Strongheart: Wonder Dog of the Silver Screen

by Candace Fleming

Based on the true story of Strongheart, this is a fictional telling of the German Shepherd who became one of Hollywood's first canine movie stars, tracing his journey from police dog to silver screen sensation in the 1920s.

Big Idea

Sometimes the most unlikely heroes capture the hearts of millions and change an industry forever.

Discussion Questions

1.How did Strongheart's training as a police dog prepare him for movie acting?
2.What made Strongheart different from other animal actors of his time?
3.How did the rise of cinema change entertainment in the 1920s?
4.What does Strongheart's story teach us about the bond between humans and animals?

Classroom Activity

Movie Poster Book Review

Students create a movie poster-style book review highlighting Strongheart's journey from ordinary dog to movie star.

Lesson Plan

⏱ 45 minutes📦 Poster board or large paper, colored pencils/markers, movie poster examples

Learning Goals

Understand the history of early cinema and animal actors
Trace Strongheart's character development throughout the story
Create a visual and written summary of the book
Explore the human-animal bond in literature

Activity Steps

1.Discuss the context of 1920s Hollywood and silent films
2.Have students identify key turning points in Strongheart's story
3.Students design movie posters featuring a key scene and a tagline
4.Write a short review on the back of the poster
5.Share posters with the class and discuss what made Strongheart special

Standards Connections

ELA: RL.2.1 — Ask and answer questions about key details
ELA: RL.2.2 — Retell stories, including key details
ELA: RL.2.3 — Describe characters, setting, and events
ELA: RL.5.6 — Acknowledge differences in characters' points of view
ELA: SL.2.1 — Participate in collaborative conversations about the text
ELA: W.2.3 — Write narratives recounting events with descriptive details
SEL: Responsible Decision-Making

Pace-Write-Read Study with Pace-Write It!

Focus question: How does Candace Fleming speed up and slow down Strongheart’s journey so readers feel both the action and the heart of his story? In Strongheart: Wonder Dog of the Silver Screen, Candace Fleming tells a fictionalized biography of a real German Shepherd who moves from police work to movie stardom in 1920s Hollywood. The pacing shifts between quick action moments, emotional pauses, and chapter endings that make readers want to keep going, helping Strongheart’s courage, struggle, and fame feel exciting and meaningful.

