Because of Winn-Dixie

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

CHAPTERS 1-4

Reading Check

1. What country is Opal named after?

2. What does Opal ask the preacher to tell her 10 things about?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Opal immediately feel about Winn-Dixie?

2. What does Opal compare the preacher to? Why does she make this comparison?

3. How does Opal compare herself to Winn-Dixie? What does it reveal about what she feels she is missing?

Paired Resource

“Why Kids Who Learn and Think Differently Might Feel Lonely”

• This short article explores the difference between spending time alone and being lonely.
• Shared themes include Friends and Family and Loneliness and Loss.
• What is the difference between being lonely and spending time alone? Is it possible to feel lonely when others are around? Is Opal lonely or is she spending time alone? How do you know?

CHAPTERS 5-8

Reading Check

1. What does Winn-Dixie catch in Opal’s church?

2. What does Miss Franny Block mistake Winn-Dixie for?

3. What is the book Miss Franny Block throws at the animal that comes into her library?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. When Winn-Dixie is left behind, Opal says she could understand what it feels like to be left behind. What does she mean by this statement? (Chapter 5)

2. Compare the librarian’s loneliness with Opal’s loneliness. How are they alike and different?

Paired Resource

“Are You Feeling Lonely? How About Getting a Pet?”

• This article explores the benefits of pets in curbing loneliness.
• Shared themes include Loneliness and Loss, Friends and Family, and Seeing with the Heart.
• What are the health benefits of interactions between humans and animals? How does Winn-Dixie provide emotional support for Opal?

CHAPTERS 9-12

Reading Check

1. What does Gloria Dump give Winn-Dixie when he enters her garden?

2. What might Opal have inherited from her mother, according to Gloria Dump?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is there friction between the Dewberry brothers and Opal?

2. What does Gloria Dump mean when she says Opal needs to see people with her heart? How does she see people with her heart?

3. What is Winn-Dixie’s fear? How does it make Opal and the preacher react to Winn-Dixie?

Paired Resource

“Phobias”

• This 5-minute video explores various phobias and their causes.
• Shared themes include Friends and Family and Seeing with the Heart.
• What are the different types of phobias? What causes them? Why might Winn-Dixie experience his phobia? Is it irrational?

CHAPTERS 13-17

Reading Check

1. What does Winn-Dixie like to keep all to himself at the library?

2. What is the war Miss Franny Block’s father fought in?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is Gloria’s perspective on Otis’s jail time?

2. What does Gloria mean when she says the tree keeps the ghosts away?

3. What is unique about the flavor of the litmus lozenge? Why does it taste different to different people?

Paired Resource

“Teaching Forgiveness to Build Social Emotional Learning and Character”

• This article explores the nature of forgiveness and how to teach it to your students (Teacher-appropriate; not student-facing).
• Shared themes include Friends and Family and Seeing with the Heart.
• How is forgiveness taught at different ages? How does forgiveness foster empathy? What is the significance of Opal’s wave to the Dewberry boys?

CHAPTERS 18-21

Reading Check

1. What does the taste of the litmus lozenge remind the preacher of?

2. Who must Opal invite if she intends to have a party at Gloria’s house?

3. What does Otis bring with him to Gloria Dump’s party?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Opal surprised to learn of Amanda’s struggles? What is she learning by giving the lozenges to the individuals around her?

2. Opal compares her grief for her mother as being the same as “a hole you keep on feeling with your tongue after you lose a tooth.” What does she mean by this comparison?

CHAPTERS 22-26

Reading Check

1. Who does Opal forget when the thunder rumbles over Gloria’s party?

2. What is the most important thing Opal’s mother left behind?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Gloria Dump tell Opal, “There ain’t no way you can hold onto something that wants to go” when Winn-Dixie disappears? How does this statement have a dual meaning?

2. Why does Opal make a list of 10 things about Winn-Dixie? What does Opal realize about the 10 things that describe Winn-Dixie and her mother?

3. What causes Opal to accept the loss of her mother?

Recommended Next Reads

Because of a Rabbit by Cynthia Lord

• This novel is about a girl who adopts a rabbit while adjusting to a new school and trying to make new friends.
• Shared themes include Friends and Family and Loneliness and Loss.
• Shared topics include pets as friends, adapting to new environments, and building community.
• Because of a Rabbit on SuperSummary

Shiloh by Phillis Reynolds Naylor

• This novel is about a boy who discovers an abused dog in the woods and attempts to find a way to adopt him into his family.
• Shared themes include Friends and Family and Seeing with the Heart.
• Shared topics include compassion, forgiveness, and pets as catalysts for change.
• Shiloh on SuperSummary