The Adventures of

Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain

Te a c h e r ’ s
Material
 C O N T E N T S

To the Teacher .................................................................................................................... 3

Before Reading .................................................................................................................... 4

After Reading........................................................................................................................ 6

Worksheet 1: Chapters 1–3 ................................................................................................... 7

Answers to Worksheet 1 .................................................................................................... 8

Worksheet 2: Chapters 4 and 5.......................................................................................... 9

Answers to Worksheet 2 ..................................................................................................... 10

Worksheet 3: Chapters 6 and 7 .......................................................................................... 11

Answers to Worksheet 3 .................................................................................................... 12

Final Test .............................................................................................................................. 13

Answers to Final Test .......................................................................................................... 14

Answers to Activities in the Reader .................................................................................. 15

Before using the following teacher’s material, we recommend that

you read the Burlington Reader Series general information leaflet.

Copyright © 2001 Burlington Books

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 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

TO THE TEACHER

LIST OF MAIN CHARACTERS

Tom Sawyer: a young boy. He likes adventures. Becky Thatcher: a young girl. She comes to live
Aunt Polly: Tom’s aunt. He lives with her. in Tom’s town.
Huck Finn: Tom’s best friend. Huck hasn’t got a Injun Joe: a man from the town.
family or a home.

P L O T S U M M A RY
Aunt Polly is angry with Tom. She wants to punish him, so Tom has to paint the fence. His friends come and
Tom tricks them into painting the fence. They finish the work quickly. Tom goes to the town and sees Becky
at the window of her new house. Tom goes into the garden and Becky comes and talks to him. Later, Tom
meets Huck in the street. Huck has got a dead cat. That night, he and Tom go to the cemetery to bury the cat,
but they hear noises and hide. They see three men, Muff Potter, Dr Robinson and Injun Joe. The men start
to fight. Dr Robinson hits Muff on the head and Muff falls to the ground. Injun Joe then kills Dr Robinson.
When Muff opens his eyes, Injun Joe tells him that he, Muff, killed the doctor. Then the two men leave.
Tom and Huck decide to run away from home and they go to Jack’s Island. At first, they have fun, but after
five days, they are bored. One night, when Huck is asleep, Tom goes home. He hides in the house and hears
Aunt Polly telling her friends that he and Huck are dead. Their funeral is going to be on Sunday. Tom
returns to the island and tells Huck what he heard. On Sunday morning, the boys go to the town and hide
upstairs in the church. While the priest is talking, the boys come downstairs. Tom promises Aunt Polly that
he will stay at home. A week later, Muff Potter’s trial begins. Tom describes what he saw in the cemetery.
Suddenly, Injun Joe jumps out of the window. A lot of people run after him, but he escapes. Muff is free.
A few days later, Tom and Huck are looking for treasure in a haunted house. They hear a noise and hide in
a wardrobe. Injun Joe and another man enter with a box of silver coins. The men dig a hole to bury the box.
They find a box of gold in the hole and leave with both boxes. The boys want to find the treasure.
The next day, Becky invites her friends to a party on an island. Everybody plays in a big cave with narrow
passages. Tom and Becky don’t stay with their friends and they can’t find the way out of the cave. Their
friends take the boat back to town. A search party goes to the cave to look for Tom and Becky, but can’t
find them. While Tom and Becky are trying to find a way out, they see Injun Joe with the box of gold. On
the third day, Tom finds a way out of the cave. Tom and Becky find some people from the search party and
go home. Some people close the entrance to the cave with a big rock. Tom and Becky are ill for a week
after their adventure. When Tom is better, he visits Becky and hears about the rock in the entrance to the
cave. Tom tells Becky’s father that Injun Joe is inside the cave. Some people go to the cave and find his
body near the entrance. The next day, Tom takes Huck to the cave. They find the box of gold and take the
box home. The boys are now rich. Becky’s father finds a family for Huck. Huck doesn’t want to live in a
house, but Tom convinces him that it’s better for him. Together, they go to see Huck’s future home.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Twain, whose real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was born in the small American town of
Florida, Missouri in 1835. Samuel was 12 when his father died and he didn’t get much education. He
became a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River and then a writer. In 1863, he started using the name
Mark Twain. He became famous as a writer and lecturer, and travelled a lot in America and all over the
world. In 1870, he married, and he and his wife had four children. He died in 1910.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) is one of his best-known books. His other books include The Prince
and the Pauper (1882) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884).

