Welcome to Chapter 10: “The Guardian of the Gate!” In this post, you’ll find resources to help students explore setting, tone, and the transition from journey to destination.
New to the series? Start with the Introduction to the Book Study for guidance on using the materials across grade levels.
Tips on pacing, setup, and how to use the materials across grade levels.
Includes word lists, bookmarks, word wall cards, and more – great for planning ahead.
Get vocabulary practice, comprehension questions, and organizers for this chapter.
🏰 Chapter Summary
Chapter 10: “The Guardian of the Gate”
When the Lion wakes, the group continues their journey down the Yellow Brick Road toward the Emerald City. The forest gives way to beautiful countryside. People watch them pass, but no one speaks.
As the travelers grow tired and hungry, they stop at a farmhouse. The family welcomes them warmly and serves a delicious meal. When the group mentions their plan to see Oz, the farmer’s wife explains that Oz takes on many forms, so no one truly knows what he looks like.
After spending the night, the group heads out again the next morning. They arrive at the city’s wall, and Dorothy rings a bell. A Guardian grants them entrance and gives each of them green spectacles to protect their eyes from the dazzling glow of the Emerald City.
Chapter 10: “The Guardian of the Gate” Projects
Mentor Sentences
One way to turn classic literature into a powerful teaching tool is to pull mentor sentences straight from the text. Instead of random worksheets, students get to see grammar, punctuation, and style in action—inside a story they’re already reading.
Here are a few examples you can use right from Chapter 10 of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz:
📌“He is powerful and terrible, and if you come on an idle or foolish errand to bother the wise reflections of the Great Wizard, he might be angry and destroy you all in an instant.”
Focus: Commas in a Compound-Complex Sentence
Practice Prompt: Use these ideas to write a compound-complex sentence with at least two commas: the dog barked, the mailman ran, the neighbors watched.
📌The woman now called to them that supper was ready, so they gathered around the table and Dorothy ate some delicious porridge and a dish of scrambled eggs and a plate of nice white bread, and enjoyed her meal.
Focus: Items in a Series + Parallel Structure
Practice Prompt: Use these three foods to write a sentence with items in a series: apples, crackers, cheese.
📌The Guardian of the Gates found a pair that would just fit Dorothy and put them over her eyes.
Focus: Verb Tense + Sentence Clarity
Practice Prompt: Write a sentence using past tense verbs to describe two actions. Use these verbs: picked, placed.
Emerald City Mosaic
“The Guardian of the Gate” marks the travelers’ arrival at the Emerald City. The gate, the green glow, the sparkling walls. It’s all vivid and celebratory. It’s also the first time students get a full visual of the city’s grandeur, making it the perfect moment to build or create it.
Celebrate the dazzling Emerald City with a collage project that plays with shades of green. Students use construction paper, tissue paper, or magazine clippings in varying shades of green to create a mosaic cityscape. Encourage them to layer shapes and overlap edges to create the illusion of towers and sparkling buildings. For an extra shine, let them add metallic paper, sequins, or glitter accents to capture the magical glow of the city. Pair the artwork with a short paragraph where students explain why Dorothy and her friends are so drawn to the Emerald City.
Focus Skills
Constructed Response Skill – Timeline of Dorothy’s Travels to the Emerald City
Students trace Dorothy’s journey from the poppy field to the gates of the Emerald City, noting key events and transitions. A foldable organizer helps students build a visual timeline, identify turning points, and reflect on how setting and character interactions shape the narrative.
Standards: RL.5.2, RL.6.2, RL.7.2
Language Arts Skill – Prefixes [com-/con-]
This chapter introduces opportunities to explore common prefixes like com- and con- in context. Students identify words such as companions, conversation, and confused, then use a foldable organizer to define, sort, and create new words using these prefixes.
Standards: L.5.4.b, L.6.4.b, L.7.4.b
Click here to download the FREE Chapter 10 resource.
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