McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

Unit 5
Title: The Yellow Wallpaper
Suggested Time: 3 days (90 minutes per day)
Common Core ELA Standards: RL.10-11.1, RL.10-11.2, RL.10-11.4; W.10-11.1, W.10-11.4, W.10-
11.9; SL.10-11.1; L.10-11.1, L.10-11.2, L.10-11.5, L.10-11.6

Teacher Instructions
Preparing for Teaching
1. Read the Big Ideas and Key Understandings and the Synopsis. Please do not read this to the students. This is a description for
teachers about the big ideas and key understanding that students should take away after completing this task.
Big Ideas and Key Understandings
A significant part of our society is marginalized because of gender and/or mental illness.
Synopsis
The Yellow Wallpaper is a story told from the perspective of a woman facing the tribulations of mental illness. She is moved
to the country by her husband for a “fresh-air cure” which not only fails, but worsens her condition. Not long after her
placement in a room resembling a child’s nursery does she begin to lose her mind. The narrator tells the reader, through
journaling, of a mysterious wallpaper which seeks to entrap her. The wallpaper’s consuming qualities quickly reveal the
narrator’s obsession with breaking free of its hold. It is only through her revelations about the other woman trapped behind
the paper and their quest for freedom, that the reader discovers there is much more to her illness than a simple obsession
 McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

with wallpaper. In The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman takes a harrowing walk across the landscape of society
and it’s marginalization of people based on mental illness or gender. Upon reflection thirteen years after writing the piece,
Gilman commented, “I cast the advice to the winds…and went to the normal life of every human being…joy and growth and
service. This was not intended to drive people from being driven crazy, but to save people from being driven crazy, and it
worked.”
2. Read the entire selection, keeping in mind the Big Ideas and Key Understandings.
3. Re-read the text while noting the stopping points for the Text Dependent Questions and teaching Tier II/academic vocabulary.
During Teaching
1. During reading: teacher reads the entire text aloud--fluent readers may help with reading, or recording may be played.
2. Students read the entire selection independently.
3. Students and teacher re-read the text while stopping to respond to and discuss the questions, continually returning to the text.
A variety of methods can be used to structure the reading and discussion (i.e., whole class discussion, think-pair-share,
independent written response, group work, etc.)

Text Dependent Questions

Text-dependent Questions Evidence-based Answers

At first glance, the narrator describes her husband as careful Various possible answers and evidence.
and loving. Aside from this, is there another perspective? Page 766--(Pg. 1, column 1) “John laughs at me of course, but one
766-768 -(Pg. 1, column 1 & 2-Pg. 2, column 1) expects that in marriage” The narrator is used to being treated
as a child and it is socially acceptable.
768--(Pg. 1, column 2) John is very condescending towards his
wife. He denies her the very thing she thinks will make herself
well; write and have the company of her friends, “But John says
 McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

the very worst thing I can do is think about my condition…”

How does her husband feel about her illness? What other Her husband feels her illness, is not really an illness, “You see
indications do we get from the text about how others/society in he does not believe I am sick!.” He believes that she is suffering
the text feel about her illness? Based on her husband’s beliefs from anxiety and a little depression, “If a physician of high
about her illness, is the narrator trustworthy? Do you believe standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives
her? Cite evidence from the text. Page 766 (Pg. 1, column 1) that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary
nervous depression-a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to
do?” Her brother, also a doctor, agrees with her husband, “My
brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he
says the same thing” (766).

If all the men in her life feel that her condition is something she
can control and she is just being hysterical, it leaves the reader
questioning what is really going on with the narrator.
Because the narrator is described as having nervous depression
—a slight hysterical tendency, the reader may decide that she is
not trustworthy. This is a good question to ask students
throughout the text to see what they think as they read more
about the narrator.
Analyze whether her husband’s prognosis of “Temporary He thinks it is a woman’s illness and not a true sickness. The
nervous depression with a slight hysterical tendency” is an husband feels the diagnosis is accurate. The narrator’s brother,
accurate assessment of the narrator’s mental health. Why who is also a doctor, agrees with the diagnosis. He threatens
does her husband disagree with the narrator’s belief that she is the narrator regarding her condition, “…If I don’t pick up faster
sick? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer. Page he shall take me to Weir Mitchell in the fall…I had a friend who
766-768 (Pg. 1, column 1&2, - Pg. 2, column 1) was in his hands once, and she says he is like John and my
brother, only more so! (772)” All the male doctors have come
to the same conclusion about a woman with this condition, and
so the husband disregards the narrator’s diagnosis.
Authors often use syntax and diction as a way of creating tone. Answers will vary:
Find two examples of sentence structure [syntax] and/or 768-(Pg. 1, column 1) “I did write for a while in spite of them;
 McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

