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Telling Stories

Telling Stories

Telling Stories - South Dakota's history is filled with a wide variety of stories to be told and storytellers to tell them. From Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin) to Laura Ingalls Wilder; from L. Frank Baum to Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, South Dakota, has been graced with fine authors and great storytellers. This episode examines several of them and even reenacts some of their stories.

Related Resources
The resources include an episode guide, additional videos, activities, and more.

Dakota Pathways Home logo - six horses pulling a stagecoach.

Episode Activities

Episode Quiz

Student Glossary

Crossword Puzzle (answers)

Guided Notes (answers)

Discussion Cards

Activity: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words (download)

Episode Script

Related Video Playlist

Click for Related Videos.
Telling Stories Additional Videos
A playlist with various videos, including the history of the printing press and the history of the South Dakota Federal Writers' Project.
Poet's Table, which is located in Custer State Park, South Dakota.
Create a Poet's Table at Your School!
Watch the video to learn the secret and inspiration behind the Black Hills' hidden gem, Poet's Table, and then create a Poet's Table space at your school!
Augustana College students in 1928.
Activity - Point of View: First & Third Person
During this activity, your students will practice writing using first-person and third-person points of view. (Photo: Still from the film, Augustana College students in 1928.)
Three cups with a Q-tip in each are located next to three different types of fruit. There is one with strawberries, cherries, and raspberries. There is also a small piece of cloth next to each with a stain from the fruit. The cloth is prewashed.
Activity: Winter Count Dyes
Test the quality of several natural dyes/pigments by checking for clarity and deepness.
The Hard Winter Radio Play.
Radio Play
Listen to the 49th Annual Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageants' presentation of The Hard Winter.
Festival of Books Logo
SD Festival of Books
Each fall, a premier annual literary event showcases distinguished authors, scholars, and publishers.

A covered wagon being pulled by horses across the prairie.
American Masters: Laura Ingalls Wilder
Video, discussion questions, vocabulary, and activities help students understand life on the prairie.
A photo of Laura Ingalls Wilder and many pictures of Rose Wilder.
The Other Wilder
Rose Wilder Lane helped her mother edit Farmer Boy - an account of her father Almanzo’s childhood. 
Pencil drawing a line around the words Literary Elements and Techniques.
Literary Elements and Techniques
Animated shorts about theme, setting, figurative language, characterization, and conflict. 

— Badger Clark - Cowboy Poet —

Ridin' by Badger Clark

Ridin' by Badger Clark His love of cowboy culture inspired the poem Ridin' by Badger Clark, published 1903.

Badger Clark - The Cowboy Poet Radio Play

The Cowboy Poet Radio Play Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant Society brings Badger Clark to life with a radio play.

Badger Clark: Poet Among the Pines

Badger Clark: Poet Among the Pines The story of South Dakota’s first Poet Laureate, Badger Clark.

For more information about

SDPB's educational resources and services,

contact Steven Rokusek at [email protected]

(605)222-3422

(E&O Staff)

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State of South Dakota State Content Standards logo.
South Dakota Content Standards
Set by the SD Board of Education
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Dakota Pathway Resources
Additional Resources