Tracker Book Unit
especially love interactive notebooks, anchor charts,
hands-on activities, great books, and making learning
fun. Here is the place for me to share some of the things I
love. ~~ Gay Miller
Page | 2 Unit Created by Gay Miller
Thank you for downloading this preview of Tracker Book Unit. This is a phenomenal book that I’m sure your students will love! Other products in this series may be found at
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This unit contains graphic organizers for an interactive notebook covering vocabulary, comprehension questions, constructed response writing, and skill practice. I hope your students enjoy a book study using the engaging method of using interactive notebooks.
For teachers who wish paperless activities, this unit contains digital task cards from Boom Learning as well as Google Slides resources. Look at next pages for links. Boom Learning is used for all multiple choice, fill in the blank type exercises and Google Slides are used for the open ended questions.
Tracker By Gary Paulsen
Tracker Table of Contents
Lesson Plans at a Glance 8
Vocabulary 11
Vocabulary Booklet Answer Key 38
Vocabulary Test 45
Teacher Information 50
Question 3 - Constructed Response – Responding to Text 60
Question 4 - Constructed Response – Figurative Language 61
Comprehension Quiz for Chapters 7-8 62
Question 5 - Constructed Response – Point of View 63
Comprehension Quiz for Chapters 9-10 65
Question 6 - Constructed Response –Mood 66
Question 7 - Constructed Response – Symbolism 67
Comprehension Quiz for Chapters 11-12 68
Question 8 - Constructed Response – Plot Development 69
Question 9 - Constructed Response – Theme 70
Comprehension and Constructed Response Writing Answer Key 71
Skills 89
Hook 90
Dictionary Skills Organizer 109
Dictionary/Thesaurus Practice 120
Lesson Plans at a Glance for Full Tracker Unit
Option 1
Reading – Do comprehension question after reading even
numbered chapters.
Constructed Response
Skill Lesson
silage
stoneboat granary
thrum roil
assail
quagmire defy
Figurative Language
matted unduly
recourse
beckon void
searing
Chapter 12 [searing and lame]
1. Circle six words in the box that are synonyms of
lame.

2. Sort the words from the box to show two different
definitions of searing.
stabbing acute scorching
charring agonizing flaming
______ moonlight on water ______ summer heat
______ steaks on a grill ______ diamonds
______ stabbing pain
Chapter 1 [ruddy and kerosene]
1. Circle six words in the box that are synonyms of ruddy.
pale ashen rosy
sickly sallow whitish
glowing colorless flushed
healthy-looking reddish red

3. Is kerosene used correctly in the sentences below? True or False
______ We used the kerosene heater during the
blackout.
winter.
______ Imports from Peru include chocolate from
cacao, kerosene from crude petroleum, sugar from sugar cane, and textiles from cotton and wool.

Complete the sentences using ruddy or kerosene.
4. We packed a can of ____________________ and two lanterns for the camping trip.
5. The market sold ____________________ for lightning at a cheap price.
6. The old man had a snow-white beard and eyebrows and a
____________________ face.
Chapter 12 [searing and lame]
1. Circle six words in the box that are synonyms of
lame.

2. Sort the words from the box to show two different
definitions of searing.
stabbing acute scorching
charring agonizing flaming
______ moonlight on water ______ summer heat
______steaks on a grill ______ diamonds
______stabbing pain
Chapter 1 [ruddy and kerosene]
1. Circle six words in the box that are synonyms of ruddy.
pale ashen rosy
sickly sallow whitish
glowing colorless flushed
healthy-looking reddish red

3. Is kerosene used correctly in the sentences below? True or False
___T___ We used the kerosene heater during the
blackout.
winter.
___T___ Imports from Peru include chocolate from
cacao, kerosene from crude petroleum, sugar from sugar cane, and textiles from cotton and wool.

