Classics • Lesson Plan Classics • Lesson Plan

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Author: Lewis Carroll
Illustrator: Wilson Swain

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LEVEL Y
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Alice’s Adventund Alice’s Adventure
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in Wonderla
Par t 1

Grades 5 and above

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For instructional support Book Summary

for writing in a variety of genres,
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a classic of children’s
visit writinga-z.com. literature that tells of a young girl’s peculiar dream journey
that starts when she follows a white rabbit down a hole. The
story is full of nonsense and word-play, exploring the strange
logic of an underground, topsy-turvy world where the rules of
the real world don’t apply. On her journey, Alice encounters
For support teaching an array of bizarre characters, including a disappearing cat,
the vocabulary in this book, a mad hatter, and a queen with a penchant for beheading
visit vocabularya-z.com. people. Using her wits and a bit of magic, Alice navigates her
way through a most curious landscape, skirting the dangers
of Wonderland while exploring its wonders.

Reading Strategy: Retell

Comprehension Skill: Compare and Contrast

Level Y • Fiction • 10 Parts

 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Classics • Lesson Plan

How to Use the Lesson Plan

This lesson plan is designed to be used with Reading A–Z’s retelling
Before Reading
of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Assign and teach the book as
Build Background
a whole-class lesson. Or assign it to a reading group and teach all or
part of the lesson in a small-group setting. Worksheets support the • Explain to students that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a story about
a child who suddenly finds herself in a fantasy land where literally nothing
learning objectives of the lesson. Discussion cards can be used to
makes any sense. Point out that the story is full of puns, rhymes, and
set up literature circles. A comprehension quiz accompanies each riddles. Share with students some examples of puns and riddles and then
of the ten parts. discuss what they mean and why people enjoy them.
• In small groups, have students brainstorm a list of other fantasy stories or
movies they know that are set in imaginary lands. Invite students to share
and record a list of these stories on the board. Then, ask groups to discuss
what these stories have in common along with answers to the following
questions: What sorts of characters do these types of stories have? How
do the settings affect what happens in the stories? What qualities do the
About the Lesson main characters in these stories share? Have groups share their ideas with
the rest of the class.
Targeted Reading Strategy
• Retell Introduce the Book
• Distribute copies of the first part of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Have students look at the cover art and read the short biography of
Objectives Lewis Carroll. On the basis of what they have read, ask students to make
• Use the reading strategy of retelling to understand the story predictions about what they think might happen in the story. Encourage
• Compare and contrast settings, characters, and events in the story them to write down their ideas and review their predictions as they read.
• Identify and use superlative adjectives
• Identify and understand similes and metaphors Introduce the Reading Strategy: Retell
• Recognize and understand the use of anthropomorphism • Review with students that one way to understand what is happening in
any work of fiction is to retell the story to yourself, recalling important
characters and events and making inferences to determine what is
Materials happening both explicitly and implicitly in the story.
• Book: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Parts 1–10 (copy for each • Remind students that when someone retells a story, they identify the
student or group) sequence of events, the setting, and the conflicts that the characters have
• Chalkboard or dry-erase board and how they resolve them. Discuss how retelling also includes making
inferences and drawing conclusions about why the characters behave as
• Retell, compare-and-contrast, and superlative adjectives worksheets
they do. Point out that retelling helps readers remember and understand
what has happened in the story.

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 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Classics • Lesson Plan

