The Gifts of Wali Dad
Supplemental Activities Packet
This packet contains classroom activity suggestions
and worksheets to reinforce concepts from the
Playbook® story and to go beyond the story into the
content areas of Language Arts, Math, Science, Social
Studies, Art, Health, etc., as well as Character
Development.
Activities range in age appropriateness and skill level
so that teachers can choose activities that best suit
their particular students. An Answer Key is provided
on the last page.
To download and print extra copies of this packet, visit www.playbooks.com/supplements.
Name: _______________________________
Radiant Words
Part A: Match the vocabulary words in the Word Bank with the correct definition.
Note: There may be more than one correct word for some of the
definitions.
1. _____ the upper edge of a hollow container or space
2. ______ several objects or an amount of material bound together Word Bank
3. ______ riches, ornaments A. radiant
4. ______ showing great joy B. bewildered
5. ______ puzzled, confused C. surpass
6. ______ to leave uninjured or unharmed D. brim
7. ______ to go beyond in amount; to be greater than E. spare
8. ______ emitting rays of light; bright with joy or hope F. ragged
9. ______ a type of sword G. jubilant
10. ______ confused or puzzled H. scimitar
11. ______ a group of travelers journeying together for safety I. laden
12. ______ staring in wonder with an open mouth J. bundled
13. ______ to permit or agree K. consent
14. ______ filled or burdened with L. finery
15. ______ clothed in old, worn garments M. caravan
Part B: Write a sentence for each of ten words from the Word Bank, showing that N. gaping
you know what the word means. Number your sentences as you write them and O. perplexed
underline the vocabulary word you used.
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Language Arts Vocabulary
Name: _______________________________
Exchanging Gifts and Numbers
Part A: Solve the word problems below and write your answers in the spaces provided.
1. The queen of Khaistan sends 24 camels to Wali Dad. Seven-eighths of the camels have
one hump and the rest have two humps. How many of the camels have two humps?
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2. Wali Dad has fifty-six bundles of grass. Three-sevenths of them were cut from the
field behind his hut and the rest were cut from the field in front of his hut. How many
bundles are from the field in front of Wali Dad’s hut?
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3. The king of Nekabad loves chocolate ice cream. He eats between two and six bowls of
ice cream each week. What is the least amount of ice cream he could eat in five weeks?
What is the most he would eat in five weeks?
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Part B: For problems 4-7, multiply. Write the answer as a mixed number in the
simplest form.
4. 5.
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6. 7.
Part C: Follow the directions for each problem.
8. Write the value of the missing number in the box.
5,000 + 800 + 80 + + 70,000 = 75,885
9. Use the Distributive Property to find the product.
9 x (40 + 2) = ________________
10. Use the Distributive Property to find the product.
4 x (90 + 3) = ________________
Mathematics Fractions/ Algebra/ Word Problems
Name: _______________________________
Exploring the Tale
Directions: Answer the questions about the Playbook® story, The
Gifts of Wali Dad, on the lines provided.
1. Why does Wali Dad want to get rid of all the riches he earns
and is given?
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2. Do you think Wali Dad would have continued giving gifts away if the queen of Khaistan
and the King of Nekabad had not come to visit him? Explain why or why not.
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3. Do you think the king and queen are generous to return gifts to Wali Dad when they do not
even know him? Are they just trying to outdo him? Do they just want him to stop
bothering them? Explain why you think the king and queen keep sending gifts and tell what
makes you think this.
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4. Why was Wali Dad upset when he found out that the queen was coming to see him?
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5. If you were in Wali Dad’s position and wanted to give away the riches you obtained, who
would you choose to give them to? Would it be a person of royalty like Wali Dad chose,
someone special to you, someone in need, or another option? Would it be one person or
several? Explain why you would choose this group of people.
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Language Arts/ Character Development Comprehension/Writing
Amazing Indus Civilization
The Gifts of Wali Dad is a folk tale of Indian and Pakistani origin. This region is the
birthplace of a group of ancient cities called Indus civilization. Archeologists and historians
are still learning about this mysterious society today, but what they’ve found so far is
impressive. The cities were very advanced for their time period. The maps below show current-
day India and Pakistan on the left, and the locations of several ancient Indus cities on the right.
As you can see, the cities were located around the area of northern India and Pakistan.
