Close Read
A Wrinkle in Time
OBJECTIVES
After engaging in a close reading and discussion of A Wrinkle in Time, students will be able to analyze how context clues and the
author’s language contribute to an understanding of the text in a short, written response.
TIME
40 minutes
SUGGESTED GROUPING FOR ACTIVITIES
(In the table below, “X” means “applicable.”)
WHOLE GROUP
PAIRS OR SMALL GROUPS
ON THEIR OWN
Complete Vocabulary Chart
x
Writer’s Notebook
x
x
Complete Skills Focus
Watch and Discuss
StudySyncTV
x
x
Collaborative Conversation
Review Prompt and Rubric
x
x
Write
x
Peer Review and Reflect
x
(Optional) Connect to
Extended Writing Project
x
(Optional) Beyond the Book
x
Note: Close Read lessons should be introduced whole group, but the Vocabulary Chart, Writer’s Notebook, Skills Focus
Questions, and writing activities can be assigned to students as homework to reinforce instruction and provide additional
practice of the skills that have been taught.
1. Vocabulary
Instruction
Scaffolding & Differentiation
Instruction
Scaffolding & Differentiation
Complete Vocabulary Chart
Have students complete the vocabulary chart by dragging and
dropping the definition and writing their sample sentences.
Answers are available under the Vocabulary tab (select View
When: Submitted).
Beginning & Intermediate ELLs
Complete Vocabulary Chart
Circulate and support students as they write their sample
sentences. Available scaffold:
visual glossary
Advanced & Advanced High ELLs
Complete Vocabulary Chart
Available scaffold:
visual glossary
Approaching
Complete Vocabulary Chart
Available scaffold:
visual glossary
Beyond
Make a Quiz
Have students create a quiz that requires students to apply
their understanding of the vocabulary by matching the terms
with synonyms and antonyms. Encourage students to test
each other by trading quizzes.
2. Read
Instruction
Scaffolding & Differentiation
Writer’s Notebook
Connect to Essential Question: Give students time to reflect
on how A Wrinkle in Time connects to the unit’s essential
question “What do we do when life gets hard?” by
freewriting in their Writer’s Notebooks.
Beginning & Intermediate ELLs
Writer’s Notebook
Read aloud the unit’s essential question: “What do we do
when life gets hard?” Encourage students to draw their
connections or allow students to write in their native
language. Circulate around the room, prompting students for
their thoughts as they respond orally or through pantomime.
Check for Success
If students are struggling to respond to the prompt, ask them
scaffolded questions, such as:
How do the characters in A Wrinkle in Time respond to
challenges?
How can you use these examples in your own life?
Advanced & Advanced High ELLs
Writer’s Notebook
Allow students to share their connections orally in pairs or
small groups before freewriting.
Instruction
Scaffolding & Differentiation
Complete Skills Focus
Have students work in small groups to discuss, read, and
annotate the first Skills Focus prompt.
Beginning, Intermediate, & Advanced ELLs
Complete Skills Focus
Work directly with students to read and annotate the
paragraphs identified in the differentiated Skills Focus
questions. You may wish to model the annotation for the first
one or two paragraphs. Then, allow students to finish
annotating in groups. Focus on questions 1 through 4.
Available scaffold:
annotation guide
Check for Success
If students struggle to respond to Skills Focus Question #1,
ask students the following questions:
1. What unknown words does Madeleine L’Engle use in
this excerpt from A Wrinkle in Time?
2. What context clues can you use to better understand
these unknown words?
3. What unknown word did you figure out the meaning
of? What is the meaning?
Have students transition to read and annotate independently
once they have successfully completed the first Skills Focus
prompt.
Advanced High ELLs
Complete Skills Focus
If necessary, have students annotate in pairs or small groups
for support. Direct students to focus on questions 1 through
4. Available scaffold:
annotation guide
Approaching
Complete Skills Focus
If necessary, have students annotate in pairs or small groups
for support. Available scaffold:
annotation guide
3. StudySyncTV
Instruction
Scaffolding & Differentiation
Watch and Discuss StudySyncTV
Project the StudySyncTV episode and pause at the following
times to prompt discussion:
1. 2:46 - What words and phrases do Drew, Alicia, and
Michael focus on in describing Charles Wallace’s
personality? What do they conclude?
