StudySync Lesson Plan
Walden
Objectives
1.
Engage students in the themes and language of Henry David Thoreau’s seminal
autobiographical work, Walden, preparing them to discuss complex ideas and write
critical responses to the excerpt.
2. Practice and reinforce the following Grades 11-12 ELA Common Core Standards for
reading informational text, writing, and speaking and listening:
•
READING: INFORMATIONAL – RI.11-12.1-7, 9-10
•
WRITING – W.11-12.1-10
•
SPEAKING AND LISTENING – SL.11-12.1-6
Time
130 minutes (with up to an additional 230 minutes of extension possibilities)
Materials
SyncTV Premium Lesson on Henry David Thoreau’s Walden
Overview
Henry David Thoreau was a student of the Transcendentalist movement, a collection of writers
and artists and thinkers who championed personal discovery and self-reliance as the pathway to
finding truth. In 1845, Thoreau’s own pathway to truth led him to build a cabin in the woods near
Walden Pond, where he would live among nature and away from the bustling, civilized world for
the next two years. His thoughts during this period are collected in Walden, now a famous and
highly influential personal narrative in which Thoreau attempts to forego a busy and meaningless
existence, seeking to “live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.” Though it received little
critical attention in his lifetime, Walden now enjoys a near-mythical status in American letters,
exploring ideas that have only become more prescient over time and influencing many
generations, schools of thought and ideological movements. Close examination of this excerpt
will offer students the opportunity to examine many of these ideas, exploring how Thoreau
originally expressed and confronted them in his seminal text. Students will participate in classand group-led discussions and write critical responses consistent with the ELA Common Core
Standards for Grades 11 and 12.
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Lesson Plan: Walden
Background (10 minutes)
1.
Watch the Preview (SL.11-12.1-2). As a group, watch the video preview of the premium
lesson. After viewing, use the following questions to spur a discussion:
a. What do you know about the Transcendentalist movement? Why would Thoreau,
a student of this movement, set out on a solitary quest seeking self-reliance? How
do Thoreau’s aims reflect the purposes of the Transcendentalists? Can you name
any other Transcendentalists you’ve read about or studied?
b. What do you think it means “to live deliberately”? What would cause someone to
eschew the comforts of the “civilized” world and seek a simpler existence? What
does this tell you about Thoreau? What must he – and others who make this
pilgrimage of sorts – have been seeking?
c. Does this whole experience sound like something that might appeal to you?
Would you want to follow in Thoreau’s shoes and shun the comforts of civilization
and industry in search of “truth”? Have you ever felt like Thoreau, like the
trappings of society have brought us too far away from our natural state?
Extension (additional 60 minutes)
d. Connect (SL.11-12.1, 4-6 and W.11-12.7). Think of someone – either a public figure or
someone you know from your own life – who did something like Thoreau did in
Walden, deliberately foregoing the trappings and comforts of the material world
for a simpler existence. Prepare a short presentation about this person, integrating
images, video and/or audio into your presentation. What drove this person to
separate themselves from mainstream society? Were they successful in their
venture?
e. Blast! (W.11-12.2, 4, 9). What does self-reliance mean to you? Create a Blast! Topic
for students to post their ideas and reactions to this concept. Questions to
consider: why is self-reliance important? Should everyone seek self-reliance? Is
self-reliance something that is ever truly possible, or must we inevitably rely on
others?
f.
Reflect (W.11-12.3-4, 9 and SL.11-12.4). Write about a time in your life when you felt
like Thoreau and wanted to break away from society in search of truth,
individuality, and/or peace of mind. What inspired these feelings? How did you
respond to them? Were you able to successfully break away from the maddening
crowd, or not? What are some of the obstacles to living a deep and fulfilling life?
Have volunteers share their responses with the class, if they feel so inclined.
Engaging the Text (120 minutes)
1. Read the Text (30 minutes)
a. Read and Annotate (RI.11-12.1-6, 9). Have students read and annotate the
introduction and excerpt. If the classroom has a projector, you might consider
modeling annotating skills using the first paragraph as an example. If students are
completing as a homework assignment, ask them to write any questions they
have into the annotation tool – these questions are visible to you after the
students submit their writing assignments or beforehand if you use the “Mimic”
function to access the students’ accounts.
b. Discuss (SL.11-12.1, 3). Have students get into small groups or pairs and briefly
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Lesson Plan: Walden
discuss the questions and inferences they had while reading. As a class, discuss
the questions and responses students had to the text. Ask: Is Thoreau inspired,
brilliant, misguided, or what? What is your reaction to what he is attempting to say
and do?
Extension (additional 20 minutes)
c. Listen and Discuss (SL.11-12.1-2). As a class, listen to the audio reading of the text.
Ask students to share how their understanding of the text changed after listening.
What additional images came to mind? What words did the author use to develop
his ideas?
d. Comprehend (RI.9-10.1-6, 9-10). Have students complete the multiple-choice
questions. Collect papers or discuss answers as a class.
