Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans and Classroom Resources
We have been busy developing lesson plans to go along with some of Mark Twain's books and short stories. The plans below were developed during teacher workshops held at the museum beginning in the summer of 2006 and sponsored by the Missouri Humanities Council.  Each year we offer week-long teacher workshops, and these lesson plans are the result of their efforts. The lesson plans are organized by books/stories and by the concept that is emphasized in the lesson. All lesson plans are PDFs. We hope that instead of focusing on teaching and testing you will focus on reading and sharing with students. This is a proven way for them to get the most out of any literary endeavor! Twain is best when read aloud and discussed!

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
This creative writing unit can be provided to students to guide them through their reading of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and to inspire them to use their own experiences to launch a creative writing project. The packet contains photographs relating to settings and events in the book with corresponding page numbers.

These reading and activity suggestions were created by Quincy University graduate student, Miranda Edgar. Teachers can pick and choose from a broad assortment of engaging ideas.

Instead of the usual summaries and quizzes, use some of these fun reading comprehension activities when reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Your students will thank you, and you'll enjoy their creativity. (Includes differentiation strategies for gifted students.)

The Big Read, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, has selected The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as one of its community reading books. We encourage you to contact them and plan a Big Read event in your community using Tom Sawyer.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is set in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, which Mark Twain based on Hannibal. All of the sights he described - from Cardiff Hill to Jackson's Island to Becky Thatcher's house - exist right here in Hannibal. Teachers, if you cannot bring your students on a field trip, you can at least take them on a Virtual Tour of these important literary landmarks. The Mark Twain Young Authors have created virtual tours of the landmarks and the museum gallery that include pictures, descriptions, and quotes from Mark Twain's books. Go to Community Projects and scroll to the bottom of the page to view the tours. All are in PDF format.

Calligraphy
Caves
Characterization in Tom Sawyer
Characterization and Sayings in Tom Sawyer
Descriptive Writing
Dialect in Tom Sawyer
Dialect Through Reader's Theater
Diction and Point-of-View
Discipline in Tom Sawyer
Effect of Setting, Motivation, and Theme in the Creation of Childhood Characters
Facebook (character)
Games and Pastimes (Expository Writing)
Imagery in Tom Sawyer
Mischief
Murals (Art)
News Articles

Newspaper
Performance (Whitewashing) and Biography
Personal Connections to Tom
Persuasion and the Whitewashed Fence
Power of Persuasion
Puppets
Social Causes & Consequences of Slavery
Social Emotional Learning
Superstitions in Tom Sawyer
Word Choice in Tom Sawyer
Unit (includes overview on Twain's life)

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Allusion in Huck Finn
Classic (Criteria)
Conscience in Huck Finn
Conventions of Language (Interpreting Literature)
Musical Adaptation (Big River) of Huck Finn

Norman Rockwell Paintings (Dialogue/Prediction)
One Man Against the Crowd
Place (Studying and Writing About)
Point-of-View in Huck Finn
Primary Documents - Slave Narratives
Sequel to Huck Finn
Slavery in Huck Finn
Steamboat Jargon (can be used with Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, etc.)
Superstitions in Huck Finn
Trial: Does Huck Finn Promote Racism?

Short Story Lesson Plans

The Californian's Tale Lesson Plan
Encounter with an Interviewer Lesson Plan
How I Edited an Agricultural Paper Once Lesson Plan

How I Edited an Agricultural Paper Once (Editorials)

How I Edited an Agricultural Paper Once (Internet)
Journalism in Tennessee Lesson Plan
Jumping Frog (Bar Graph)
Jumping Frog (Competition)

Jumping Frog (Fun with Frogs Pre-K)
Jumping Frog Lesson Plan
Jumping Frog (Kindergarten)
McWilliamses and the Burglar Alarm Lesson Plan
Mrs. McWilliams and the Lightning Lesson PlanMillion Pound Bank Note Lesson Plan
Taming the Bicycle Lesson Plan

 

The Prince and the Pauper Lesson Plans
These lessons were developed by elementary and middle school teachers and can be easily modified to work with most grade levels. They are organized by the main focus of the lesson. However, all address The Prince and the Pauper.

Adapted for Young Readers
Character Analysis
Character Development
Character Phases
Compare Contrast
Heroes Unit
Prince and Tom Sawyer Unit
Setting and Social Class
Titles and Occupations
Using Quotes
Yearlong Unit

 

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Lesson Plans
These lessons were developed by middle and high school teachers and can be easily modified to work with most grade levels. They are organized by the main focus of the lesson. However, all address A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

Appearance vs. Reality
Artifact and Postcard
Baseball and Inventions
Dress Like a Knight
Group Projects
Knight Fight Creative Writing
Medieval Celebration and Ballads
Projects and Project Rubric
Satire and Poetry
Story Elements
Twain Patents

Following the Equator Lesson Plans
These lessons were developed by teachers that attended our 2009 summer workshops. They address a range of topics that are explored in the book. This book is especially fascinating because Twain never mentions the tragedies that "book-ended" the journey. He was facing bankruptcy in 1895, so he toured the world lecturing in order to pay off his debts, which he did. His wife, Livy, and daughter, Clara, accompanied him.  Daughters Susy and Jean remained at home in Hartford. At the conclusion of the one year tour, Sam, Livy and Clara arrived in England, rented a home, and sent word for the girls to join them, only to learn Susy was seriously ill. Susy died of spinal meningitis before she could be reunited with her family. In 1889 Twain wrote in a letter to friend William Dean Howells: "I wrote my last travel-book in hell; but I let on, the best I could, that it was an excursion through heaven. Someday I will read it, & if its lying cheerfulness fools me, then I shall believe it fooled the reader. How I did loath that journey around the world!--except the sea-part and India!"

Worth noting: Jimmy Buffett listed a baker's dozen list of books he would take to a desert island. Twain was the only author to make the list twice - for Huckleberry Finn and Equator. Buffett has written three songs about this book: That's What Livin' is to Me, Take Another Road, and Remittance Man. We think Mark Twain would approve!

(Read executive director Cindy Lovell's Amazon review to learn more about sharing this book with students.)

Animals of the World (K-1)
Botany
Characters
Constellations
Descriptive Writing
Descriptive Scenes
Dialect
Diamond Mining
Figurative Language
GPS Scavenger Hunt
Journal Writing
Living Museum (Characters)
Maori & Aborigine Comparisons
Maxims
Moral Ambiguity
Paraphrasing
Relevance in the 21st Century (Human Nature)
Reverence for Other Religions
Script Writing and Character Development
Setting (Writing Process)
Storytelling
Story with No Ending
Suffrage
Traveling with Mark Twain
Understatement