Heidi

Written by Johanna Spyri

A Reading Guide by Lisa Kelly

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Copyright © 2022 Lisa Kelly

All rights reserved.

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Lesson Notes
1. “Connection” questions and prompts were written to bridge the gap between chapter readings.
They were designed to bring forth what students already know about a topic so that the new
information can be connected to it.

2. Have students define the words listed under “Words to Know” either independently or together
orally with the teacher. Teachers and students should locate any listed places, read and discuss any
notes included at the beginning of each lesson and discuss the pronunciation of any words, as
needed.

3. Students should read each chapter (or reading section) together with the teacher or independently.

4. After reading, students should narrate. There are multiple narration suggestions for each chapter.

5. Any lessons in literary terms can be included or omitted as it best fits the needs of your students.

Literary Elements, Literary Techniques and Reading Strategies

 characters
 fiction and nonfiction
 personification
 foreshadowing
 prediction
 simile
 imagery
 extended metaphor

Exam Prompts
 Tell about a life lesson this book taught us. Be sure to include which character and which
event illustrates this lesson.
 Share a favorite scene. What made this scene memorable?
 Illustrate any scene. Give your picture a title or caption and share it, telling about the scene
depicted. Why did you choose to illustrate this scene?
 Tell about Heidi and Peter or Grandfather and Clara.
 What might Heidi’s life been like if she had not been allowed to go back home to her
grandfather? How would this have affected Clara? Peter? Grandfather?

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Chapter 1
 Read Chapter I –“Up the Mountain to Alm-Uncle” from Heidi.
 Note: This story is moderately strong in its Christian tone.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Use the title and cover illustration to help you predict what this book might be about.
 Locate: Swiss Alps; this story opens in this location.
 Words to Know: summit, wayfarers, asseverated, heathen, hermit, misanthrope, exhorted, obdurate,
enmity, reproach, dilapidated and scrutinizingly
 Distinguish between ascend and descend
 Note: Alm-uncle (all uncle) is the grandfather
 Note: Briefly sketch the family names and their relationships to each other. Include these words:
Grandfather, Heidi, Dete, Adelaide and Tobias. How is Dete related to Heidi?

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 Literary Elements
Fiction is writing which describes imaginary events and people.

Non-fiction is writing which is based on facts and real events.

How can we tell the difference between literary works which are imaginative and which are
based on reality and fact?

Fiction works tell an imaginative story, sometimes with imaginative characters and places.
These works need to be read from beginning to end and are meant to entertain and stir our
own imaginations. Often the work includes a problem which the characters must resolve as the
story unfolds. A nonfiction work is based on facts and reality. While it is better to read these
works in order, you can sometimes read them out of order. These works may contain realistic
photos and often are meant to teach.

Offer your children examples by showing them an example of a topic in a nonfiction book and
an example of this same topic in a fiction book. Some examples might include: If You Give a
Mouse a Cookie paired with a non-fiction book on mice; The Very Hungry Caterpillar with a non-
fiction book on caterpillars, Owl Moon paired with a non-fiction book about owls, etc.

What kind of story is Heidi meant to be? How do we know this?

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Tell of Heidi’s trip up the mountain to Alm-Uncle, or her grandfather.

 Should Dete have left Heidi with her grandfather?
 Why has Grandfather isolated himself from others? Tell of what we know of him so far.
 Think of a new title for this chapter. Tell how it is a good fit for it.

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Chapter 2
 Read Chapter II –“At Home with Grandfather” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Describe Heidi.
 Words to Know: perplexity, glee, twilight and tempestuous

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Describe Heidi’s new home with her grandfather.

 Draw or paint a picture of any scene from this chapter. Give your picture a title or caption
and share it with someone, telling about the scene depicted.
 Would you be as content as Heidi if you had been in her place? Tell about this.
 Heidi uses her senses. Take note of what she sees, hears, tastes, smells and touches in this
chapter. Create a chart with the former words on one side and an example or two of each on
the other side.

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 Literary Techniques
Imagery in a literary work is when the author uses words or phrases that appeal to the senses
and evoke mental images.

Ask your students to draw a quick sketch of the image that comes to mind as you read the
section below aloud.

This is a quick sketch and your students should not be worried about neatness or being artistically
detailed. Students can come back to this sketch later and improve it, if they would like.

