Katherine Mansfield's The Garden Party 3-Day Middle and High School ELA Lesson

Engage high school English Language Arts students with Katherine Mansfield's Modernist short story "The Garden Party."

Mansfield's short story is a funny, absurd, vibrant read, treating themes such as class division, innocence and experience, and more. In the story, a young girl plans a Garden Party with her upper-middle-class family. But when a poor worker who lives down the lane dies in a tragic accident, some things stay the same, but the young girl is changed forever.

• Note — this resource comes equipped with both a printable and digital version (that works with PDF, Google Workspace, and Easel).

Use this Digital Download for a Three-day English Language Arts Lesson.

Using my tested-in-the-classroom resources, teenagers will want to discuss this charismatic story's absurd and symbolic events. So I have loaded this resource with freewriting activities, questions, and discussions that will get your students talking and writing! N.B. — Katherine Mansfield's short story "The Garden Party" is in the public domain, and the full text of the story is included in this educational digital download.

Common Core Standards:

This resource aligns well with the Reading Literature standard CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2. Keep in mind; that this lesson was made for Tenth and Eleventh graders; however, it fits the criteria for adolescent learners in 7-12.

This Resource Includes the Following Features:

• Teacher's Notes for Using this Resource in the Classroom
• 3-Day Lesson & Pacing Calendar
• Author Biography Reading Card + Internet Research Activity
• Focused Freewriting Exercise with academic choice
• Copy of "The Garden Party" (with vocabulary and literary terms)
• Note-Taking Template for Students
• Standards Alignment Chart
• Exit Ticket with Academic Choice
• Teacher's Guide and Answer Key
• Further Reading List

I created this resource with high school students in mind. It is designed for a typical High School English curriculum short story unit. You can use this resource as a stand-alone lesson or pair it with a larger unit on British Literature. It also works well in a Humanities course, a New Zealand authors survey, or a Creative Writing class.