2. 4:45 - What words and phrases does Drew cite as
characteristic of Meg? What textual evidence does the
group use to determine if Meg’s personality traits will
help or hurt her in the setting?
3. 8:29 - Why do the students think Calvin chooses to
recite the Gettysburg Address? How does this lead
them to better understand what the Man with Red
Eyes is trying to do? What do they conclude about
why Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin might have an
advantage over the Man with Red Eyes?
4. Write
Instruction
Scaffolding & Differentiation
Instruction
Scaffolding & Differentiation
Collaborative Conversation
Break students into collaborative conversation groups. Using
StudySyncTV as a model, have students begin by reading the
Close Read prompt. They should then use their Skills focus
annotations, their own ideas and reactions to the text, and
any other notes and annotations they have to collaboratively
explore the text.
“Jabberwocky” and A Wrinkle in Time both have eerie
and supernatural language. A Wrinkle in Time and
Gathering Blue both feature settings and events that
create feelings of uncertainty. How does using context
clues help you understand these unique selections?
Compare the language and context clues in A Wrinkle
in Time with those in one of the other two selections.
Remember to support your ideas with evidence from
the text.
Beginning & Intermediate ELLs
Collaborative Conversation
Work directly with Entering, Beginning, and Developing
students as a group. Use the discussion prompts and
speaking frames to facilitate the discussion. Available
scaffolds:
discussion prompts
speaking frames
Advanced & Advanced High ELLs
Collaborative Conversation
Create mixed-level groups of three or four students. Prompt
students to take turns using the prompts to facilitate their
conversations. Available scaffolds:
discussion guide
speaking frames
Check for Success
If students are confused by the prompt, remind them:
Authors use descriptive and sometimes made-up
words and phrases. In your discussion, compare and
contrast how L’Engle and Carroll use this eerie
language and context clues. Students may also
compare and contrast how L’Engle and Lowry use
language to create a feeling of uncertainty.
Approaching
Collaborative Conversation
Create mixed-level groups of three or four students. Prompt
students to take turns using the prompts to facilitate their
conversations. Available scaffold:
discussion prompts
If students are struggling with beginning their conversation,
help jumpstart their discussion by asking a scaffolded
question, such as:
What eerie words and phrases are unfamiliar to you?
How do the authors use context clues to help you
understand what they are trying to convey?
Review Prompt and Rubric
Before students begin writing, review the writing prompt and
rubric with the class.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST:
"Jabberwocky” and A Wrinkle in Time both have eerie
language. A Wrinkle in Time and Gathering Blue both feature
settings and events that make the reader feel uncertain. How
does using context clues help you understand these unique
selections? Compare the language and context clues you
used in A Wrinkle in Time with those in one of the other two
selections. Remember to support your ideas with evidence
from the texts.
Academic Vocabulary Focus
Remind students of the academic vocabulary words they
studied at the beginning of the unit. Encourage students to
use these vocabulary words in their written response.
All ELLs
Review Prompt and Rubric
Available scaffold:
prompt guide
Approaching
Review Prompt and Rubric
Available scaffold:
prompt guide
Instruction
Scaffolding & Differentiation
OPTIONAL
Prewrite
Have students use a graphic organizer to begin planning their
responses. Remind students to look at each text and at their
annotations to find textual evidence to support their ideas.
Beginning & Intermediate ELLs
Prewrite
Work directly with students to begin planning their
responses. Project the graphic organizer and complete as a
group.
Advanced & Advanced High ELLs
Prewrite
Group students in mixed-level pairs to complete the graphic
organizer and plan their responses.
Approaching
Prewrite
Group students in mixed-level pairs to complete the graphic
organizer and plan their responses.
Write
Ask students to complete the writing assignment using
textual evidence to support their answers. Once they have
completed their writing, they should click "Submit."
Beginning ELLs
Write
Work directly with students, reading aloud the word bank
and paragraph frame. Entering students may need additional
support from peers of a higher proficiency level. Alternatively,
you may have Entering students respond orally while you
record their responses. Available scaffolds:
word bank
paragraph frame
Intermediate ELLs
Write
Available scaffolds:
word bank
paragraph frames
Advanced & Advanced High ELLs
Write
Available scaffolds:
sentence starters
differentiated response length
Approaching
Write
Available scaffolds:
sentence starters
differentiated response length
Instruction
Scaffolding & Differentiation
Peer Review and Reflect
ELLs All Levels
Students should submit substantive feedback to two peers
Peer Review and Reflect
using the review instructions below. After they complete their Available scaffold:
peer reviews, have them reflect on the feedback they
peer review sentence starters
received.
