This selection is protected by copyright and is not available online. The Selection Snapshot has been provided in its place.
Go to page
Vocabulary • Word 
Word Structure
Dialogue • Critical 
VOCABULARY STRATEGY 
MODEL I recognize the suffix
Student Edition
Unit 1, pp. 22–33
This Snapshot is realistic fiction. It is about characters and events that are like people and events in real life.
Opal Buloni and her father, a preacher, have recently moved to a small town in Florida. Opal's mother has died, and Opal misses her. Soon after they arrive, Opal rescues a big, scruffy dog. She names him Winn-Dixie, after the grocery store where she found him. She convinces her father to let her keep him. She is lonesome.
Winn-Dixie goes everywhere with Opal. He even goes to the Herman W. Block Memorial Library. Opal spends many hours inside reading. She teaches Winn-Dixie to stand on his hind legs and watch her through the window. She gets to know Miss Franny Block, the tiny, old librarian.
One day, while Opal is selecting a book, Miss Franny screams. Opal finds her sitting on the floor behind her desk. She has just seen a bear at the window! Opal tells her that she is positive that it was Winn-Dixie, her dog. Miss Franny breaks a rule and lets him come inside.
Then she begins to tell a story. She recalls Florida when it was wild and woolly. She says she doesn't want to appear prideful, but her daddy was a very rich man. When she was about Opal's age, he gave her her own library. One day she was reading when she saw a shadow. She didn't look up until she noticed a strong, peculiar smell. Then she saw a huge bear right in front of her. She was scared but decided to fight. She threw a big book at the bear, and it went away. But it took the book, she says. And for years she was teased that a bear was somewhere reading a book. Miss Franny stops and says that this was long ago. Most of her friends are gone now.
Miss Franny looks at Winn-Dixie. He sits up and shows her his teeth. She thinks he is smiling at her. Opal says that's one of his talents. She says that maybe she and Miss Franny and Winn-Dixie can all be friends. Miss Franny says that would be grand.
Just then Amanda Wilkinson walks in. She asks for a difficult book to read. She brags that she is an advanced reader. Then she asks why a dog is in the library. Miss Franny looks at Opal and winks. Opal knows that she has made a friend.
Because of Winn-Dixie. Copyright © 2000 by Kate DeCamillo. Reprinted by permission of Candlewick Press, Inc., Cambridge, MA.
Copyright © Pearson Education.
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|||
|
Close |  |
|
Word Structure Have students work with a list of words with thesuffix -ful (e.g., wonderful, helpful, beautiful, joyful). Students can work in pairs to identify base words and discuss word meanings. Extend Critical Thinking Discuss with students the tale that Miss Franny tells. Ask if they think it is credible that a father would give his daughter a library for her birthday. Have students give reasons for their answers.
Context Clues Help students use context to figure out the meaning of the expressions little-miss-know-it-all and miss-smarty-pants (p. 29). The meaning is given in the next sentence: I thought I knew the answers to everything.
Geography of the Southeast
Florida, along with other southeastern states, forms
part of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. The region's warm, sunny climate makes it a popular destination for tourists and retirees who enjoy swimming, fishing, and boating along miles of sandy coastlines. The climate also makes it a good place for agriculture. Cotton, vegetables, citrus fruits, peanuts, and tobacco all grow well in the Southeast, and farming has long been a way of life in the area. |
|||
 |
 |
|
 |