By the Shores of Silver Lake Story Study Lapbook
Created by Heather L.

Lapbook Minit Books

Instructions

Chapter One

Scarlet Fever:  What is scarlet fever? What effect did the scarlet fever have on Mary?

Scarlet Fever is basically strep throat with a rash.  It is very contagious.  Scarlet Fever caused Mary to go blind. 

Moving:  Why were the Ingalls moving again?  Where were they headed?  How would Ma and the girls travel?

Aunt Docia had offered Pa a job in the west.  They were headed to the Dakota Territory.  Pa would travel ahead with the wagon.  When Mary was feeling up to travel, Ma and the girls would take a train to meet up with Pa.

Chapter Two

Goodbye, My Friend:  Did Jack want to move again?  What happened to Jack?  Why did Laura feel bad?  What did Pa tell Laura?

Jack was old and wasn’t feeling up to another move.  Jack died.  Laura felt bad as she had been neglecting Jack lately.  She had not given him as much attention nor had she fluffed his bed.  Pa told Laura that Jack had gone to the Happy Hunting Ground.

Chapter Three

The Train:  Describe the train ride.

Chapter Four

The Hotel:  Why didn’t Ma like the hotel?  Why were they unable to eat even though there was plenty of food?

Ma didn’t like the hotel because the men were rough and noisy.  They were too excited to eat.

Chapter Five

The Tent:  Where would Lena and Laura sleep?  Why did Lena and Laura not undress?  What scared Laura?

Laura and Lena would sleep in a tent as there wasn’t room for them in the house.  They didn’t undress because Lena stated that they would only have to put their clothes back on in the morning and there weren’t any covers.  Jean was howling trying to scare the girls.

Chapter Six

The Black Ponies:  Describe Lena and Laura’s drive with the ponies.

Marriage:  How did Lena and Laura feel about Lizzie getting married at such a young age?  What did they feel happened when a girl gets a married?

Lena and Laura thought Lizzie was silly for getting married so young.  Lena felt that Lizzy would no longer have good times.  Laura felt that once you got married you could no longer play.  Neither girl wanted to get married anytime soon.

Chapter Seven

Mary’s Eyes:  How was Laura acting like Mary’s eyes?

Laura described the view, the scenery, in vivid detail for Mary.

The Rider:  What was scaring the Ingalls?  Who was the rider?  How would the rider how him?

The Ingalls saw a rider coming up quickly behind them.  It turns out the rider was Big Jerry.  Big Jerry was going to ride ahead of them and make sure they were safe.

Chapter Eight

The Sunrise:  How did Laura get side-tracked?  What was she suppose to be doing?  Describe a sunrise using “picture words”.

Laura got side-tracked watching the geese and the sunrise.  She was supposed to be getting water for Ma.

The China Shepherdess:  Why didn’t Ma put up the china Shepherdess?

Ma said that they weren’t living there; they were just staying there until they moved to their homestead.

Chapter Nine

Horse Thieves:  Who did the boys in camp think was part of the horse thief gang?    What did Pa believe was the real problem? What did the men in camp plan on doing to him?  What did Pa do to ensure his safety?

The boys in camp thought Big Jerry was part of the horse thief gang.  They were mad at him because he kept winning their money during gambling sessions.  They planned on hurting and/or killing him.  Pa warned Big Jerry about what the man in camp were planning.

Chapter Ten

Cousins:  How did Lena and Laura get to spend time together?  What did they do while they were milking?

Lena and Laura got together every day to take care of the cows.  While they milked the cows, they talked and sang songs.

Working on the Railroad:  Describe what Pa and Laura saw when they went down to see the men working on the railroad.

Chapter Eleven

Pay Day:  Why were the men angry on pay day?  Explain why the pay system was set up this way.  What did the men want to do to Pa?  Who helped Pa?

The men were angry because they only received pay for 2 weeks, and they wanted their pay for the full month.  Pa said that it took time to make out the time-checks and send them in.  Then, the paymaster had to bring the money.  Due to this, they could only receive their pay every 2 weeks.  The men wanted to forcibly make Pa open the store and give them all the goods that they wanted.  Big Jerry stepped in and side-tracked the men.

Chapter Twelve

Birds:  Name some of the birds that Pa saw at Silver Lake.  What bird did he accidently kill?  What did they do with it?  What birds did Pa kill for food for the family?  Why were they saving the feathers?

Gray geese, snow-white brant, ducks, herons, pelicans, cranes, mud-hens, and hell-divers.  Pa accidently killed a white swan.  They plucked the feathers, and cured the skin with the swan down on it.  He killed ducks and geese for food.  They saved the feathers to make a feather bed for Mary and Laura.

Chapter Thirteen

The Sheriff:  Explain how Pa and Mr. Boast planned on getting the money that Pete owed Mr. Boast.  What happened when they went to visit Pete?

Pa wrote up some legal papers.  Mr. Boast and someone dressed up like the Sheriff headed out to Pete’s place to serve the papers.  Pete was so scared that he gave them the money and the team.

Chapter Fourteen

The Surveyor’s House:  Describe the surveyor’s house.

Chapter Fifteen

Winter Evenings:  What did the Ingalls do in the winter evenings?  What must the girls know how to do?

Pa played his fiddle while the girls sang and danced.  Pa says that the girls must know how to dance.

Chapter Sixteen

The Game:  What game did Pa make?  Why did he say that it was a selfish game?

Pa made a checkers board and checkers.  He said that it was a selfish game because only 2 people could play.

Chapter Seventeen

The Great Wolf:  Describe what happened to Laura and Carrie when they went skating on the lake.  Why didn’t Laura want Pa to kill the wolf?

Laura said that the wolf could have chased them and caught them, but he didn’t.

