The Dionne Quintuplets

Mini-Biographies

11 The Dionne
Quintuplets

1. Annette, Cecile,
Emilie, Marie, and
Yvonne Dionne
were sisters. They
were born on May
28th, 1934, in
Ontario, Canada
during the Great Depression. Their parents were very poor and already had five children.
The sisters soon became internationally famous as the first surviving quintuplets. The
quintuplet’s doctor, Dr. Dafoe, also became famous.

2. The Ontario government and Dr. Dafoe took the children away from their parents. Dr. Dafoe
put the baby girls in a theme park called “Quintland.” At Quintland, as many as 6,000
visitors a day came to watch the girls play. The girls’ story inspired three Hollywood
movies. The Dionne Quintuplets became Canada’s number one tourist attraction during the
late 1930s.

3. But, the quintuplet’s father wanted his daughters back. Finally, after nine years of fighting
the Ontario government, the girls went to live with their parents again. At home, life was not
easy for the sisters. Today, only two of the sisters survive. They have written a book called
We Were Five. The book tells about their lives, Quintland, and their abusive father.

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 The Dionne Quintuplets
Mini-Biographies

2 READING COMPREHENSION

Answer the following questions using complete sentences.

1. Were Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie, and Yvonne brothers?

____________________________________________________________________________________
2. When were they born?
____________________________________________________________________________________
3. Where were they born?
____________________________________________________________________________________
4. Why did the sisters become internationally famous?
____________________________________________________________________________________
5. Who also became famous?
____________________________________________________________________________________
6. Who took the children away from Mr. and Mrs. Dionne?
____________________________________________________________________________________
7. Where were the baby girls put?
____________________________________________________________________________________
8. Did visitors come to watch the girls eat?
____________________________________________________________________________________
9. Were the Dionne Quintuplets Canada’s number two tourist attraction?
____________________________________________________________________________________
10. How many years did Mr. Dionne fight the Ontario government?
____________________________________________________________________________________
11. Was life enjoyable for the sisters at home?
____________________________________________________________________________________
12. Today, how many of the sisters survive?
____________________________________________________________________________________
13. What is the name of the book the sisters wrote?
____________________________________________________________________________________
14. What is the book about?
____________________________________________________________________________________

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 The Dionne Quintuplets
Mini-Biographies

3 VOCABULARY REVIEW

Unscramble the words below from the story. Then write one original sentence for each word.

1. tsleupnuqit
________________ _________________________________________________________________
2. orop
________________ _________________________________________________________________
3. tenmonrevg
________________ _________________________________________________________________
4. eehmt
________________ _________________________________________________________________
5. troisvis
________________ _________________________________________________________________
6. usrviev
________________ _________________________________________________________________
7. ctatronait
________________ _________________________________________________________________
8. visebua
________________ _________________________________________________________________

Find the words from above q u i n t u p l e t s y a

4 in the Word Search below. a h g a c t r i z e h a t
e s o t b o l o r a l p t
s e v i v r u s e n n r r
d s e o t t n a f r o b a
e a r i c e h s a d o s c
g b n n v o l e g h h i t
c u m s n i l i m e d c i
f s e p s g s t g e y a o
v i n i t o r i i e o d n
o v t r i t z a t e s i o
e e z e r h o s u o r t p
t m o d p o o r f d r o e
x o p s t e w m q i r s i

Copyright 2012, Red River Press Inc. For use by members of ESL-library.com in accordance with membership terms. 3
 The Dionne Quintuplets
Mini-Biographies

2 READING COMPREHENSION A ANSWER KEY

1. No, Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie, and Yvonne were sisters.

2. They were born on May 28th, 1934 (during the Great Depression).
3. They were born in Ontario, Canada.
4. The sisters became internationally famous because they were the first surviving quintuplets.
5. The quintuplet’s doctor, Dr. Dafoe, also became famous.
6. The Ontario government and Dr. Dafoe took the children away from Mr. and Mrs. Dionne.
7. The baby girls were put in a theme park called “Quintland.”
8. No, visitors came to watch the girls play.
9. No, the Dionne Quintuplets were Canada’s number one tourist attraction.
10. Mr. Dionne fought the Ontario government for nine years.
11. No, life was not enjoyable for the sisters at home.
12. Today, only two of the sisters survive.
13. The name of the book the sisters wrote is We Were Five.
14. The book is about their lives, Quintland, and their abusive father.

Find the words from above

3 VOCABULARY REVIEW 4 in the Word Search below.

QUINTUPLETSYA
1. t s l e u p n u q i t! = quintuplets
AHGACTRIZEHAT
2. o r o p! ! ! = poor ESOTBOLORALPT
3. t e n m o n r e v g! = government SEVIVRUSENNRR
4. e e h m t! ! = theme DSEOTTNAFROBA
EARICEHSADOSC
5. troisvis ! ! = visitors
GBNNVOLEGHHIT
6. u s r v i e v! ! = survive CUMSNILIMEDCI
7. c t a t r o n a i t!! = attraction! FSEPSGSTGEYAO
8. v i s e b u a! ! = abusive! VINITORIIEODN
OVTRITZATESIO
EEZERHOSUORTP
TMODPOORFDROE
XOPSTEWMQIRSI

Copyright 2012, Red River Press Inc. For use by members of ESL-library.com in accordance with membership terms. 4