1. Lesson 18: Analyzing character decisions and relationships
About this lesson
Students will continue reading the short story, “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, which has similar ideas and themes about human-animal relationships and the wild. In this lesson, they will analyze the setting, examine how words and phrases establish tone and mood, and analyze what a character’s decisions reveal about his character.
An audio recording of “To Build a Fire” is available at

2. We analyzed how words and phrases in “To Build a Fire” establish a tone and mood and what the main character’s decisions reveal about the character.
Let’s Review!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~1 minute
Directions:
Briefly review the previous learning.

3. Continue reading “To Build a Fire” by Jack London.
Today we will:
Continue reading “To Build a Fire” by Jack London.
Analyze the relationship between the man and his dog by examining the man’s decisions and the dog’s reactions to the man’s decisions.
Let’s Prepare!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~1 minute
Directions:
Read the slide.
Briefly explain how this lesson prepares students for another lesson and/or the end-of-unit assessments.
Throughout the lesson, compare students’ responses and work to the student look-fors. Determine the students who need additional support with reading, understanding, or expressing their understanding of complex, grade-level texts. During this lesson or before the next lesson, support those students individually or in a small group using the Additional Supports for Diverse Learners.

4. “To Build a Fire” by Jack London
You will need:
“To Build a Fire” by Jack London
Your split-page notes for “To Build a Fire”
Let’s Prepare!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~ 3 minutes
Directions:
Distribute the text.
Ask students to locate their split-page notes: “To Build a Fire” handout.
This lesson uses accountable talk. Access the strategy one-pager to learn about accountable talk.

5. Follow along in your copy of “To Build a Fire” while I read aloud paragraphs 9-17.
Let’s Read!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~10 minutes
Directions:
Say: “I’m going to read paragraphs 9-17 of “To Build a Fire” aloud. As I read, think about the relationship between the man and his dog as revealed by the man’s decisions and the dog’s reactions.
Direct students to follow along in their copies of the text as you read paragraphs 9-17 aloud.
Start at: “The dog dropped in again at his heels, with a tail drooping discouragement, as the man swung along the creek-bed. ”
End at: “He wet himself halfway to the knees before he floundered out to the firm crust.”
Student Look-Fors:
Students should follow along silently as you read aloud.

6. “The dog dropped in again at his heels, with a tail drooping
discouragement, as the man swung along the creek-bed. The furrow of
the old sled-trail was plainly visible, but a dozen inches of snow covered
the marks of the last runners. In a month no man had come up or down
that silent creek. The man held steadily on. He was not much given to
thinking, and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save
that he would eat lunch at the forks and that at six o'clock he would be
in camp with the boys. There was nobody to talk to; and, had there been,
speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his
mouth. So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase
the length of his amber beard.”
Let’s Discuss!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~ 5 minutes
Directions:
Engage students in gathering evidence about the man’s decisions and actions, what they reveal about his character, and how his actions compare to the actions of the dog.
Say: “Today, we’ll continue to examine incidents in the text that show the man’s decisions and actions and consider what they reveal about his character. We’ll also look at the dog’s actions, and consider the ways in which his actions differ from the man’s. This is important for considering key themes after we finish the text. Let’s take a look at paragraph 9,which is on the slide. Locate this paragraph in your copy of the text.”
Reread or have a student read the paragraph aloud.
Conduct a whole-class discussion to answer the following questions:
Say: “Consider the sentences in bold. What information does the man gather about his surroundings?”
Ask: “How does the man respond?”
Ask: “Why is the man’s decision surprising? What does this reveal about his character?”
Use teacher talk moves so students [clearly express their ideas (Goal One), listen carefully to understand others’ ideas (Goal Two), provide evidence to support their claims (Goal Three), establish new ways of thinking (Goal Four)].
Possible Supports During the Lesson:
If students are not providing answers similar to the Student Look-Fors:
Ask: “What does the man do? How is this different from what others might do? What in the text tells you that?”
Ask: “What does the man’s decision to keep going suggest about his awareness? Understanding of the cold? The danger? Why?”
Student Look-Fors:
Students should understand the man makes the decision continue along the trail, even though a “dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners.” He only seems to think about being at camp with the boys. He doesn’t seem fazed by the fact that no one has been on the path for a month, even though it might suggest to everyone else that it is too cold to travel given the danger this presents. The man’s decision to keep going is surprising because everything around him suggests he should stop, camp and build a fire, or retreat. It does not appear to be safe. This reveals that the man is either ignorant or unaware of the danger around him (due to his noviceness) or he is stubborn and believes he is strong enough or smart enough to survive despite the conditions. His pride or arrogance may also be at play here.

