Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What was life like for families living on farms in America’s Midwest in the late 19th century?

Teaching Suggestion: You may decide to provide your students with these links to explore as part of their prereading homework assignments, assign them computer lab time for the same purpose, or bring up these resources on a smart board or other projection system in your classroom.

• “1850s Pioneer Farm” is a museum website that provides general information on what the average pioneer farm looked like and what methods 1850s farmers used.
• “Life on the Farm” describes the various hardships faced by farmers moving west to farm on the Great Plains.

2. What are some traditional fairy tales you know? What are some common features of these stories?

Teaching Suggestion: This question encourages students to consider typical tropes in fairy tales, including good versus evil, characters’ attempts to safely reach home or family, and moral lessons. These resources are best explored together in class, as the chosen examples also illustrate the violent and distressing content typical of traditional fairy tales; Baum decided to move away from these trends.