diction [word choice] which demonstrate the change of tone in but it does exhaust me a good deal—having to be so sly about
the text. Explain how these choices affect the author’s tone. it, or else meet with heavy opposition” The narrator uses the
words spite and sly to show that she is frustrated with her
situation and believes she has to be sly to get well.
770—(Pg. 3, column 1) “There is a recurrent spot where the
pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at
you upside down.” Here the writer uses the word recurrent to
show that the narrator is beginning to see things repeatedly in
the patterns of the wall paper. Using the description of the
pattern as a broken neck that lolls, and bulbous eyes gives the
reader an idea that the narrator is becoming obsessed with the
wallpaper by describing the images that it makes her imagine.
774-(Pg. 6, column 2) “…I’ve caught him several times looking
at the paper! And Jennie too. I caught Jennie with her hand on
it once.” These lines show the shift in tone from obsession with
the wallpaper, to almost dangerous or possessive about the
secrets of the wallpaper. The sentence structure becomes
simpler and the word choices show more urgency.
775--(Pg. 6, column 2) “Life is very much more exciting now
than it used to be…” The tone moves from urgent and
dangerous to a feeling of excitement about discovering the
secret of the wallpaper, but there is still an undercurrent of
danger when she says, “I turned it off with a laugh. I had no
intention of telling him it was because of the wallpaper—“
How does the setting of the nursery reveal her husband’s Her husband tells her they came to country for her health and
attitude towards her illness? Pg. 768 -(Pg. 1, column 2 & Pg. 2, he caters to and plans every hour of her day. She does not like
column 1) the nursery, but “John would not hear of” moving to another
room. The nursery is described as a large airy room that used
to be a nursery, and then a play room and gymnasium. “The
windows are barred for little children.” The setting implies that
the narrator is a child who does not know how to properly care
 McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

for herself.
What does the author mean by “sprawling flamboyant patterns She means it is not a relaxing pattern with beautiful colors; it is
committing every artistic sin” when talking about the a pattern that is so atrocious that it makes it difficult for her to
wallpaper? Page 768 -(Pg. 2, column 1) look at without being agitated.
On page 768, the author writes, “It is dull enough to confuse As the narrator becomes more obsessed with the wallpaper,
the eye in the following, pronounced enough to constantly she becomes more descriptive and uses long, erratic sentence
irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame to describe the paper. The word choice also begins to reveal
uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit where her obsession with the wallpaper appears to be taking
suicide—plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in her mind/thoughts.
unheard of contradictions”. What does the language in this
quote reveal about the narrator’s deteriorating state?
Page 768 -(Pg. 2, column 1)
Trace the change in her language--throughout the text, the Very similar answers to question 3, but an important aspect for
narrators grows more agitated, and then suddenly shifts—cite students to follow the narrator’s descent into mental illness.
words and lines that reveal this language throughout the text. 768-(Pg. 1, column 1) “I did write for a while in spite of them;
What is the significance of this shift? but it does exhaust me a good deal—having to be so sly about
it, or else meet with heavy opposition” The narrator uses the
words spite and sly to show that she is frustrated with her
situation and believes she has to be sly to get well.

770—(Pg. 3, column 1) “There is a recurrent spot where the

pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at
you upside down.” Here the writer uses the word recurrent to
show that the narrator is beginning to see things repeatedly in
the patterns of the wall paper. Using the description of the
pattern as a broken neck that lolls, and bulbous eyes gives the
reader an idea that the narrator is becoming obsessed with the
wallpaper by describing the images that it makes her imagine.

