Lesson Title: Silent Tea Party for The Catcher in the Rye
Objective: Use a pre-reading strategy that will help students familiarize themselves with the
plot, conflict, and unique voice of the narrator in The Catcher in the Rye using reading skills
such as active reading, close reading, questioning, noting key words, analyzing, and
summarizing.
Students will work on improving both independent and group working skills.
Materials:
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Quotations from the first chapter that have been cut into individual strips (There should
be enough quotations so that each student has their own unique quotation)
Questionnaire sheets
Procedure:
As students enter the classroom, greet them at the door and hand each student a questionnaire
sheet that has a quotation strip stapled to the top. Tell the students not to share the quotation
with anyone.
Once students are seated and quiet, explain that they are about to play a game called A Silent
Tea Party. Tell them that they will be playing the role of detectives by reading various
quotations that were selected from the first chapter of The Catcher in the Rye. Explain that
their objective is to gather as many quotations as they can, and use the quotations as clues to
help them develop an understanding of the narrator’s character.
Go over the rules for the silent tea party:
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With their quotation and the questionnaire in hand, students will stand up
and walk around the classroom without talking
While they walk around, students will shake hands with each other.
The hand shake signals for an exchange of the quotations
Once students have a different quotation, they will read it, and use the
information they gather to complete one of the questions on the
questionnaire sheet. They will also record the quotation number that they
used in order to answer the question.
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
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After students have recorded their thoughts about the quotation, they will
shake hands again, and return the quotation to its original owner.
Students will then move on to shake a different student’s hand and gather
more quotation clues.
It is recommended to model the desired behavior while explaining the rules in order to help
students visualize the expectations. It is also recommended that the teacher has his/her own
quotation that is shared and analyzed by the class as a whole. Have students record the
observations onto their questionnaire sheet.
Once the rules have been provided and the students have practiced analyzing a quotation as a
class, have students read their own quotation and SILENTLY record any questions, thoughts, or
answers onto their questionnaire sheet.
Once students finish recording thoughts for their own quotation, have them silently begin
mingling and exchanging quotations. The Tea Party should last about 8-10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, have students stop and return to their desks.
Have students discuss their findings in groups of four or five, recording any new information
discussed. Students should have approximately 10 minutes to discuss.
After the small group discussion, have students share their findings with the entire class.
If there is any extra time, begin reading the first chapter of The Catcher in the Rye.
Closure:
Have students finish reading the first chapter of The Catcher in the Rye for homework, and
collect the questionnaires at the end of the period to assess the thinking of each student.
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QUOTATION #1
“You’ll probably want to know […] where I was born, and what my lousy
childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before
they had me, and all that […] kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into
it, if you want to know the truth.”
QUOTATION # 2
“I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around
last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out
here and take it easy.”
QUOTATION # 3
“D.B. […] my brother […is] going to drive me home when I go home next
month maybe.”
QUOTATION # 4
“Where I want to start telling is the day I left Pencey Prep. Pencey Prep is
this school that’s in Agerstown, Pennsylvania.”
QUOTATION # 5
“I was standing way on top of Thomsen Hill […] because I’d just got back
from New York with the fencing team.
QUOTATION # 6
“The other reason [I was standing on Thomsen Hill] was because I was on
my way to say good-by to old Spencer, my history teacher. “
QUOTATION # 7
“What I was really hanging around [Thomsen Hill] for, I was trying to feel
some kind of a good-by.”
QUOTATION # 8
“I have no wind, if you want to know the truth. I’m quite a heavy smoker,
for one thing. […] Another thing, I grew six and a half inches last year.
That’s how I practically got t.b. [tuberculosis] and came out here for all
these goddam checkups and stuff.”
QUOTATION # 9
“I felt like I was sort of disappearing.”
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QUOTATION #10
“I’ve left schools and places I didn’t even know I was leaving them. I hate
that. ”
QUOTATION #11
“I left all the […fencing] equipment and stuff on the goddam subway. […]
The whole team ostracized me.”
QUOTATION #12
“Old Selma Thurmer – she was the headmaster’s daughter – [… what] I
liked about her, she didn’t give you a lot of horse manure about what a
great guy her father was. She probably knew what a phony slob he was.”
QUOTATION #13
“The game with Saxon Hall was supposed to be a very big deal […]
practically the whole school except me was there […]”
QUOTATION #14
“I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself and all.”
QUOTATION #15
“I got the ax. They give guys the ax quite frequently at Pencey. It has a
very good academic rating, Pencey. It really does.”
QUOTATION #16
I don’t care if it’s a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when I leave a
place I like to know I’m leaving it. If you don’t you feel even worse.”
QUOTATION #17
[Mr. Spencer, my history teacher,] knew I wasn’t coming back to Pencey
[…] They kicked me out.”
QUOTATION #18
“I’m not going to tell you my whole goddam autobiography or anything.”
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THE CATCHER IN THE RYE SILENT TEA PARTY QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Where is the narrator when he tells his story?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_______ Quotation #_________
2. How is the narrator feeling?
A)__________________________________________________
#_________
Quotation
B) __________________________________________________
#_________
Quotation
C) __________________________________________________
#_________
Quotation
3. Does the story take place in the present or in the past? How do you know?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_______ Quotation #_________
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4. What do you notice about the way the character speaks?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_______ Quotation #_________
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5. How old do you think the narrator is? WHY do you think this?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_________Quotation #_________
6. Why is the narrator on Thomsen Hill?
A)__________________________________________________
#_________
Quotation
B) __________________________________________________
#_________
Quotation
C) __________________________________________________
#_________
Quotation
7. What does the narrator think about school?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_______ Quotation #_________
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EXTRA CREDIT: What other questions do you have? What other observations have you made?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
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