LITERATURE CIRCLES / PLANNER · GRADE 7 WORKED EXAMPLE

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) filled in for one text — a finished plan students see before writing their own. Tinted italic = sample answers.

Text, group, and target

Text / author / edition	“The Monkey’s Paw” — W. W. Jacobs (1902). Public-domain short story.
Group / period / dates	Dev’s group · Period __ · Meetings ___ & ___
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.	Tue · Leader: Dev
2	The consequence (Herbert’s death) and the final two wishes.	Thu · Leader: Nora

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

Member	First job	Rotates to (next meeting)
Dev	Questioner	Summarizer
Nora	Summarizer	Clarifier
Theo	Clarifier	Evidence tracker
Ivy	Predictor	Questioner

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 WORKED EXAMPLE

Sample 3–2–1 notes: Theo, plot lens

Name: Theo · Home group: Dev’s group · Period __ · Meetings ___ & ___ · Section: “The Monkey’s Paw,” Chunk 2 · Expert lens: Plot

What a finished prep looks like. Kit section 6 / Organizer A completed for one reader, so students can compare their notes to a strong model.

Questions

Was the third wish the right choice?

Could any wish have ended well?

3 · Important ideas

1. The paw grants three wishes, but each carries a cost.

2. The wished-for money arrives as compensation for Herbert’s death.

3. The parents wish him back, then wish him gone again.

Vocabulary

fakir = a holy man.

talisman = an object believed to hold power.

2 · Supporting details

1. Morris throws the paw on the fire (early). → Warns that the wishes are dangerous.

2. The knocking stops after the third wish (ending). → Shows the cost of undoing fate.

1 · Summary in my own words

A family gains a cursed wishing paw; their wishes bring money through their son’s death, and they undo the horror with the last wish.

Bring to the circle

My interpretation: Meddling with fate for gain brings ruin, not reward.
Synthesis (two lenses): The three-wish structure (plot) enacts the theme: each wish shows that forcing fate exacts a price. Text points: the first wish (Chunk 1) and the last (Chunk 2).
After discussion: My thinking became clearer once the group compared evidence.

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.