One of the most well-known cities of the Indus civilization is Harappa, which was
strongest during the years 2600 to 1700 BCE. Indus cities were very well connected and used a
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consistent size of bricks for building and standard weight measurements. The cities were
constructed with wide streets, both public and private wells, drain systems, and bathing
platforms. One of the most famous structures from the civilization is the Great Bath of Mohenjo
Daro, shown below, which has a watertight floor
resulting from tightly fitted bricks. The written
language of the Indus civilization is so far not
understood, but new discoveries and clues are being
found every year.
The inhabitants of these cities evidently had
trading contact with other ancient peoples such as the
Mesopotamians. This means that some of the important
inventions previously attributed to Mesopotamia may
actually have originated in Indus cities!
Directions: At home or at your school’s library, use the Internet to research an aspect of
Indus civilization. Write a one-page essay on a separate sheet of paper, focusing on one or
more of the following topics: language, artifacts, architecture, or culture. You may also
include other interesting details of your choice. One source that may be useful in your
research is the following website:
http://www.harappa.com/har/har0.html. The website includes many photographs of
artifacts and architecture of Indus civilization.
Social Studies World History/ Web Resource
Name: _______________________________
The Chemistry of Riches
In The Gifts of Wali Dad, the characters exchange several gifts including precious items of
silver and gold. We think of these materials as pieces of jewelry or decoration, but they also have a
place in science. They are metals and elements in the periodic table! Elements are building blocks
of matter. Matter is everything in the world that you can touch, see, feel, or smell.
Elements each have
distinct properties and
structures that make them unique. The
Periodic Table organizes all the known
elements based on their properties and what
they have in common with different
elements. So far, over 100 different elements
have been discovered. There may be more
out there, but scientists believe there is a
limit to the number of basic elements.
Nearly 75% of elements are considered
metals, but many of them are not shiny or
what would normally come to mind when
we think of metals. For example, potassium
(labeled K on the Periodic Table) is a metal,
but you hear about it more often when talking about nutrition! Metals can be identified because they are very good
at conducting electricity, they react with other elements easily, they can be combined easily with different metals,
and they dissolve in solutions in a distinctive way.
There are many categories of metals (called families), such as Alkali Metals, Alkaline Earth Metals, and
Transition Metals. These are next to each other in columns and blocks on the Periodic Table. Gold (Au on the
Periodic Table) and silver (Ag on the Periodic Table) are Transition Metals and are located near the center of the
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Periodic Table.
Directions: Review the elements shown on the Periodic Table on this page. Pick five elements and using the
Internet, find out what family the element is in and what some of its properties are. (It is ok that you cannot read the
tiny print showing the full name of the element. Use the Internet to identify the element by its abbreviation.)
Families include Alkali Metals, Alkaline Earth Metals, Transition Metals, Halogen Gases, Inert/Noble Gases, and
others. Examples of possible properties are density, melting point, boiling point, conductivity, radioactivity, or
reactivity.
1. Element Name and Abbreviation _______________________________ Family _______________________________
Properties _______________________________________________________________________________________
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2. Element Name and Abbreviation _______________________________ Family _______________________________
Properties _______________________________________________________________________________________
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3. Element Name and Abbreviation _______________________________ Family _______________________________
Properties _______________________________________________________________________________________
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4. Element Name and Abbreviation _______________________________ Family _______________________________
Properties _______________________________________________________________________________________
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5. Element Name and Abbreviation _______________________________ Family _______________________________
Properties _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Science Chemistry
The Gifts of Wali Dad
Answer Key
For Teacher Use Only
Radiant Words Exchanging Gifts and Numbers
Part A 1. 3 camels
1. D 2. 32 bundles
2. J 3. least = 10, most = 30
3. L 4. 11/24
4. G 5. 2 and 7/16
5. O or B 6. 1 and 1/3
6. E 7. 1 and 17/28
7. C 8. 5
8. A 9. 378
9. H 10. 372
10. O or B
11. M
12. N
13. K
14. I
15. F
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Exploring the Tale (Sample Answers. Responses may vary.)
1. He is happy being a grass cutter and he already has everything he
needs.
2. Yes. The ending to the story shows that Wali Dad would never be
happy acting like royalty, so he would have continued to give away
any gifts he received.
3. I think the king and queen are following royal rules of etiquette
that require a gift be returned with another gift. Wali Dad disturbs
the system by continuing to give gifts after the first exchange is
complete, so the king and queen must keep returning the favors.
4. I think Wali Dad was upset because he felt that as a simple grass
cutter, he was not fit to be visited by royalty.
5. I would choose to give the riches to people I admired or cared for.
They would not be royalty; just average citizens like myself. I
would choose these special people because I would feel they
deserved the gifts and needed them more than someone who was
already rich.
Answer Key