2. Watch SyncTV (30 minutes)
a. Watch. Either watch the SyncTV discussion as a class or ask students to watch it
on their individual computers.
b. Discuss (SL.11-12.1-4 and RI.11-12.1-6, 9-10). After watching the model discussion,
have a conversation with the class about the ideas discussed in the SyncTV
episode. What new thoughts do they have after hearing the students' discussion?
Next, divide students into small groups (3-4 students). Move around the room
monitoring groups as students follow the SyncTV episode as a model to discuss
some of the following questions:
i. What do you think Thoreau meant when he said he wanted to live
“deliberately”? How is Thoreau attempting to achieve this goal through his
actions in Walden?
ii. Do you think it is important to live “deliberately”? Why or why not? Is this
something you strive for in your own lives? What sorts of things can you do
if you want to live a more “deliberate” life?
iii. When Thoreau says he wants “to front only the essential facts of life,” to
what “facts of life” is he referring? What does Thoreau consider to be the
obstacles to achieving this? How has he attempted to remove these
obstacles from his life?
iv. Is Thoreau’s experiment in simplifying his life a noble or misguided one?
Do you think he will be able to achieve the things he sets out to achieve?
Or is he chasing after impossible dreams?
v. Is Walden still relevant today? Consider how Thoreau’s ideas and
discussions in Walden have stood the test of time, and whether the
lessons within are more valuable now than they were at the time it was
written.
vi. Thoreau is motivated by a fear of discovering, on his deathbed, that he
hadn’t lived a full live. What does this idea of a “full life” mean to you? How
can we avoid this fate? What are the keys to living the kind of full life as
Thoreau sees it?
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Lesson Plan: Walden
Extension (additional 75 minutes)
c. List (RI.11-12.1, 4, 9 and W.11-12.9). Thoreau wants “to front only the essential facts
of life,” he states. What are these essential facts? Make a list with two columns:
one labeled “Thoreau” and the other labeled “Me.” Either individually or as a
class, have students complete this chart with the essential facts of life as Thoreau
saw it and as they see it. How do these two lists compare? How do the students’
ideas about what’s important compare to Thoreau’s? What larger conclusions can
we draw from this comparison?
d. Write (W.11-12.3-4, 9). If you had the opportunity to communicate with Thoreau,
what would you say? Compose a brief, one-page letter to Henry David Thoreau,
living out on Walden Pond. Ask him any questions you might have; attempt to
open an imaginary dialog with him about his life in seclusion and his spiritual and
philosophical aims. Express well-wishes, encouragement or criticisms about his
endeavor, based on your own views.
e. Interview and Record (W.11-12.3-4, 9 and SL.11-12.1, 4-6). Based on the letters in
the previous assignment, place students in pairs and have them act out a fiveminute interview with Henry David Thoreau, wherein he answers questions about
his daily life on Walden Pond and the deeper purposes of his pilgrimage. Record
these interviews using a Podcast app and share them online using SoundCloud.
3. Think (10 minutes)
a. Respond (W.11-12.1, 4). Ask students to read the “Think” questions, watch the
corresponding video clips, and respond to the questions, either in class or for
homework.
4. Write (50 minutes)
a. Discuss (SL.11-12.1). Read the prompt you have chosen for students, and then
solicit questions regarding the prompt or the assignment expectations. Whichever
prompt you have chosen, make sure you are clear about the assignment
expectations and the rubric by which you and the other students will be evaluating
them.
b. Organize (RI.11-12.1-6, 9-10 and W.11-12.1-2, 5). Ask students to go back and
annotate the text with the prompt in mind. They should be organizing their
thoughts and the points they’ll address in their writing as they make annotations. If
you’ve worked on outlining or other organizational tools for writing, this is a good
place to apply them.
c. Write (W.11-12.1-2, 4-6, 8-10). Have students go through the writing process of
planning, revising, editing, and publishing their writing responses.
d. Review (W.11-12.4-6). Use the StudySync “Review” feature to have students
complete one to two evaluations of their peers’ work based on your chosen
review rubric. Have the students look at and reflect upon the peer evaluations of
their own writing. What might you do differently in a revision? How might you
strengthen the writing and the ideas?
Extension (additional 75 minutes)
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Lesson Plan: Walden
e. Write (W.11-12.1-2, 4-6, 8-10). For homework, have students write an essay using
one of the prompts you did not choose to do in class. Students should publish
their responses online.
f.
Write Argumentatively (W.11-12.1, 4, 7-9). The poet Robert Frost, on Walden: “In
one book… [Thoreau] surpasses everything we have had in America.” Conversely,
poet Ezra Pound said about Walden, once: “Thoreau tried to see how little he
need bother with other humanity.” Considering both of these opinions, select
either Frost or Pound’s quote as your starting point and write a persuasive essay
of at least 300 words, using direct examples from the text (and, if desired, your
own outside research) to support your thesis.
