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The Dog That Saved a Town

People in an Alaska town were dying. A dog named Balto raced through a terrible blizzard to save their lives.  

By Blair Rainsford
From the Special Preview Issue
Lexiles: 550L, 580L, 640L
Guided Reading Level: L
DRA Level: 28-30
Common Core Standards
  • RI.2.1 Key details; RI.2.2 Main idea; RI.2.4 Vocabulary; RI.2.5 Text features; RI.2.7 Use visuals; RI.2.9 Compare two texts; RI.2.10 Read grade 2 nonfiction texts; SL.2 Discuss grade-2 texts; L.2.4.a Use sentence-level context as a clue to a word’s meaning
Vocabulary
  • blizzard, trustworthy, obstacles, persevered, frigid, exhausted

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Think and Read:

 As you read, think about if Balto was a hero. Why?

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It was the winter of 1925. The town of Nome, Alaska, was in trouble. A deadly disease was spreading through the town. The disease was called diphtheria (dif-THEER-ee-uh), and the doctor in Nome didn’t have any medicine for it.

Several children had gotten sick and died. More were getting sick every day. But the closest medicine was hundreds of miles away.

Getting the medicine to Nome was a big problem. A heavy snowstorm called a blizzard made flying and driving too dangerous.

But Alaskans had another way to get the medicine to Nome. That way was by dogsled. Would the medicine get to Nome in time to save the sick kids?

PAUSE AND THINK: Why was Nome in trouble?

National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

A Race to Save Nome

Dogsleds were the fastest way to get to Nome, but one dogsled team couldn’t do it alone. It was much too far for one team to run. The dogs would get too tired.

People in charge of 20 dogsled teams decided to work together. They would run a relay race to carry the medicine to Nome.

The first team picked up the medicine. They ran until they got to the next team. The teams passed the medicine along, getting closer and closer to Nome.

Finally, in the night, the last dogsled team got the medicine. But Nome was still 53 miles away.

If the dogs were going to get there in time to save the kids, they would have to run all night long. 

PAUSE AND THINK: How did the dogsled teams work together?

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H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock/Getty Images

Dogsled

This is a dogsled team from the 1920s. The dogs pulled a sled behind them.

Balto the Leader

Gunnar Kaasen (KAY-sen) was the person in charge of the last team. He picked his dogs carefully. He chose a dog named Balto to run in front.

In a dogsled team, the front dog has the most important job. He shows the other dogs what to do. He has to be a good leader.

Gunnar knew that Balto was trustworthy. Gunnar could count on him no matter what.

Balto was also brave and calm. He could handle any obstacles in his way, like slippery ice and thick snow.

PAUSE AND THINK: Why did Gunnar choose Balto to be the front dog?

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Bettmann/Getty Images

Gunnar and Balto 

This is Gunnar Kaasen, the musher for the last dogsled team. He holds his dog, Balto.

Balto’s Race Begins

The team set off for Nome. The air was so cold that it hurt to breathe. Heavy snow fell, and an ice-cold wind blew as the team ran.

Sharp pieces of ice cut the dogs’ paws until they bled. The blood froze into hard, red ice on their paws! But the dogs persevered. They kept going.

After a few miles, Gunnar had to stop. The snow was so thick, he couldn’t see the trail. They were lost! They could freeze to death.

But Balto knew what to do. He was a leader. He would make it through this obstacle.

He lowered his nose to the ground. As the icy wind blew, he sniffed the snow, trying to pick up the scent of the trail.

Suddenly, he started running again, and the other dogs followed him. He had found the trail! He had saved his team’s life.

PAUSE AND THINK: How did Balto save his team’s life?

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Jim McMahon/Mapman R

Dogsled Teamwork 
Each yellow pawprint shows where a new dogsled team started. Balto’s team was the last. In what town did the first dogsled start its trip?

Another Obstacle

Balto led the team for miles. Then he stopped. Gunnar was confused. What was Balto doing? They still had a long way to go.

Then Gunnar looked down. Balto’s front paws were in water. The team had been heading onto a frozen river, and Balto had broken through the ice!

He had stopped just in time. He had kept the team from falling into the water. He had faced another obstacle and saved his team’s life—again.

PAUSE AND THINK: How did Balto save the team again?

Balto Perseveres

Balto kept the team going through icy, frigid winds. He ran with them through snow piled as high as his pointy ears. He led them up slippery hills covered in ice. The dogs had to crawl on their bellies and dig their claws into the ice to keep from sliding back down.

The team had been racing through the blizzard for hours. There was so much snow in the air, Gunnar couldn’t see the trail. He couldn’t even see the dogs. “I didn’t know where I was,” he said. “I couldn’t even guess.”

Gunnar hoped Balto could get them to Nome in time to save the sick kids. He held on to the sled as the dogs ran and ran.