Outside the moon was struggling with the dark, fast-driving clouds, which at one
moment left it clear and shining, and the next swept over it, and all again was dark
(43).

Did your students find it easy to see this picture in their mind? Explain that this is imagery.
The author uses words and descriptions to help us “see” the story almost as if we were looking
at pictures or watching a movie.

Literary Techniques
Similes compare two things that are unlike and use the connecting words like or as.
Find the simile in the following lines:

It came howling and wailing down the chimney like voices of those in pain… (42)
 What is being compared to what? Why?
 Draw a picture to illustrate this simile and copy the simile underneath or above it.
 How does the simile enhance the reading?

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Chapter 3
 Read Chapter III –“Out with the Goats” from
Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Describe Grandfather.
 Words to Know: sufficed, meagre[meager], capers,
repast, peculiarities, succession, agility, dexterity,
plaintive, beseeching, contempt, perpendicularly,
abyss, obstinately and imperceptibly

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Describe Heidi’s day on the mountain with Peter and the goats.
 Draw a picture of any scene from this chapter. Give your picture a title or caption and share
it with someone, telling about the scene depicted.
 Describe Peter. What might his days be like –especially before Heidi joined him on the
mountain?
 This chapter is titled “Out with the Goats”. Tell how this title fits the chapter. Think of a
new title and tell how it also fits.
 “Then Heidi told him of the mountain with the great snow-field, and how it had been on
fire, and had turned rosy-red and then all of a sudden had grown quite pale again and all the
color had disappeared” (60). Illustrate this quote or scene.
 Write a list of the names of the goats. Share your list with someone, giving a brief
description of each one.
 Create models [using salt-dough, modeling clay, etc.] of Heidi, Peter and the goats. Act out
any scene using your models.

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 Literary Elements
Characters are people or animals in literary works.

How important are characters to a story? What would a story be like without any characters?
Dictate or write a list of the characters introduced so far. Choose two and tell about each one.

Alternatively, choose several characters to draw. Be sure to label each one.

Literary Techniques
Personification is a literary device that gives human characteristics to nonhuman things or
inanimate objects.

Study the quoted line below:

…while to the left was a huge pile of rocks on either side of which a bare lofty peak,
that seemed to pierce the blue, looked frowningly down upon her (48).
Describe what is happening in this scene. What is frowning down upon whom? Is this
possible? What human-like attributes are given? What does personification add to the poem?

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Gentian

Primrose

Bluebell

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Chapter 4
 Read Chapter IV –“The Visit to Grandmother” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Tell of Peter and of the goats.
 Words to Know: cauldron, ceased, assented, idle, lamentation, allay
and enumerated

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Tell of Heidi and her grandfather’s visit to Peter’s house.

 Draw a picture of any scene from this chapter. Give your picture a title or caption and share
it with someone, telling about the scene depicted.
 Describe Peter’s grandmother.
 “…but the grandmother told her again that she felt the darkness much less when Heidi was
with her…” Tell what is meant by this.
 Why might Peter’s grandmother and Brigitta be surprised by Grandfather’s actions?
 Illustrate this quote: “The thing which attracted her most, however, was the waving and
roaring of the three old fir trees on these windy days” (63). Give your picture a title or
caption and share it with someone, telling about this scene.

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Chapter 5
 Read Chapter V –“Two Visits and What Came of Them” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Describe Peter’s grandmother.
 Locate: Frankfurt, Germany. Trace the path from the Swiss Alps to Frankfurt to illustrate its general
distance.
 Words to Know: comrades, despise, reconciled, agitated and invalid [discuss how this word is
outdated and may be considered offensive]

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Tell of the pastor’s visit and of Cousin Dete’s visit.

 Draw a picture of any scene from this chapter. Give your picture a title or caption and share
it with someone, telling about the scene depicted.
 Should Grandfather have allowed Heidi to go to school? Should he have left Heidi alone
with Cousin Dete?
 Describe Grandfather’s relationship with his fellow villagers.
 Should Cousin Dete have taken Heidi away?
 Write a list with your teacher of 2-3 finer points or details that you took note of while
listening to this reading section that others might have missed. Tell about one of these points
and what it might tell us about either the characters or the story.

