Make your study of “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs engaging, rigorous, and ready-to-go with this no-prep activity bundle! This resource pack includes three high-quality student worksheets designed to strengthen literary analysis, vocabulary skills, and critical thinking while saving you valuable planning time.

Perfect for middle school and high school ELA classrooms, this bundle provides meaningful, standards-aligned activities that can be used together as a complete mini-unit or individually to supplement any short story lesson.

What’s Included in This Bundle:

Comprehension & Analysis Questions

A thoughtful set of questions that guide students through close reading and literary analysis of the story.

Students analyze:

• Point of view
• Suspense and mood
• Irony and foreshadowing
• Character motivation
• Theme and author’s craft

These questions move beyond basic recall and push students to think deeply about how the story works as a piece of suspenseful literature.

Language Practice – Context Clues & Vocabulary

A focused vocabulary activity that teaches students how to use context clues to determine word meaning within the story.

Students practice:

• Inferring word meanings from context
• Using dictionary skills
• Analyzing roots and word origins
• Understanding pronunciation and parts of speech
• Distinguishing between commonly confused words

This resource is ideal for strengthening academic vocabulary and close reading skills while staying grounded in the text itself.

Story vs. Movie Comparison Activity

After reading the story, students watch a film adaptation and complete a structured comparison worksheet.

This activity asks students to:

• Compare mood, setting, and characterization
• Analyze directorial choices
• Evaluate changes from text to film
• Think critically about adaptation choices
• Reflect on how visual elements affect suspense

It’s a perfect way to bring multimedia analysis into your ELA classroom and spark great discussion.

Why Teachers Love This Bundle

• Ready-to-print, no-prep activities
• Works with any version of the short story
• Encourages higher-order thinking
• Supports close reading and textual evidence
• Great for independent work, stations, or homework
• Ideal for sub plans or emergency lessons
• Engaging way to connect literature and film

Perfect For:

• Short story units
• Suspense and mood lessons
• Irony and foreshadowing instruction
• Vocabulary practice
• Film analysis units
• Substitute teacher plans
• Test prep and review

Save time and deepen understanding with this comprehensive Monkey’s Paw activity pack!

Whether you’re introducing classic horror fiction, practicing literary analysis skills, or connecting text to film, this bundle gives you everything you need for a meaningful, engaging lesson sequence.