Are you searching for lesson plans for Frankenstein? Then you’ve come to the right place. We have 25 easy and exciting lesson plans and activities for teaching Frankenstein.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has had a far-reaching influence on popular culture. And yet many people only know and understand the surface-level of the novel, an evil monster created by a mad scientist.
Help your students better understand this Gothic novel using one of these Frankenstein lesson plans or activities.
Pre-reading lesson plans for Frankenstein
Before reading the novel, it’s a great idea to do some pre-reading activities to activate students’ prior knowledge, as well as fill knowledge gaps they may have.
1. Pre-reading carousel discussion
The first Frankenstein pre-reading activity on our list is this pre-reading carousel discussion by English Bulldog.
The carousel activity is like English Bulldog’s other carousel activities, where students move around the room reading posters with statements on them. Students must leave a statement of dis/agreement on the poster.
After seeing all of the posters and leaving a statement, students choose (or are assigned) a poster to review and analyze the trend in thinking. Then students will have a whole-class debriefing discussion.
The carousel discussion also has a Frankenstein lesson plan for the teacher, Common Core objectives, preparation steps, a classroom agenda, and assessment strategies.
There is also a PowerPoint with student-friendly objectives, student directions, and activity time limits.
If you’re interested, English Bulldog also includes the carousel discussion in a pre-and post-reading activity bundle (which you can look at here). All of the activities in the bundle look engaging and interesting.
The post-reading activities in the bundle include
- a fishbowl debate
- a themes textual analysis activity
- QR code mini flipbook with links to chapters of the novel in audio and textual format, as well as summary, character, allusion, theme, and literary technique tasks
- and a Frankenstein review game
2. Agree or disagree
Like English Bulldog’s activity, this activity has ten statements on issues raised in Shelley’s Frankenstein that students must agree or disagree with.
However, instead of leaving a statement on posters, students are asked to move to the ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ side of the room.
After choosing sides, students must defend their opinion in-class discussion.
3. Pre-reading one-pager
Another pre-reading activity that you could do is this one by Thoreauly Lit. The activity is a pre-reading one-pager where students have to draw what they think Frankenstein the monster looks like.
Students also have to preview the novel and guess what the setting will be like. This activity would be great for artistic groups, or as a break from reading- and writing-heavy lessons.
4. Pre-reading creative writing challenge
This activity by Lattes and Lit is an AP Literature resource for Frankenstein.
Students use a writing prompt of Mary Shelley’s original nightmare to do their own creative writing.
Students get to have fun and demonstrate what they know of Gothic literature while also learning about Frankenstein‘s origin story.
5. Which Frankenstein character are you quiz
Another fun pre-reading activity for Frankenstein is this one by Thoreauly Lit. In the activity, students answer questions to figure out which Frankenstein character they would be.
6. Gothic literature conventions using “Playthings” episode of Supernatural
If you’d like to approach the novel from a genre standpoint, this activity by Teach Them to Think might suit you. In the activity, students watch the “Playthings” episode of Supernatural and identify the conventions of Gothic literature.
This would be a great mini-lesson or homework activity too. However, the creator does note that the tv episode may not be appropriate for all ages and schools, so you may wish to preview the show before showing it if your school is more conservative.
While-reading lesson plans for Frankenstein
So, you’ve done some pre-reading activities and your students have started reading. Now you probably want some activities for students to do while they are reading to ensure comprehension and engagement.
Today we have several Frankenstein activities, including worksheets to accompany the Crash Course Literature episodes about Mary Shelley’s classic novel, reading comprehension excerpts, a flipbook, reading check quizzes, a digital book bundle and annotation organizer, a graphic novel organizer, and a comprehension and analysis bundle.
1. Crash Course Literature Frankenstein worksheet
First off the ranks is my own worksheets for the free Crash Course Literature YouTube videos about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. (You can find the first video here and the second one here).
The videos (and worksheets) cover
- the historical context of the novel
- biographical details about Mary Shelley
- major plot points of the novel
- big questions the novel asks readers to think about
- genre conventions of the text
- themes such as whether seeking knowledge is dangerous and corrupts the seeker
- and a feminist interpretation of the text
I love to use Crash Course videos in class because they’re funny, engaging, and blend animation with John Green as the presenter.
They also analyze texts with a critical lens, but in a way that is easily understandable for most ability levels.