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
In Mid-West America, in the 19th century, people built houses from logs and the houses often had dirt
floors. The haunted house in the story has such a floor, and that is why it’s possible to dig in it.

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 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

BEFORE READING

SUGGESTIONS FOR LEAD-IN ACTIVITIES

These activities are designed to help the students’ reading comprehension. They help to activate the
students’ background knowledge, expectations and ability to predict. At this level, these activities will
usually be conducted in the students’ mother tongue. Students with a strong vocabulary can do some of
these activities in English.

Ask the questions and elicit the answers from the whole class. (Some possible answers are provided in
italics.) If you prefer, students can work in pairs or small groups.
1. What do you know about America in the 19th century? (the Wild West; there weren’t many big towns,
mostly small towns; horses and wagons; Indians; pioneers; civil war; women wore long skirts or
dresses; men wore hats and simple clothes)
2. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer takes place in a small town in a southern state of America. Imagine the
town, the people and the houses. (Town: a church and a school, wooden houses, trees, flowers, dirt
roads, horses and wagons. People: doctor, teacher, priest, rich, middle class, poor. Houses: mostly
small wooden houses, the poorer ones with dirt floors.)
3. Tom Sawyer’s town was on the Mississippi River. How do you think people travelled on the river?
(riverboats; steamboats; canoes; rafts) What can Tom do in the river? (go fishing; go swimming; travel
on the river)
4. In the story, Tom and Huck see a crime. What do you think a young person who sees a crime should
do? Work with a partner and make a list of all the possible actions he / she can take. (go to the police;
tell his / her parents; decide not to say anything about it)
5. In the story, two young people get lost in a cave. What can a person do if he doesn’t know the way out?
(look for a way out; try to remember the way he walked; leave signs along the way; call for help)

BEFORE READING ACTIVITIES

The Before Reading activities in the Burlington Reader Series general information leaflet, page 3, can
be applied to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
In addition to the activities in the general leaflet, the students can do the following activities.
1. Look at the picture on the front cover of the book. Describe what you see? (two boys next to a big
river; the boys are fishing; they are happy; good friends; a steamboat) Look at the characters on pages 2
and 3. Who are the boys on the front cover? (Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn)
2. Look at the first picture on page 4. Read what Aunt Polly says in the speech bubble and read what she
says in the text below the picture. What do we discover about Tom and Aunt Polly? (Tom lives with
Aunt Polly; Tom does bad things; Aunt Polly is often angry with Tom; Tom took jam from the cupboard;
Aunt Polly is going to punish Tom)
3. Look at the pictures on page 11 and read the first seven lines of the page. Where are the boys? (in a
cemetery) How do they feel and why? (scared, because they hear noises) Who else is in the cemetery?
Use pages 2 and 3 to help you. (Injun Joe; Muff Potter; Dr Robinson) Why do you think they are there?
(meeting in secret; doing something bad)
4. Look at the picture of Tom and Becky on page 28. Where are they? (in a cave) Now look at their
picture on page 30. How are Tom and Becky different? (they’re dirty; Becky’s hair isn’t nice; they’re
tired; they haven’t got any candles) What do you think happened? (they’re lost and can’t find the way
out of the cave)
5. Look at the pictures in the book. Make a list of all the places where the story takes place. (Aunt Polly’s
house; Aunt Polly’s garden; the town; Becky’s garden; a cemetery; a river; an island; a church; a
courtroom; a forest; an old house; a cave; Becky’s house)
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 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

K E Y V O C A B U L A RY

1. Pre-teach the following places. Photocopy the pictures below and ask the students to label each picture.

1. river 3. garden 5. town 7. forest

2. cave 4. cemetery 6. island 8. church

2. Pre-teach the following verbs. Photocopy the verbs and give one to each student. Ask the students to act
out their verb for the class. The class has to guess which verb the student is acting out.

escape bury fight kill paint hide dig shout

3. Pre-teach the following adjectives. Then photocopy the exercise. Ask the students to unscramble the
letters under each picture and write the number of each picture next to the correct adjective in the box.