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Chapter 6
 Read Chapter VI –“A New Chapter About New Things” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Describe the change in Heidi’s life.
 Note: In German, Herr=Mr. and Fraulein=Miss
 Words to Know: simpleton, saucy, docile, unflinching, gape, mincing, convulsed and sermonizing

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Tell of Clara and Fraulein Rottenmeier.

 Think of two new titles for this chapter. Tell how each one is a good fit for it.
 In what way is Heidi “a child unlike all other children”? Why would Fraulein Rottenmeier
ask for this sort of child as a companion to Clara?
 Write a list of some of the new rules by which Heidi must now abide. How does this
compare to her life with her grandfather?
 Tell about any scene from this reading section using a chalkboard or whiteboard. Draw
simple pictures to go along with it.

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Chapter 7
 Read Chapter VII –“Fraulein Rottenmeier Spends an Uncomfortable Day” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Describe Heidi’s new home.
 Words to Know: rudimentary, detriment, havoc, conciliate, submissively, meddle, droll,
reprehensible, sniggling, elapsed and castigatory

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Tell of Fraulein Rottenmeier’s “uncomfortable day”.

 Describe the view from the church tower. Tell why Heidi is disappointed. Alternatively,
draw a picture of Heidi’s view from the church tower. Share your picture with someone,
telling about this scene.
 Write a list with your teacher of 2-3 finer points or details that you took note of while
listening to this reading section that others might have missed. Tell about one of these points
and what it might tell us about either the characters or the story.
 Should Heidi have taken the kittens without permission?

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 Literary Techniques
An extended metaphor is a metaphor which continues, or extends,
over multiple sentences of a paragraph or lines of a poem. Remember,
a metaphor compares two things and does not use the connecting
words like or as. The extended metaphor is also known as a conceit or
sustained metaphor.

Identify the metaphor in these quotes. Who or what is being

compared and to who or what is the comparison made? How does the
author continue, or extend, this comparison? Why do authors include
extended metaphors in their works?

Heidi jumped out of bed and dressed herself; then she ran first to one window and
then another; she wanted to see the sky and country outside; she felt like a bird in a
cage behind those great curtains.
(Spyri 105)

In vain she went first to one and then the other of the windows –she could see
nothing but walls and windows and again walls and windows. Heidi felt quite
frightened.
(Spyri 105)

As a bird, when it first finds itself in its bright new cage, darts hither and thither,
trying the bars in turn to see if it cannot get through them and fly again into the
open, so Heidi continued to run backwards and forwards, trying to open first one
and then the other of the windows, for she felt she could not bear to see nothing but
walls and windows, and somewhere outside there must be the green grass, and the
last unmelted snows on the mountain slopes, which Heidi so longed to see.
(Spyri 106)

How might Heidi’s new world feel when compared to her previous one?

An. Key: This extended metaphor compares Heidi in her new environment to a bird in a cage. The
extension is shown in the continuing sentences which tell us that Heidi keeps running back and forth,
desperately trying to see outside just as a bird might try to escape its cage.

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Chapter 8
 Read Chapter VIII –“There is Great Commotion in the Large House” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Should Heidi have paid the boy who helped her find her way?
 Words to Know: declensions, equanimity, eccentric, counterpane and commotion

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Tell of the “great commotion” in Herr Sesmann’s home.

 Tell of Heidi’s wish to go home. What prevents this?
 Write a journal entry as if Heidi, giving an account of the “great commotion”.
 What would you have done differently from Heidi? From Fraulein Rottenmeier?
 Draw a picture of any scene from this chapter. Give your picture a title or caption and share
it with someone, telling about the scene depicted.

Reading Strategies
Predicting is what happens when a reader thinks about a story or book and makes a
prediction, or guess, about what might happen next. The reader uses the story details as clues
to determine this guess.

Note: It is important that students learn that their predications are best when they are supported by
evidence. Evidence can be found by referencing the story text itself, the title and, usually, the
illustrations.

Predict what you think Herr Sesemann will decide as Heidi’s fate. Tell why you think this.

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Chapter 9
 Read Chapter IX –“Herr Sesemann Hears of Things Which Are New to Him” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Tell of Fraulein Rottenmeier and the kittens.
 Words to Know: embodiment, countenance, imposed, idealistic, aberration, fortnight and injunctions
 Discuss this phrase: “black books”
 Note: In German, Frau=Mrs.