7. “The dog dropped in again at his heels, with a tail drooping
discouragement, as the man swung along the creek-bed. The furrow of
the old sled-trail was plainly visible, but a dozen inches of snow covered
the marks of the last runners. In a month no man had come up or down
that silent creek. The man held steadily on. He was not much given to
thinking, and just then particularly he had nothing to think about save
that he would eat lunch at the forks and that at six o'clock he would be
in camp with the boys. There was nobody to talk to; and, had there been,
speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his
mouth. So he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase
the length of his amber beard.”
Let’s Discuss!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~ 3 minutes
Directions:
Reread or have a student read the paragraph aloud.
Conduct a whole-class discussion to answer the following questions:
Ask: “How is the dog described in the bolded sentence?”
Ask: “What does this reveal about the dog and his feelings toward the man?”
Ask: “How are his actions different from the man’s actions?”
Use teacher talk moves so students [clearly express their ideas (Goal One), listen carefully to understand others’ ideas (Goal Two), provide evidence to support their claims (Goal Three), establish new ways of thinking (Goal Four)].
Possible Supports During the Lesson:
If students are not providing answers similar to the Student Look-Fors:
Ask: “What does the dog do?”
Ask: “What words are used to describe the dog?”
Ask: “What do those words suggest about the dog’s feelings? Why?”
Ask: “What does this suggest about the dog’s awareness? Understanding of the cold? The danger? Why?”
Student Look-Fors:
Students should understand the dog is hanging back behind the man, which suggests he does not want to keep going. The sentence says his “tail drooping discouragement,” which suggests that he doesn’t agree with the man’s choices and that the dog understands something about the danger that the man does not.

8. Reread paragraphs 9-17.
Answer questions #4-6 on your split-page notes, which focus on the decisions and actions of the man and his dog and what they reveal about each.
Let’s Read!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~15 minutes
Directions:
Ask students to follow the directions on the slide.
Possible Supports During the Lesson:
If students have difficulty reading the text, provide additional support, such as helping students decode unfamiliar words or grouping students of different abilities together to engage in partner reading. If there is a larger group of students who need support, consider pulling together a small group and engaging in choral reading so students can hear a fluent reader reading the material while following along with the printed text.
If students are not writing answers similar to the Student Look-Fors:
Ask: “Why can’t the man eat his lunch? What does he realize he forgot to do? What does this who about him?”
Ask: “Where does the dog walk? What does the dog want to do that the man doesn’t want to do? What does this suggest?”
Student Look-Fors:
Access the completed split-page notes: “To Build a Fire” handout.

9. Answer the summary question for paragraphs 9-17 on your split-page notes.
Let’s Express Our Understanding!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~ 8 minutes
Directions:
Ask students to follow the directions on the slide.
Monitor student writing time, and provide support as needed.
If students need more time, ask students to finish writing their responses for homework.
Possible Supports During the Lesson:
If students are not writing answers similar to the Student Look-Fors:
Direct students to reread the sentence, “The one was the toil-slave of the other, and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whip-lash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whip-lash.”
Ask: “Who is the one? Who is the other?”
Ask: “When it says, ‘the only caresses it had ever received,’ who is it?”
Ask: “What does menacing mean?”
Ask: “How does the man treat the dog? How does the dog feel about the man? What does this sentence reveal about their relationship?”
Student Look-Fors:
Access the completed split-page notes: “To Build a Fire” handout.

10. Materials you will need
Assignment
Materials you will need
Finish writing your answer to the summary question on your split-page notes.
Read paragraphs of “To Build a Fire.”
Your copy of “To Build a Fire”
Your split-page notes for “To Build a Fire”
Homework
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~3 minutes
Directions:
Explain the homework assignment(s) and share the qualities of a strong response (e.g., restates the question, demonstrates understanding of the text, includes relevant evidence to support the ideas, written in complete sentences, etc.).
Make sure students understand the materials they will need to complete the work.
Use your established classroom routines to ensure that students have noted the assignment in the appropriate place (e.g., notebook, student planner, weekly homework calendar, etc.).
If you do not wish to assign homework, this work can be completed during class according to your schedule. Use the supports below to help students as needed.
Possible Supports During the Lesson:
If students have difficulty reading this section of the text, provide additional support, such as a recording of the chapter, so students can listen to the recording as they follow along with their copy of the text.
Some students may need support in understanding the vocabulary and syntax of this section. For these students, provide a glossary of words with student-friendly definitions for grade-level and above grade-level vocabulary words. Use the Academic Word Finder to determine which words to include.

11. In this lesson, you continued reading “To Build a Fire” by Jack London and examined the relationship between the man and his dog.
You also analyzed how incidents in the story propel the action and reveal aspects of character.
Let’s Close!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~1 minute
Directions:
Read the slide.