The videos sometimes have plot spoilers. So be sure to preview the video and show it after major plot reveals if you are wanting students to remain surprised while reading.
2. Multiple choice reading comprehension excerpts
A great lesson plan for Frankenstein is this one by Test Prep.
The Frankenstein activity has four reading passages from the novel, with twenty reading comprehension multiple-choice questions.
The questions are structured and formated like pre-2016 SAT questions, so it’s a great tool if you are trying to familiarize your students with SAT-type tests.
The questions require students to use problem-solving and evidence-based reasoning skills, as well as context clues.
This could also be a series of homework exercises to get your students to practice close-reading and analysis skills.
3. Frankenstein novel study flipbook
The third Frankenstein lesson plan in the while-reading section of this post is this novel study flipbook by Danielle Knight.
The flipbook is easy to assemble and covers information such as
- Mary Shelley’s biography and background
- elements of Gothic literature
- a study guide and answer key of over 100 questions
- themes, symbols, and an answer key
- anti-thesis and contrasts of ideas, characters, themes, settings, and moods
- characters and their background
- frame story explanation
- the Enlightenment period in Europe
- student practice skills such as reading, writing, summarization, recalling details, and making inferences
The flipbook is aligned to ELA Common Core State Standards for years 9-12 in the reading, writing, speaking, and listening strands.
You can choose to pick print in color or grayscale and it can be printed on white or colored paper.
4. Reading check quizzes
If you are looking for a more no-frills approach to checking if students have done the required reading, these reading check quizzes by Kate Duddy may work for you.
There are nine different quizzes about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the quizzes aim to assess student reading comprehension and understanding of the text.
The quizzes include multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blanks, and short-answer-style questions. Students must recall information about the story and vocabulary words. They must also practice analysis and inference skills.
The quizzes contain four to five questions each and cover two chapters of the novel.
5. Frankenstein digital book bundle and annotation organizer
If your school has a limited budget for new books, but you’d still like to teach Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, then this digital book bundle and annotation organizer might be exactly what you need.
The bundle includes a digital copy of the entire novel with space for student and teacher annotation. There are two options for formatting: you can download a pdf of the entire novel, or you can download individual chapters in pdf.
There are also comparative texts to study alongside Frankenstein, including the short story “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley,
Two bonuses are included: an annotation organizer designed to help you teach your students how to annotate texts and a character analysis organizer.
The annotation organizer helps students learn to be independent annotators and promotes the skills of close and active reading. And the character analysis organizer scaffolds character analysis by helping students identify
- character motivation
- conflict in the story’s plot
- and the impact of symbolism on a character
- supporting evidence from the text that they can collect, format, and cite as evidence for their ideas about the elements of characterization, conflict, and symbolism
The activities support several Common Core State Standards and are able to be used in digital classrooms. They can be edited in the PDF document without changing the original text and they can be uploaded to sites such as Google Classroom, Edmodo, and Blackboard.
6. Frankenstein graphic novel activity bundle
If you’re teaching a graphic novel adaptation of Frankenstein, this activity bundle may be a great way for you to introduce graphic novels to your students, as well as study Frankenstein.
The bundle includes
- a paper dance party warm-up activity
- vocabulary scan worksheet
- a PowerPoint on how to read a graphic novel
- 2 graphic organizers for PowerPoint
- a reading comprehension activity worksheet
- the purpose of reading critical thinking questions
- a roll-the-dice activity game
- 6-panel storyboard drawing project
- a narrative story step by step support
- characterization-for the main character
- a close reading assignment-including the text, questions, key
- other optional activities
- teacher notes/keys
- close reading text/and questions
- one-pager theme project
- chapter by chapter questions with key
7. Comprehension and analysis bundle
The final while-reading Frankenstein lesson plans and activities is this bundle by LitCharts.
The bundle aims to develop students’ active and close-reading skills using Common Core aligned organizers, worksheets, projects, and review materials.
All of the activities in this bundle are provided as PDF and as editable Word Docs so that you can edit them to suit your class or convert them to Google Docs for distance learning.