Peer Review Instructions:
How well does this response answer the prompt?
How well does the writer support ideas with details
and examples from each text?
Which sentence in the writer’s response made you
think differently about each text?
What did the writer do well in this response? What
does the writer need to work on?
Remember that your comments are most useful when they
are kind and constructive.
OPTIONAL: Give students time to revise their responses
based on the feedback they have received from their peer
reviewer.
OPTIONAL
Connect to Extended Writing Project
Students can use A Wrinkle in Time as a mentor text for their
Extended Writing Project. They may explore how a sudden
change in setting can lead to an unexpected challenge as they
craft their own narrative.
OPTIONAL
Beyond the Book
Game: Telepathy Battle
Group students in pairs for a Telepathy Battle with a fictional
character. Each pair will need to select (or create) a character
to engage in the telepathy battle. Some places from which
students might select characters include:
Unit texts, Pokemon, anime, video games, movies, etc.
Once students have selected their characters, they will decide
how to engage in their telepathy battle. They can:
Perform a telepathy battle with a rehearsed blocking.
Write a sensorily rich script of their internal dialogue.
Draw a comic strip of their characters engaged in a
battle using a mix of drawings and thought bubbles.
ANSWER KEY
1. Vocabulary
Approaching
Available scaffold:
peer review sentence starters
Term
Form
Definition
Sample Sentence
conceive
verb
to think of or develop an idea
Before I joined the soccer
team, I could not conceive of
a reason to get up early on
Saturday mornings.
preliminary
adjective
occurring before something
else
No damage was found
during a preliminary
inspection of the car, but a
closer look revealed a dent.
abandon
verb
to leave in a troubled state
The ghost town was
abandoned 100 years ago
after the Gold Rush.
intense
adjective
very strong
She spent two weeks at an
intense, two-week camp to
learn coding so she could
write computer software.
distinct
adjective
clear, unmistakable
I can always hear the oboe in
the school orchestra because
it has a distinct sound.
2. Read
Skills Focus Questions and Sample Answers:
Question Number: 1
Skill: Context Clues
Question: Think about the word choices Madeleine L'Engle makes in A Wrinkle In Time. Identify examples of unknown words
and what context clues you used to understand them.
Answer:
Sample Highlighted Text
Sample Annotations
"Didn't you ever have a father yourself?" Meg demanded.
"You don't want him for a reason. You want him because he's
your father."
The man uses the word “abandoning” when talking about
Meg and Charles Wallace’s father. He is talking poorly of their
father - he says “he hasn’t been acting very like a father.” Meg
and Charles are looking for their father - the word
“abandoning” must mean “leaving.”
"Ah, but he hasn't been acting very like a father, lately, has
he? Abandoning his wife and his four little children to go
gallivanting off on wild adventures of his own."
"He was working for the government. He'd never have left us
otherwise. And we want to see him, please. Right now."
(paragraphs 15-17)
The man on the chair spoke directly into Meg’s mind, and
now there was a distinct menace to the words. “I am not
pleased,” he said to her. “I could very easily lose patience
with you, and that, for your information, young lady, would
It ends threateningly. The man says he “could very easily lose
patience.” He threatens that “she had better cooperate” if
she wants to see her father. The narrator says there is NOW a
not be good for your father. If you have the slightest desire to
see your father again, you had better cooperate.” (paragraph
40)
distinct menace to his words. “Distinct” must mean “clear
and unmistakablet.”
Question Number: 2
Skill: Setting, Context Clues
Question: Identify the words and phrases the author uses to describe the setting, and explain how you used context clues to
understand them.
Answer:
Sample Highlighted Text
The men in dark smocks moved smoothly but with swiftness
to Charles. The man in the chair casually raised one finger,
and the men dropped back.
“Hold it—” Calvin whispered, and together he and Meg
darted forward and grabbed Charles Wallace, pulling him
back from the platform. (paragraphs 27–28)
“No!” she screamed again, and ran after him. With her
inefficient flying tackle she landed on him. She was so much
larger than he that he fell sprawling, hitting his head a sharp
crack against the marble floor. She knelt by him, sobbing.