• Select a well-known fairytale, such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears, to Introduce the Vocabulary
model how to retell a story. As you retell the story, use transition words, • Explain to students that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a nineteenth-
such as first, next, and after. Make sure to include information about the century English novel that contains difficult, old-fashioned words and
setting and the problem and solution. challenging literary devices. Point out that the humorous and clever
• Next, have students work in groups and assign each one a different fairy word-play is one of the things that the novel is most famous for.
tale (for example, Little Red Riding Hood, Three Little Pigs, and so on). • Remind students that they can determine the meaning of unknown words
Ask them to create a retelling of the story. Invite groups to share their by using context clues, examining prefixes, suffixes, and base words,
retelling. Have the other students guess which fairy tale is being retold. rereading with synonyms, and referring to a dictionary.
• Introduce and explain the retell worksheet. Ask students to stop at the • Point out to students that they can also use the book’s glossary. Remind
end of each part and complete the retell worksheet for that part. students that only boldface words are in the glossary. For each part, have
• Encourage students to use other reading strategies in addition to retelling. students work with a partner to choose six words from the glossary. Ask
students to find each word in the text, read the paragraph containing
it, and then discuss the word’s meaning in context. Have students
Introduce the Comprehension Skill: Compare and Contrast
then create their own definition for each word and draw a picture that
• Write the following question on the board: What are you doing when you illustrates its meaning.
compare and contrast? Give students two minutes to write their answer
on a separate sheet of paper, and then ask them to share.
Set the Purpose
• Remind students that when readers compare and contrast, they are
identifying similarities of and differences between two or more things, • Explain to students that their purpose in reading Alice’s Adventures in
such as characters, ideas, or events. Wonderland is to answer the focus questions at the beginning of each
part and to look for evidence in the text that supports their answers.
• Draw a Venn diagram on the board. Choose two animals from the Discuss that to accomplish this purpose they will use the reading
illustration on page 3 of Part 1 and begin to fill in the diagram, modeling strategy of retelling as well other comprehension skills,
for students how to find comparisons. Then have students work with in particular comparing and contrasting.
a partner to complete the diagram with at least three more similarities
or differences. • Remind students that a general purpose of
all fiction is entertainment. Point out that
• Introduce and explain the compare-and-contrast worksheet. Have this novel, with its highly imaginative
students stop three times during the reading of Alice’s Adventures in setting and bizarre characters,
Wonderland to fill in a Venn diagram from the compare-and-contrast is a very popular work in children’s
worksheet, each time comparing two characters, problems, or settings. literature. Explain that there are many
film adaptations of Alice’s Adventures
in Wonderland and its sequel, Alice’s
Adventures Through the Looking Glass.

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 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Classics • Lesson Plan

• Explanation: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is an example of literary

During Reading nonsense. Literary nonsense was popularized by both Lewis Carroll and
the poet Edward Lear in England in the nineteenth century. Literary
Student Reading nonsense is a type of fiction that uses puns, word-play, and odd logic to
create uncanny new worlds. In this genre, the laws of nature, language,
• Guide the reading: Read the first three pages of Part 1 aloud and and the rules of society don’t apply. Instead, an alternate reality is created,
model the reading strategy of retelling. Ask students to continue reading with its own logic and rules.
chapter 1 in the first part, and then retell the chapter to a partner. Remind
them to include the sequence of events and details about the characters, • Comprehension (Analyze Setting): Remind students that a setting
setting, and problems and solutions. identifies the time and place of a story. Have students work with a partner
to identify the setting of the story and ask them to note specific details
• Periodically stop and have students work in groups or with a partner to that indicate that the story is a fantasy. Invite volunteers to share their
practice the comprehension skill of comparing and contrasting. Guide ideas with the rest of the class, and record on the board details about the
discussion with questions such as the following: How is Alice alike or setting. Then discuss with students how the setting shifts from realistic to
different from other main characters that you know? How is Wonderland unrealistic. Discuss with students the importance of the setting and how
alike or different from other fantasy settings? it contributes to the action in the story. Have students work in groups to
• Assign the entire ten-part version of the story to all students or divide the predict how the setting will determine the kinds of problems that Alice
class into small groups and have each group read a part. might encounter. Invite volunteers to share their thoughts with the rest
of the class.
Check for Understanding Section by Section • Vocabulary: commotion, curiosity, existence, inquisitively, lodging house,
notion, offended, savage, shrink, timid, tumbling, vulgar
Part 1
Chapter I: Down the Rabbit Hole Part 2
Chapter II: The Pool of Tears Chapter III: A Caucus-Race and a Long Tail
• Summary: Alice is sitting on a river bank when she spots a White Rabbit Chapter IV: The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill
running past, exclaiming that he will be late! Alice chases him down a
• Summary: Alice and the other animals take part in an odd race to dry
hole. She lands safely at the bottom, just in time to glimpse the White
themselves. They then gather to hear the Mouse tell its history, but the
Rabbit scurrying down a hallway filled with locked doors. Alice discovers a
Mouse feels that Alice is not paying enough attention, so it storms off.
key atop a table that unlocks a tiny door. She opens it and peeks through
Alice wishes aloud that her cat, Dinah, were there, and all the other
to see a beautiful garden; unfortunately, she is too big to go through.
animals become nervous and leave. The White Rabbit then returns, looking
Alice finds a bottle on the table labeled “DRINK ME.” She drinks and
for his missing gloves and fan. He mistakes Alice for his maid, and orders
shrinks, but now the door is closed and locked, and the key is back on the
her to retrieve these items from his house. Alice obeys. Inside the house,
table. Alice finds a tiny box holding a cake with the words “EAT ME” on
she finds a little bottle. She drinks from it and begins to grow, so large that
it, and when she eats it, she grows tall enough to grab the key, but now
she fills the house and various parts of her poke out of windows and the
is too big to fit through the tiny door. As Alice weeps, the White Rabbit
chimney. The White Rabbit returns and is determined to get Alice out, even
rushes past. Alice startles him, and he drops a fan. Alice picks it up and
if it means burning the house down. He and his friends try various tactics,
shrinks again. Alice slips and suddenly finds herself swimming in the salty
before pelting the house with pebbles, which turn into tiny cakes. Alice eats
tears she cried earlier. She meets a mouse and other animals in the water.
one and shrinks enough to run out of the house. Outside, she discovers a
They all swim ashore.
blue caterpillar, sitting on top of a mushroom and smoking a hookah.

