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Free Comprehension Questions
1. Balto led a dog sled team. The team helped ill children in Nome. What did Balto do before leading the dog sled
team?
Balto was the lead dog on a sled team that carried tools and food to miners.
2. Children were sick. The doctor could not make them feel better. The children needed help. What kind of help
did they need? What would happen if they did not get the help they needed?
The children needed medicine to get
well. Without it, they may have died. Discuss how diphtheria is contagious. That means that other people would have become
sick with diphtheria, also. Without the right medicine, more than a few children would have died of diphtheria.
3. Balto was brave. What did he do on the trip to Nome?
The other dogs on the team followed Balto.
At one point, the dogs were almost covered with snow. Balto patiently waited to be dug out. Second, Balto would not go forward
because he knew the ice was cracking. Third, when the weather became so bad that Gunnar could not see, Balto led the team
to Point Safety. Then when they should have been able to rest because their part of the journey was completed, Balto kept
going so they could get the medicine to Nome.
Writing Prompt
Balto's dog sled team had to run for 20 hours in the cold. They were almost covered with snow and almost fell into a river.
Balto's paws nearly froze. Pretend you are one of the dogs on Balto's team. Tell the story of your journey from Bluff
to Nome, Alaska, from a dog's point of view.
Students can write their paragraph on a free downloadable sheet with a dog sled team on it from theteacherscorner.com.
Worksheets
Balto and the Great Race Worksheet
Random House has created a worksheet that students can use to attach the name of each musher on the route to
the part of the route he took. Because this worksheet relates more closely to a similar book, students may need to do research
to comlete this worksheet.
Make a Dog-Sled Mobile
Crayola has created a pattern students can use to make their own dog-sled mobile. Students will need crayons, scissors
and yarn/string to complete this project.
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