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Copywork
About This Passage
This passage shows Mr Fox checking to see if the farmers are still waiting. Scouts should notice how Mr Fox moves — he creeps (quiet, careful steps), he sniffs (uses his nose to smell who is there), and he goes back to his family to report. Dahl gives us a whole picture of what a fox does when it is being hunted: creep, sniff, listen, go back.
Every so often, Mr Fox would creep a little closer towards the mouth of the tunnel and take a sniff. Then he would creep back again and say, 'They're still there.'
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Tell the story of Chapter 8 to a grown-up. Start with the three tents at the top of the hill and end with Mr Fox saying 'He stinks.' Remember to include how Boggis tries to tempt the foxes with chicken and how Bean sends for one hundred and eight men.
Discussion Questions
- Boggis holds a steaming chicken near the fox hole and asks, 'Can you smell this, Mr Fox?' What in the story shows you that Boggis is trying to be cruel, not kind? How do you know the food is a trap?
- One of the Small Foxes says, 'couldn't we just sneak up and snatch it out of his hand?' Mrs Fox says, 'Don't you dare!' What in the story makes you think Mrs Fox is brave, even though she has not moved? How do you know she is protecting her family?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
To move slowly and very quietly, usually so no one will hear or see you.
Item 2
To take a short, quick breath in through the nose to smell something.
Item 3
A long, narrow hole dug through the ground, like the one the Fox family lives in.
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Critical Thinking
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