Using situational irony, students should match the curse with the wish so that it’s obvious they should have been more careful what they wished for. Each student should write the curse that comes with their wish at the bottom of the page. They will get what they wish for - for a price. Tell the students their object is cursed like the monkey’s paw. Separately, the students should each write something they would wish for at the top of their page. Each student should draw their own version of the object. Tell the students to decide as a group what their magic wishing object will be. Give each student a piece of construction paper and colored pencils or other art supplies. They’re going to tell each other spooky stories with a twist.
The best “The Monkey’s Paw” activities will do all of these things.Įxample activity: Ask students to get into groups of three. “The Monkey’s Paw” activities can include storytelling and group work, and they should work to assess either the story’s major theme or its higher level literary devices. “The Monkey’s Paw” ActivitiesĪfter students have read the story for understanding, “The Monkey’s Paw” activities can help them better interact with the ideas of the story. Other “The Monkey’s Paw” lesson plan ideas should include more hands-on activities. Teachers should grade these responses on a rubric to normalize assessment criteria. For deeper analysis, students can write an extended response answer that assesses the moral lesson of the story through its use of situational irony. After reading, students should answer text-dependent questions, so the teacher can measure their reading comprehension. Students should write down words they don’t know and look up the words later in the lesson. As they read, students should use context clues to understand the meaning of words in context. “The Monkey’s Paw” lesson plan ideas will incorporate critical reading skills like making inferences because irony has to be inferred in the story’s context.Įxample lesson: Ask students to read the text aloud as a group. Reading “The Monkey’s Paw” is an effective way to teach several higher-level literary devices, such as foreshadowing and irony.