774-(Pg. 6, column 2) “…I’ve caught him several times looking

at the paper! And Jennie too. I caught Jennie with her hand on
 McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

it once.” These lines show the shift in tone from obsession with
the wallpaper, to almost dangerous or possessive about the
secrets of the wallpaper. The sentence structure becomes
simpler and the word choices show more urgency.
775--(Pg. 6, column 2) “Life is very much more exciting now
than it used to be…” The tone moves from urgent and
dangerous to a feeling of excitement about discovering the
secret of the wallpaper, but there is still an undercurrent of
danger when she says, “I turned it off with a laugh. I had no
intention of telling him it was because of the wallpaper—“

All of these shifts in tone and language indicate the growing

illness that the narrator is suffering from. The more she delves
into the wallpaper, the deeper her obsession and the more out
of touch with reality she becomes. The language moves from
simple to extremely agitated and suspicious—a clear indication
of the narrator’s descent into madness.
On page 769, how does the narrator reveal her bitterness The narrator makes comments about how she feels, but then
towards John? (Pg. 2, column 2) she always corrects herself by what John feels. In the following
line, we see her bitterness towards John’s belief that she is not
sick and it is all in her mind, “John does not know how much I
really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that
satisfies him.”
In the following lines, the narrator describes the wallpaper Various answers—good quote for students to analyze and
using an allusion to the bible: “The wallpaper, as I said before, discuss what it might mean, using the textual evidence.
is torn off in spots, and it sticketh closer than a brother—they The narrator is implying that the wallpaper is closer to her and
must have had perseverance as well as hatred” This quote “Sticks closer than a brother.” Her husband and family may be
alludes to the biblical Proverbs 18:24, “There are friends who doing many things for her own good, but what her family is
destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a doing for her is leading her closer to ruin.
brother.” What could this line represent in the story? Who or Another interpretation could be that she is being compared to
what sticketh closer than a brother? Cite evidence from the a child (again), and she is the one who has both the hatred and
 McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

text to prove your ideas. Page 770 (Pg. 3, column 2) perseverance to tear off the wallpaper.

The narrator yearns to write and to have company, but she He believes that complete isolation, bed rest, and absolutely no
believes that, “He would as soon put fireworks in my pillow as working or writing is what is needed for his wife to get over her
to let me have those stimulating people about now.” How does hysteria. He does not believe that she is sick, but just a bit
this image show John’s attitude towards the narrator’s depressed. His attitude is that she is a little child that does not
attempts towards normalcy? Pg. 769 (Pg. 3, column 1) know how to take care of herself.
On page 770, the narrator describes an area on the wallpaper: The narrator is beginning to see things repeatedly in the
“There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken patterns of the wall paper. Using the description of the pattern
neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down. I get as a broken neck that lolls, and bulbous eyes gives the reader
positively angry with the impertinence of it and the an idea that the narrator is becoming obsessed with the
everlastingness. Up and down and sideways they crawl, and wallpaper by describing the images that it makes her imagine.
those absurd, unblinking eyes are everywhere.” What is going It also shows that the wallpaper agitates the narrator and
on in these lines? What is the narrator referring to? Describe draws her into the paper, as if drawing her deeper into her
the effect the wallpaper has on the narrator? Page 770 (Pg. 3, mental illness.
column 1) The narrator is beginning to see things in the paper. Instead of
just being atrocious paper, she is beginning to see things in the
paper and her imagination is causing her to begin losing control
of her thoughts.
How is the narrator referred to throughout the novel? What Her husband use words and phrases that one would use with a
does that reveal? Various pages. child: “blessed little goose” pg. 769, “He said I was his little
darling” pg. 772, “Little girl” pg. 773, “Bless her little heart”
pg.773
Her husband does not think she can take care of herself, and so
he feels he needs to impose this “cure” on her, but it appears
to just make her more mentally unstable.
How does the narrator’s illness free her? Cite evidence from (Pg. 8, column 1) She is freed by her illness by becoming the
the text to prove your interpretations. Page 776-778 woman in the wallpaper, “ I always lock the door when I creep
by daylight”.
(Pg. 9, column 1) She sets herself free by tearing the wallpaper
down and giving in to her illness. “I wonder if they all came out
 McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

of the wallpaper as I did?”