Element	How to notice or teach it in the novel
Pace	Read: Notice how Candace Fleming moves quickly through parts of Strongheart’s rise to fame, but slows down for dangerous, emotional, or important moments in his life as a police dog and movie star. Classroom Activity: Write two short paragraphs about a dog entering a movie set—one paragraph paced fast with quick actions, and one paced slow with careful feelings and details.
Plot	Read: Track the main events in Strongheart’s journey from trained working dog to Hollywood star, and notice how each event pushes him toward a new challenge or success. Classroom Activity: Make a 5-step plot ladder for Strongheart’s life, then write a new extra chapter idea that could fit between two real plot events.
Prosody	Read: Listen to how the sentences sound when scenes become tense, proud, or tender, especially in moments centered on Strongheart’s actions and the humans who train or depend on him. Classroom Activity: Choose a short action moment and rewrite it to sound dramatic when read aloud by using sentence length and strong verbs.
Word pause	Read: Notice places where a single powerful word or short phrase makes you stop and feel the moment, such as danger, command, or surprise in Strongheart’s world. Classroom Activity: Write 4 lines about Strongheart hearing a command, using one-word or two-word lines to create pauses.
Concept	Read: Think about the big idea that a dog can be both a worker and a star, and how the story balances loyalty, discipline, bravery, and fame. Classroom Activity: Write a paragraph explaining what Strongheart teaches readers about courage and loyalty, using one event from the book.
Voice & World View	Read: Notice how the storytelling presents Strongheart as noble, intelligent, and feeling, while also showing a 1920s world excited by movies and celebrity. Classroom Activity: Write 6-8 sentences about a famous animal from the world view of someone who believes animals deserve respect, not just applause.
Setting & Place	Read: Pay attention to the contrast between Strongheart’s earlier working life and the busy world of early Hollywood, where sets, crowds, and cameras shape the mood. Classroom Activity: Write a setting description that begins in a training yard and ends on a silent-film set, showing how the place changes the energy.
Point of View	Read: Notice how the book’s fictionalized biography lets readers stay close to Strongheart’s experience, helping us imagine what he senses, fears, and wants. Classroom Activity: Rewrite a scene from the point of view of a human trainer or movie director watching Strongheart work.
Original Characters	Read: Study how Strongheart stands out as more than an ordinary dog—he is brave, disciplined, expressive, and unforgettable in the story. Classroom Activity: Invent an original animal character for a biography-style story and list 5 traits that make the character unique like Strongheart.
Dialogue	Read: Notice how spoken commands, praise, and conversations among humans help move scenes forward and reveal Strongheart’s importance. Classroom Activity: Write a dialogue scene between a trainer and a director deciding whether Strongheart is ready for a dangerous stunt.
Details	Read: Look for exact details about Strongheart’s work, behavior, and film world that make the story believable even though it is a fictionalized telling. Classroom Activity: Write a short scene about Strongheart waiting backstage, including at least 5 precise details readers could see or hear.
Descriptions	Read: Notice the descriptions of Strongheart’s body, movement, eyes, and actions that help readers picture his strength and intelligence. Classroom Activity: Describe Strongheart running toward a camera without using the word fast.
Strong First Lines	Read: Think about how a biography story needs an opening that immediately creates interest in Strongheart’s unusual life. Classroom Activity: Write 3 possible first lines for a chapter about the day Strongheart first arrived in Hollywood.
Immediacy & Engagement	Read: Notice how the writing makes readers feel close to each moment by focusing on what Strongheart senses and what could happen next. Classroom Activity: Write 5-7 sentences in the present tense about Strongheart stepping onto a set for the first time to make the scene feel immediate.
Story Scenes & Summaries & Unique Structures	Read: Notice when Candace Fleming zooms in on a full scene and when she summarizes time passing in Strongheart’s career, helping the biography move smoothly. Classroom Activity: Write one detailed scene of Strongheart learning a trick and one 3-sentence summary of his next few weeks of training.
Flashback & Flash Forward & Cliffhangers	Read: Think about how a writer could remind readers of Strongheart’s earlier training or end a chapter with a question about his next big movie moment. Classroom Activity: Write a chapter ending in which Strongheart hears something offstage, then stop at a cliffhanger.
Tension & Suspense & Surprise	Read: Notice how danger, performance pressure, and uncertainty about Strongheart’s future can create suspense even in a biography. Classroom Activity: Write a suspenseful paragraph about Strongheart attempting a difficult scene while everyone on set watches silently.
Page Turns and Chapter Breaks	Read: Pay attention to how chapter endings likely land on a problem, discovery, or emotional beat that makes readers want to continue Strongheart’s story. Classroom Activity: Write a 4-sentence mini-chapter that ends with a line strong enough to make a reader turn the page.
