The Handmaid's Tale Lesson Plan

Students should read from Chapter 1 to the end of Chapter 12 (from I, "Night," to the end of IV, "Waiting Room").

Common Core Objectives

1. 1

   CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1

2. 2

   CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2

3. 3

   CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4

Note that it is perfectly fine to expand any day’s work into two days depending on the characteristics of the class, particularly if the class will engage in all of the suggested classroom exercises and activities and discuss all of the thought questions.

Content Summary for Teachers

Chapter One

The story begins in a mysterious camp for women, where the unnamed narrator is being held prisoner. She and her fellow inmates live in a former...