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 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Classics • Lesson Plan

• Explanation: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was written during a tall that her neck resembles a serpent, and she frightens a Pigeon who is
period in English history called the Victorian Era, named after Queen protecting her eggs. Eventually, Alice figures out that by nibbling a bit of
Victoria, who reigned from 1837 to 1876. This period is known for mushroom from one side and a bit from the other, she can control how
being stuffy, rigid, and rational. Upper-class Victorian children, much she grows. Once she returns to near her normal size, she spots a small
like the character of Alice, would have been dressed in conservative, house. She nibbles some mushroom to help her shrink and sets off to
uncomfortable clothes and expected to be extremely polite, moral, explore the house.
and serious. One of the reasons Alice has such difficulty adjusting to • Comprehension (Sequence of Events): Remind students that the
Wonderland is because it is the exact opposite of the Victorian society sequence of events is the order in which events in a story occur. Explain to
she comes from. students that each new event is a consequence of a previous event. Guide
• Comprehension (Analyze Character): Alice is a child and as such may students in creating a backward version of Little Red Riding Hood. Write
not approach and respond to characters and problems the same way the following on the board: A woodsman grabbed the wolf and made him
an adult would. Write Alice on the board and have students brainstorm spit out the poor grandma because . . . Have students tell a previous event
to generate a list of Alice’s traits. Record these on the board. Then ask that led to this event and write it on the board (. . . the woodsman heard
students to point to the traits that are indicative of a child. Have students the cries of a little girl coming from a cottage because . . .). Complete the
work in groups and go back into the text and find evidence that supports backward story with the whole class. Next, ask students to work in groups
the character traits. Then have students predict how Alice might respond to write a backward story for Part 3. Remind students to pay attention
to challenges on her journey through Wonderland. to which actions and events give rise to other actions and events. Invite
• Figurative Language (Multiple-Meaning Words): Write the words volunteers to share their backward story with the rest of the class. Note:
tale and tail on the board and remind students that these words are Have students begin their backward story with the Pigeon flying away on
homophones, words that have the same pronunciation but are spelled page 14.
differently and have different meanings. Discuss with students how the • Vocabulary: altered, chrysalis, contemptuously, contradicted, incessantly,
use of these words creates confusion in the story. Explain to students indignantly, languid, morsel, offended, serpent, shilling, wretched
that Carroll often uses multiple-meaning words to help create a mad
atmosphere, and encourage them to look for more homophones as
they read. Part 4
Chapter VI: Pig and Pepper
• Vocabulary: absurd, adjourn, attending, capital, comfits, consultation,
fancying, feeble, gravely, messages, pretexts, usurpation • Summary: The house belongs to the Duchess. Outside, there is a fish and
a frog who also happen to be footmen. The former hands an invitation
to the latter, inviting the Duchess to play croquet with the Queen. Alice
Part 3 enters the house and discovers the Duchess nursing a piglike baby, a
Chapter V: Advice from a Caterpillar cook stirring a cauldron of very peppery soup, and a Cheshire Cat who
• Summary: Alice has a conversation with the blue Caterpillar in which grins and can make itself vanish. The house is in utter chaos. There is
she discovers that the Caterpillar is easily offended. It insists that Alice screaming and sneezing, while the Duchess shakes her piglike baby and
state who she is. Alice explains that she is not quite sure, and is having throws it into the air. Eventually, the Duchess tosses the baby to Alice,
trouble keeping the same size. The Caterpillar then insists that Alice recite who takes it outside. The baby turns into a pig and scurries away. Alice
a poem, which she does, but incorrectly. As the Caterpillar crawls off meets the Cheshire Cat again, and they discuss in which direction Alice
the mushroom, it tells Alice that one side of it will make her grow taller should travel—either to the house of the Mad Hatter or to the house of
and the other side shorter. Alice breaks off a piece from each side. She the March Hare. The Cat claims that both are quite mad. Alice decides to
nibbles one and immediately shrinks. She nibbles the other and grows so travel to the March Hare’s house.

