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Stone Fox (Bound for Schools & Libraries)
Stone Fox (Bound for Schools & Libraries) | John Reynolds Gardiner
21 posts | 40 read | 7 to read
Ten-year-old Willy has a big job to do -- he has to find a way to raise enough money to save his grandfather's farm from the tax collectors. But where can a boy get five hundred dollars in a hurry? Then Willy sees the poster for the National Dogsled Race, and he knows what he must do. But can one boy and his dog be a match for the legendary Stone Fox and his unbeatable team of sled dogs? First published in 1980, this exciting tale has been a favorite of millions of readers, and is now available in a newly repackaged edition.
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MFlowers
Stone Fox | John Reynolds Gardiner
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Pickpick

Stone Fox is a wonderful LC novel for your older elementary school kids! With his grandfather sick, Little Willy searches far and wide for a solution to their family's soon to be downfall. He goes on a long journey to keep his family's potatoes farm standing. When he discovers a race that just might save him, Little Willy does anything and everything he can to win. With the help of a new friend, Stone Fox, Little Willy saves the farm.

MFlowers The following website consists of activities made for each chapter of the novel. https://www.superteacherworksheets.com/stone-fox.html
In the literature circle, students can work together to accomplish each activity together. They accompany the UDL guidelines 2.1 (clarify vocab and symbols) & 3.2 (highlight patterns, critical features, big ideas, and relationships). The vocabulary activity and comprehension questions will aid in achieving these.
4y
MFlowers There are also EL strategies that align with the book and website activities: EL strategy 2 (promote cooperation in small groups) ad strategy 5 (teach technical vocabulary supporting key concepts). The literature circles will provide many an opportunity for the EL students to ask more in depth questions and discuss their understanding. You can provide a copy of the novel in your EL's native language, if you feel it would help them. #ucflae3414sp21 (edited) 4y
DrSpalding This would be a good book club book in fourth or fifth grade. Over the last few years I have seen it on students desks and I chose to read it. It is a fairly simple yet good read that would evoke conversations. A natural connection to this book is the Iditarod that many teachers follow online and use for math instruction! Math and quality children‘s literature… Awesome. 4y
2 likes3 comments
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cewilf
Stone Fox | John Reynolds Gardiner
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Panpan

Another book that‘s just not for me, but for very different reasons than the last. I don‘t like books with dogs. And the ending 👎 Based on a Rocky Mountain legend according to the author. This reads like a 3rd or 4th grade class book. I kept thinking of Sarah Plain and Tall while reading but I cannot for the life of me remember if they‘re even similar. Overall, I‘m glad my student liked it and shared with me, but it‘s definitely not a favorite.

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Keishla.O
Stone Fox 30th Anniversary Edition | John Reynolds Gardiner
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This RF book is great for an IR! The main character, Willy, must find a way to make his grandfather better whom had recently fallen ill. Willy's quests to figure out what his grandfather needs to get better lead him to entering the town's famous dogsled race. Willy's biggest competition is an out-of-towner, Stone Fox. Stone Fox has never lost a race but Willy intended to beat him this time. Will Willy win? Read to find out!
#ucflae3414sp20

Keishla.O UDL 3.3 (Guide information processing and visualization) & ESOL strategy 10 (Teach think, pair and share strategies in cooperative groups) can be used by having the students get into small groups and discuss the chapters throughout their time reading.
The resource below provides a free PDF copy of the book!
https://blindhypnosis.com/stone-fox-pdf-john-reynolds-gardiner.html
5y
McKaylaH Absolutely adored reading this book... I‘m glad you like it! Your ESOL strategy is perfect for students to collaborate ideas in groups. Awesome job! 💕💕💕 5y
DrSpalding This is a classic. I recently read this because a local fourth grade class was reading it! Nice resource and alignment. 5y
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katiehamlin
Stone Fox 30th Anniversary Edition | John Reynolds Gardiner
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Pickpick

Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner is a RF children‘s novel perfect for a RA for a grade 3-5 classroom. This book follows the life of a young boy, Little Willy, who lives on a potato farm with his sick grandfather and his dog, Searchlight. The farm taxes hadn‘t been payed so the farm was going to be taken away by the tax collector.