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Tell of all that Herr Sesemann learns upon his arrival home.
 Describe how Herr Sesemann’s reaction to Heidi differs from Fraulein Rottenmeier’s.
 Write the letter Grandmamma [Frau Sesemann] might have written, sending word of her
arrival.
 Think of two new titles for this chapter. Tell how each one is a good fit for it.

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Chapter 10
 Read Chapter X –“Another Grandmother” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Describe Herr Sesemann.
 Words to Know: rival, keen, incapacity, vividly, crimson, dissertation, zeal and emaciated

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Give an account of Frau Sesemann, the other “grandmother”.

 Give a narration using one word from the Words to Know list above and the following
words: Grandmamma, Fraulein Rottenmeier, green pasture and miracle.
 Draw a picture of any scene from this chapter. Give your picture a title or caption and share
it with someone, telling about the scene depicted.
 “Fraulein Rottenmeier went about surveying everything, very upright and dignified, as if to
show that though a rival power was expected, her own authority was not going to be
extinguished” (145). What is meant by this? Tell about Fraulein Rottenmeier’s need for
authority.
 Draw or paint a picture of any scene from Heidi’s picture book. Give this picture a title or
caption and share it with someone, telling about the scene depicted.

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Chapter 11
 Read Chapter XI –“Heidi Gains in One Way and Loses in Another” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Tell of Grandmamma.
 Words to Know: pinafores, earnestly, repentantly, mope and inconsolably

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 In what way does Heidi gain? In what way does Heidi lose?
 Tell of “Heidi’s longing for the old familiar and beautiful things…” (164).
 “Heidi did not know if it was winter or summer, for the walls and windows she looked upon
showed no change…” (164). How might Heidi’s environment contribute to her
homesickness and sorrow?
 Think of two new titles for this chapter. Tell how each one is a good fit for it.
 Create a chart comparing Heidi’s life on the mountain with Heidi’s life in Frankfurt. Label
one side “Life on the Mountain” and the other side “Life in Frankfurt”, adding points under
the corresponding categories. Give your chart a title and share it with someone.

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Chapter 12
 Read Chapter XII –“A Ghost in the House” from
Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Tell of Heidi’s sorrow.
 Locate: Holstein, Germany and Paris, France
 Words to Know: apparitions, entail, constitution, impudently, pell-mell and penance
 Discuss: Epileptic and St. Vitus’s Dance

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Tell of the “ghost in the house”.

 Write any of the letters described in this chapter –Ex. Fraulein Rottenmeier’s letter to Herr
Sesemann, urging him to come home.
 Describe, in great detail, how Herr Sesemann and the doctor “caught the ghost”.
 Tell about any scene from this reading section using a chalkboard or whiteboard. Draw
simple pictures to go along with it.
 Should Heidi be allowed to cry?

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Chapter 13
 Read Chapter XIII –“A Summer Evening on the Mountain” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Tell of the ghost from the previous chapter.
 Locate: Basle [Basel], Switzerland
 Words to Know: toilet, prosaic, verdict, stipulating, inevitable, conspicuous, divined, provisions,
vexed, helter-skelter and obstreperous
 Note: The word “idiot” is used in this chapter.

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Tell of Heidi’s return to her home.

 “But Heidi did not stir; she had no need now to wander about, for the great burning longing
of her heart was satisfied…” (197). What is meant by this?
 Illustrate this quote: “…for there the two high mountain peaks rose into the air like two
great flames, the whole snow-field had turned crimson, and rosy-colored clouds floated in
the sky above. The grass upon the mountain-sides had turned to gold, the rocks were all
aglow, and the whole valley was bathed in golden mist” (193). Give your illustration a title or
caption and share it with someone, telling about this scene.
 Write a journal entry as if Heidi describing you joy upon returning home.
 Tell of Grandmother’s [Grandfather’s, Peter’s] reaction to Heidi’s arrival.

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Chapter 14
 Read Chapter XIV –“Sunday Bells” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Tell of Heidi’s return to her mountain home.
 Words to Know: wafted, hindered, exultation, jubilation, prodigal,
raiment and askance
 Discuss this phrase: “spick and span”
 Note: Dorfli, Switzerland [There is a village called Dorfli in
Switzerland, but the village of Dorfli in Heidi is fictional;
Dorfli=“little town”.]
 Locate: Ragatz [Ragaz], Switzerland
 Note: “The Story of the Prodigal Son” from the Bible figures prominently in this chapter. If you
students have not already heard it, then you may wish to read a brief version of it.