..... scared ..... beautiful ..... rich ..... excited ..... sad
..... surprised ..... angry ..... tired ..... happy ..... dirty
1 2 3 4 5

(papyh) (abueftilu) (hirc) (racdes) (dsa)

6 7 8 9 10

(uprsdesir) (tryid) (dteri) (gynra) (cetxied)

LIST OF IRREGULAR VERBS
The following is a list of irregular verbs (Past Simple) which appear in the story. The page number refers to
the page where the verb first appears. Go over the list with your students. Being able to recognise these verbs
will help them to understand the story.
come - came (page 7) go - went (page 5) leave - left (page 7) sit - sat (page 7)
do - did (page 7) have - had (page 6) put - put (page 24) swim - swam (page 13)
eat - ate (page 27) hear - heard (page 10) run - ran (page 17) take - took (page 5)
fall - fell (page 12) hide - hid (page 11) say - said (page 4) tell - told (page 15)
find - found (page 10) hit - hit (page 12) see - saw (page 4) think - thought (page 5)
give - gave (page 7) know - knew (page 13)
Suggestion: Prepare flashcards with the base form on one side and the Past Simple form on the other. Show
the students one side of the flashcard and ask them to say the verb form on the other side.

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 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

AFTER READING

DRAMA ACTIVITIES
Work with a partner or group. Learn one of the dialogues below and act it out in front of the class.
1. Tom and Huck meet in the street.
Tom: Oh, Huck, I didn’t see you.
Huck: What are you thinking about?
Tom: I talked to a very beautiful girl…
Huck: A girl? Look, I’ve got something really interesting! I found it in the street.
Tom: Wow! A dead cat! What are you going to do with it?
Huck: I want to take it to the cemetery and bury it!
Tom: Good idea! Let’s go tonight! I’ll leave the house when my aunt is asleep.
Huck: See you then!
2. The lawyer, Tom and the judge are at Muff’s trial.
Lawyer: Tom, have you got anything to tell us?
Tom: Yes, Sir. I know the truth. Muff Potter is my friend and I can’t stay silent any longer.
Lawyer: Can you tell us where you were that night?
Tom: I was in the cemetery with Huck.
Judge: Why were you in the cemetery?
Tom: Because we wanted to bury a dead cat.
Judge: What did you see in the cemetery, Tom?
Tom: Muff Potter, Dr Robinson and Injun Joe started to fight. Muff fell down and Injun Joe
killed the doctor.
3. Tom and Becky are in the cave.
Becky: Tom, I’m hungry. We haven’t got any food here.
Tom: I want to drink, but there isn’t any water.
Becky: It’s dark and our candles are finished. I want to go home!
Tom: We have to look for a way out.
(Suddenly, Tom stopped.)
Be quiet, Becky. I can see a light.
Becky: Look! There’s Injun Joe!

PROJECT SUGGESTIONS
You may want to present some of these activities in the students’ own language.
1. What scene did you like best in the story? Draw a picture of it and label the people in the picture. Add
a sentence in English to explain what is happening. You can copy the sentence from the book.
2. Choose two characters from the story. Prepare a page on each character and write a short description of
their role in the story. Explain why you chose them. You can include their pictures if you wish.
3. Imagine that The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is now a film. Design the advert for the film. Include the
times of the performances, the name of the cinema and a short description of the film.
4. Imagine what Tom’s town was like. Draw a map or a picture of Tom’s town and label the following
places: Tom’s house, the schoolhouse, the church, Becky’s house, the river, the haunted house and the
cemetery. Look at page 10 to get some ideas.
5. Imagine you are Becky or Tom. In your diary, write a few sentences about your experience in the cave.
You can draw a picture, too.
6. Continue the story. Describe Huck’s new home and his new family. Does he like them? What does he
do? Make a list of the things that Huck likes and doesn’t like about his new life.
7. Look in an encyclopedia or on the Internet for a picture and information about the Mississippi River.
Where is it? How long is it? What is special about it? People can still travel on the Mississippi on a
steamboat, like the one on the cover of the book. Go to a travel agent and try to get information about
trips people can take now.
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 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

WORKSHEET 1: CHAPTERS 1–3

A. Complete each sentence with a word from the box.

art cupboard flower furniture knife plan angry noise

1. Tom took jam from the ........................... .
2. Aunt Polly was ........................... with Tom for a minute, then she laughed.
3. “I’m painting the fence. It’s ........................... ,” Tom said.
4. People took the new family’s ........................... into the house.
5. Tom wanted to see Becky again and tried to think of a ........................... .
6. Becky gave Tom a big, white ........................... .
7. The boys heard a ........................... in the cemetery.
8. Injun Joe took Muff’s ........................... and killed Dr Robinson.