katiehamlin He enters a dogsled race with a cash prize to save the farm, but goes against someone who has never lost a dogsled race before. It was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year for 1980 and included in 100 Best Books for Children by Anita Silvey. #UCFLAE3414F19 5y
katiehamlin The UDL Principle I would use for this book is 8.3. Fostering collaboration and community is good for this book because you could have students work in groups for each of the activities in the lesson plan. The EL strategy i would use is 14. Simplifying your speech by making it slower and redundant is important with this RA because slowing down the speech will help EL students understand it more clearly when it is read aloud. 5y
katiehamlin Here is the link to a lesson plan I would use while teaching this book. It includes a lot of great activities to do with the students! https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-content/stone-fox-less... 5y
DrSpalding I had not read this book until a few years ago. I saw a teacher using it as a literature circle option in her fourth grade classroom. I do believe a read aloud could work but it would be a good literature circle option as well. Scholastic is a helpful resource. 5y
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madamereadsalot1
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📚- Stone Fox

🎬- Foxy Brown

🎵- The Fox, Elton John

#manicmonday @JoScho

JoScho 💙🦊💙 6y
HOTPock3tt That movie tho!! 😍♥️🎉 6y
madamereadsalot1 @HOTPock3tt Foxy Brown is so good! I need to watch it again! 6y
17 likes3 comments
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Tyrone
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I read this when I was in the third grade so I don‘t remember any names but I‘m really sensitive ESPECIALLY when it comes to dogs dying like how the main dog in this book dies at the end so I can almost guarantee that if I readily again now I would cry.

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Eggs
Stone Fox | John Reynolds Gardiner
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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks ❤️❤️ 6y
aeeklund This book wrecked me as a child. 6y
vkois88 I've never heard of this one, but I love the vividness of the colors 6y
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Eggs
Stone Fox | John Reynolds Gardiner
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#stone #readingresolutions
A beloved family favorite

Meeko93 I loved this one! 6y
Daisey Great book! This was one of the first books I used in developing my own reading lessons during college classroom experiences. 6y
Eggs @Jess7 (edited) 6y
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GGallegos
Stone Fox | John Reynolds Gardiner
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Pickpick

This HF book is a Utah Beehive award winner, along with other awards. The theme of this book is perseverance. At the beginning we see Little Willy wake up and find Grandfather in bed. Grandfather normally wakes him up and is ready for the day with a smile. This day, he is in bed not responding, but staring at the ceiling. Little Willy is left to runntheir potato farm and to find out how to get Grandfather well again.

GGallegos I would have this as IR, and do activites in class https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-content/stone-fox-less... the What If plan is a get one for this book. UDL principles 3.1 apply well because we would need to supply information. ESOL strategy 30 would work well as there is a lot of imagery to be drawn. #UCFLAE3414SuB18 6y
4 likes1 comment
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GGallegos
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I cried. It's a sweet but sad story🐶

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toofondofbooks
Stone Fox | John Reynolds Gardiner
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Anyone else get excited when their kids bring home new Scholastic order forms? 🤗🤗

Jerdencon Yup!! 😀 7y
benchley1 Oh I miss those. Best part of.my school years 7y
Tamra I was just ordering this morning! 😸 7y
Crash I loved those! 7y
21 likes4 comments
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Connor91
Stone Fox | John Reynolds Gardiner
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Panpan

Very short book set back in the early 1900's. Theme is rather dark for a children's book and includes sever depression and sickness, child abuse, and death at one point. Would probably work best with young adult readers when discussing elements of a story, but not good for younger readers.

DrSpalding This is a wonderful book that is still used in the intermediate grades. It's a classic. Good choice. Rubric? 7y
ismari212 I agree that it should be better with young adults 7y
HNager Connor, this is a great book to read aloud, for 6 grades and do a KWL chart each chapter. 7y
3 comments
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Kdazy
Stone Fox | John Reynolds Gardiner
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Lesson planning while babysitting. #teacherlife #toomanyvocabularywords for #englishlearners

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JacintaMCarter
Stone Fox | John Reynolds Gardiner
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I wrote a blog post about meeting John Reynolds Gardiner when I was in the 5th grade. You know, in case any of you wanted to check it out.
http://bookhoardersanonymous.weebly.com/thoughts/enjoy-the-struggle

josie281 What a fantastic happenstance! 8y
Chelsibno It's so cool that you got to meet the author. This was the first DD book I read in school. It was required reading in 4th grade, before I understood the rules of DD books. That ending came out of nowhere and punched me in the gut. At least it prepared me for all the other DD books I would have to read for classes in the years to come. 8y
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TobeyTheScavengerMonk
Stone Fox | John Reynolds Gardiner
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I read Stone Fox with my 3rd graders and for that last chapter I spread everybody out around the room so they can deal however they need to deal without embarrassment. Me personally, I have not reread that final chapter ever. Also I do not allow copies of the book Hachiko Waits into my classroom. #feistyfeb @RealLifeReading #ALLTHEFEELS #teachersoflitsy

