Teaching "The Lottery" Short Story with Informational Text -

The Lottery is such a classic story. It has everything you need for teaching literary elements in middle school! And the shocking ending is of course a bonus. Students think the story is dry and boring until they reach the end. They’re so taken aback by the sudden turn of events that they can’t stop talking about how absolutely appalling it is!

Part 1: Thinking About Traditions

I used Common Lit to find a paired text for this short story. The Dangers of Tradition is an informational text that proposes that perhaps some traditions are too dangerous to be freely practiced.

Before students read this article, I gave them the following discussion questions to think about:
1. What traditions do you personally practice? What traditions do you know about?
2. Do you think of traditions as having a positive or negative connotation? Explain.
3. Does conformity have anythign to do with traditions? Why or why not?
4. Should cultural traditions be banned by the government? Why or why not?

Here’s a quick glance at how I set this up:

Students first respond to these questions without any context. Then, they revisit the questions after reading the article where they learn about various traditions practiced around the world.

Part 2: Reading & Annotating

Now that students have some context for a possible theme of the story, they begin reading. I like students to read without too much expectation the first time around. But I do ask them to notice any setting details or foreshadowing.

Next, I do a quick mini-lesson on types of irony. Students re-read and look for examples of situational and verbal irony.

This second read-through is my favorite because students are now rethinking their opinions about the story. What they initially found to be dry and dull is now incredibly dark. As they re-read the story, they’re more appalled than they were with that first read-through of the story’s conclusion.

Part 3: Graphic Organizer

Now students search for examples of suspense and foreshadowing. They complete a graphic organizer that I like to use from EB Academics.

The graphic organizer has two columns, one for evidence/text citations and the other for justification or explanation. Students read the RLT prompt (How does Shirley Jackson create suspense in The Lottery?) and locate evidence of suspense and foreshadowing that will support their anwer. Then, students justify their answer and explain the line’s overall impact on the story.

If time permits, I’ll have students write this out in a full essay. But if I’m not at a point in the year where I can devote the extra class period to it, I’ll skip it.

Part 4: Narrative Writing

My state always has students complete a narrative writing prompt on the end-of-grade standardized test. Instead of asking students to write a narrative from scratch, the prompt almost always asks them to cintinue oa story or change a major oart of the story. Students write narratively and must continue with a similar voice and point of view.

For The Lottery, I asked students to wriet a new scene that shows a conversation among villagers who have decided toquote the lottery. They must use a similar tone of voice, mood, and point of view.

What do you think?

This is my first year teaching The Lottery (my students have always read it before, and this was the first time most of them hadn’t read it in another English class!), and I’m really liking this unit structure so far! Before we wrap up with our final piece, students answer the initial discussion questions from a new perspective. Now that they’ve read both the article and the short story, have their minds changed? Do they have different perspectives?

Lastly, I’ll end with an assessment that asks students standardized-test-style questions about the article and the short story.