Included in the bundle is
- character organizers for every major character in Frankenstein for students to use to gather evidence about characters and use the evidence to describe characters’ traits and significance
- symbol analysis organizers for important symbols to help students identify when symbols appear and what they mean in the context of the entire text
- theme analysis organizers to help students identify evidence from Frankenstein that relates to themes and write evidence-based paragraphs about the themes
- close reading organizers that provide a structured summary of the novel and help students track and analyze themes against the summary – it can also be used for students to comment on/annotate about language and structure, character development, or make other reader responses
- quote analysis organizers to help students situate important quotes in context and how the quotes relate to the themes of the text
- “theme wheel” themes visualization poster and project – you can print the theme wheels as posters to hang in your classroom or you can use blank versions for individual or class projects
After-reading lesson plans for Frankenstein
Now give yourself a pat on the back if you and your students have made it this far. They’ve read the book! Wooh!
Next, you may want some revision activities for Frankenstein, as well as activities you can use to assess their learning. That’s what this section of the post is all about.
1. Digital Frankenstein review escape room
If you have access to devices such as phones, tablets, or laptops, as well as access to Google apps, this might be the escape room review for you.
Use this Frankenstein escape room after your students have read the novel to get them to review important material through puzzles, games, and other activities.
Included are:
- plot bingo: where students review information about the plot and will be asked to identify whether 25 different facts are true or false. Once they have 5 true facts they have BINGO and get the code to continue.
- literary analysis quiz: students complete a self-checking quiz and respond to 8 items, obtaining a secret code after completion. Literary terms/concepts used in the quiz include the following: simile, symbol, allusion, motif, metaphor, and narrator.
- character matching puzzle: students analyze 9 different character descriptions to 6 different characters from the novel. Once they match them correctly, students get a code to continue.
- reading comprehension puzzle: students respond to four reading comprehension questions based on an article about the author. They answer using a multiple-choice answer grid to get the secret code to continue.
- theme puzzle: students assemble a jigsaw puzzle containing a theme from Frankenstein. They must unscramble special characters in order to find the code.
- quotation identification puzzle: students must identify the speaker of 10 quotations from the novel to discover the final clue.
The game includes self-checking Google Forms so students can pace themselves. Once they have escaped, students get a congratulations message to let you know they’ve finished.
The Frankenstein review resource also includes a teacher guide with visuals and hints so you can assist struggling students.
On average, a high school class of students will take about forty minutes to complete the game.
2. Frankenstein review bingo
Another way to review Frankenstein before an assessment is this review bingo activity by Danielle Knight.
This Frankenstein lesson plan requires you to print out the bingo card sheets (one for each child and a call sheet for the teacher). Then you cut out the bingo cards.
If you want to re-use the cards, simply laminate them and ask students to use dry-erase pens or use markers. You also have a blank card to make your own card.
Once you’ve done that, you play bingo. You call out the words or explanations, and your students mark an ‘x’ on their bingo card if they have it.
3. Debate culminating activity lesson plans for Frankenstein
If you want to avoid an essay or test, take a look here at a debate culminating activity by Miss B’s Bodega.
Bonus, instead of reading a thousand Frankenstein essays, you get to listen to students debate (and do most of your marking in class!).
For the debate, students research, write opening and argumentative speeches, and then formally debate to prove their position on an issue from the test.
The Frankenstein activity includes six topics tied to themes and issues from the text. Students can choose, or you can assign the topics.
Included in the activity are:
- Detailed teacher instructions
- Quick pre-reading/pre-activity survey
- Assignment outline
- Rubric aligned to Common Core standards
- Opening speech writing template
- Evidence collection template for research and preparation
- Handout on effective public speaking
- Student judge feedback form
- Teacher feedback form
The resources are Google Docs, so you can distribute them digitally or print them out. And you can easily adjust them to suit your specific classes.
4. Frankenstein folio final project
Available here is another no-test, no-essay final project. In this Frankenstein activity, students create a folio assessment, a ‘Frankenfolio’.
As part of the project, students create four components of the folio:
- a visual
- a creative writing piece
- a writing piece that makes a real-world connection
- and a list related to the novel (e.g. gothic elements, questions you’d ask a character, etc.)
There are also two versions of a grading rubric included, one with point values and one with blanks.
5. Frankenstein final test
If you’re teaching Frankenstein in high school and you have a ton of grading to do, you might appreciate a test because they’re usually faster and easier to mark than essays or projects.
If that’s the case, this test here by Amanda Kershaw might be what you are after.
