Help the student learn the elements of the story. Teach them to describe the location, characters, storyline, meaning and point of view by posing study questions such as how the novel portrays the relationship between humans and dogs, how the location affects the story and what the "law of club and fang" means. In "Call of the Wild," the story becomes more brutal when Buck is kidnapped from the California estate where he lives a contented life and put into service as a sled dog, finally becoming head of a pack of wolves.
Give sequencing forms to the students to list the characters and setting and then identify each action as it leads to the next in a linear manner. This helps students analyze the story and adds to their critical reading ability. A multi-flow form helps students understand cause and effect. The forms are similar to the sequence form but help the students go beyond identifying each discrete sequence by understanding how several events can cause something to occur.
Show students how to use one of the online mapping functions to show the route from California to Canada to picture the location and physical distance Buck traveled. Another activity is to ask students to draw a diagram of the wooden sled like the one Buck pulled. These activities help the student place the characters in the setting, visualize the story elements that they might otherwise not have first-hand knowledge of -- like the sled -- and therefore better understand the action.
Instruct students to fill out a character trait map that includes the actions, thoughts, feelings and appearance. Then ask the students why they think the character is like this, how they got this way and, in the case of Buck, what the traits say about animal versus human behavior.
Give the students a story chart to fill out after they have finished reading "Call of the Wild." Have them use the handouts they have already filled out, like the sequence forms and multi-flow, location and character trait maps. In addition to the other information, the story chart requires students to specify the problem and the solution of the story. All of these tools help the students understand how all the elements of the story contribute to the meaning.