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 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Classics • Lesson Plan

• Comprehension (Compare and Contrast): Draw a Venn diagram on authors use many different literary techniques as part of the storytelling
the board. Label one side Duchess and Baby and the other side Real experience meant to entertain. Have students work in groups to discuss
Mother and Baby. Ask students to compare and contrast the way the the details, characters, dialogue, humor, imagery, and other elements that
Duchess cares for the pig-baby to the way a mother or caretaker in the held their interest in this section. Ask volunteers to share their ideas with
real world would care for an infant. Introduce and explain the compare- classmates.
and-contrast worksheet. Have students work in pairs to complete a Venn • Figurative Language (Anthropomorphism): Explain to students that
diagram that compares and contrasts either two characters, two settings, anthropomorphism is the literary technique of assigning human traits
or two problems. Call on students to share their Venn diagram with the and characteristics to inanimate objects and animals to make them seem
rest of the class. like humans. Have students work with a partner to find examples of how
• Vocabulary: abide, cauldron, Cheshire, croquet, fire-irons, footman, Carroll uses anthropomorphism in this part of the story. Write a list of the
giddy, livery, mad, ought, raving, uncivil animal characters from this part on the board. Call on students to share
one example of anthropomorphism and record it beneath the character
that it describes. Guide a class discussion that explores how the use of
Part 5 anthropomorphism adds humor and chaos to the tea party.
Chapter VII: A Mad Tea-Party
• Vocabulary: civil, contemptuously, curious, dormouse, indignantly,
• Summary: Alice finds herself at a strange tea party with the March Hare, offended, proposal, quarreled, remarked, savage, treacle, upset
the Mad Hatter, and a Dormouse who can’t stay awake for more than a
few minutes at a time. As usual, they are all quite rude. As they sit around
a table set for tea, they have an odd conversation full of riddles, bizarre Part 6
logic, and stories about time and treacle that serve to confuse and annoy Chapter VIII: The Queen’s Croquet Ground
Alice. When the Mad Hatter remarks that Alice shouldn’t talk at all, his • Summary: Once inside the garden, Alice meets three gardeners in the
rudeness so offends her that she storms off, leaving the crazy trio to their shape of playing cards. They are painting white roses red, attempting to
perpetual tea party. Alice spots a tree with a door in it. She enters and cover up a mistake they made from the Queen, who has a penchant for
finds herself in the long hallway. She finds the glass table again and the beheading people who displease her. The Queen arrives with her retinue
golden key that unlocks the door leading to the garden. She nibbles on and invites Alice to play a strange version of croquet, where the mallets
the mushroom pieces until she’s about a foot tall. Alice walks through the are live flamingos, the balls are live hedgehogs, and the hoops are the
door and enters the garden. playing-card people, bent over backward. Alice finds the game frustrating
• Explanation: Afternoon tea is an English custom that gained popularity and the Queen scary, and looks for an escape route. She spots the
among the wealthy in the mid-nineteenth century. It is a light meal that Cheshire Cat, and the two chat. The King sees the Cat talking to Alice and
occurs between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. Afternoon tea traditionally consists insists that his wife have it beheaded. An argument ensues between the
of tea, along with pastries and light sandwiches. Over time, the custom King, the Queen, and the executioner regarding the Cat’s fate. Slowly, the
became popular with all socioeconomic groups in Britain. The more Cat vanishes, leaving the King and the executioner running around trying
formal Victorian version of afternoon tea is now practiced only on to find it.
special occasions. • Comprehension (Author’s Point of View): Guide a class discussion
• Comprehension (Author’s Purpose): Write the words inform, entertain, regarding the author’s point of view about royalty. Prompt the discussion
and persuade on the board. Review with students the different reasons with questions such as the following: What kind of a ruler is the Queen of
that authors write. Ask students to share the word that best describes Hearts? Why might the author have made the King and Queen inanimate
the author’s purpose for this part of the story (entertain). Point out that objects instead of real people or animals? How much power do the King