After a moment of lying there as though he had been
knocked out by the blow, he opened his eyes, shook his head,
and sat up. Slowly the pupils of his eyes dilated until they
were back to normal, and the blood came back to his white
cheeks. (paragraphs 39)
Sample Annotations
L’Engle confirms that the Man with Red Eyes is sitting at a
higher level than the children. Meg and Calvin pull Charles
Wallace “back from the platform.” I also read that there are
men in “dark smocks” in the room. This adds to the feeling
that the setting is supernatural and eerie.
Here I read that Charles Wallace hits “his head a sharp crack
against the marble floor.” This and other descriptive language
makes me think that the room must be cold. It must be pretty
large too, since Meg can manage an “inefficient running
tackle.”
Question Number: 3
Skill: Character, Context Clues
Question: Using context clues, identify how the characters in A Wrinkle in Time feel and how you would feel if you were in their
situation. Support your description with textual evidence.
Answer:
Sample Highlighted Text
Sample Annotations
“He was working for the government. He’d never have left us
otherwise. And we want to see him, please. Right now.”
The Man with Red Eyes accuses Meg of being impatient
because she wants to see her father “right now.” The narrator
confirms that patience is “not one of Meg’s virtues.” Given
that the Man with Red Eyes has tried to gain control of Meg,
Calvin, and Charles Wallace and seems threatening, I would
be impatient to get out of there, too.
“My, but the little miss is impatient! Patience, patience,
young lady.”
Meg did not tell the man on the chair that patience was not
one of her virtues. (paragraphs 17–19)
“And by the way, my children,” he continued blandly, “you
don’t need to vocalize verbally with me, you know. I can
understand you quite as well as you can understand me.”
Charles Wallace put his hands on his hips defiantly. “The
spoken word is one of the triumphs of man,” he proclaimed,
“and I intend to continue using it, particularly with people I
don't trust.” But his voice was shaking. Charles Wallace, who
Charles Wallace is both defiant and scared by the fact that he
is in a place where a menacing figure can read his thoughts
and communicate with him telepathically. He is standing up
to the Man with Red Eyes by continuing to use words, but
“his voice is shaking” and he is “near tears.” He doesn’t trust
the man not to hurt them. If I were in this situation, I would
also be defiant, but scared. I wouldn’t like someone trying to
control or bully me.
even as an infant had seldom cried, was near tears.
(paragraphs 20–21)
“Pretty smart, aren’t you?” the thought asked, and Meg had
an uncomfortable feeling that she detected a snarl.
“It’s not that I’m smart,” Charles Wallace said, and again Meg
could feel the palm of his hand sweating inside hers.
(paragraphs 31–32)
Meg is “uncomfortable” because the thought seemed like a
“snarl.” Charles Wallace is definitely scared, since the palms
of his hands are sweating. I would feel the same way in such a
hostile and unusual setting.
Question Number: 4
Skill: Compare and Contrast
Question: In “Jabberwocky,” Lewis Carroll uses nonsensical words. In Gathering Blue, Lois Lowry uses descriptive language.
Identify passages in A Wrinkle in Time where L’Engle uses language in ways similar to Carroll’s or Lowry’s.
Answer:
Sample Highlighted Text
“Twice one is two. Twice two is four. Twice three is six.”
Calvin’s voice came out in an angry shout. “Fourscore and
seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a
new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal.” (paragraphs 3–4)
Sample Annotations
Calvin’s anger reminds me of Vandara’s in Gathering Blue.
Both show anger against authority figures that have power
over them. Calvin recites the Gettysburg Address to block out
the Man with Red Eyes’s attempt to control him. It’s
interesting that he picks something that talks about liberty
and equality. Vandara is angry at the Council of Guardians for
their ruling. She can’t really change the ruling, but she
remains defiant, stalking off after being dismissed.
Meg looked up at the fiery eyes, at the light pulsing above
them, and then away. She tried looking at the mouth, at the
thin, almost colorless lips, and this was more possible, even
though she had to look obliquely, so that she was not sure
exactly what the face really looked like, whether it was young
or old, cruel or kind, human or alien. (paragraph 10)
This paragraph reminds me of the description of the
Jabberwock in the poem “Jabberwocky.” Both L’Engle and
Carroll describe their protagonist as having fire-like eyes. This
immediately makes me think of something supernatural or
eerie. The language becomes dark and dangerous.
