The Gift of the Magi Close Reading Unit Bundle

A perfect tale for the winter season, this classic short story, "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry, makes the perfect holiday text for my gifted 4th grade students. It has been rewritten to suit the reading level of upper elementary students and includes a wide variety of vocabulary words, intentional literary elements, and loads of figurative language. The literary elements I pair with teaching this text are plot (mainly for the surprise ending!), summarizing, and irony. We spend between 1-2 weeks digging into the story with the following activities, all included in this bundle:

1) Close Reading Short Story

• Two versions of an adapted 4 page story: "classroom" and 'challenge"
• A 10 question Google Form multiple choice quiz with answer feedback
• A bonus plot diagram activity

2) Vocabulary Frames (Using Depth & Complexity)

• 8 full page vocabulary frames, each with 4 tasks for students to complete (these come with two versions, both with AND without Depth and Complexity icons)
• 8 Full Page vocabulary posters with student friendly definitions, synonyms, and antonyms
• A pre-assessment page (and suggestions for post- assessment)
• My personal teaching notes/strategies complete with how to make this activity "gamified" with a word riddle
• A Bonus Link to an interactive slide of a winter village which includes online links to the vocabulary posters
• A sample of student work/suggested answer key

3) Brain Benders: "Mind Full" Task Cards

• 10 full page Brain Bender printable PDF prompts, each with colored coded verbs and nouns
• An editable Google Slides version of the 10 Brain Benders prompts. Wording of prompt is editable, and the Depth and Complexity icons can be deleted. (Backgrounds are not editable)
• A PDF and editable version of an answer sheet specifically designed to flow with the prompts
• A suggested answer key

4) Interactive Story vs. Movie Guide

• 4 page printable PDF with 20 questions related directly to the movie and text
• 1 page printable Story vs. Movie Comparison Chart
• A suggested answer key for both activities, including times to stop the movie for interactive partner work and answering of questions

5) Narrative Elements Test

• 6 page printable PDF with 25 assessment questions related directly to Reading Literature standards for grades 4-6
• 100% editable Google Slides presentation of the test
• A suggested answer key with sample responses
• A bonus Figurative Language Bingo activity
• A bonus link to a 40 question review game on Blooket

Some of the terms and items covered include:

• Narrative terminology: parts of plot, inciting incident, setting, protagonist, antagonist, types of conflict, point of view, summarizing, irony
• figurative language
• key vocabulary
• main ideas with supporting details
• identifying and discussing theme