Activities Coloring Pages Word Puzzles Word Treasures Return to the Story
Get ready to discuss, share, play, create, and read your way to developing and empowering a strong character.
Imagine
No one could understand why the young goat wanted to run away from home. Was it the visit from the vet to the dairy goat farm? Finally Farmer John came by and explained the mystery of Billy the kid.
Story Focus, Virtues, and Life Lessons
Story Focus:
Relationships and the special bonds that develop between people and animals
Virtues:
Loyalty and Friendship
Life Lessons:
Loyal friendship provides a special bonding and healing power.
“The two farmers had been good friends for many years. Farmer John goes to David Wagner in need of his help with his sick horse, Haley. The horse and goat have a special bond.”
- Loyalty
is the quality of being faithful to someone or something; a strong feeling of support or allegiance. - Friendship
is the emotion or conduct of being friends.
Magical Moments
Interactive Discussion and Activities
Reading Story Techniques
First, pre-read the story before reading it aloud with your learner. Use expressive language, gestures, motions, and sounds to make the story come alive:
- Begin the story by knocking loudly on a hard surface.
- Bark like a dog to imitate Dirk, the Collie. (Have your learner bark too).
- Change the tone of your voice to sound like a man when reading David’s lines.
- Change the tone of your voice to sound like a different man for Farmer John’s lines.
- The story is mostly made up of dialogue between David and Farmer John. Switch your voice back and forth between the two men.
- Make a goat sound “meh-meh” when Billy arrives at the farm. (Have your learner make a goat sound too).
- Respond with a horse sound, “neigh-neigh.” (Have your learner sound like a horse too).
- Have compassion in your voice when the cat, dog, and spider stay in the barn with Haley and Billy that night.
- End the story with excitement and compassion when reading David’s ending lines.
While Reading
Interject these questions to involve your learner:
- Where did Billy live?
- What did Farmer John want from David Wagner?
- When did Billy and Farmer John first meet?
- Why did Billy run away from the goat farm?
- Who did Billy want to be with when he ran away?
After Reading
Use the answers to these questions to recall points in the story.
- What did Farmer John want from David Wagner?
“I was hoping you would let Billy come stay at my farm for a few days.” - Who did Billy want to be with when he ran away?
“Now, when Billy gets out of his pen at your farm, he comes here to be with Haley.” - When did Billy and Farmer John first meet?
“Farmer John had been to the village and was on his way home. Haley suddenly stopped in the road and wouldn’t move. Then he heard a faint bleating sound. Billy was lying in the grass, too weak to stand.” - Where did Billy live?
“He lived on a large dairy goat farm near the Secret Spring Meadow.” - Why did Billy run away from the goat farm?
“Billy was curious about everything. Billy liked to test the fences and slip out. Then he would chew on and taste just about anything that looked like a plant.” - Note: Close with a discussion on friendship, supportive relationships, and
mentoring.
Behavior/Social Development (All Ages):
- Discuss how loyalty is a good quality to look for in a friend. Loyalty is a commitment. To be committed means to be faithful and dependable. Ask your learner if they think they are a loyal friend and give specific behavioral examples. Extend the discussion by having your learner describe the expectations they have for their friends’ loyalty.
- Discuss whether or not animals can show loyalty. Share examples.
- Invite your learner to find quotes, news stories, songs or movies that portray loyalty. Share and discuss.
- Identify various groups that portray the epitome of loyalty such as Military Veterans, law enforcement, fire-fighters, etc. Discuss why they portray the highest form of loyalty.
- Encourage your learner to be faithful to their own thinking. So many times young learners wait to see what their friends do before making their own choices. Discuss the importance of following their own hearts and making their decisions based upon what they feel is right for them (gut feelings).
- Ask your learner how they would feel if they found out their best friend was disloyal to them. Ask your learner to give specific examples of what they consider is being disloyal.
- Ask your learner if they agree/disagree that loyalty means staying true to the people who need them. If they agree ask what kinds of things could they do to help those people in need. Examples:
- Write notes of encouragement.
- Give hugs.
- Do acts of kindness.
- Participate in the activities they want to do, etc.
Language Development (Younger Learners):
- Antonyms: did – didn’t; does – doesn’t; he – she; would – wouldn’t; yes – no
- Identify word patterns: Short I Sounds “– ing”
The Bolded words, among the following, were used in Billy the Kid — anything, bring, everything, going, lying, ring, sing, spring, swing, thing, wing - Identify and explain words that may not be familiar to your learner, such as “buck,” “bleating,” “poisoned,” “curious,” “bleated,” “bleats,” “trade” and “vet.”
- Discuss the meaning of friendship and have your learner tell you the things they feel are most important in being a friend.
- Ask your learner to name all their friends and who is considered their best friend and why.