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 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Classics • Lesson Plan

and Queen actually have? Then, have students work in small groups to meanings. Write some examples on the board and read them aloud with
discuss what traits the author would have given the King and Queen if he students, discussing the source and humor of the pun when necessary.
had wanted to convey a favorable view of royalty. Have volunteers share Have students work with a partner to identify the puns in this part of the
their idea with classmates. story. List them on the board. Ask students to explain the word play in
• Vocabulary: appealed, beheaded, boxed, courtiers, dispute, execute, each pun (tortoise/taught us, reeling and writhing/reading and writing,
humble, impertinent, oblong, ornamental, procession, provoking ambition/addition, distraction/subtraction, uglification/multiplication,
derision/division, mystery/history, drawling/drawing, laughing and grief/
latin and greek, lessons/lessen).
Part 7 • Vocabulary: classics, derision, fancy, gryphon, indignantly, mock, moral,
Chapter IX: The Mock Turtle’s Story otherwise, pardoned, temper, ventured, writhing
• Summary: Alice bumps into the Duchess at the croquet game, and this
time she is nicer to Alice than the first time they met. In fact, the Duchess
Part 8
is a little too nice, tucking her arm into Alice’s and resting her very pointy,
Chapter X: The Lobster Quadrille
sharp chin on Alice’s shoulder, which causes Alice some distress. Alice and
the Duchess talk for a time until they bump into the scowling Queen, who • Summary: The Mock Turtle and the Gryphon describe a complicated
threatens the Duchess with a beheading unless she takes off. The Queen dance called the Lobster Quadrille. Like a square dance, the Lobster
introduces Alice to a rude Gryphon and instructs it to take her to the Quadrille involves dancing with lobsters, throwing them out to sea,
Mock Turtle to hear his history. The melancholy Mock Turtle tells Alice all swimming after them, and then turning somersaults. The Mock Turtle
about his school days and the unusual subjects that he studied, including and the Gryphon demonstrate the peculiar dance for Alice. After the
Ambition and Distraction. After a time, the Gryphon interrupts the Mock dance, they ask Alice to describe some of her adventures. Alice shares
Turtle and asks him to tell Alice about the games. her experience with the Caterpillar and how when she tried to recite a
• Comprehension (Analyze Plot): Write the phrases external conflict and poem the words came out wrong. The Gryphon insists that Alice recite
internal conflict on the board. Explain to students that an external conflict another poem called “’Tis the voice of the sluggard.” Alice obeys, but once
is a struggle the character encounters outside him- or herself, such as with again the words come out wrong. Suddenly, the three hear a voice in the
other characters, animals, or nature, and an internal conflict is a struggle distance yelling, “The trial’s beginning!” Alice and the Gryphon take off
the character faces within him- or herself, mentally or emotionally. Point in the direction of the voice, leaving behind the Mock Turtle.
out that both types of conflict are present in the story. Ask students • Comprehension (Make Inferences / Draw Conclusions): Remind
to describe Alice’s external struggles. List them on the board under students that authors don’t always come right out and tell readers what
external conflict. Then ask students to describe some of Alice’s internal characters are thinking and feeling. Instead, they imply these things,
struggles. List them under internal conflict. Ask students to discuss with and readers must infer what is really happening. Ask students to talk
a partner how these two types of conflict are related. As a class, discuss to a partner about how Alice is feeling in this part of the story. After the
the connections they see. (At first, Alice’s struggle is adapting to life in discussion, ask students to share their ideas with the class while you
Wonderland. This external conflict soon makes Alice feel that she has record their answers on the board. Possible answers include frightened,
no idea what she knows or who she is. Wonderland makes her feel frustrated, ashamed, and annoyed. Ask students to select one idea from
not herself.) the list and write a paragraph defending their inference, using evidence
• Figurative Language (Puns): Explain to students that throughout the from the text as proof.
story Carroll uses a type of word-play called a pun. Explain to students • Vocabulary: askance, banquet, blacking, dainties, hastily, melancholy,
that a pun uses words in a humorous way to imply two different meanings quadrille, sluggard, treading, tremulous, tureen, whiting
for one word or two different words that sound alike but have different