Blueberry Yes, that one broke me up. 8y
Foragingfantasy Can I ask your opinion on reading levels? My first grader is at a 3.2-4.0 reading level. I am finding that the subject matter of books at this level are a little over his head, and also it's a lot to comprehend by test time. I'm debating if I should help him find books to keep his interest at this level, or just fail a few and let his level drop so he can read books he'll enjoy... He's had to skip so many good ones! 7y
TobeyTheScavengerMonk @Foragingfantasy It always bugs me when kids at schools are restricted to reading books on their level. It stops lower kids from reaching higher and stops higher readers from accessing books that they might enjoy. So here are 2 suggestions: Make sure he gets whatever books he wants from a local library and to heck with levels. Enjoyment and engagement are the most important things to build better readers and 7y
TobeyTheScavengerMonk at school maybe nonfiction books on that higher level about topics that interest him might be a good idea (books about animals, ecosystems, scientists, machinery, whatever). That way he is learning about something interesting, getting on-level reading practice, and you don‘t have to worry about subject matter and the ins and outs of a plot as much. Truly hope this helps @Foragingfantasy Happy to help if you ever have more questions! 7y
Foragingfantasy @TobeyTheScavengerMonk Thank you for answering and for the suggestions! I will try to encourage him in that direction. 7y
28 likes5 comments
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Howseldomtheydo
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I remember reading this book to my daughter many years ago with tears streaming down my face. This is a pic of my dog Lexi, she is about 15 years old we got her from a husky rescue site. #petsoflitsy

Soubhiville Pretty girl! 🐶💖 8y
I-read-and-eat So pretty! 8y
LauraBeth Gorgeous 💕🐶 8y
See All 17 Comments
Merethebookgal Beautiful! 8y
TheCanuckReader Wooly-boo :) 8y
Megabooks Sweetheart!! 💕💕❤️ 8y
JanuarieTimewalker13 Beautiful! 8y
Litlady That gorgeous face! *sighs* 🐶💗🐶 8y
minkyb Oh my! So beautiful! 8y
kspenmoll Those eyes! 8y
PenguinInFlight Such a beautiful dog!! ❤️🐶 Those eyes!! 8y
DGRachel ❤️🐶❤️ 8y
DebReads4fun She is beautiful! 8y
PurpleyPumpkin Wow, beautiful!🐶 8y
NatalieR Gorgeous! 🐾 8y
Eyelit 💙🐶 8y
LeahBergen ❤️❤️ 8y
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BookNerdBritt
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Mehso-so

Day 26: rereads. I first read this in grad school, HATED it, & vowed never to teach it (so of course it ended up being part of this year's curriculum). Now that I've read it with students, I can see its redeeming qualities in some themes that make for great discussion (Willy's determination, Stone Fox's mistrust of white men, Grandfather's depression), but everything I don't like about this book still stands (continued in spoiler-tagged comments).

BookNerdBritt There's a scene when Little Willy tries to pet Stone Fox's samoyeds and Stone Fox basically backhands Willy. The case can be made that he didn't see who it was skulking around his dogs in the dark, but an adult giving a child an black eye and the child having to apologize doesn't sit well with me. 8y
BookNerdBritt B) But mostly I HATE HATE HATE THAT THE DOG DIES. It happens out of nowhere and for no damn reason and so close to the end of the book that the reader doesn't have time to grieve for poor Searchlight. Our next reader's workshop book is Because of Winn-Dixie, and a good majority of my kids' reactions were, "Oh no, not another book about a dog. Does this one die too?" THANKS A LOT, JOHN REYNOLDS GARDINER. ?? 8y
Karenmyers I do get what you are saying about the timeline of the dog's death, but I love it for the powerful reactions that provokes. Many of my students aren't readers & don't understand the impact a book can have. Stone Fox changes that perception for some of them. Among the 'dog dies' books, though, Bill Wallace's Dog Called Kitty still reigns supreme! Humor, family conflict, conquering fear, kids meeting their responsibilities, etc. This book has it all 8y
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JacintaMCarter
Stone Fox | John Reynolds Gardiner
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I'm not really an animal person, but for #CatsVsDogs I have to go with Searchlight, the loyal sled dog from Stone Fox. #OctPhotoChallenge

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Dukefanlisa
Stone Fox | John Reynolds Gardiner
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Pickpick

Going to teach character traits so I found Stone Fox. Not sure how I'll get through this book without crying in front of my classes! 😢