The Birchbark House

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

What is the meaning of the term “broken heart”? Could the meanings be both literal and figurative—and if so, how? What are the physical and emotional symptoms of a broken heart? What other emotions do people often associate with the heart?

Teaching Suggestion: Lead the class to come to a consensus regarding a working definition of the term.

• “Broken Heart Syndrome” explains the causes and symptoms of this real condition.

Short Activity

Brainstorm a list of stories you’ve read (for a class or on your own) that fit the genre of historical fiction. Then find 2-3 reputable, helpful sources to use in answering the questions.

• What characteristics set historical fiction apart from other genres?
• What might a writer of historical fiction do in preparing to write and during the writing process that is different from writing other kinds of stories?

Teaching Suggestion: You might want to create a chart with columns for Setting, Characters, Plot to record students’ ideas about the characteristics of the genre. As time allows, students might use resources online to investigate the historical setting of the novel.

• The entry “Historical Novel” from Encyclopaedia Britannica is a good starting place for listing the genre’s characteristics.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners, you may wish to provide a chart with characteristics of historical fiction and then facilitate a group discussion of how a writer might prepare to write in the genre. Encourage them to relate a writer’s research to areas of their own lives: for instance, how characters from a different era might have spoken and dressed.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

In The Birchbark House, Omakayas, the main character, performs a number of family chores. Some, such as skinning hides, she detests. Others, such as running errands to Tallow’s home, she enjoys. What are some chores you are expected to perform at home? Which do you like or dislike, and why? In what ways do these chores contribute to your development as an individual as well as toward the good of the family? In thinking about the theme Women’s Work and Non-Conformity, are the family chores gendered in any way?

Teaching Suggestion: Students may extend their thinking to the ways in which their chores contribute to the good of the community. In Anishinabe culture, many of the benefits of family chores are shared and exhibit Community and Generosity.

• “Chores and Children” from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry explains the developmental benefits of chores.

Differentiation Suggestion: Visual learners may share their chores in the form of a traditional family chore calendar.