Teaching The Lottery by Shirley Jackson- If you are a middle or high school teacher, you may have come across “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. What is so engaging about this story is the irony of the title. Your students will get so excited at first, because they see the word “lottery.” Most of us associate a lottery with winning millions and millions of dollars. This sudden windfall leads to fame and prestige most of us could only dream of.
This title, however, is what makes this story so much fun to teach. It disarms us. It prepares us for a story we ultimately cannot truly stomach. And that is why this fantastic and significant tale should be a part of our short story library!
This story starts with a description of the setting of a small rural farming community gathering for an event. Almost immediately, we have an ominous foreshadowing as people are eerily quiet. There is an uneasiness as people come together. When they are about to start the lottery, a wife and mother named Tessie arrives late with an almost buoyant spirit, utterly contrasting the mood of everyone else.
As the lottery begins and quickly proceeds, people oddly seem relieved at not being selected for this lottery. By the end of the story, we know the why of this reaction. But we cannot help being fascinated by this town and its people’s traditions. Keep reading for 6 Tips for Teaching The Lottery by Shirley Jackson!
Need help with Test Prep? Check out this FREE Pack of 3 Test Prep Activities to help students achieve success on standardized tests!
6 Tips for Teaching The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
1. Before you read, introduce the story by teaching about characterization, so students have a focus.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.3
Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
For this standard, explain that authors write about people and/or characters with many physical, mental, and emotional dimensions/traits; they can begin analyzing this standard by thinking about their own physical, mental, and emotional traits. Students can come up with 5 internal and 5 external traits describing themselves and share out. Check out this FREEBIE in my store: Kristin Menke-Integrated ELA Test Prep
Need other short story ideas? Click below!
2. If you can, read with your students, especially if you have struggling readers.
- Read aloud with expression. You could also find an audio recording online.
- After each paragraph, stop and think aloud about the meaning of that part.
- Write your ideas down, modeling how to annotate for meaning with your students. As you annotate, students should be annotating their own copies.
ANNOTATION IDEAS:
- Vocabulary-Have students underline unfamiliar words; define when needed.
- Description-Have students underline images that appeal to them; discuss why they are so interesting.
- Characterization-Have students underline descriptions connected to different characters; discuss the similarities and differences.
Do you need a homeschool evaluation for the state of Florida? >>>> CLICK HERE<<<<
3. Review characterization and help students analyze Tessie and how she changes.
TEACHING THE LOTTERY BY SHIRLEY JACKSON TESSIE’S TRAITS ACTIVITY
I DO: Model how to locate a detail that correlates to one of Tessie’s traits.
***You could also explain how to locate a quote supporting that detail.
| trait | detail |
| Ex. Flippant, Glib | Ex. She supposedly forgot the lottery and showed up late. |
WE DO: Work together with students to find another detail/trait.
YOU DO: Have students finish the rest of the assignment in groups, in pairs, or independently. You could also have them find textual evidence from the story for each response.
See the ENTIRE Lesson Pack Here>>> Teaching The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Pack
4. Incorporate a short response by teaching The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.
Review the steps for answering a short response question by providing a basic paragraph structure. (See Writing Tips, Answer Key, and Teacher Example in The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Pack) Then, you could model a sample and allow students to write their own responses based on another quotation or on another trait. Allow time for students to share their short responses.
Do you want some ENGAGING ideas for the end of the school year? Check out>>>11 Fun End of Year Activities for Middle School and High School Students
5. To reinforce student learning and engage struggling readers, let students have fun creating a visual of Tessie or any other interesting character(s).
For teaching The Lottery by Shirley Jackson activity, I would give students a little bit of freedom. As long as the student has textual evidence to support the visual, then a student should receive credit. The more detailed, the higher the credit the student could receive. You might want to use a drawing rubric as well.
Differentiation Options to make Teaching The Lottery by Shirley Jackson EASY:
1) Students could create a political cartoon or use their annotations to create a comic strip; you could even have students work in groups to help each other out or critique each other’s work.
2) You could have students focus on more or less than 2 pieces of evidence or create visuals for only 1 or 2 scenes; this might help students who require differentiation.
3) Allow students to display these images, present the images, or assess each other in a Gallery Walk.
6. Make it simple to check for reading comprehension through a standards-based quiz when Teaching The Lottery by Shirley Jackson!
Allow students to work independently or in pairs to answer the Reading Questions based on the Quiz Questions in The Lottery Lesson Pack. Then, they can use their responses to answer the Quiz Questions or the Multiple-Choice Quiz Questions. This process can aid students when taking an exam because they must answer the questions before looking at answer options. As an additional element, students can explain why the other answers are incorrect.
*HOT TIP: When students are done, students can review their answers with a partner and come to a consensus and/or you can THINK ALOUD and model how to answer the questions. Through reflection, students learn how they can comprehend what they read a little better at a time!
Why should we continue Teaching The Lottery by Shirley Jackson?
Well, that is easy…
- It is relevant for today. We should challenge traditions that lead to destruction.
- It is easy to read. The concepts are more difficult, but the diction and syntax are not that tough.
- It readily connects to other similar texts like “The Veldt” or “The Pedestrian.” There is a definite call to oppose the status quo.
- It is fun! Your students will definitely enjoy the irony and morbid resolution 🙂
Check out the entire quiz pack for Teaching The Lottery by Shirley Jackson here>>> The Lottery Quiz Pack
For more activities, quizzes, and lesson ideas that make Teaching The Lottery by Shirley Jackson easier, check out my store Integrated ELA Test Prep!