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 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Classics • Lesson Plan

the Knave of Hearts. The Queen still wishes to sentence him to death by
Part 9 beheading. Alice speaks to the Queen harshly for her irrational behavior
Chapter XI: Who Stole the Tarts? when suddenly the entire pack of cards flies up into the air and down onto
• Summary: Alice attends the trial of the Knave of Hearts, who stands Alice. Alice awakes from her curious dream, to find herself resting with
accused of stealing the Queen’s tarts. The King and Queen preside over her head in her sister’s lap. She shares her dream with her sister, who is
the court, with the White Rabbit acting as herald and a jury comprised intrigued by Alice’s adventures in Wonderland.
of different animals who scribble nonsense onto tablets as they listen • Comprehension (Problem and Solution): Write the words problem and
to witness testimony. A terrified Mad Hatter is called to testify, and solution on the board. Review with students that a problem is a conflict or
his testimony is so confusing and useless that he is dismissed. Next, a challenge that needs to be worked out and the solution is the working
the Duchess’s cook is called to the stand, but she refuses to cooperate. out of a problem or challenge. Explain that longer works of fiction, like
During the trial, attendees, including guinea pigs, are suppressed for their Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, typically have one overarching problem
outbursts by being tied up in canvas bags and sat upon. Alice begins to and solution and many smaller challenges that characters must overcome.
grow again as she watches the trial and is quite surprised to hear her Ask students to work in small groups to identify two smaller problems and
name being called as a witness. solutions in this part of the book and then Alice’s overarching problem
• Comprehension (Character Point of View): Explain to students that and how it is solved. (Smaller problems and solutions may include the
point of view in a work of fiction refers to who is telling the story. Remind overturning of the jury box and putting the jurymen back in place and
students that there are primarily three types of point of view used in the solving of the case of the stolen tarts with the introduction of new
writing: first-person, third-person limited, and third-person omniscient. evidence. The overarching problem is that Alice is stuck in the confusing
Explain each type. Using Part 9 as an example, ask students to identify the Wonderland. The solution is that she wakes up.)
point of view that Carroll uses (third-person limited). Ask students to find • Figurative Language (Symbolism): Explain to students that in
evidence in the text that shows Carroll using a third-person limited point literature, anything that stands for something that is not literal is an
of view. For instance, the reader knows what Alice thinks and feels, but example of symbolism. Provide some examples, such as the following:
must infer what other characters think and feel based on what they say good characters in movies are often depicted wearing white, while villains
and how they behave. Have students select a character other than Alice are depicted wearing black. In this part of the book, Carroll continues
and rewrite the trial from that character’s first-person point of view. Ask a symbolic incident begun far earlier in the book, with Alice once again
volunteers to share their first-person rewrites. growing to an alarming size. Have students work in groups to discuss
• Vocabulary: accusation, becoming, cross-examination, evidence, the meaning behind this symbolic occurrence. Guide the discussion
fidgeted, indignant, jurors, meekly, memorandum, obliged, slates, with questions such as the following: When does Alice begin to grow in
suppressed Part 9? How does her bigger size affect her interactions with the trial?
At what other points in the story does Alice grow and shrink? What does
growing bigger usually mean for children? What does it mean for Alice?
Part 10 Ask volunteers to share their insights about Carroll’s symbolism. Then
Chapter XII: Alice’s Evidence ask students: Why might an author chose to tell something symbolically
• Summary: As Alice stands to testify, she realizes how large she has instead of literally?
grown. She accidentally overturns the jury box, and all the jurors are • Vocabulary: diligently, fit, flurry, grave, pun, signifies, sixpence,
knocked this way and that. Once everyone is set right, the nonsensical spectacles, triumphantly, upsetting, verdict, whilst
trial continues. A letter containing a very odd verse is presented to the
court as evidence. While initially no one can seem to make sense out of
it, the King finally teases out some meaning from it, which implicates