Chapter Eighteen

Tracking the Wolf:  What did Pa see when he started tracking the wolf?  What did he end up finding instead of the wolf?

Pa saw that there were actually 2 wolves, not just one.  Laura and Carrie had come right up to an old wolves den.  As he continued to track them, he found what would be their new homestead.

Chapter Nineteen

Christmas Surprises:  List some of the things that the Ingalls had been working on as gifts for each other.

Mary had knitted Pa socks.  Laura had made Pa a necktie.  Laura and Carrie had made Ma an apron.  Mary and Laura had made a handkerchief for Ma.  Ma had made bed shoes for Mary.  Laura and Mary had made mittens for Carrie.  Ma, Laura, Mary, and Carrie made a beautiful coat for baby Grace.

Chapter Twenty

Christmas Company:  Who surprised the Ingalls on Christmas Eve?  Why did they decide to come now instead on in the spring?

Mr. and Mrs. Boast surprised the Ingalls.  They decided to come now instead of the spring, so they could hold on to their homestead.

Chapter Twenty-One

Christmas Morning:  What had Ma found to give to their surprise guests, Mr. and Mrs. Boast?  What had Mr. and Mrs. Boast brought for the girls?

Ma surprised Mrs. Boast with her best Sunday handkerchief, and she surprised Mr. Boast with the wristlets that Ma had knitted for Pa.  Mr. and Mrs. Boast brought Christmas candy for the girls.

Sour Dough Biscuits:  How do you make sour dough biscuit starter?

1)   Place flour and warm water into a jar and allow it to stand until it sours.

2)   Leave some sour dough in the jar each time that you use it.

3)   Add the biscuit dough scraps and more warm water into the jar.

4)   Cover the jar and leave it in a warm place.

Tasty Surprise:  What tasty treat did Mrs. Boast bring to surprise Mr. Boast?

Mrs. Boast brought popcorn!

Chapter Twenty-Two

Winter Days:  What did Mrs. Boast give Laura to take home?  Describe how they spent their winter days.

Mrs. Boast gave Laura a stack of newspapers.

Chapter Twenty-Three

An Old Friend:  Who showed up at the Ingalls’ house?  What news did he share with the Ingalls?  What did they do while he was there?

Reverend Alden (and Reverend Stuart) showed up at the Ingalls’ house.  Reverend Alden told them about a college for the blind in Iowa.  They held a church service with the Ingalls prior to leaving.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Strangers:  Who kept coming by the Ingalls’ house?  Why wouldn’t Pa turn them away?  What did Ma say they needed to do?  Who came to stay with Ma and the girls while Pa was gone?

Strangers kept stopping by the Ingalls’ house in need of a place to stay overnight.  Pa said they couldn’t turn away a stranger in need.  Ma said they needed to at least charge them room and board.  Pa had Mr. and Mrs. Boast come stay at the house to help Ma and the girls with all of the strangers that kept stopping in.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Homestead Claim:  What happened when Mr. Ingalls went to claim their homestead land?  Who helped him out?

Pa camped out at the door of the Land Office after overhearing that another man planned on claiming his land.  When some of the others realized the land that Pa wanted, they decided to gang up on him and keep him from getting the land.  Then, Mr. Edwards showed up and helped Pa out.  Pa got the claim!

Chapter Twenty-Six

Boarders:  What surprise did Ma and the girls have for Pa?  Why did Laura not mind working so hard?  Why did the boarders stop coming?

Ma and the girls surprised Pa with the bag filled with the money that they had made from the boarders.  Laura didn’t mind working hard as the money they made would go toward helping Mary go to college.  The boarders stopped coming when a hotel opened up in town.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Strange Awakening:  Why was Laura so cold when she woke up?  What did Pa do?

Laura woke up with a foot of snow on top of her (as did the other girls).  Pa shoveled them out.

School:  What did Ma have Laura do for Carrie and the other younger girls?  Did Laura want to teach them?  What was her philosophy about teaching?

Ma had Laura teach Carrie and her friends every day.  Laura did not want to teach them.  She decided that since she had to be a teacher she might as well be a good one.

Leaving Town:  Why did Pa decide that they needed to leave town?

One of the people in town was shot by a claim jumper.  Pa thought it was best that they moved out to their claim to avoid having a claim jumper try to take their property.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Moving Day:  What did Laura see on the way to the claim?  What did she dream?

Laura saw the Wilder Boys rushing by them with a beautiful, matched pair of horses.  Laura dreamed that if she were ever rich she would buy a matched pair of black horses with black manes and tails.

The Claim Shanty:  Describe the claim shanty.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Ma’s Surprise:  What did Ma want to see?  How did Pa surprise Ma?

Ma was hoping to see trees at the homestead.  Pa surprised Ma with cottonwood trees to put around the shanty.

Chapter Thirty

Grace:  What happened to Grace?  Where did Laura find her?  What did Laura call the place?  What did Pa say it was?

Grace wondered off while they were planting the trees.  Laura found her playing in a field of violets.  Laura called it a fairy ring.  Pa said it was an old buffalo wallow.

Chapter Thirty-One

Mosquitoes: From where did the mosquitoes come?  How did Pa keep them from getting into the house?  How did he protect the cow?

The mosquitoes came from the Big Slough.  Pa put up mosquito netting to keep the mosquitoes out of the house.  Pa built a smudge of damp grass by the stable and in the field so the smoke would keep the mosquitoes away from Ellen, the cow.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Sweet, sweet home:  Copy down the verse to the song that Pa was singing.

“Home! Home! Sweet, sweet home,

Be it ever so humble

There is no place like home.”

Additional Booklets

Vocabulary:  Define the meaning of words you do not know.

Character Traits:  Record some of the character traits that you saw displayed in the book.