all of last night's thunder in her heart."
What is the meaning of the phrase “all of last night’s thunder in her heart”? Explain how you know.
Omakayas was very angry.
P.O.V. Journal: Pretend you are a Character from Chapter 10 of the Birchbark House. Describe the setting and how you feel. (For example- If I chose to write from DeyDey's P.O.V, I could write about my attempt to go outside when I was feeling sick.) *Remember to add details from the text to support your journal entry.