A Guide for Using
The Red Badge
of Courage
in the Classroom
Based on the book written by Stephen Crane
This guide written by Michelle Breyer
Teacher Created Resources, Inc.
6421 Industry Way
Westminster, CA 92683
www.teachercreated.com
ISBN: 978-0-7439-3151-9
©2001 Teacher Created Resources, Inc.
Reprinted, 2010
Made in U.S.A.
Edited by
Polly Hoffman
Illustrated by
Bruce Hedges
Cover Art by
Bruce Hedges
The classroom teacher may reproduce copies of materials in this book for classroom use only. The
reproduction of any part for an entire school or school system is strictly prohibited. No part of this
publication may be transmitted, stored, or recorded in any form without written permission from the
publisher.
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
....3
Sample Lesson Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Before the Book (Pre-reading Activities). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6
Book Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.7
Vocabulary Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8
Vocabulary Activity Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Section 1 (Chapters 1–3)
• Quiz Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . 10
• Hands-On Project—Character Hot Seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1
• Cooperative Learning Activity—A Letter Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
• Curriculum Connections—Reading: Reading Response Journals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
• Into Your Life—Descriptive Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Section 2 (Chapters 4–8)
• Quiz Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . 15
• Hands-On Project—The Power of Violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
• Cooperative Learning Activity—The Reality of War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
• Curriculum Connections—History: Civil War Time Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
• Into Your Life—Testing Your Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Section 3 (Chapters 9–13)
• Quiz Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . 20
• Hands-On Project—The Glory of Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
• Cooperative Learning Activity—Dialect Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
• Curriculum Connections—Language Arts: Personified War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
• Into Your Life—What Is a Hero? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Section 4 (Chapters 14–19)
• Quiz Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . 25
• Hands-On Project—Mancala, A Strategy Game. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
• Cooperative Learning Activity—Create a Regiment Flag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
• Curriculum Connections—Math: Civil War Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
• Into Your Life—A Change of Attitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Section 5 (Chapters 20–24)
• Quiz Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . 30
• Hands-On Project—The War Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
• Cooperative Learning Activity—Writing Dialogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
• Curriculum Connections—History: The Gettysburg Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
• Into Your Life—The Great Threat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
After the Book (Post-reading Activities)
• Any Questions? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . 35
• Book Report Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . 36
• Important People During the Civil War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Culminating Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Unit Test Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2
Bibliography of Related Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . 46
#3151 The Red Badge of Courage
2
© Teacher Created Resources, Inc.
Section 1: Chapters 1–3
The Red Badge of Courage
Quiz Time
Section 1: Chapters 1–3
1. On the back of this paper, write a one-paragraph summary of the major events of the first three
chapters.
2. Why did Henry believe that war was a thing of the past? _________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
3. What persuaded Henry to reject his mother ’s advice and enlist in the army? __________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
4. Why was Henry disappointed in his mother ’s “send-off” speech? What had he expected? _______
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
5. Explain why Henry felt thankful for Jim Conklin’ s words at the end of chapter 1. ______________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
6. What makes Henry change his opinion about enlisting in the army? _________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
7. How do you think Henry felt when he encountered the dead body on his march? ______________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
8. Henry’s mind wanders during the monotonous march. At one point, he is paranoid and believes
they are marching into a trap. Why doesn’t he speak up to the lieutenant? ___________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
9. Henry is obsessed with scrutinizing his character in battle. At one point he believes it would be
better to be killed off directly. Why? _________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
10. Why did the loud soldier, Wilson, give Henry the yellow envelope? What effect do you think this
will have on Henry’s resolution to fight or flee?_________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
#3151 The Red Badge of Courage
10
© Teacher Created Resources, Inc.
Section 1: Chapters 1–3
The Red Badge of Courage
Character Hot Seat
Have students perform simple improvisations to better understand the feelings and personalities of the
characters in the story.
1. First, have students make a list of questions that they would want to ask the characters from the
first section of the book. The questions could require direct information from the story (events,
actions, dialogue, etc.), or they could require inferences (How did you feel when . . . What do
you think about . . . What would you do if . . .). The questions should be focused on the
following characters:
• Henry
• Mother
• the tall soldier (Jim Conklin)
• the lieutenant
• the loud soldier (Wilson)
2. Next, review and edit the questions for the interview before beginning the improvisation. Then,
compile a final list of appropriate questions for the characters and distribute the list back to the
class to use during the interview.
3. Randomly select a student to come to the front of the class and sit on a chair or a stool. Assign
the student a character role and tell the student that they will be asked questions, from the rest of
the class, that pertain to the story. It will be the student’s job to sit, speak, and respond in a
manner befitting the character.