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 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Classics • Lesson Plan

• Enduring Understanding: In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, we

After Reading watch Alice, a child, suddenly thrust into a completely alien land, where
almost nothing makes sense and where she has only herself to rely upon.
Reflect on the Reading Strategy Discuss with students times that they have been in unfamiliar
situations, such as a new school, a new neighborhood, or a
• Ask students to work with a partner and verbally retell the entire story, different grade in the same school. Encourage them to explain
referring to the retell worksheets created for each part. how they handled the situation and how long it took them to
• Guide a discussion about how retelling helped students remember and feel comfortable.
comprehend what they read.
• Divide class into ten small groups or pairs. Assign each group a part of the
story. Have students present a class retelling with each group taking turns
sharing the retelling from the part they were assigned.
Build Skills
Grammar and Mechanics: Superlative Adjectives
Reflect on the Comprehension Skill • Remind students that adjectives give more information about a noun.
• Have students share their three completed compare-and-contrast Review or explain that superlative adjectives are adjectives that compare
worksheets with a partner. three or more nouns. Provide an example, such as the following: Of these
• Next, write Mad Hatter’s Tea Party Versus Real Tea Party on the board three mountains in Alaska, Mount Foraker is tall, Mount Saint Elias is
and draw a large Venn diagram beneath it. Have students compare and taller, and Denali is the tallest. Explain the following: Tall is an adjective.
contrast the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party to a real-life tea party. Fill in the Taller is a comparative adjective. Tallest is a superlative adjective.
diagram with student responses. • Explain the rules for creating superlative adjectives by describing the
• Independent practice: Have students work with a partner and make a following examples and recording them on the board:
large Venn diagram on a separate sheet of paper. Have them label their For one-syllable adjectives that end with a consonant, add the suffix
Venn diagram Fantasy and Reality. Ask them to select either the Queen’s -est. For example, tall becomes tallest. Sometimes it is necessary to
croquet game or the trial of the Knave of Hearts, and compare it with its double the ending consonant and then add -est. For example, when
real-life equivalent. Have students share their Venn diagrams with the rest big becomes biggest.
of the class. Guide a discussion on why Carroll chose these real-life events
For one-syllable adjectives that end in e, just add st. For example,
and treated them the way he did.
fine becomes finest.
For adjectives that end in y, drop the y and add iest. For example,
Reflect on the Purpose early becomes earliest.
• Refer students back to the focus questions. Have students work with a   There are some irregular superlative adjectives, such as least, most,
partner to discuss and explain their responses. Encourage them to provide best, and worst. These are used in front of many two- and three-
evidence from the text to support their answers. syllable adjectives. It is not beautifullest, but most beautiful.
• Invite students to reflect on some of the themes of the story, for example • Have students review Part 1 and ask them to locate and circle all the
growing up, personal identity, and danger and death. List some of these superlative adjectives. Next, have students identify the nouns that are
themes on the board. Have students work in groups to discuss how these described by loveliest and best.
themes are explored in the story.