(Pg. 9, column 1) She is able to freely creep around the house
and around the room, “…here I can creep freely on the floor,
and my shoulder just fits in that long smooch around the wall,
so I cannot lose my way.” The wallpaper allows her to be freed
and actually keeps her from “losing her way.”
What is the irony in the last passage of the story? Page 778 The irony is that John becomes part of the wallpaper as the
narrator crawls over the top of him—he has become the
(Pg. 9, column 2)
wallpaper she has destroyed; “Now why should that man have
fainted? But he did, and right across my path by the wall, so
that I had to creep over him every time! ”
 McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

Tier II/Academic Vocabulary

These words require less time to learn These words require more time to learn
(They are concrete or describe an object/event/ (They are abstract, have multiple meanings, are a part
process/characteristic that is familiar to students) of a word family, or are likely to appear again in future texts)
Meaning can be learned from context

Page [766] - [hereditary] Page [766] - [felicity]

Page [766] – [queer] Page [768] - [lame]
Page [766] - [scoffs] Page [768] - [contradictions]
Page [766] - [hysterical] Page [769] - [lurid]
Page [769] – [repellent] Page [769] - [whitewashed]
Page [769] - [bedstead]
Page [769] - [burden]
Page [769] – [barred]
Meaning needs to be provided

Page [768] - [draught] Page [766] - [ancestral]

Page [768] - [chintz] Page [766] - [untenanted]
Page [769] - [atrocious]
Page [768] - [Arbors]
Page [768] - [ghostliness]
 McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

Culminating Writing Task

 “Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her
crawling shakes it all over. Then in the very bright spot she keeps still, and in the very shady spots she just takes hold of the bars
and shakes them hard. (pg. 775) What do both the wallpaper and the women represent in this passage? Explain what the
narrator means by these lines, then connect your interpretation to the idea of marginalization. Compose an argument that is one
page in length. Support your claims with valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence from the text, including direct
quotes and page numbers.
 Teacher Instructions
1. Students identify their writing task from the prompt provided. Full class discussion will help the teacher know whether or
not every student understands what they are expected to do.
2. Students complete an evidence chart as a pre-writing activity. Teachers should remind students to use any relevant notes
they compiled while reading and answering the text-dependent questions.
Evidence Page Elaboration / explanation of how this evidence
Quote or paraphrase number supports ideas or argument
“...And she is all the time trying to climb through. But I think this shows that the woman in the wallpaper (all
nobody could climb through that pattern—it strangles women) is always trying to get out of their marginalized
so; I think that is why it has so many heads.” 775 position of weak and subservient to men and only
needed for domestic purposes.
It also shows that the stereotypes are so ingrained that
all women struggle to break free from the restraints
Imposed on them by society.
“Sometimes I think there are a great many women 775 This line shows a combination of things. The line is
behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls about every woman, at some time or another, And it
around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over. shows how far the narrator has gone into her illness.
Then in the very bright spot she keeps still, and in the 775 The lines show the women trying to break free of their
very shady spots she just takes hold of the bars and jails. She takes hold of the bars—like jail cell bars
 McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

shakes them hard. (pg. 775)

Temporary nervous depression with a slight hysterical 766-768 This is what he thinks of her illness—that it’s not an
tendency (766-768)” illness at all, but her being nervous and slightly
hysterical.
"Little girl (773)" and "Blessed little goose (769) 769 & 773 She how he treats her as a child.

3. Once students have completed the evidence chart, they should look back at the writing prompt in order to remind
themselves what kind of response they are writing (i.e. expository, analytical, argumentative) and think about the
evidence they found. (Depending on the grade level, teachers may want to review students’ evidence charts in some way
to ensure accuracy.) From here, students should develop a specific thesis statement. This could be done independently,
with a partner, small group, or the entire class. Consider directing students to the following sites to learn more about
thesis statements: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/ OR http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/
thesis_statement.shtml.
4. Students compose a rough draft. With regard to grade level and student ability, teachers should decide how much
scaffolding they will provide during this process (i.e. modeling, showing example pieces, sharing work as students go).
5. Students complete final draft.
 Sample Answer
In Charlotte Perkins-Gilman's “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the author is making a statement about being a woman and about
mental illness during the early part of the 20th Century in America. Perkins-Gilman uses the women trapped behind the
wallpaper and the wallpaper itself, as a symbolic statement about how we marginalize significant parts of our society.
In the following passage, we experience what the narrator sees behind the wallpaper at the height of her mental illness:
 McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

“Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her
crawling shakes it all over. Then in the very bright spot she keeps still, and in the very shady spots she just takes hold of the
bars and shakes them hard. (pg. 775)
The wallpaper represents the bars that keep women and other marginalized people within the boundaries that society
expects. The women represent all women who have been oppressed by society's expectations of what they should be and do
in their lives. We see this representation in the following lines: "Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind,
and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over (775)." The narrator is referring to
the women hidden behind the wallpaper. Sometimes there is just one woman and sometimes many. Many women and the
mentally ill have struggled with some form of oppression imposed by society's expectations, especially during the early
1900s. We see this in the text when the narrator's husband speaks to her and either laughs at her or calls her names one
would call a child: "Little girl (773)" and "Blessed little goose (769)." Treating her as if she is a child is one way of
marginalizing her and keeping her feeling as though she may not understand and that her husband knows best. He gets her
to conform to what he wants and disregards her ideas, thoughts, and beliefs.
Perkins-Gilman shows the plight of the marginalized in the lines, "Then in the very bright spot she keeps still, and in
the very shady spots she just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard (775)." These lines allude to the idea of shaking the
bars of a prison cell hard, and the anger and frustration of someone behind bars that is unable to escape. In the quote,
women struggle to align to society's expectations. Many women, like the narrator trying to be a writer, try to move beyond
expectations and become more in life. We also see the narrator in her deepest, darkest moments, as she rebels and tries to
break free of society's expectations of her as a housewife who is suffering from, “Temporary nervous depression with a slight
hysterical tendency (766-768)”.
 McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

Although the text reveals the marginalization of women, it also reflects the same oppression and marginalization that
is suffered by the mentally ill and other marginalized parts of society. Perkins-Gilman's horrific story of a young woman
driven mad by yellow wallpaper is really a statement about the treatment of all women and the mentally ill. The author
shows us these abuses by using the wallpaper as a symbolic jail for any marginalized people--women or the mentally ill.

Additional Tasks
 After reading The Yellow Wallpaer, read the short excerpt from “Complaints and Disorders (pg. 782), which refers to the famous
Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell mentioned in the story. Summarize Dr. Weir’s ideas about women as patients, and then write an
argument that shows the effects that Dr. Weir’s beliefs had on the health of women during this time period.
Answer: Students should be able to summarize Dr. Weir’s “ideal patient” and write an argument about how his ideas about
women and a woman’s mind contributed to the severe marginalization of women. Students may point out how his disbelief
in women’s illnesses probably led to many more women becoming severely disturbed or severely depressed.

 What does the wallpaper symbolize?

Answer: The wallpaper is symbolic of John’s marginalization of her and she has finally broken free of him, “I’ve got out at last,
said I, in spite of you and Jane.” By extension, the wallpaper symbolizes society’s marginalization of both the mentally ill and
women, and the narrator is the one who is able to peel back the paper and expose this, “And I’ve pulled off most of the
paper, so you can’t put me back!”
McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

Name __________________________________________ Date __________________

The Yellow Wallpaper

1. At first glance, the narrator describes her husband as careful and loving. Aside from this, is
there another perspective? (Pages 766-768 -- Pg. 1, column 1 & 2 and Pg. 2, column 1)

2. How does her husband feel about her illness? What other indications do we get from the
text about how others/society in the text feel about her illness? Based on her husband’s
beliefs about her illness, is the narrator trustworthy? Do you believe her? Cite evidence
from the text. (Page 766 -- Pg. 1, column 1)

3. Analyze whether her husband’s prognosis of “Temporary nervous depression with a slight
hysterical tendency” is an accurate assessment of the narrator’s mental health. Why does
her husband disagree with the narrator’s belief that she is sick? Cite evidence from the text
to support your answer. (Page 766-768 -- Pg. 1, column 1 & 2, - Pg. 2, column 1) Authors
often use syntax and diction as a way of creating tone. Find two examples of sentence
structure [syntax] and/or diction [word choice], which demonstrate the change of tone in
the text. Explain how these choices affect the author’s tone.
McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