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 This chapter is titled “Sunday Bells”. Tell why it has this as its title.
 Give an account as to how Grandfather has changed since having Heidi in his life.
 “…but she obstinately refused to take back the hat; Brigitta could keep it, for she should
never put it on her head again” (202). Heidi does not like the hat with feathers. Tell about
this. Why does she have such strong feelings about not keeping it?
 What significance is there in Heidi sharing “The Story of the Prodigal Son” with
Grandfather?
 “Ah, Heidi, that brings light to the heart” (202). How does Heidi bring light to
Grandmother’s darkness?

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 Literary Techniques & Reading Strategies
Foreshadowing is when a literary work gives clues or hints about events that will occur
further on in the story. This is a literary technique.

But when grandmamma comes next autumn there will be many fresh joys and
surprises both for Heidi and grandmother (214).
What is the author sharing with the reader in this statement? What will happen further on in
the story? When does it say it will happen? To whom will it happen? Why might the author
share this?

Predicting is what happens when a reader thinks about a story or book and makes a
prediction, or guess, about what might happen next. The reader uses the story details as clues
to determine this guess. This is a reading strategy.

Remember, you may a prediction in Chapter 8. What did you predict? Was your predication
correct?

Distinguish between foreshadowing and predicting. Who is putting forth something that
is being foreshadowed? (The author is.) Who is putting forth something that is being
predicted? (The reader is.)

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 Literary Techniques
Imagery in a literary work is when the author uses words or phrases that appeal to the senses
and evoke mental images.

What senses does Heidi use in this selection?

…for she could not listen long enough to the familiar voice of the trees, or drink in
too much of the fragrance wafted to her from the green pastures where the golden-
headed flowers were glowing in the sun, a very feast to her eyes (198).
An. Key: Heidi listens [hears] the “voice of the trees”; smells “the fragrance” and sees “a very feast to
her eyes”.

Did your students find it easy to see this picture in their mind? Explain that this is imagery.
The author uses words and descriptions to help us “see” the story almost as if we were looking
at pictures or watching a movie.

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Chapter 15
 Read Chapter XV –“Preparations for a Journey” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Tell of Heidi’s Sunday on the mountain.
 Words to Know: sole, preceded, buoyed, solitary, reproaching, excursions, prosecuting and tussle
 Discuss the phrase: “ruffled feathers”

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Give an account of “Preparations for a Journey”.

 Write a list of all the gifts Clara enclosed in the large package being sent to Heidi. Share your
list with someone, telling a little about the items enclosed [to whom it’s intended; why, etc.].
Give your list a title. Alternatively, draw small pictures of the items and give labels. Share this
picture list with someone, telling about them.
 Write a list with your teacher of 2-3 finer points or details that you took note of while
listening to this reading section that others might have missed. Tell about one of these points
and what it might tell us about either the characters or the story.
 Write a letter to Heidi, as if Clara, explaining the postponement of her visit.
 Should the doctor visit Heidi?

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Chapter 16
 Read Chapter XVI –“A Visitor” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Briefly, describe the doctor.
 Words to Know: landscape, vied, snarling, stentorian, exertion, heeding and console

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Tell of Heidi and grandfather’s visitor.

 Draw a picture of any scene from this chapter. Give your picture a title or caption and share
it with someone, telling about the scene depicted.
 Illustrate this quote: “…and the two [Heidi and Grandfather] climbed under the starlit sky
back to their peaceful dwelling” (235).
 “Heidi could not help feeling some surprise at Grandmother seeming to take more pleasure
in the shawl than the cakes” (234). Tell about this. Why might Grandmother prefer the
shawl?
 Think of two new titles for this chapter. Tell how each one is a good fit for it.

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Chapter 17
 Read Chapter XVII –“A Compensation” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Describe Heidi’s surprise package.
 Words to Know: compensation, alight, tribulation, smote, abundance,
aromatic, anecdote and pantomime

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Tell of the doctor’s visit to the mountain.