The test covers the whole novel and students must answer in different ways: matching up characters, fill-in-the-blanks, multiple-choice, short answers, and an essay.
The test also includes a study guide so students know what they need to revise.
6. Frankenstein soundtrack project and create a mate essay
This Frankenstein product has two creative ways to assess student learning.
The first project is a soundtrack project where students put together a playlist to be used as a soundtrack to the book. The songs they pick must relate to themes and scenes in the novel.
The project includes an assignment handout as well as a teacher grading rubric.
The second task is a create-a-mate essay. In it, students will write a 5-paragraph persuasive essay answering the following question: “If you were Victor, would you create a mate for the creature?”
It also includes an assignment handout, essay rubric, t-chart essay organizer, and a peer editing worksheet.
7. Self grading Google quizzes for Frankenstein
If you and your students are mostly digital now, the self-grading Google Quizzes by Teacher’s Pet Publications Novel Study Units might serve you well.
Available here, there are six quizzes that cover each section of the book.
- #1 covers the introduction and preface
- #2 covers chapters one through five
- #3 covers chapters six through nine
- #4 covers chapters ten through fifteen
- #5 covers chapters sixteen through twenty
- #6 covers chapters twenty-one through twenty-four.
The questions are multiple-choice, and the Google Form is editable so you can adjust it to suit your specific class.
Whole-unit bundles of lesson plans for Frankenstein
So far you’ve seen lots of Frankenstein lesson plans and activities, but you haven’t seen whole-unit bundles.
And while individual teaching activities for Frankenstein are great, sometimes you need more because you just don’t have the time to add bits and pieces to an established curriculum.
You might’ve had last-minute class changes, or your kid got sick, or you want a life outside of your classroom. We hear you, so below we have five whole-unit Frankenstein lesson plans.
1. Lit and More whole unit of lesson plans: Frankenstein
This full unit bundle by Lit and More is designed for an advanced placement course. The Frankenstein unit runs for three weeks.
The Frankenstein lesson plans and activities are based on the 1831 edition of the novel.
The bundle includes:
- introductory and background information on the text, including a pre-test that compares the real Frankenstein text to pop culture references
- 133 pages of guided slideshow notes helping students through the text with quotes, analysis, and questions
- a student note packet with pre-reading homework, space for quote analysis, and notes on class discussion
- an answer key to all in-class discussion questions
- two quizzes (chapters one through ten and chapters eleven through twenty), including answer keys
- one Socratic seminar including questions, notes on the procedure, and a grading rubric
- three on-demand writing prompts with scoring rubrics
- one unit test and answer key
- unit objectives, guidelines, and suggested unit plan
- four analytical writing reflection prompts with a suggested rubric, to be handed out during the course of student reading
- one creative response project
- one text-based multiple-choice quiz modeled after the AP exam – it can be used during the middle of reading or as a summative assessment at the end of reading
- virtual teaching tools including a Frankenstein hyperdoc, two Frankenstein quizzes, and a test that can be assigned through Google Classroom or other LMSs
2. Simply Novel Frankenstein whole unit bundle
This Frankenstein whole unit bundle by Simply Novel is aligned with the Common Core State Standards. It can be used in teacher-directed classrooms, or students can self-direct their own learning.
Included in the bundle are:
- pre-reading activities and ideas list
- pre-reading activity exploring biological scientific research
- list of writing prompts/journal topics for each chapter
- author biography and questions
- historical context activities on both Romanticism and the Gothic/science fiction novel and mythology
- a glossary of allusions, terminology, and expressions from the novel
- vocabulary list with and without the definitions
- note-taking and summarizing activities for each chapter or section
- comprehension check/study guide questions for each chapter
- activities that address mood and tone, character interactions, literary archetypes, imagery, foreshadowing, symbolism, philosophical and political approaches to the novel, point of view, characterization, historical themes and issues, and theme
- activities that address vocabulary in context, verb tense, precise word order, complements, word origins and etymology, clauses, base words/root words/affixes, sentence structure, analogies, and spelling, punctuation and capitalization
- reading quizzes for every set of chapters
- two final exam choices, one is completely multiple choice
- teacher guide including notes for teaching the novel
- summary of the novel
- post-reading activities and alternative assessment
- essay and writing ideas/prompts
- project and essay grading rubrics
- complete answer key
Most reviews of this bundle suggest that it is very detailed, and most teachers loved that grammar instruction was included throughout the unit.