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 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Classics • Lesson Plan

• Create a chart on the board with the following headings: end with a • Have students work in small groups to examine Parts 1, 5, 6, and 7 and
consonant, end in e, end in y, and irregular. Read aloud the superlative look for more examples of similes and metaphors. Some examples include:
adjectives recorded in the earlier examples, and have students point to the food as a metaphor for growing up; why is a raven like a writing desk?;
column in the chart where each belongs. Then invite students to share with the Queen turned crimson with fury and glared at her like a wild beast;
the class other superlative adjectives and where they belong in the chart. Alice looked up, and the Queen frowning like a thunderstorm. Invite
• Check for understanding: Assign small groups one or two parts of students to share with the class the similes or metaphors they found,
the story. Have them locate and circle all the superlative adjectives and and discuss with students what each means.
identify the nouns they describe. Call on students to come to the chart on • Explain to students that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has even given
the board and record one superlative adjective they found in the proper rise to a few similes that have become idioms, such as mad as a hatter,
column and share the page and part where they found it. Then have other grinning like a Cheshire Cat, and as sleepy as a Dormouse.
students find the adjective and the noun it describes. • Independent practice: Have students write five similes that describe
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete elements of Wonderland. Invite volunteers to share their similes with
the superlative adjectives worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers. classmates.

Word Work: Similes and Metaphors Literary Element: Anthropomorphism

• Point out to students that in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Carroll • Explain to students that anthropomorphism is the literary technique
frequently used the figurative language techniques of similes and of ascribing human traits to animals, which allows them to behave like
metaphors in his writing. humans. For example, giving animals the ability to speak is an example
• Remind students that similes and metaphors are both ways of comparing of anthropomorphism. Point out that the animals in Alice’s Adventures
two different objects to gain a certain effect, but that a simile uses the in Wonderland are anthropomorphized because they can speak and have
words like or as to make the comparison while a metaphor makes a direct many human characteristics, such as living in houses and wearing clothes.
comparison. Provide a few examples, such as the following: His temper is • Discuss the difference between personification and anthropomorphism.
as short as an ant. Her eyes were green emeralds. Discuss with students • Explain that authors use this literary technique for a variety of reasons: to
what effect these sentences have on readers. create humor, to create satire, or to explore a difficult or controversial topic.
• Have students turn to the first chapter of Part 1. Ask them to identify • Have students work in groups to locate ten specific examples of
examples of similes and metaphors (Oh, how I wish I could shut up like a anthropomorphism and discuss why they think Carroll chose this
telescope. Down the rabbit hole). Discuss with students which is a simile technique for these specific characters. Then ask students the following
and which is a metaphor, and what each means. question: Why do anthropomorphized characters fit in a world of literary
nonsense? Invite volunteers to share their thoughts with classmates.
• Independent Practice: Have students create a nonhuman character and
use the literary technique of anthropomorphism to write one paragraph
about it. Invite volunteers to share their paragraph with the rest of the class.

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 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Classics • Lesson Plan

Build Fluency Notes

Independent Reading 
• Encourage students to read the story independently. Additionally, partners
can take turns reading parts of the story to each other.

Home Connection

• Give students their copies to take home to read with parents, caregivers,
siblings, or friends. Encourage them to practice the reading strategy of
retelling with family members. 


Assessment

Monitor students to determine whether they can:
• consistently retell parts of the story during discussion and on worksheets
• effectively compare and contrast different elements during discussion and
on worksheets
• correctly use superlative adjectives in discussion and on a worksheet
• correctly identify the literary elements of simile and metaphor in the text
and during discussion
• accurately identify examples of anthropomorphism in the text and
during discussion

Comprehension Check
• Retelling rubric
• Book quizzes

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