4. How does the setting of the nursery reveal her husband’s attitude towards her illness? (Pg.
768 -- Pg. 1, column 2 & Pg. 2, column 1)

5. What does the author mean by “sprawling flamboyant patterns committing every artistic
sin” when talking about the wallpaper? (Page 768 -- Pg. 2, column 1)

6. On page 768, the author writes, “It is dull enough to confuse the eye in the following,
pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame
uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide—plunge off at
outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions”. What does the
language in this quote reveal about the narrator’s deteriorating state? (Page 768 -- Pg. 2,
column 1)

7. Trace the change in her language--throughout the text, the narrators grows more agitated,
and then suddenly shifts—cite words and lines that reveal this language throughout the
text. What is the significance of this shift?
McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

8. On page 769, how does the narrator reveal her bitterness towards John? (Pg. 2, column 2)

9. In the following lines, the narrator describes the wallpaper using an allusion to the bible:
“The wallpaper, as I said before, is torn off in spots, and it sticketh closer than a brother—
they must have had perseverance as well as hatred” This quote alludes to the biblical
Proverbs 18:24, “There are friends who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer
than a brother.” What could this line represent in the story? Who or what sticketh closer
than a brother? Cite evidence from the text to prove your ideas. (Page 770 -- Pg. 3, column
2)

10. The narrator yearns to write and to have company, but she believes that, “He would as soon
put fireworks in my pillow as to let me have those stimulating people about now.” How
does this image show John’s attitude towards the narrator’s attempts towards normalcy?
(Pg. 769 -- Pg. 3, column 1)

11. On page 770, the narrator describes an area on the wallpaper: “There is a recurrent spot
where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down. I
get positively angry with the impertinence of it and the everlastingness. Up and down and
sideways they crawl, and those absurd, unblinking eyes are everywhere.” What is going on
McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

in these lines? What is the narrator referring to? Describe the effect the wallpaper has on
the narrator? (Page 770 -- Pg. 3, column 1)

12. How is the narrator referred to throughout the novel? What does that reveal? (Various
pages.)

13. How does the narrator’s illness free her? Cite evidence from the text to prove your
interpretations. (Pages 776-778)

14. What is the irony in the last passage of the story? (Page 778 -- Pg. 9, column 2)
McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

Supports for English Language Learners (ELLs) to use with

Anthology Alignment Lessons
When teaching any lesson, it is important to make sure you are including supports to help all students.
We have prepared some examples of different types of supports that you can use in conjunction with
our Anthology Alignment Lessons to ensure ELLs can engage fully with the lesson. While these supports
reflect research in how to support ELLs, these activities can help ALL students engage more deeply with
these lessons. Note that some strategies should be used at multiple points within a lesson; we’ll point
these out. It is also important to understand that these scaffolds represent options for teachers to select
based on students’ needs; it is not the intention that teachers should do all of these things at every
lesson.

Before reading:
 Read passages, watch videos, view photographs, discuss topics (e.g., using the four corners
strategy), or research topics that help provide context for what your students will be reading.
This is especially true if the setting (e.g., 18 th Century England) or topic (e.g., boats) is one that is
unfamiliar to the students.

 Provide explicit instruction, using multiple modalities, on selected vocabulary words that are
central to understanding the text. When looking at the lesson plan, you should note the Tier 2
words, particularly those words with high conceptual complexity (i.e., they are difficult to
visualize, learn from context clues, and are abstract), and consider introducing them ahead of
reading. For more information on selecting such words, go here. You should plan to continue to
reinforce these words, and additional vocabulary, in the context of reading and working with
the text. (See additional activities in the During Reading and After Reading sections.)