“And you don't trust me?”
This exchange between Charles Wallace and the Man with
Red Eyes reminds me of the father’s warning to his son in
“Jabberwocky”: “‘Beware the Jabberwock, my son!/The jaws
that bite, the claws that catch!/Beware the Jubjub bird, and
shun/The frumious Bandersnatch!’” While Carroll and L’Engle
use language in different ways, both establish a sense of
menace.
“What reason have you given us to trust you?”
“What cause have I given you for distrust?” The thin lips
curled slightly. (paragraphs 22–24)
Question Number: 5
Skill: Connect to Essential Question
Question: Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace are dealing with the challenge of understanding the unknown in A Wrinkle in Time.
Explain how their experiences change their perspectives of the Man with Red Eyes. Support your explanation with textual
evidence.
Answer:
Sample Highlighted Text
Sample Annotations
The man gave a wince and the thought of his voice was a little Charles Wallace has been studying the Man with Red Eyes,
breathless, as though Charles Wallace’s punch had succeeded trying to understand him. He finally takes action by hitting
in winding him. “May I ask why you did that?”
him. The experience convinces Charles Wallace that the man
in front of them is not who has been “talking” to them. I
“Because you aren’t you,” Charles Wallace said. “I’m not sure think he might feel this way because the Man with Red Eyes
what you are, but you”—he pointed to the man on the chair
—“aren’t what’s talking to us. I’m sorry if I hurt you. I didn’t
think you were real. I thought perhaps you were a robot,
because I don’t feel anything coming directly from you. I’m
not sure where it’s coming from, but it’s coming through you.
It isn't you.” (paragraphs 29–30)
gets winded when he’s hit. Maybe Charles Wallace thinks the
real source of the talking is too powerful to be hurt.
Charles Wallace looked quickly at Meg and Calvin, then said,
as though to himself, “I have to,” and focused his clear blue
eyes on the red ones of the man in the chair. Meg looked not
at the man but at her brother. After a moment it seemed that
his eyes were no longer focusing. The pupils grew smaller and
smaller, as though he were looking into an intensely bright
light, until they seemed to close entirely, until his eyes were
nothing but an opaque blue. He slipped his hands out of
Meg’s and Calvin’s and started walking slowly toward the
man on the chair. (paragraph 36)
Charles Wallace pushes his investigation of the Man with Red
Eyes a step further when he accepts the challenge to look
into the man’s eyes. This causes the boy’s pupils to close so
that his entire eye is “an opaque blue.” He seems to be in a
trance, since he drops Meg’s hand and starts to walk toward
the man.
The man on the chair spoke directly into Meg’s mind, and
now there was a distinct menace to the words. “I am not
pleased,” he said to her. “I could very easily lose patience
with you, and that, for your information, young lady, would
not be good for your father. If you have the slightest desire to
see your father again, you had better cooperate.” (paragraph
40)
I think the Man with Red Eyes’s reaction to Meg rescuing her
brother will probably change her perspective on trying to
push him into revealing where her father is. He wanted to
control Charles Wallace’s mind and Meg won’t cooperate
either.
4. Write
Beginning ELLs
Write
L’Engle’s character the Man with Red Eyes says the children’s father abandoned them, so the children are looking for their father
in a strange place. Carroll uses nonsense words in “Jabberwocky” to describe a strange creature. The settings of these texts
seem supernatural and eerie. I can use context clues to better understand what these unknown words mean in both texts.
Intermediate ELLs (second paragraph will vary; sample answers provided)
Write
L’Engle’s character the Man with Red Eyes says the children’s father abandoned them, so the children are looking for their father
in a strange place. Carroll uses nonsense words in “Jabberwocky” to describe a strange creature. The settings of these texts
seem supernatural and eerie. I can use context clues to better understand what these unknown words mean in both texts.
Other unknown words L’Engle and Carroll use are “distinct” and “chortled.” I can look at context clues to figure out the meanings
of these words. By using context clues, I know that “distinct” means “clear, or unmistakable” in A Wrinkle in Time. By using
context clues, I know that “chortled” means “laughed” in “Jabberwocky.”
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