Perhaps one of the most famous and illustrative stories featuring irony, "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry provides many opportunities for learners to make inferences about its characters. After reading a short introductory passage from the story, kids answer four questions about facts that they can infer from the story without having any additional details.

Concepts

making inferences, o. henry, the gift of the magi, context clues

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Include in a language arts assessment for reading level or use as a homework assignment
• Use the passage to begin your unit on O. Henry or the use of irony in literature
• Have kids apply the story to their own lives by writing a narrative about a time when they couldn't afford something, leaving opportunities for others to make inferences

Classroom Considerations

• The complex language in the passage might make it difficult for developing readers to make proper inferences; consider supplying definitions for some of the more difficult words, or working with your class on the context clues to define the words themselves
• You'll need to have kids answer the questions on another page, as there is not a lot of space provided for each response

Pros

• Comes with an answer key with suggestions for short answers
• Questions prompt kids to use context clues when making inferences about the passage

Cons

• None

Common Core

RL.9-10.1 RL.11-12.1