LITERATURE CIRCLES / PLANNER · GRADE 7 BLANK

Plan a circle: “The Monkey’s Paw”

W. W. Jacobs (1902) · public-domain short story · grades 7–10 · ~1 week / two meetings. Rights: Public domain.

Kit section 5 (group agreement & calendar), scaffolded for this text. Students fill the group, calendar, and roles.

Text, group, and target

Text / author / edition	“The Monkey’s Paw” — W. W. Jacobs (1902). ______________________ (edition)
Group / period / dates
Grade / TEKS target (p. 3)	Grade 7 · §110.23 — 7(A): theme through characters/events; 6(C,D): support inferences; 1(D): student-led discussion.
Learning intention	We are learning to explain how the family’s wishes and the story’s structure reveal a theme about fate and greed.
Success criteria	I bring one open question, cite two details with locations, respond to a peer, and name how my thinking changed.

Reading map & calendar

Chunk	Read through	Meeting date · leader
1	The paw arrives, Morris’s warning, and the first wish.
2	The consequence (Herbert’s death) and the final two wishes.

Members & first-meeting jobs (p. 7 roles)

Member	First job	Rotates to (next meeting)

Text-specific discussion questions (open — more than one answer)

Predict: After Mr. White wishes for money, what will “fate rules people’s lives” cost him? What clue hints at it?
Question: Why might Jacobs keep the third wish’s result offstage?
Clarify: What does Morris mean that the paw grants wishes but with a price?
Summarize: Order the three wishes and their results, without opinion.
Interpret the theme: How do the wishes reveal a theme about tempting fate or greed? Use two details.

Optional Jigsaw lenses (p. 4): Character (Mr. and Mrs. White) · Plot (the three-wish structure and foreshadowing) · Mood (the storm and the quiet house) · Theme (fate vs. desire) · Language (warnings and the knock).

LITERATURE CIRCLES / STUDENT PREP BLANK

Reading notes: “The Monkey’s Paw”

Name: _______________ · Home group: _______________ · Section: “The Monkey’s Paw,” ____________ · Expert lens: ____________

Everyone prepares. Read the whole assigned section. Write or draw three important ideas, two supporting details with locations, and one summary in your own words. Keep interpretation separate from summary.

Questions

What needs clarification?
What could the group explore?

3 · Important ideas

Character choices, conflicts, themes, or central ideas.

Vocabulary

Word + location + meaning or clue.
Mark anything still uncertain.

2 · Supporting details

Short quote or accurate paraphrase + page/paragraph + what it shows.

1 · Summary in my own words

Bring to the circle

My interpretation: These details suggest __________________________________________
Synthesis (connect two lenses): ____________________________________________________
After discussion: My thinking changed / became clearer because ______________________

TEKS evidence: 6(C,D) supported inference; 7(A) theme through characters/events; 1(D) response to a peer. · Pair with the PlotPoint “The Monkey’s Paw” room.