Balto, The Dog Who Saved Nome

Oct 16, 2026

Unit 2, Week 8 learning plan for “Balto, The Dog Who Saved Nome” centers on how extreme circumstances demand teamwork, leadership, and perseverance. Students read a main selection about a diphtheria outbreak in Nome, Alaska, where sled dog teams carry medicine 800 miles over snow and ice. Teacher-led close reading includes text-dependent questions and vocabulary checkpoints, using page-specific prompts to analyze problem, setting effects, and key details about telegraph messages, the journey plan, and Balto’s role.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatDOCX

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Teacher Instructions

Before Teaching

Big Ideas and Key Understandings

Synopsis

During Teaching

Text Dependent Questions

Answers (page 186-197)

Unit 2/Week 8 Title: Balto, The Dog Who Saved Nome Suggested Time: 5 days (45 minutes per day) Common Core ELA Standards: RL.3.1, RL.3.3, RL.3.4, RL.3.5, RL.3.7, RL.3.10; RF. 3.3, RF. 3.4; W.3.2, W.3.4; SL.3.1, SL.3.6; L.3.1, L.3.2, L.3.4, L.3.5 Teacher Instructions Refer to the Introduction for further details. Before Teaching Read the Big Ideas and Key Understandings and the Synopsis. Please do not read this to the students. This is a description for teachers, about the big ideas and key understanding that students should take away after completing this task. Big Ideas and Key Understandings Extreme circumstances require teamwork, leadership and perseverance. Synopsis Diphtheria has broken out in Nome, Alaska. Teams of sled dogs carry medicine 800 miles over snow and ice to prevent an epidemic. Everyone was brave but one dog, Balto, made the difference between failure and success, even though Gunnar Kasson was the human leader of the pack. Read entire main selection text, keeping in mind the Big Ideas and Key Understandings. Re-read the main selection text while noting the stopping points for the Text Dependent Questions and teaching Vocabulary. During Teaching Students read the entire main selection text independently. Teacher reads the main selection text aloud with students following along. (Depending on how complex the text is and the amount of support needed by students, the teacher may choose to reverse the order of steps 1 and 2.) Students and teacher re-read the text while stopping to respond to and discuss the questions and returning to the text. A variety of methods can be used to structure the reading and discussion (i.e.: whole class discussion, think-pair-share, independent written response, group work, etc.) Text Dependent Questions Text Dependent Questions Answers What is the problem on page 186? List all the ways the setting impacts the problem. A deadly sickness has broken out in Nome called diphtheria. They have no medicine to treat it and keep it from spreading. Nome is 800 miles away from the medicine in Anchorage and there is a major snowstorm. Airplanes and trains can’t get through the storm. The sea is frozen so boats cannot travel. The road from the south is completely blocked by deep drifts of snow. Why are the words at the top of page 186 printed in large, dark type? (page 186) The words are a message that was sent by telegraph. The message is very important The type helps get the reader’s attention. Why did the author use and repeat the words “Click-click-clack”? Click-click-clack imitates the sounds of the telegraph key. What can we learn from the map and the text on pages 187? After looking at the map, how do things look for the people of Nome? The medicine will be carried by railroad. You can tell because the map shows railroad tracks between two cities. The map also shows that the railroad will not carry the medicine very far and that the dog sleds will have to complete most of the trip. Dog sleds will be slow and the storm will slow them even more. How do the people plan to get the medicine to Nome? (page 188) They plan to take it by train as far as the train can go, and then have different dogsled teams take turns carrying it the rest of the way. Why is it necessary to use several dog teams instead of just one? (page 188) It was more than 600 miles from Nome. Six hundred miles is too far for one dog team to run. It is tiring for a dog team to pull a sled through a snow storm. How do you know that the plan to get medicine to Nome is working so far? (page 189) The train has carried the medicine part of the way, and the first two dogsled teams have reached their goals. On page 191, how do things look for Gunnar Kasson’s team? Things do not look good. The wind was screaming. The snow was piling up deeper and deeper on the ground. It was thirty degrees below zero and the temperature was falling fast. Why does Gunnar Kasson decide to ignore Olsen’s advice and continue on with

FAQs

What problem occurs in Nome, and how does it affect the community?

A deadly sickness, diphtheria, breaks out in Nome. The community lacks medicine and must stop it from spreading while dealing with travel barriers.

How does the setting make the medicine delivery difficult?

Nome is 800 miles from the medicine, and severe weather blocks routes. Storm conditions prevent airplanes and trains, freeze the sea so boats cannot travel, and leave the southern road blocked by deep snow drifts.

What role does Balto play, and why does the author emphasize him at this point?

Balto is not an ordinary dog; he is half wolf and is kind and intelligent. Gunnar continues because he believes Balto will lead safely through the next stops, and Balto demonstrates problem-solving by finding the trail and leading the team around breaking ice.

Oct 16, 2026

Uploaded by Sophia Brooks