Unit of Study over The Girl Who Loves Wild Horses:
Grade Level: 2nd grade
In this unit of study the students will use the book The Girl Who Loves Wild Horses to complete several different activities from different subjects.
Introduction to the book: Before reading the story have the students discuss how they feel about horses. Encourage them to explain their feelings and tell them that this book is about a girl that loved horses so much that she went to live with them.
Reading Activities:
Comprehension/ Thinking Skills Common Core- RL.2.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
Language Common Core Standard- L.2.4– Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.
Activity One: Ask the students a series of questions over the book.
a. “How does the girl help the wild horses?”
b. “What happens during the thunderstorm?”
c. “How does the girl feel when she is living with the horses?” (Draw conclusions)
d. “How does the girl’s village get her back?” e. “What happens to the girl when she returns home?”
f. “Why do you think the girl’s parents let her go with the horses?” (Analyze)
g. “Do you think the girl becomes a wild horse? Why or why not?” (Draw conclusions)
This will teach the students ask and answer different questions while reading the book.
Activity Two: Vocabulary- Help the students define these words from the text to make a glossary of terms when reading the story.
tipis, blizzards, lightning, galloping, grazing, horizon, neighing, stallion
This will help students establish the meanings of different words and how they are used in the book.
Activity Three: Language Arts–After children have read or heard the horse songs at the end of the book, have them write their own horse poems. Encourage them to use similes to describe horses, as in the first poem. Children can illustrate their poems if they choose.
This will help students to use the book as a resource and learn to read and write their own poetry. This will also teach students about similes.
Social Studies:Content Standard 9: Human-Environment Interaction – Students will analyze the interaction between humans and the environment. G.9.1.2-Discuss how cultural characteristics create diversity in a community, place, or region.
Native American Study Activity:The girl who loved wild horses might have been a Navajo or a Sioux Indian. Have children work in groups to find out about one of these Native American groups. Each group can report on one aspect of the Native Americans’ lives: where they lived, what they wore, what they ate, or their customs and traditions. The students can then present their findings to the class.
This activity will be great for students to research and understand different cultures. The students will be able to see how different cultures live in different environments and the different was that they live because of it.
Fun Activities:
Make a Tipi: The Tipis shown in the book are decorated with pictures of animals. Children can work in small groups to make Tipis of their own from construction paper and sticks. Have them tie a bundle of sticks together at the top and spread out the bottoms. Then they can wrap and tape or glue a piece of paper decorated with animal illustrations around the stick base. Remind them to cut a flap for the door. Display the Tipis in the classroom. This will help the students visualize the different ways that people live.
This will help students understand the different ways that people and cultures build shelters. This will also be a fun way for the students to look into how Tipis are made.
Art Activities: After the students read The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses the teacher could have the teacher draw a horse using the same colorful designs that Goble does.
This will help the students understand the style that Paul Goble used to illustrate his books and have fun recreating it.
Paul Goble 