Balto’s paws were cold, sore, and bloody. He was exhausted from the long run. Even though he was so tired, he would not quit. He persevered. He led his team all night and into the morning.

PAUSE AND THINK: Why was Balto exhausted?

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Bettmann/Getty Images

Nome Is Saved! 

Here you can see Balto and his team in Nome.  What else do you notice in this photo?

Home in Nome

At 5:30 a.m., the people of Nome woke up to the sound of barking dogs.

It was Balto and his team! They had made it.

The team was exhausted. Gunnar knelt next to Balto and gently pulled bloody chunks of ice off his paws. “Fine dog,” he whispered.

The medicine had frozen solid, but it would still work. Balto and everyone who had taken part in this incredible trip had saved the people of Nome. Balto was a hero.

PAUSE AND THINK: Why does Gunnar say “Fine dog” to Balto?

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Skills Activities

More About the Article

Social Studies Focus

How climate affects people’s lives; Life and technology long ago; Geography: Map skills

Science Focus

Winter weather

Social-Emotional Learning Focus

Heroes; perseverance

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Essential Question

The essential question of this issue of Storyworks 2 is: What makes a hero?

Reading and discussing “The Dog That Saved a Town” along with the other hero-themed texts in the magazine (the mini graphic “The Playground Monster,” the fiction story “The Space Rock,” and the poem “Hero”) will give kids deep insight into what it means to be a hero in the world.

Through the above genres, students will discuss:

  • What traits do heroes have?
  • How do heroes act?
  • What does it mean to be a good person?

1. Before Reading  

Show Video (10 minutes)

  • Tell your students they are going to watch a video about heroes. As they watch, ask them to think about: “Do all heroes have capes and superpowers? What are some words we can use to describe heroes?”
  • Watch the video “What Is a Hero?”
  • After watching, ask the questions again. Write students’ ideas on chart paper.

Preview Vocabulary (3 minutes)

  • Play the online vocabulary slideshow. This issue’s featured words are blizzard, obstacles, trustworthy, persevered, frigid, and exhausted.

Preview the first pages and set a purpose for reading (5-10 minutes)

  • Now tell students they are going to read a true story from history. Tell them it connects to the video they watched about heroes.
  • Open your magazines to “The Dog That Saved a Town.” Preview the text features on the opening pages.
    • Where do you think this story takes place? Can you find a picture that shows us? (Alaska; it’s on the globe.)
    • Next, read the Think and Read prompt on page 7: “As you read, think about if Balto was a hero. Why?” Encourage children to think about this prompt as they read.

2. Read the Issue

Read together (15-30 minutes)

  • You can read this article aloud together as a class or in small groups.
  • Check comprehension as you read the issue together with the Pause and Think questions, pausing to ask the questions.
  • Another option is our wonderful Video Read-Aloud feature. Kids can hear the issue read aloud and see the imagery come to life.

3. After Reading: Focus on ELA Skills

ELA Focus: Vocabulary (20 minutes)

  • Use the Word Work printable to deepen students’ understanding of the vocabulary words blizzard, obstacles, trustworthy, persevered, frigid, and exhausted.

Assessment: Quiz (10 minutes)

  • Pass out the quiz to review key concepts from the issue and assess students’ proficiency on key nonfiction reading skills. 

Enrich the Learning: Paired Text Opportunities (time amount varies)

Making text-to-text connections builds knowledge and comprehension. We purposefully layer Storyworks 2 with many ways for you and your students to make connections and enrich the lesson. 

Paired Text 1 Poetry Kit: Hero

  • Find this poem about Balto on the back cover of your magazine. Reading the long nonfiction article first gives kids the background knowledge they’ll need to dive into this emotional poem.
  • Poetic devices such as rhymes and sensory words make Balto’s feat feel all the more immediate.
  • Use our Compare Two Texts sheet to teach the article and poem as a pair.

Paired Text 2 Words & Pictures: “There’s a Polar Bear Out My Window!”

  • Meet Harper, a girl from Alaska. We learn what life is like today in the cold climate. And we learn that people still use sled dogs!
  • Kids can fill out Nosey’s Fact File to collect facts about Alaska. Using these fact files is a great way to focus students when reading. It’s like doing a fact scavenger hunt!

Paired Texts 3 and 4 Mini Graphic: The Playground Monster and Fiction: The Space Rock

  • These stories ask a similar question to that of “The Dog That Saved a Town.” Who are the heroes in these stories? Why are they heroes?
  • Kids can compare Balto’s heroic actions with the actions of the kids in “The Playground Monster” and the family in “The Space Rock” using our “Do a Hero Chart” online printable. How are the heroes alike and different?
  • Doing these comparisons deepens kids’ understanding of what it means to be a hero.

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