 “It is good to be up there, good for body and soul, and a man might learn how to be happy
once more” (246). In what way did the doctor’s time on the mountain help him?
 Draw a picture of any scene from this chapter. Give your picture a title or caption and share
it with someone, telling about the scene depicted.
 Why has Peter been frustrated with Heidi? Tell about this.
 Should Heidi go back to Frankfurt with the doctor?
 Illustrate this quote: “A soft, light morning breeze blew deliciously across the mountain,
gently stirring the bluebells that still remained of the summer’s wealth of flowers, their
slender heads nodding cheerfully in the sunshine” (237).

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Chapter 18
 Read Chapter XVIII –“Winter in Dorfli” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Tell of the doctor’s visit.
 Words to Know: extricate, habitable, fathom-deep, impetus, deserter and wainscoting

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Tell of “Winter in Dorfli”.

 Why doesn’t Peter attend school regularly? Tell about his.
 Describe a scene from this chapter using two words from the Words to Know list.
 Draw a picture or sketch a diagram of the winter home in Dorfli. Give your picture or
sketch a title or caption and share it with someone, telling about the home.
 “Grandmother, I know exactly what it is like to go home” (259). Who said this? What is
meant by it?

Literary Techniques
Personification is a literary device that gives human characteristics to nonhuman things or
inanimate objects.

Study the quoted line below:

At last, after some days, the sun again appeared and shone brightly over the white
ground, but he went to bed again behind the mountains at a very early hour , as if
he did not find such pleasure in looking down on the earth as when everything was
green and flowery (252).
Describe what is happening in this scene. What is the sun doing? What human-like attributes
are given? What does personification add to the poem?

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Chapter 19
 Read Chapter XIX –“The Winter Continues” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Describe Heidi’s winter home.
 Words to Know: punctually, mollified, fluent, petrified,
trepidation, diligent, entreaties, consecutive and induce

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Give an account of Peter’s reading lessons.

 What motivates Peter to agree to learn to read? What motivates Peter to continue to work at
his lessons?
 Think of two new titles for this chapter. Tell how each one is a good fit for it.
 Choose one scene and write the main events of this scene in bullet point form. Be sure that
all points are arranged in chronological order. [Teachers may wish to demonstrate using a
different scene.]
 Tell about any scene from this reading section using a chalkboard or whiteboard. Draw
simple pictures to go along with it.

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Chapter 20
 Read Chapter XX –“News From Distant Friends” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Tell how Peter learns to read.
 Locate: Sicily
 Words to Know: ether, myriad, rejoinder, crevasse, menacing, spangled,
sedan chair, hearsay, precipitous, deficiencies, cronies and climax
 Review, as needed, invalid and discuss cripple as these words are
outdated and may be considered offensive.

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Tell of Heidi’s visitors and their time on the mountain.

 Why might the 3 fir trees be so significant to Heidi as well as to others who see them?
 Write a letter in reply to Clara’s letter as if Heidi.
 As if Clara, write a journal entry describing your day upon the mountain.
 Describe the passing of the seasons on the mountain as grandfather might have described
them.
 Divide a sheet of paper into two halves. On one side illustrate the mountain in winter and on
the other side illustrate the mountain in spring. Give your picture a title or caption and share
it with someone, describing each season.
 Should Clara stay on the mountain with Heidi?

Literary Techniques
Personification is a literary device that gives human characteristics to nonhuman things or
inanimate objects.

Study the quoted line below:

And the stars with their glistening eyes continued to nod to her till she reached
home, where she found her grandfather also standing and looking up at them (279).
Describe what is happening in this scene. What are the stars doing? What human-like attributes
are given? What does personification add to the poem?

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Chapter 21
 Read Chapter XXI –“How Life Went on at Grandfather’s” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Tell of Clara and her new experiences on the mountain.
 Words to Know: devout and expatiating

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Tell of “How Life Went on at Grandfather’s”.

 Draw a picture of any scene from this chapter. Give your picture a title or caption and share
it with someone, telling about the scene depicted.
 Write one of the letters –as if Heidi or Clara– to grandmamma.
 Write a list with your teacher of 2-3 finer points or details that you took note of while
listening to this reading section that others might have missed. Tell about one of these points
and what it might tell us about either the characters or the story.
 Is Grandfather a good grandfather? [Give examples to support your position.]
 Describe Peter’s attitude. Why is he cross?