4. Using the prepared set of questions, have students interview the character on the “hot seat” and
evaluate his or her ability to stay true to the character .
5. Switch the person on the “hot seat” regularly to allow several students an opportunity to
improvise.
6. Continue in this manner for each of the dif ferent characters from the story. You may wish to
interview a different character each day for a brief amount of time, or interview all characters in
one class period.
7. At the end of the improvisation activity, discuss what made the characters believable. Who was
most convincing in their character role and why? Which answers were the most clever and
creative? What did these students do to help them improvise?
8. Discuss the different characters from the story and list the personality traits for each.
9. Throughout your reading, refer to these lists and add to them as needed.
10. As new characters and events are entered into the story , play “hot seat” again to gain a personal
feel for the characters and action.
© Teacher Created Resources, Inc.
11
#3151 The Red Badge of Courage
Section 1: Chapters 1–3
The Red Badge of Courage
A Letter Home
In the first section of reading, Henry deals with his feelings of inadequacy . He is unable to share these
feelings with any of the men in his regiments, yet it seems that he would like to talk to someone. In a
small group, write a letter from Henry to his mother to help him communicate his feelings.
1. Work in a group of two to four students.
2. Discuss Henry’s feelings about leaving home, joining the army , and facing his first battle. Record
these feelings on paper.
3. As a group, draft a letter from Henry to his mother . Have Henry describe army life and then open
up and share his feelings and fears.
4. Edit and revise the letter together.
5. Next, each student in the group writes a final draft of the letter from Henry to his mother . (Each
individual will be held responsible for his or her writing grade.)
6. Trade final draft letters with another group. Read these letters together and discuss a possible
reaction from Henry’s mother. Based on her character from the book, how do you think she
would answer Henry’s letter? Brainstorm ideas and record them together .
7. Now it is time to work on your own. Using the ideas from your group, write your own reply from
Henry’s mother to Henry. Edit and revise your letter , then write a final draft.
8. Staple your reply letter (from Henry’s mother) to a classmate’s letter (from Henry) and turn them
in to your teacher.
9. Your teacher will evaluate your letters based on your writing skills, as well as your ability to use
aspects and influences from the story.
10. If desired, some letters may be read aloud to the class for discussion.
#3151 The Red Badge of Courage
12
© Teacher Created Resources, Inc.
Section 1: Chapter 1–3
The Red Badge of Courage
Reading Response Journals
One great way to ensure that the reading of The Red Badge of Courage becomes a personal experience
for each student is to include the use of Reading Response Journals in your plans. In these journals,
students can be encouraged to respond to the story in a number of ways.
Here are a few ideas.
• Tell students that the purpose of the journal is to record their thoughts, ideas, observations, and
questions as they read The Red Badge of Courage.
• Provide students with, or ask them to suggest, topics from the story that would stimulate writing.
Here are a few examples from the chapters in Section 1:
— Henry disobeyed his mother and joined the army . Why do you think he did this? What would
you have done in Henry’s position?
— Henry continually questions his character and worries about his performance under pressure.
Name some situations in which you feel under pressure and judged. How does this af fect
your performance?
— Henry feels he would be better of f dead than he would be facing a battle. What would be a
better way for Henry to handle this problem? Explain your answer .
• After reading each chapter, students can write about one or more new things they have learned in
the chapter.
• Ask students to draw their responses to certain events or characters in the story using blank pages
in their journals.
• Tell students that they may use their journals to record “diary-type” responses.
• Encourage students to bring their journal ideas to life. Ideas generated from their journal writing
can be used to create plays, debates, stories, songs, poems, and art displays.
• Give students quotes from the novel and ask them to write their own responses. Make sure to do
this before you go over the quotations in class. In groups, they can list the dif ferent ways they
responded to the same quote.
• Allow students time to write in their journals daily .
• The teacher will read personal reflections, but no corrections or letter grades will be assigned.
Credit is given for effort, and all students who sincerely try will be awarded credit. If a grade is
desired for this type of entry, grade according to the number of journal entries completed. For
example, if five journal assignments were given and the student conscientiously completes all
five, then he or she receives an “A.”
• Non-judgmental teacher notations should be made as you read journals to let the students know
you are enjoying their entrees. Here are some responses that will please your journal writers and
encourage them to write more:
— “You have really found what’s important in the story!”
— “You write so clearly, I almost feel as if I am there.”
— “If you feel comfortable, I’d like you to share this with the class. I think they’ll enjoy it as
much as I have.”
© Teacher Created Resources, Inc.
13
#3151 The Red Badge of Courage