- Create a simple two-boxed chart that shows the words “LOYAL” and “DISLOYAL.” With very young learners, include a graphic under each word that shows a happy or a sad face. Make up stories about different people and have your learner point to the word (or graphic) on the chart that describes how the person is acting or behaving.
Examples are —- “Janet’s class planned to have a bake sale in the school parking lot to raise money for a class trip. Classmates were asked to volunteer their time and bring in baked goods to sell. Janet participated and brought home-made brownies and cookies. (Janet was loyal to her school)
- “Becky was sitting with friends in the cafeteria school one day when one of the girls said some bad things that weren’t true about her best friend, Pam. Becky didn’t say anything.” (Disloyal to her friend)
- “Billy’s little brother had a Little League game the night before Billy’s final exam. Billy had to study for the test, but he worked hard at it until game time and went to cheer for his little brother.” (Loyal to his brother)
- “Maria proudly recited the Pledge of Allegiance with her class. She was happy to be an American.” (Loyal to her country)
Language Development (Older Learners):
- Discuss the word “loyalty” and its meaning. Using a thesaurus or the Internet, identify synonyms for loyal and loyalty. Use the synonyms in a sentence that is relevant to your learner’s life.
- Create a 2-column chart listing synonyms and antonyms for loyalty. Begin with familiar vocabulary words, and then look up other words in a reference guide. Discuss how loyalty words help people and how the opposite words harm people.
- Brainstorm a list of people, organizations, and causes that your learner feels a loyalty to and create a loyalty list.
- Discuss how loyalty is caring about another person’s best interest. Ask your learner if it is possible to stay loyal to a friend even if you don’t do what they do or give them what they want. Should your learner have difficulty understanding the question, give them “what if” scenarios.
Examples: “Your friend wants you to get high with him,” “Your friend
wants you to drive him to a party in a bad section of town,” etc. - Discuss how loyalty is linked to trust. Ask your learner what loyalty looks
like for each of the things on the loyalty list.
Examples are –- “Loyalty to friends means we will remain friends even through arguments and fights.”
- “I show loyalty to my parents by obeying home rules.”
- “Loyalty to a cause means devoting time and effort to it.”
- “Loyalty to a church means attending services and events.”
Making Memories
Discover the values covered in this story through guided activities and fun projects that ensure learner involvement.
Arts and Crafts ideas for Creatively Understanding the Virtues
Arts & Crafts Activities (Younger Learners):
- Create a “friendship flower.”
- Draw a simple flower with large petals.
- Cut out petals from colored construction paper.
- Ask your learner to think of their best friend and tell why he/she is their best friend.
- On each of the petals, write your learner’s response to the question.
- Have your learner paste the petals on the flower.
- Write the name of the friend in the middle of the flower.
- Choose an appropriate time to give the flower to the friend.
- Create a “loyalty collage” with family and friends’ pictures
Arts & Crafts Activities (Older Learners):
- Identify a cause your learner is interested in. Investigate the cause in various media and create a 60-second awareness commercial.
- Loyalty and friendship – Ask your learner what they think are the most important and valuable qualities in a friend. Write their responses on cut-out hearts and put them in a friendship bag that has the recipient’s name. Choose an appropriate time to give the friendship bag to the friend.
- Create a collage of 4 sections that includes photos, pictures cut from a magazine and drawings. Each section represents loyalty to 1) a cause, 2) school, 3) family, and 4) friend.
Involvement Tips (All Ages):
- Respect your learner’s right to have different ideas from yours. Listen attentively to their justifications. Independent thinking allows for self-confidence. We all must be loyal to ourselves before we can be loyal to others.
- Understanding and discussing loyalty will help your learner to value their family, stand up for those in need, and make lasting friendships.
- Inform your learner that loyalty helps them listen closely to their heart and their gut.
“When Billy gets out of his pen at your farm, he comes here to be with Haley.”
Lasting Impressions
Continue with learning experiences to extend your stay.
Follow-up Activities (All Ages):
- Measure distance on Breakers Island. Use the map scale to measure and determine the distance Billy will travel between David Wagner’s goat farm and Farmer John’s barn.
- Extend the activity to compute the distance between your learner and his/her friend. Verify the calculated answer with MapQuest or a GPS.
Real-Life Activities (All Ages):
- Using the computed distance between your learner and his friends, discuss the appropriate means of transportation. If within walking or bike riding distance, calculate (with the help of various devices and apps) the amount of exercise one would get, such as steps, calories burned, etc.
- Model loyalty through everyday activities such as: helping out at school functions, shopping at the same grocery store, following through with traditions, etc.
“Come and see Haley. She is feeling much better today.”
Activities Coloring Pages Word Puzzles Word Treasures Return to the Story
Your horse is like a second mother to my goat.