3. BritLitWit Frankenstein full unit bundle
This full unit bundle by BritLitWit is full of lesson plans for Frankenstein (1831 edition). Included in the bundle are
- a pre-reading anticipation activity
- background information/images related to Mary Shelley’s biography, the literary and historical influences on Frankenstein, British Romanticism, Gothic literature, misconceptions about the novel, and a diagram explaining the novel’s frame tale
- reading questions with an answer key
- seven multiple-choice quizzes divided into sections. An answer key is included.
- love and Frankenstein worksheet that helps students understand Shelley’s idea that we all need love to thrive.
- bioethics worksheet to explain the gray area that exists in many modern bioethical debates.
- nature vs nurture worksheet that explains the psychological ideas of ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’
- a book club for the creature worksheet asks students to explain the details of what the creature learned from the three books that made an impact on how he perceives himself and the world.
- ‘what makes us human?’ culminating assignment requires students to do a freewrite about what they believe defines a human. They must locate three online sources that engage with that question and record their findings. Then students identify the five essential characteristics of being human and make a final decision about whether the creature can be considered human. A rubric is included.
- final project option one is a groupwork project where students identify what they believe are the ideas in the novel that are still relevant and deliver a slide-show presentation. A grading rubric is included.
- final project option two is the Frankenfolio project (previously mentioned).
- a teacher pacing guide
- jigsaw sheets to help students follow the big ideas of each chapter, options include a headlines sheet, a Frankenstein/Creature/Walton Venn diagram, Gothic details, and Romantic details.
4. SJ Brull Frankenstein full unit bundle
This five-week unit of lesson plans for Frankenstein contains everything you need to teach Mary Shelley’s classic novel.
Included in the bundle is
- an anticipation and reflection guide – a two-page handout with quotes that relate to the text’s themes. Students need to respond whether they agree or disagree with the statement and then explain their opinion. There are teacher notes for how to turn this into a class discussion.
- quote analysis and reading quizzes – the reading quizzes help you gauge student comprehension and the quote analysis helps students learn to read for deeper understanding of themes and life lessons
- theme tracking notes – students research themes and track them while reading. They use this later to create an author’s theme statement.
- film and text essay – an elements of film handout, essay graphic organizer, grading rubric, and notes for the teacher that you can use while showing an adaptation of Frankenstein.
- character analysis packet with three activities – firstly, a guided space for students to illustrate, describe, record, and analyze evidence about character development in the novel. Secondly, a character-theme graffiti table to helps students understand how minor characters support theme development. Lastly, a character review project that is a creative project that encourages abstract thinking and evidence-based writing
- post-reading discussion in Socratic method: a semi-structured approach to class discussions with a 20-slide PowerPoint that explains the Socratic method. Students also get a preparation worksheet and reflection. You also get instructions for how to hold a class discussion.
- author study – students create a Facebook profile, Facebook newsfeed, Facebook exit tickets and Twitter exit tickets about Mary Shelley. There is also extra information for how you can use these in different ways through the unit including as reading quizzes and assessments.
- theme and quote poster – two different styles of printable posters that highlight key themes from the novel
5. TeachNovels Frankenstein full unit bundle
The final whole-unit bundle that we have today is this one by TeachNovels. This full-unit bundle is based on the 1818 edition of Frankenstein, so if your school has that edition, this may better suit your needs.
Included in the bundle are
- pre-reading activities that introduce the unit, the goals of the unit, and the novel
- multiple-choice reading quizzes for each reading
- discussion questions and a variety of standards-based lessons based on the readings
- enriching challenges such as inquiries, debates, creative writing, and performances
- assess student learning with performance tasks or a final exam
- key topics covered include allusion, characterization, imagery, structure (frame tales), structural effects such as suspense, point of view, symbolism, theme development, Romanticism, and science fiction
The seventeen lesson plans for Frankenstein include three pre-reading lessons, nine during-reading lessons, and five after-reading lessons. Each lesson includes connected clips, readings, and graphic organizers.
The bundle also includes exam bank questions you can use to create your own exam suited to your individual classes. Exam questions are in both PDF and MS Word format, so you can edit them to suit as well. In it there are
- 40 comprehension questions with answer key
- 42 language arts questions with answer key
- 22 short-answer promts
- 12 extended-answer prompts
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