B. Who did it? Fill in the correct names. You can use the same name more than once.
1. ........................... gave Tom a punishment.
2. ........................... had to work on Saturday. Tom Injun Joe
3. ........................... gave Tom an apple.
Becky
4. ........................... was very beautiful. Huck
5. ........................... didn’t have any family.
Dr Robinson
6. ........................... and ........................... hid in the tall grass.
7. ........................... hit Muff Potter on the head.
Aunt Polly
8. ........................... killed Dr Robinson.

C. Put the sentences about the story in the correct order. Then match the sentences to the
pictures.
❏ Tom leaves the house when his aunt is ❏ The boys hear Injun Joe, Muff Potter and
asleep. Dr Robinson in the cemetery.
❏ Tom climbs up a tree in Becky’s garden. ❏ Tom escapes from Aunt Polly.
❏ Huck shows Tom a dead cat. ❏ Tom’s friend, Jimmy, gives him an apple.

a b c

d e f

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 Worksheet 1: Chapters 1–3

ANSWERS

A. 1. cupboard
2. angry
3. art
4. furniture
5. plan
6. flower
7. noise
8. knife

B. 1. Aunt Polly
2. Tom
3. Aunt Polly
4. Becky
5. Huck
6. Tom, Huck
7. Dr Robinson
8. Injun Joe

C. 1. Tom escapes from Aunt Polly. (picture e)

2. Tom’s friend, Jimmy, gives him an apple. (picture c)
3. Tom climbs up a tree in Becky’s garden. (picture d)
4. Huck shows Tom a dead cat. (picture b)
5. Tom leaves the house when his aunt is asleep. (picture f)
6. The boys hear Injun Joe, Muff Potter and Dr Robinson in the cemetery. (picture a)

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 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

WORKSHEET 2: CHAPTERS 4 AND 5

A. Look at the pictures and fill in the missing word in each sentence.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1. Tom and Huck went on a raft on the ........................... .

2. Nobody knew the boys were on the ........................... .
3. The boys ate fruit and ........................... .
4. Aunt Polly sat down on the ........................... and she started to cry.
5. The boys hid in the ........................... .
6. Everybody turned round and looked. Tom and Huck were on the ........................... .
7. There was blood on Muff’s ........................... .
8. A lot of ........................... started to laugh.

B. Match each bubble with the correct picture.

1. We’re cold and wet. a

2. I’m sure Tom and Huck are dead.

3. Ghosts!
b
4. Stop laughing!

5. I don’t have to clean my room.

c d e

C. Complete each sentence with the correct verb from the box.

took went swam saw started asked opened told

1. Tom and Huck played and ........................... in the river.
2. Tom ........................... the raft and went back to town.
3. The people in the church ........................... to cry.
4. Tom and Aunt Polly ........................... back to the house, very happy.
5. The lawyer ........................... a lot of questions.
6. Mr Smith ........................... blood on Muff Potter’s hands.
7. Tom ........................... the lawyer the truth.
8. Injun Joe ........................... the window and jumped out.
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 Worksheet 2: Chapters 4 and 5

ANSWERS

A. 1. river
2. island
3. fish
4. sofa
5. church
6. stairs
7. clothes
8. people

B. 1. c
2. e
3. b
4. a
5. d

C. 1. swam
2. took
3. started
4. went
5. asked
6. saw
7. told
8. opened

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 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

WORKSHEET 3: CHAPTERS 6 AND 7

A. Write the correct word from the box under each picture.

coins cave candles treasure wardrobe rock boat box

1. .......................... 2. .......................... 3. .......................... 4. ..........................

5. .......................... 6. .......................... 7. .......................... 8. ..........................

B. Find the words from exercise A in the puzzle below. Then use the words to complete the
sentences.

1. Tom and Huck wanted to dig for ........................... in

R O B O A T B
the forest.
V W D W A R T
2. In the haunted house, the boys hid in an old
C A N D L E S ........................... .
O R C K C A N 3. Injun Joe put a big ........................... on the table.
I D X B O S T 4. In the box there were a lot of silver ........................... .
N R R O K U N 5. Becky and her friends went on a ........................... to
the island.
S O T X M R P
6. Becky’s friends played in the ........................... .
C B C A V E V
7. “It’s dark and our ........................... are finished,”
A E S R O C K Becky said.
X F R O D T B 8. The men closed the entrance with a big, heavy
........................... .