Literary Techniques
Personification is a literary device that gives human characteristics to nonhuman things or
inanimate objects.

Study the quoted line below:

The breeze had sunk a little, and now gently fanned her face and whispered lightly
through the fir trees (297).
Describe what is happening in this scene. What is the breeze doing? What human-like
attributes are given? What does personification add to the poem?

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 Literary Techniques
Imagery in a literary work is when the author uses words or phrases that appeal to the senses
and evoke mental images.

As you read the quoted selection below aloud, ask your students to close their eyes and imagine
that they are seeing what the authors are describing. What do they see? Hear? Smell? Read the
quote again, but have students draw several quick sketches of the images that came to mind
this time.

These are quick sketches and your student should not be worried about neatness or being artistically
detailed. Students can come back to these sketches later and improve them, if they would like.

Day after day there were the same cloudless sky and brilliant sun; the flowers
opened wide their fragrant blossoms, and everywhere the eye was greeted with a glow
of color; and when the evening came the crimson light fell on mountain peaks and on
the great snow field, till at last the sun sank in a sea of golden flame (302).

Did your students find it easy to see this picture in their mind? Explain that this is imagery.
The author uses words and descriptions to help us “see” the story almost as if we were looking
at pictures or watching a movie.

Expand on this discussion by introducing the word “picturesque” to students. Picturesque is

defined as resembling a picture: suggesting a painted scene or is something that is charming or
quaint in appearance. It also defined as something which evokes mental images or is vivid
(Merriam-Webster). This describes much of what an author’s use of imagery does for its
readers. The above described scene is picturesque.

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Chapter 22
 Read Chapter XXII –“Something Unexpected Happens” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: How well does Clara like her time on the mountain? How do we know this?
 Words to Know: disdainful, morose, peremptory, acute, enveloped, ecstasy, upholstery and lurch

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Should Heidi pay more attention to Peter? Should Peter have pushed the wheelchair down
the hill?
 This chapter is titled “Something Unexpected Happens”. What does happen? Why is this
unexpected? Think of a new title and tell how it would also be a good fit.
 Describe how Clara’s life has changed.
 Create a postcard to send to grandmamma.
 Divide a sheet of paper into 3-4 sections. Make small sketches in each section illustrating the
scene where Peter pushes the wheelchair down the hill.

Reading Strategies
Predicting is what happens when a reader thinks about a story or book and makes a
prediction, or guess, about what might happen next. The reader uses the story details as clues
to determine this guess.

Note: It is important that students learn that their predications are best when they are supported by
evidence. Evidence can be found by referencing the story text itself, the title and, usually, the
illustrations.

Predict whether you think Peter’s actions will be discovered? If so, then tell how you think the
truth will come forward. If not, then tell how you think his actions will remain unknown. What
would you have done differently if you had been Peter?

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Chapter 23
 Read Chapter XXIII –“Goodbye Till We Meet Again” from Heidi.

Before the Reading

 Connection: Tell what has changed for Clara.
 Words to Know: devising, telegram, recital, benefactor, goad, contrite and reprovingly

After the Reading

Narration Suggestions

 Tell of Herr Sesemann’s surprise and his reaction to it. What plans for the future have been
made?
 “Perhaps Peter fancies he sees the stick which he so well deserves coming after him…”
(323). Who says this? What is meant by it?
 Tell of one character that is brave? In what way is this character brave?
 Think of two new titles for this chapter. Tell how each one is a good fit for it.
 Should Grandmamma reward Peter?
 Draw a picture of any scene from this chapter. Give your picture a title or caption and share
it with someone, telling about the scene depicted.

Literary Elements
Characters are people or animals in literary works.

In Chapter 3, you began to create a character list. Update this list as needed. Again, choose two
characters and describe each one.

Alternatively, choose several new characters to draw. Be sure to label each one.

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 Reading Strategies
Predicting is what happens when a reader thinks about a story or book and makes a
prediction, or guess, about what might happen next. The reader uses the story details as clues
to determine this guess.

Note: It is important that students learn that their predications are best when they are supported by
evidence. Evidence can be found by referencing the story text itself, the title and, usually, the
illustrations.

Envision Heidi two years after the story ends. Describe what her life might look like.

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Coloring
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