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Lesson Plan: Walden
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS
Key Vocabulary
1.
deliberately (adv.) – Done with purpose or intent
2. Spartan (n./adj.) – 1. (n.) Resident of a city in ancient Greece; 2. (adj.) Basic or simple
3. superfluous (adj.) – Beyond what is necessary or on point
4. sublime (adj.) – Beautiful, great; filled with awe and wonder
5. superficial (adj.) – Affecting or concerned with only the surface level
6. supernumerary (adj.) – In excess of the standard or usual number
7. sentinels (n.) – Guards, soldiers
8. rudiment (n.) – Something in its underdeveloped or most basic form
9. parish (n.) – An area under the care of a church and minister
10. Saint Vitus’ dance (n.) – Chorea, a disorder marked by involuntary and jerky movements
in its sufferers
Reading Comprehension Questions
1.
Thoreau begins this excerpt from Walden by ________________.
a. declaring the different ills of society
b. announcing where in the woods he lived
c. offering a statement of purpose
d. denouncing God
2. Thoreau’s reason for going to the woods was to _________________.
a. seek a fuller and more important life
b. pass his knowledge of life on to others
c. avoid having any regrets on his deathbed
d. all of the above
3.
“For most men, it appears to me, are in a strange uncertainty about it.”
In this passage, it is referring to _________________.
a. the purpose of life
b. the existence of God
c. Thoreau’s behavior
d. death
4. We can infer, based on information the first paragraph, that Thoreau probably
__________________.
a. wanted to move to a larger city
b. did not see eye-to-eye with traditional religious beliefs
c. had serious reservations about his goals
d. all of the above
5. Thoreau believes that the lives of most people behave are too ________________.
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Lesson Plan: Walden
a.
b.
c.
d.
6.
complicated
uncivilized
futile
short
“An honest man has hardly the need to count more than his ten fingers.”
In this statement, honest most closely means _________________.
a. truthful
b. simple
c. both a and b
d. neither a nor b
7. Thoreau criticizes the U.S. itself for being __________________.
a. misguided
b. overgrown
c. exorbitant
d. all of the above
8. 8. If he rang a fire alarm, Thoreau says, the true reason the townspeople would come
would be to __________________.
a. put out the fire
b. watch the fire burn
c. save their possessions
d. all of the above
9. Which of the following statements about the railroads would Thoreau most agree with?
a. The construction of the railroad was the single most important infrastructure
project of the 19th century.
b. Safety improvements are necessary in the construction of train tracks.
c. The invention of the railroad has brought more damage to society than good.
d. If people lie down on railroad tracks, it’s their own fault if they are killed.
10. “We are determined to be starved before we are hungry.”
Thoreau’s message here is that ___________________.
a. we should eat more food throughout the course of the day
b. we should spend more money on food and less on material items
c. we should consume less food, by not waiting until we are starving to eat
d. we too frequently put off or ignore the simplest and most enjoyable tasks
Answer Key
1. C
2. D
3. A
4. B
5. A
6. B
7. D
8. B
9. C
10. D
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Lesson Plan: Walden
Further Assignments
1.
Have students read the entirety of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, keeping a reading
journal as they go along and writing in-depth responses to ideas and passages from the
text. Questions to consider: How is Walden a cohesive, complete work, rather than just a
series of personal essays? What is the genre of the book? Is it autobiography, social
criticism, a nature guide, poetry in prose, or a strange mélange of all of the above? Why is
it successful, in your opinion – or conversely, why is it not? (RI.11-12.1-6, 9-10)
2. Screen for the class the film Into the Wild (2007), the story of a young man who leaves his
life and family behind to live free of obligations in the Alaskan wilderness. How is
Christopher McCandless, the protagonist of the film, a sort of modern-day Thoreau? How
are his actions and beliefs shaped by Thoreau’s? Is he a hero or a fool? (RI.11-12.7 and
SL.11-12.1-3)
3. Have students choose and research a movement or leader that was influenced by
Walden, or any prominent public figure that has used quotes or ideas from Walden.
Students should prepare a short presentation on their chosen figure, integrating pictures,
audio recordings and other media into their discussion of this particular instance of
Walden’s influence. (W.11-12.7, 9 and SL.11-12.4-6)
4. In the book’s opening passages, Thoreau states that he did not live on Walden Pond
forever: in fact, he lived there for only two years before “returning” to society. Write an
essay critiquing Walden based around this fact: does the deliberate ephemerality of
Thoreau’s experience undermine the power of his words? Or is it enough that he went
there in the first place? After students are finished writing, discuss these ideas as a class.
(W.11-12.1, 4, 8-9 and RI.11-12.6, 9 and SL.11-12.1, 3)
5. In this excerpt from Walden, Thoreau expresses a range of different views of society,
covering everything from industrialization to religion to the nature of man. Pick any or all
of Thoreau’s claims and organize a class debate on the topic at hand, dividing the class
into two groups and having each group research their side’s position and find supporting
examples to back up their arguments. (SL.11-12.1, 3-4, 6 and W.11-12.7, 9)
6. Write a short letter to your family and friends explaining why you are choosing to leave
your life behind in search of a simpler, more rustic existence. Express your ideas clearly
and state the reasons you have chosen to make this change. Communicate any
uncertainties about your proposed endeavor but reassure your family and friends of the
importance of it. (ELL)
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Lesson Plan: Walden