The Birchbark House Seasons Graphic Organizer

Neebin Identify the Explain how Other characters and Summarize the In what ways does Omakayas
(Summer) challenges that Omakayas responds Omakayas’ chapter. grow and gain strength in
Omakayas faces. to the challenges interaction with this chapter?
that she faces. them.

“The Angeline- Omakayas’s We are introduced

Birchbark sister to the main
House” “Angeline was so character and her
perfect that family. Omakayas is
Omakayas despaired.” 7 years old. She is
Omakayas is jealous playful and is a
of her sister’s beauty. Native American.
Omakayas thinks her
brother, Pinch, is
greedy.

“Old Old Tallow’s dog Omakayas looks at Old Tallow- older, Omakayas goes to
Tallow” threatens the dog and imagines powerful woman, not Old Tallow’s house
Omakayas’s. that the dog speaks afraid of anything to get scissors. On
to her. “She didn’t scream at the way back, she
Omakayas meets her, or heap disdain takes her time to
bear cubs in the She speaks to the on her, order her avoid chores and to
forest on the way bear cubs and the away from her cabin avoid seeing her
back from Old mother. Omakayas or set her dogs on sister, Angeline.
Tallow’s home. tells the mother bear her.” Omakayas
that she would never wonders why Old
hurt her cubs. Tallow treats her
differently and offers
that it may be
because Old Tallow
respects her mama
 and grandma.

“The Omakayas is left with Omakayas lets Nokomis, Omakayas’s Omakayas realizes Omakayas takes responsibility
Return” the responsibility of Neewo out of the grandmother, has the that what happened for the first time in the text
watching her carrier, against her gift of speaking to with the bear was after her encounter with the
youngest brother, mother’s direction. animals and spirits. special and that she bears. She completes her
Neewo. She soothes the baby did actually chores and watches her baby
and puts him back in Deydey, Omakayas’s communicate with brother.
the carrier before her father, comes home. the mother bear.
mother returns.
Omakayas holds
Neewo, her baby
brother. The author
writes, “She felt, in
her heart, streams of
love for the baby
pouring through and
she begged her
mother to let her take
Neewo out and cart
him to the lake on her
hip. Omakayas was
fond of Neewo.

“Andeg” Omakayas and her Omakayas and her Omakayas and her Omakayas is upset that
sister are tasked with sister use a net to sister keep the Deydey’s gift to her was not a
the chore of keeping trap the crows. harvest safe. feminine gift like Angeline’s
the crows off the Omakayas rescues a ribbon. Omakayas got a hide
crops. Omakayas saves bird and it becomes flesher. This shows that
Andeg, a black crow, her pet. Omakayas wants to get grown
Omakayas and her who becomes a part up gifts, but she is still being
sister have to clean of the family. treated like a young girl. Her
and pluck the birds parents see her differently
that they capture. than they see Angeline.
Notes about stories in the story: “Deydey’s Ghost Story”

This story is about people arguing and being greedy. A ghost grabs Deydey’s shirt and tears it.

Identify the main events of the season:

Throughout this season, Omakayas is unsure of herself and what she is capable of. She is young and is still learning how to relate to members
of the village, how to help her family, and she is discovering her own talents. She helps her sister capture crows for a meal. She talks to
animals. Omakayas does not know the events of her past and is unaware of the challenges that she had faced as an infant.

The Birchbark House Seasons Graphic Organizer

Dagwaging Identify the Explain how Other characters and Summarize the In what ways does Omakayas
(Fall) challenges that Omakayas responds Omakayas’ chapter. grow and gain strength in
Omakayas faces. to the challenges interaction with this chapter?
that she faces. them.

“Fishtail’s Omakayas and “They are like

Pipe” Angeline hide in the greedy children.
grass listening to Nothing will ever
Fishtail, LaPointe, please them for
and LaPautre long.” The men of
discuss the white the village are
man wanting the clearly upset at the
Ojibwa people to white man’s
leave the island and intrusion on land.
move west – again Omakayas quietly
listens to the
conversation and
learns much of the
 impact that the
white man has had
on her people.

“Pinch” Omakayas goes into Omakayas acts Omakayas allows her Pinch eats the “Pinch got in trouble and
the forest with her mature about her mother to see her berries, blames Omakayas was glad.”
mother to look for lost bird and goes interact with the Andeg, and mama’s Omakayas still does not like
Andeg. with her mother to bears. Up until this yelling causes the her brother, Pinch. Although
look for the bird. point, no one had bird to run away. she has shown maturity in
While in the forest, seen her interact or Omakayas and her some ways, this is not one of
she sees the bears speak to animals. mother are in the them. This shows that she is
and speaks to them Omakayas is still forest and Omakayas still young.
in front of her envious of her sister. once again sees the
frightened mother. (92) bear cubs. She talks Omakayas helps her mother
Omakayas forms a to them in front of find Andeg, talks to the
bond with Two Strike her mother. animals, and helps Two Strike
girl as they dance in Girl with chores.
the rice together.