C. Write T (True) or F (False) next to each sentence.

..... 1. Injun Joe and the other man wanted to escape from the town.
..... 2. Injun Joe and the other man started to dig a hole outside the haunted house.
..... 3. Becky had a party in her house.
..... 4. The passages in the cave were very narrow.
..... 5. Tom and Becky were in the cave for five days.
..... 6. After their adventure in the cave, Tom and Becky were ill for a week.
..... 7. Injun Joe died in the cave.
..... 8. Huck wanted to go to school.

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 Worksheet 3: Chapters 6 and 7

ANSWERS

A. 1. box
2. cave
3. wardrobe
4. candles
5. treasure
6. coins
7. rock
8. boat

B.
R O B O A T B
V W D W A R T
C A N D L E S
O R C K C A N
I D X B O S T
N R R O K U N
S O T X M R P
C B C A V E V
A E S R O C K
X F R O D T B

1. treasure
2. wardrobe
3. box
4. coins
5. boat
6. cave
7. candles
8. rock

C. 1. T
2. F
3. F
4. T
5. F
6. T
7. T
8. F

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 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

FINAL TEST

A. Complete each sentence with a word from the box.

church river hungry fence grass noise plan aunt

1. Tom lived in a house with his ............................ .

2. Tom had to paint the ........................... white.
3. In the cemetery, the boys hid in the tall ........................... .
4. The boys played and swam in the ........................... .
5. The people came into the ........................... and the priest began to speak.
6. Tom thought of a ........................... to find the treasure.
7. The boys heard a ........................... , so they hid in a wardrobe.
8. Becky and Tom didn’t have any food and they were ........................... .

20 points (2.5 points each)

B. Match the pictures to the sentences. Then write the correct name(s) after each sentence.

a b c d e f

..... 1. Aunt Polly took me into the garden to paint the fence. ...........................
..... 2. I talked to Tom and gave him a big white flower. ...........................
..... 3. We hid in the church. ........................... and ...........................
..... 4. I was on trial for murder. ...........................
..... 5. I jumped out of a window and ran quickly from the town. ...........................
..... 6. I went to live in a house with a family. ...........................

18 points (3 points each)

C. Where did it happen? Match the correct place to the sentence. Use each picture twice.

a b c

..... 1. Tom met Becky for the first time. ..... 4. The children played in the cave.
..... 2. Tom and Huck buried a dead cat. ..... 5. Tom and Huck saw three men fighting.
..... 3. Tom and Huck were cold and wet. ..... 6. Everybody went to watch the trial.

12 points (2 points each)

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 Final Test

ANSWERS

A. 1. aunt
2. fence
3. grass
4. river
5. church
6. plan
7. noise
8. hungry

B. 1. b. Tom
2. f. Becky
3. e. Tom, Huck
4. c. Muff Potter
5. a. Injun Joe
6. d. Huck

C. 1. c
2. a
3. b
4. b
5. a
6. c

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 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

ANSWERS TO ACTIVITIES IN THE READER

page 4: Aunt Polly wants to punish Tom because he took jam from the cupboard (picture A).
page 7: The correct picture is picture B.
page 9: Tom is in front of the house when Becky gives him the flower (picture A).
page 11: The boys hear the men talking (picture B).
page 13: The boys swim and eat fruit and fish on the island (pictures A and D).
page 16: The correct order is: E, C, B, A, D.
page 18: The lawyer asked Muff Potter questions (picture B).
page 22: Injun Joe suddenly opened the window and jumped out (picture A).
page 25: There is gold in the box (picture B). (Ask the students to guess, and elicit the correct answer
when the students have read p. 26.)
page 27: Becky and her friends take candles and food to the island (pictures A and D).
page 30: Tom finds the entrance with bushes in front of it (picture B).
page 32: The men found Injun Joe’s body near the entrance to the cave (picture B).
page 35: Huck likes being a pirate or a cowboy (picture B is a pirate, E is a cowboy).
Huck doesn’t like sleeping in a bed, going to school or washing his face and hands (pictures A, C
and D).

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