Welcome to Chapter 12: “The Search for the Wicked Witch!” This post offers teaching materials that support plot structure, conflict resolution, and theme development.
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Get vocabulary practice, comprehension questions, and organizers for this chapter.
🧙♀️ Chapter Summary
Chapter 12: “The Search for the Wicked Witch”
Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Lion set out to find the Wicked Witch. Using her magic eye, the Witch spots them approaching and sends wolves, crows, bees, and Winkies to stop them. Each attack fails: the Tin Woodman chops the wolves with his axe, the Scarecrow rips the crows apart, the bees sting the Tin Woodman and die, and the Winkies flee from the Lion’s roar. Finally, the Wicked Witch uses the last summon from the Golden Cap to call the Winged Monkeys.
The Winged Monkeys capture Dorothy, Toto, and the Lion and carry them to the Witch’s palace. The Lion is locked in a cage and told he must pull the Witch’s chariot like a horse before he can eat. Dorothy is forced to work for the Witch, but each evening she sneaks food to the Lion.
To steal Dorothy’s silver shoes, the Witch places an invisible bar in the middle of the floor. Dorothy trips, loses one shoe, and becomes so angry that she throws a bucket of water on the Witch. As the water splashes, the Wicked Witch melts. Dorothy and the Lion are finally free.
Chapter 12: “The Search for the Wicked Witch” 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 12 of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz:
📌There were forty wolves, and forty times a wolf was killed, so that at last they all lay dead in a heap before the Woodman.
Focus: Commas in a Series + Repetition for Effect
Practice Prompt: Write a sentence that uses repetition and commas to emphasize quantity. Use this structure: There were ___, and ___ times ___ happened.
📌The sky was darkened, and a low rumbling sound was heard in the air.
Focus: Passive Voice + Sentence Structure
Practice Prompt: Write a sentence using passive voice to describe a sound or event. Use this idea: a bell rang.
📌The Wicked Witch was so angry when she saw her black bees in little heaps like fine coal that she stamped her foot and tore her hair and gnashed her teeth.
Focus: Compound Verbs without Commas
Practice Prompt: Write a sentence with three strong action verbs joined by “and.” Use these verbs: shouted, slammed, cried.
Mood Palette Drawing: Four-Quadrant Emotion Map
Chapter 12 – The Melting of the Wicked Witch
Students will create a four-quadrant drawing that captures the emotional journey of Dorothy’s confrontation with the Wicked Witch. Each quadrant will feature a simple sketch of Dorothy and the Witch, using color and expression to show a different emotion from the scene.
Teaching Steps
- Scene Selection:
Focus on the moment Dorothy throws water on the Wicked Witch and the Witch melts. - Quadrant Setup:
Divide the page into four equal sections. Label each quadrant with one emotion and its matching color:- Fear – gray
- Anger/Danger – dark red
- Shock/Disbelief – pale blue
- Triumph/Relief – bright yellow
- Drawing Prompt:
In each quadrant, draw Dorothy and the Witch with facial expressions and body language that match the emotion. Use the assigned color as a background or accent to reinforce mood. - Writing Extension: Beneath each drawing, write one or two sentences describing the emotion and what’s happening in that moment. Encourage students to use vivid verbs and emotional language.
Melted Witch Cookie Craft
Have students create this delicious cookie treat to show events in Chapter 12, “The Search for the Wicked Witch,” made with an assortment of sweet treats.
Materials:
- large sugar cookie (base)
- green icing
- fudge-striped cookie (for the hat brim)
- unwrapped Hershey’s Kiss (for the hat point)
- orange icing (to secure the Kiss)
- mini Reese’s peanut butter cup
- pretzel stick
Instructions:
- Start with a large sugar cookie as your base.
- Spread green icing in the center to represent the melted witch.
- Create the witch’s hat by turning a fudge-striped cookie upside down so the solid chocolate side faces up.
- Place an unwrapped Hershey’s Kiss on top of the fudge-striped cookie to form the pointed tip of the hat.
- Use a small dollop of orange icing to secure the Kiss to the cookie.
- Next to the green icing, press a pretzel stick into a mini Reese’s peanut butter cup to create a broomstick.
- Arrange the hat and broomstick on top of the sugar cookie, nestled into the green icing.
Focus Skills
Constructed Response Skill – Cause and Effect Chain
Students analyze how each attack from the Wicked Witch leads to a specific reaction from the travelers. A foldable organizer helps students track the chain of events and reflect on how teamwork and inner strength shape the outcome.
Standards: RL.5.2, RL.6.2, RL.7.2
Language Arts Skill – Prefix [ex-]
This chapter introduces opportunities to explore the prefix ex- (meaning “out of” or “former”). Students identify words such as exit, expand, and exclaim, then use a foldable organizer to define, sort, and create new words using this prefix.
Standards: L.5.4.b, L.6.4.b, L.7.4.b
This Prefix Board Game reinforces the prefixes introduced in Lessons 10 through 12. Students draw a card, then move to the next space on the trail, where they combine the prefix shown with the base word on their card to create a real word. It’s a fast-paced, engaging way to build vocabulary, and students love it.
Click here to download the FREE Chapter 12 resource.
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