“The Omakayas and her Omakayas helps her Deydey leaves again.
Move” family are preparing family pack. Omakayas’s family is
to move for the preparing for winter.
winter.

“The First On page 112, Omakayas and her

Snow” Omakayas and sister learn that the
Angeline “catch” Native American
Fishtail walking out of men want to learn
the white man’s the white man’s
school house. He tells language.
the girls that he was
there to learn the
 white man’s language
so that the Ojibwa
can not be cheated
on treaties. This
reveals to the reader
that there is no trust
between the two
groups.
On page 115, we
notice the way that
Old Tallow feels for
Omakayas. “Old
Tallow was looking at
her the same way she
looked at her dogs!”
Because Old Tallow
was closely
connected to her
dogs, the reader can
infer that Old Tallow
feels a connection to
Omakayas.

Identify the main events of the season:

Omakayas is more comfortable with her gift of talking to animal spirits and is braver than she was in summer. Omakayas is being more
responsible and doing more chores.

The Birchbark House Seasons Graphic Organizer

Biboon Identify the Explain how Other characters and Summarize the In what ways does Omakayas
(Winter) challenges that Omakayas responds Omakayas’ chapter. grow and gain strength in
Omakayas faces. to the challenges interaction with this chapter?
that she faces. them.

“The Blue Omakayas hears her Omakayas does not Omakayas becomes Omakayas beads
Ferns” father and other men become involved in upset because she with her sister, who
talk about the white the conversations can not bead like responds kindly to
man pushing them that she overhears. Angeline and Ten her.
farther west. Snow. “Her heart
shrunk cold in her
chest…”Ten Snow
gives Omakayas a gift
and Angeline
encourages
Omakayas to bead.
This is the first form
of encouragement
that we see between
these two.

“The Omakayas cares for To keep him from Omakayas holds her The entire family, The visitor causes Omakayas
Visitor” her family and feels going outside, brother Neewo as he except for Nokomis to grow up and take care of
tremendous loss as Omakayas hits him takes his last breath. and Omakayas her family.
she loses her baby on the head and become sick with
brother to the knocks him out. She Omakayas is also the smallpox
disease. She is also awakes the next forced to knock out disease. Omakayas is
faced with a morning terrified her father before he forced to care for
challenge as her that she might have walks out into the the family. Her baby
father almost killed her father, but freezing cold due to brother dies in her
succumbs to the in fact, she has used the illness. arms.
disease by attempting her quick wit and
to go outside in the bravery to save him
 cold. from the cold, which
ultimately saves his
life

“Hunger” Omakayas goes out It is clear that Old The family has not Omakayas has grown from a
to find food for her Tallow cares deeply yet recovered from child who was taken care of
family. On her for Omakayas. the loss of Neewo by those around her to her
journey to find food, and Ten Snow. It is being the caretaker.
she is attacked by one winter. Food is
of Old Tallow’s dogs. scarce. The family is
Old Tallow comes to depressed.
her aid and kills the
dog because it
injured Omakayas.

Notes about stories in the story: “Grandma’s Story: Fishing the Dark Side of the Lake”
Nokomis tells a story of a woman coming out of the water. She says it was her grandmother and that her grandfather walked over to join
her grandmother in the afterlife.

Notes about stories in the story: “Nanabozho and Muskrat Make an Earth”
This story is about the creation of the earth.

Identify the main events of the season:

Throughout this season, Omakayas wonders why she has not become infected with smallpox. Inferences can be made that she has already had
the disease and that Omakayas was possible the infant on Spirit Island. This leads the reader to the question, “If everyone on Spirit Island had
died, except for Omakayas, how did she end up with her current family?”

The Birchbark House Seasons Graphic Organizer

Zeegwun Identify the Explain how Describe Omakayas’ Summarize the In what ways does Omakayas
(Spring) challenges that Omakayas responds interaction with the chapter. grow and gain strength in
Omakayas faces. to the challenges other characters. this chapter?
that she faces.

“Maple Sugar Pinch gets a bad She heals her brother Nokomis and Omakayas has Omakayas finally talks to her
Time” burn. Pinch from a bad Omakayas finally learned how to grandmother about her gift.
burn with a remedy speak about become comfortable She is also proud of healing
that she puts Omakayas’s gift. with herself when her brother.
together. Omakayas tells she was faced with
Nokomis that she can the challenges of
speak to animals. caring for her family.
In this chapter, we
see her finally
becoming happy
again.

“One Andeg leaves. Omakayas is upset. Andeg leaves. The author writes, “Like
Horn’s She cries over the Andeg, she couldn’t help
Protection” loss of her bird. being just who she was,
Omakayas, in this skin, in this
place, in this time. Nobody
else.
We learn that Omakayas is
finally happy being in her
own skin and being who she
is.

“Full Old Tallow tells We learn that Old

Circle” Omakayas that the Tallow’s husband
events of her life had rescued
happened so that she Omakayas from
could save her family Spirit Island and that
 and others in her Old Tallow had cared
village and says “Now for her and brought
the circle that began her to the family
when I found you is that she called her
complete.” own.

Identify the main events of the season:

Omakayas finally finds out about her past.