Complete the sentences using ruddy or kerosene.
4. We packed a can of ___kerosene___ and two lanterns for the camping trip.
5. The market sold ___kerosene___ for lightning at a cheap price.
6. The old man had a snow-white beard and eyebrows and a
___ruddy___ face.
Tracker ~ Chapters 1-2
a. Doing Chores
b. Bad News for Grandpa Clay and his Family c. Fighting in World War II d. Living with Grandparents
2. Chapters 1-2 are told from which point of
view?
a. 1st through John b. 1st through Grandpa c. 3rd through a narrator
d. 3rd through Grandpa
Tracker?
a. Grandpa thinks John is too young to go out
hunting on his own. b. John respects his Grandpa. c. Emil is not into hunting.
d. John’s grandmother is denying that her husband is really sick.
4. Match each cause to its effect.
_____ John thought about his Grandpa’s
cancer.
November.
b) John’s tears landed in the milk.
_____ Grandpa is sick. c) He had a difficult time eating
breakfast.
milked the cows.
5. Read this passage from Chapter 1.
Cold breakfast sits hard, and a hard breakfast won’t warm you on a snowy morning.
This passage contains ---.
a. adventurous, organized, witty
7. Which genre is Tracker? Check one from each row.
____ fiction OR ____ drama
____ fantasy OR ____ realistic
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
8. True or False _____ John’s parents died in a car crash when
John was 4 years old.
_____ John likes to start his day doing
chores.
_____ John has two really close friends, Emil
and Marge, at school.
_____ John liked Sundays.
Chapters 1-2 ~ Constructed Response – Summarizing
List events that happened in Chapters 1-2 in the order in which they happened.
1
2
3
4
5
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or
how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from
personal opinions or judgments.
Tracker ~ Chapters 1-2
a. Doing Chores
b. Bad News for Grandpa Clay and his Family c. Fighting in World War II d. Living with Grandparents
2. Chapters 1-2 are told from which point of
view?
a. 1st through John b. 1st through Grandpa c. 3rd through a narrator
d. 3rd through Grandpa
Tracker?
a. Grandpa thinks John is too young to go out
hunting on his own. b. John respects his Grandpa. c. Emil is not into hunting.
d. John’s grandmother is denying that her husband is really sick.
4. Match each cause to its effect.
__c__ John thought about his Grandpa’s
cancer.
November.
b) John’s tears landed in the milk.
__d__ Grandpa is sick. c) He had a difficult time eating
breakfast.
milked the cows.
5. Read this passage from Chapter 1.
Cold breakfast sits hard, and a hard breakfast won’t warm you on a snowy morning.
This passage contains ---.
a. adventurous, organized, witty
7. Which genre is Tracker? Check one from each row.
____ fiction OR ____ drama
____ fantasy OR ____ realistic
The story is from the author’s imagination
making it fiction. The events could really happen making it realistic. The main character is 13 years old making the target audience young
adults.
8. True or False __F__ John’s parents died in a car crash when
John was 4 years old. (plane)
__T__ John likes to start his day doing
chores.
__F__ John has two really close friends, Emil
and Marge, at school. (only one – Emil – Marge is the cow.)
__F__ Grandpa and John always hunted the full two weeks of deer season. (only until they shot a deer)
__T__ John liked Sundays.
Chapters 1-2 ~ Constructed Response – Summarizing
List events that happened in Chapters 1-2 in the order in which they happened.
1
•Two weeks before the book starts John's grandpa, Clay Borne, gets the news that his cancer is terminal.
•John sits at the breakfast table one Sunday morning. He is too upset about his grandpa's illness to eat. He looks at his grandpa trying to see the same signs of death on him that he sees when he hunts deer, but his grandpa looks the same. He does the same things like carving and laughing and joking.
2
•Grandpa brings up the topic of deer hunting. He says deer season starts the next Saturday and the snow will makeg tracking deer easier for John. John manages to get breakfast down without tasting it. He then goes to the barn to do his morning chores.
3
•A narrator tells the reader that John enjoys doing morning chores. He is different from his best friend, Emil Peterson, in than Emil thinks John is crazy because he likes doing chores.
•The warm barn is comforting. He cleans the barn, feeds the animals, and milks the cows.
4
•While doing chores, John thinks about his grandpa. His grandpa fought the Japanese in World War II and had been wounded. Grandpa had come to love seeing beauty in nature the way the Japanese saw beauty in small things like a rose petal.
5
•While milking John compared looking away from the milking bucket -- because if you watched it never seemed to fill up -- to not looking at his Grandpa. He thought if he didn't look at his grandpa for a while he would be able to see the changes in him when he did look. This thought upset John, and he began to cry. His tears fell into the milk.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or
how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from
personal opinions or judgments.
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