Performance	Read: Notice that Strongheart is both a character and a performer, and scenes on set may be paced like a show with buildup, action, and reaction. Classroom Activity: Write a short performance scene in which Strongheart must impress a crowd, using beginning, middle, and end.
Personality	Read: Study how Strongheart’s loyalty, courage, discipline, and sensitivity shape the pacing of scenes because readers care what happens to him. Classroom Activity: Write a character paragraph showing Strongheart’s personality through actions, not just trait words.
Humor	Read: Look for places where animal behavior, film confusion, or human reactions could lighten the mood in Strongheart’s serious journey. Classroom Activity: Write a humorous moment in which Strongheart behaves better than the actors on a movie set.
Pause	Read: Notice when the story slows so readers can feel Strongheart’s exhaustion, pride, confusion, or trust before the next event begins. Classroom Activity: Write 3 sentences that pause after a hard day of filming and show Strongheart resting quietly.
Poetry and Poetic Devices	Read: Listen for image-rich language that could make Strongheart seem almost legendary, like a hero of the silent screen. Classroom Activity: Write 4 lines comparing Strongheart to something powerful using simile or metaphor.
Repetition	Read: Notice whether repeated ideas such as loyalty, training, bravery, or fame help tie Strongheart’s life together across chapters. Classroom Activity: Write a paragraph that repeats the phrase “He was ready” three times to build emphasis in a scene about Strongheart preparing to perform.
Rhythm	Read: Hear how short and long sentences together can match Strongheart’s movement—alert waiting, sudden motion, then calm. Classroom Activity: Write a 6-sentence action passage with two short sentences, two medium sentences, and two longer sentences.
Punctuation	Read: Notice how commas, dashes, ellipses, and exclamation points can control pacing in moments of command, surprise, or danger around Strongheart. Classroom Activity: Rewrite a plain sentence about Strongheart’s stunt three ways using different punctuation to change the pace.
Questions	Read: Think about the questions readers ask as they read: Will Strongheart succeed? Will people understand him? What will fame cost him? Classroom Activity: Write 5 questions a reader might ask during Strongheart’s first movie, then answer one in a paragraph.
Compare-Contrast	Read: Compare Strongheart’s disciplined early life with the excitement and unpredictability of Hollywood to see how pacing changes with each world. Classroom Activity: Write a compare-contrast paragraph about Strongheart as a working dog and Strongheart as a movie star.
Objects	Read: Notice how objects like collars, leashes, props, cameras, or costumes can carry meaning and help build scenes in Strongheart’s story. Classroom Activity: Choose one object Strongheart uses or sees and write a paragraph explaining how it changes from one part of his life to another.
Threes	Read: Look for places where ideas or actions can be grouped in threes—three commands, three challenges, three signs of fame—to make the writing memorable. Classroom Activity: Write a sentence or short paragraph about Strongheart using a pattern of three actions or three traits.
Whitespace & Negative Space	Read: Notice how short paragraphs or breaks between scenes can make a dramatic movie moment or emotional change stand out in a chapter book biography. Classroom Activity: Write a scene with one dramatic one-line paragraph in the middle to create emphasis.
Art & Graphics	Read: Think about how a cover image, chapter illustration, or movie-poster style graphic could add to Strongheart’s star power and the 1920s setting. Classroom Activity: Design and label a simple poster for one of Strongheart’s films, then write a 3-sentence caption to match it.
Interactives & Gamification	Read: Imagine how Strongheart’s biography could become a timeline game, training challenge, or choose-the-next-scene activity based on his rise to fame. Classroom Activity: Create a 4-step ‘Train Like Strongheart’ mini game or choice board and write directions using events from the book.

Pace-Write It!

20-Minute Classroom Flow\nRead (5 min): Read aloud a short section from Strongheart: Wonder Dog of the Silver Screen that shows Strongheart moving from work or training into a high-stakes movie moment. Ask students to listen for where the story speeds up and where it slows down.\nNotice (5 min): Students turn and talk: Which words, sentences, or actions made the scene feel quick? Which parts made you pause and picture Strongheart’s feelings or the setting? Chart two columns: ‘Fast Pace’ and ‘Slow Pace.’\nWrite (7 min): Students write their own short scene about Strongheart or another animal stepping into a big moment. Writing frame: ‘First, ___ . Then, ___ . Everyone watched as ___ . For one moment, ___ . At last, ___ .’ Challenge students to include one fast action sentence and one slow feeling sentence.\nShare (3 min): Partners read their scenes aloud and identify where the pacing speeds up and slows down. Invite 1-2 volunteers to share a sentence that created suspense or a pause.\nExit ticket: Write one sentence answering: How did Candace Fleming use pacing to make Strongheart’s story exciting?