Frankenstein Lesson Plan: Key Ideas and Details

*Click to open and customize your own copy of the Frankenstein Lesson Plan. 

This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Frankenstein, and supports the standard of determining a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Display an image of Frankenstein’s monster, like this one from the movie (timestamp: 0:26):

Prompt students to share what they know about Frankenstein from movies or books. Ask:

• Why do you think Frankenstein’s monster is such a familiar image in popular culture? 

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

• Read the description on the Frankenstein topic page.
• Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding. 
• Assign Related Reading. Have students read one of the following articles: “Way Back When,” “Discoveries and Inventions,” or “In Depth.” Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.
  

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign the Frankenstein Challenge and Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about Frankenstein while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

• Make-a-Movie: Produce an interview with Mary Shelley in which she explains how the Enlightenment Period influenced major themes of Frankenstein. 
• Make-a-Map: Create a concept map identifying details from Frankenstein that convey themes related to Romantic ideals. 
• Creative Coding: Code a comic where a character states a theme  from Frankenstein.

More to Explore 

Sortify: Writers: ​​Players sort by attributes, such as genre, time period, and more in this learning game. 

Teacher Support Resources:

• Pause Point Overview: Video tutorial showing how Pause Points actively engage students to stop, think, and express ideas. 
• Learning Activities Modifications: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
• Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.