Examples of Activities:
o Provide students with the definition of the words and then have students work together
to create Frayer models or other kinds of word maps for the words.
o When a word contains a prefix or suffix that has been introduced before, highlight how
the word part can be used to help determine word meaning.
o Keep a word wall or word bank where these new words can be added and that students
can access later.
o Have students create visual glossaries for whenever they encounter new words. Then
have your students add these words to their visual glossaries.
o Create pictures using the word. These can even be added to your word wall!
o Create lists of synonyms and antonyms for the word.
o Have students practice using the words in conversation. For newcomers, consider
providing them with sentence frames to ensure they can participate in the conversation.

 Use graphic organizers to help introduce content.

McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

Examples of Activities:
o Complete a Know, Want to Learn, Learned (KWL) graphic organizer about the text.
o Have students research the setting or topic and fill in a chart about it. You could even
have students work in groups where each group is assigned part of the topic.
o Fill in a bubble map where they write down anything that they find interesting about the
topic while watching a video or reading a passage about the topic. Then students can
discuss why they picked the information.

During reading:
 Allow ELLs to collaborate in their home languages to process content before participating in
whole class discussions in English. Consider giving them the discussion questions to look over in
advance (perhaps during the first read) and having them work with a partner to prepare.

 Allow ELLs to use English language that is still under development. Students should not be
scored lower because of incorrect spelling or grammar (unless the goal of the assignment is to
assess spelling or grammar skills specifically). When grading, be sure to focus on scoring your
students only for that objective.

 Scaffold questions for discussions so that questioning sequences include a mix of factual and
inferential questions and a mix of shorter and more extended responses. Questions should
build on each other and toward inferential and higher order thinking questions. There are not
many factual questions already listed in the lesson instructions, so you will need to build some in
as you see fit. More information on this strategy can be found here.

 Provide explicit instruction, using multiple modalities, on selected vocabulary words (e.g., 5–8
for a given text) that are central to understanding the text. During reading, you should continue
to draw attention to and discuss the words that you taught before the reading.

Examples of Activities:
o Have students include the example from the text in a student-created glossary.
o Create pictures that represent how the word was used in the passage.
o Create sentences using the word in the way it was used in the passage.
o Have students discuss the author’s word choice.
o Examine important sentences in the text that contribute to the overall meaning of the
text.

 Examine sentence structure of a particular sentence. Break down the sentence to determine its
meaning. Then determine how this sentence contributes to the overall meaning of the passage.
Determine if there is any figurative language in the sentence and have students use context
clues to determine the meaning of the figurative language.
McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11

 Use graphic organizers to help organize content and thinking.

Examples of Activities:
o While reading the text, have students fill in a story map to help summarize what has
happened.
o Have students fill in an evidence chart while they read to use with the culminating
writing activity. Make sure to model with the students how to fill in the evidence chart
by filling in the first couple of rows together as a class. Go over the prompt that the
evidence should support, making sure to break down what the prompt means before
having the students get to work. If some of your students frequently struggle to
understand directions, have the students explain the directions back to you.
o Provide somewhere for students to store new words that they encounter. Students
could use a chart to keep track of these new words and their meanings as they read.
o If you had students start a KWL before reading, have them fill in the “L” section as they
read the passage.

After reading:
 Reinforce new vocabulary using multiple modalities.
Examples of activities:
o Using the words that you had students work with before the reading, require students
to include the words in the culminating writing task.
o Create Frayer models with the words. Then cut up the Frayer models and have the
students put the Frayer models back together by matching the pieces for each word.

 After reading the passage, continue to examine important sentences (1–2) in the text that
contribute to the overall meaning of the text. Guide students to break apart these sentences,
analyze different elements, and determine meaning. More information on how to do this,
including models of sentence deconstruction, can be found here.

 When completing the writing assignments after reading, consider using these scaffolds to
support students depending on their English proficiency.
Examples of Activities:
o For all students, go over the prompt in detail making sure to break down what the
prompt means before having the students get to work. Then have the students explain
the directions back to you.
o Have students create an evidence tracking chart during reading, then direct them to
look back over their evidence chart and work with a group to see if their evidence
matches what the rest of the class wrote down. If some of the chart does not match,
students should have a discussion about why.
o For students who need more support, model the proper writing format for your
students and provide them with a properly formatted example for reference.
o For newcomers, you may consider creating sentence or paragraph frames to help them
to write out their ideas.
McDougal Littell Language of Literature - 2002 Grade 11