Story Explorers: Little House in the Big Woods

Description

Step into the world of Laura Ingalls Wilder in Little House in the Big Woods, a beloved story about family, adventure, hard work, and life on the American frontier.

In this four-week Story Explorers course, students will read and explore the story together while learning to think more deeply about what they read. Through discussion, questions, vocabulary exploration, and literary analysis, students will go beyond simply knowing what happened in the story and begin to consider why it happened, what the characters were thinking, and what the author was trying to show us.

Who This Class Is For

This class is designed for students ages 7–12 who enjoy stories and are ready to become more thoughtful, confident readers.

Students do not need to be expert readers to participate. The goal is to create a welcoming environment where students can share their ideas, ask questions, listen to others, and discover that there is often more than one way to think about a story.

What Students Will Develop

Throughout the course, students will practice:

• Reading comprehension by identifying important details, making connections, and thinking about what they have read
• Vocabulary by exploring unfamiliar words and using context to understand their meaning
• Literary analysis by examining characters, setting, plot, themes, and the author’s choices
• Critical thinking by making predictions, drawing conclusions, supporting ideas with evidence, and considering different perspectives
• Discussion skills by expressing ideas clearly, listening to others, asking thoughtful questions, and respectfully responding to different opinions

Our Story

Little House in the Big Woods introduces us to Laura and her family as they live, work, and grow together in the Wisconsin woods.

As we read, we’ll explore questions such as:

• What can a story teach us about a different time and place?
• How does the setting affect the characters’ lives?
• What can we learn about a character from the choices they make?
• What makes a family strong?
• How do people solve problems when life is difficult?
• What details does Laura notice and remember, and why might those details matter?

Students will have opportunities to connect the story to their own experiences while also learning to support their ideas with evidence from the text.

What We’ll Do Each Week

Each live class will include a combination of reading discussion, vocabulary, literary exploration, and activities designed to help students think more deeply about the story.

We’ll talk about what happened, but we’ll also spend time asking why, how, and what if?

Students should come prepared to participate, share their ideas, and listen carefully to their classmates.

Schedule

Tuesdays in October
October 6–27
4:00 PM CST
4 weekly live online classes
45 minutes each

Classes will meet live on Zoom.

What Students Need

Students will need a copy of Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

I recommend that students have their own copy so they can mark pages, look back at passages, and refer to the text during our discussions.

Continue the Story at Home

One of the best things about a great book is that the conversation doesn’t have to end when class does.

Throughout the course, I’ll encourage students to continue noticing, wondering, and discussing the ideas they encounter in the story. Parents may also want to use some of our discussion questions as a starting point for conversations at home.

A Note to Parents

Story Explorers is designed to help children experience literature as something to think about, talk about, and enjoy, not simply something to finish.

My goal is for students to leave class with stronger reading skills, but also with a growing sense of curiosity about books and the ideas they contain.