My Side of the Mountain

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-5

Reading Check

1. Who helps Sam to discover the location of the Gribley farm?

2. What does Sam create to mark key locations on the mountain property?

3. What kind of house does Sam build?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Sam feel about his first snowstorm? What dangers may be associated with snowstorms in the wilderness?

2. What does Sam’s father mean when he says, “the land is no place for a Gribley”? How does Sam’s father feel about his wilderness adventures?

3. Why is Sam’s encounter with Bill essential to his survival?

4. What does Sam enjoy most about his first days in the wilderness? What can the reader infer Sam likes about his survival skills?

Paired Resource

“Plant Identification”

• This 8-minute video explores plant identification, its uses, and the tools required for identification.
• Shared themes include The Desire for Independence, Solitude Versus Society, and Survival and Connecting With Nature.
• Why might plant identification be important for survival? What tools are needed to identify plants? How does Sam exhibit his experience with plant identification? What tools might Sam need to identify plants?

Chapters 6-11

Reading Check

1. What does the old lady ask Sam to help her do?

2. What does Sam decide to name his falcon?

3. What does Sam use to make a door for his home?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Sam displeased to see the old woman near his camp? How does she make the interaction uncomfortable for Sam?

2. Aside from the natural world around him, what dangers does Sam encounter in the wilderness?

3. Why does Sam call the weasel The Baron? What mannerisms surprise Sam about the weasel?

Chapters 12-16

Reading Check

1. What does Bando decide to call Sam?

2. What does Sam decide to celebrate with the animals in the forest?

3. What nickname is given to Sam while he is in town wearing his deerskin clothing?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What prompts Sam to approach Bando?

2. How does animal behavior inspire Sam to prepare for winter? Why is Sam afraid of winter?

Paired Resource

“The Philosophy of Henry David Thoreau”

• This 10-minute video explores the beliefs and lifestyle of Henry David Thoreau.
• Consider watching until 8:22.
• Shared themes include The Desire for Independence, Solitude Versus Society, and Survival and Connecting With Nature.
• What did Thoreau believe to be the key to living a healthy life? Why might Bando refer to Sam as Thoreau? How does Sam imitate Thoreau’s perspective on life?

“Fascinating Ways Animals Prepare for Winter”

• This article explores ways in which animals change as winter approaches.
• Shared themes include Survival and Connecting With Nature.
• What are some ways animals prepare for winter? What does Sam notice about the animals around his camp and their preparations?

Chapters 17-19

Reading Check

1. Who visits Sam on Christmas Eve?

2. To what does Sam compare the chickadees he sees?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Sam’s recognition that he has not burrowed in the snow for wood an important realization?

2. What comparisons can be made between Sam’s activities in the winter and his activities in the summer?

3. How does Sam’s father respond to Sam’s lifestyle? What does it reveal about his father’s opinion of Sam’s actions?

4. How does Sam use animals to predict the weather? What are Sam’s reactions to the first signs of spring?

Paired Resource

“Symbiosis”

• This 9-minute video explores the types of symbiosis, or long-term relationships between organisms that cooperate to survive.
• Shared themes include Survival and Connecting With Nature.
• What are the types of symbiotic relationships? What type of relationships can you identify between Sam and the animals?

Chapters 20-22

Reading Check

1. Who ventures into the wilderness to find Sam for a news story?

2. Which of Sam’s friends wants to use Sam’s birdsongs in his music?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

How does Sam go about resolving difficult problems in the wilderness? What does Sam begin to understand about community through these conversations?

1. What does Sam mean when he tells Bando “I seem to have an address now”?

2. What is the significance of Sam’s mother’s statement that the Stuarts loved the land?

Recommended Next Reads 

On the Far Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

• This sequel to My Side of the Mountain continues the story of Sam’s desire to live off the land, picking up where the first novel leaves off. The sequel follows the mysterious disappearance of Alice, Sam’s sister, who has been living with him.
• Shared themes include The Desire for Independence, Solitude Versus Society, and Survival and Connecting With Nature.
• Shared topics include survival, society’s interference, and wilderness adventures.
• On the Far Side of the Mountain on SuperSummary

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

• This novel is about a 13-year-old boy who becomes stranded in the wilderness after his plane crashes on a flight to Canada.
• Shared themes include Solitude Versus Society and Survival and Connecting With Nature.
• Shared topics include survival tactics, growing maturity, and isolation.
• Hatchet on SuperSummary