Two Free and Imaginative Lesson Plans for “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”

Welcome, and thanks for reading! Each week at Write with a Point, I share two suggestions on how I’ve taught (or would teach) a specific short story, along with some additional information about the text. Let’s get right to it.

Basic information about the text:

Author: James Thurber
Genre: Literary Fiction
Textual Connections: Lewis Carroll’s famous story, Alice in Wonderland, is one of the most famous literary dreams out there, and students are generally familiar with the story. Ursula K. Le Guin’s sci-fi novel, The Lathe of Heaven, deals significantly with dreams, their power, and their connection to everyday life. And Christopher Nolan’s fantastic movie starring Leonardo Decaprio, Inception, also deals with dreams—although I wouldn’t show it in the classroom.

A quick summary of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”:

A beautiful pink cloud set against a bright blue sky gives the feeling of a daydream.

At its most basic level, the story is about a man (Walter Mitty) who is running errands with his wife. In the process, he frequently gets lost in thought, and he daydreams of captaining a ship, performing surgery, flying planes in World War One, and more. The intersection of his imagined adventures and his “real life” are where the story ultimately comes alive.

Two no-prep lesson plans for Thurber’s short story:

Option One: A one or two day reading and creative analysis using one-pagers

A lined page of notebook paper is full of drawings and doodles, much like student made one-pagers.

Personally, I feel that any lesson for such a fun, inventive story should also be fun and inventive. That’s why pairing Thurber’s text with a creative, flexible assignment like one-pagers is such a good call. If you’re unfamiliar with one-pagers, here’s how they work: Students are given a blank piece of paper (or a blank template page) and are instructed to fill it with all the things they’ve learned about a story or topic. Some teachers (like me) will give students specific requirements for things to incorporate into their one-pagers, which might include a specific number of quotes, key words from the story, important plot points, thematic references, or more. After that, students are given free rein to create or fill out their page as they see fit.

So how does the lesson go? It’s pretty straightforward. Start class by reading “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” together. You can also have students read it in small groups if you want. (Alternatively, you can assign it as homework the night before so students have even more time to complete their one-pagers.)

Next, explain the concept of one-pagers to your students (if they’re unfamiliar with the idea). For some great visual examples and a more detailed explanation, check out this post from Cult of Pedagogy.

After, give students the following prompts to choose from or include in their one-pagers. Remind them that their “answers” or “responses” to these prompts can be visual (i.e. drawings) or they can be written. Both options are fine. Typically, I’ll require that students choose 5-6 of these items, but you can have them incorporate more or less into their work.

What to include in your one-pager:

A key moment from Thurber’s short story
An exploration of one of Walter’s daydreams
Two specific details that connect Walter’s daydreams to his everyday life
Other key details from the text (like the “overshoes,” cigarette, or “puppy biscuit”)
One or two key quotes from the story
Something (a phrase, key words, or a drawing) that represents a theme from the text
A description or depiction of Mr. or Mrs. Mitty
Your response to the story
One piece of figurative language that was used in the text (either a quote or drawing)

If you’re feeling adventurous, you can have your students create their own one-pager prompts instead of using what’s listed above. When I do this, I’ll typically have students pair up and briefly discuss what they thought was important in the story. Then I’ll have the pairs share their thoughts with the whole class, writing their responses on the board. After, I’ll have a brief discussion with the class where we select the best responses and turn those into prompts. Additionally, you could ask the pairs or the class these questions to get them thinking about what to include:

How does this text connect with what you’ve been learning?
What is the most important thing that you can take away from this text?
What was the purpose for reading this text?
Why did your teacher assign this text?

Give students plenty of time to finish their one-pagers. (Usually they need the rest of class.) As needed, they can complete their one-pagers as homework.

If you’d like to extend the lesson by a day, you can have students share their one-pagers the next day. You can even run that lesson like a gallery walk, where students rotate between one-pagers while the “artist” explains why they designed their sheet the way they did. (Instead of having each student explain verbally, you could have them all write an “artist statement,” which is essentially one thoughtful paragraph detailing their creative decisions.)

Option Two: A two day lesson with a creative writing activity

Another creative option for studying Thurber’s story is with a creative writing prompt. This lesson is best split over two days; this ensures you have time to read and analyze the story before completing the creative writing portion.

On day one, you’ll start the class by reading the story. After, you’ll have students respond to the following prompts in small groups, pairs, or individually. (I typically have them work in small groups.)

In his daydream, Walter says, “We only live once, Sergeant. Or do we?” What is the significance of that quote? How does it connect with the rest of the story?
How do Walter’s daydreams connect with his real life?
Why does it matter when Walter tells his wife, “Does it ever occur to you that I am sometimes thinking?”
What are Walter’s motivations or desires throughout the story? Does he get what he wants?
How would the story be different if Walter was a younger man?
Why do you think the story ended the way it did? What is the significance of Walter bravely facing the firing squad?

Once the groups have answered the questions, have some of them share their responses with the class. See if there is a consensus among the students. If not, have students explain their reasoning.

After the whole class discussion/response, introduce the creative writing prompt: “Think back to the story, paying special attention to Walter’s desires and to the specific details in the text. Pick one detail that sticks out to you and write an additional daydream based on that object. The daydream should reflect Walter’s desires (for adventure, glory, honor, etc.) and should connect with the “real life” events of Walter’s day. For example, maybe he imagines that he’s a drag racer when he’s stopped at the light, or maybe he trains police dogs with the puppy biscuits he bought. Use your imagination here and have fun.”

There won’t be much time left in your day, but students can use what’s left to pick an object and start imagining their story. On the second day, students will write it out; they can also share it if there’s time. You can assign whatever length story suits your students best. I’d recommend a half to a full page response, depending on your students abilities.

Additional teaching suggestions:

In case you’re not aware, this story was made into a great movie starring Ben Stiller. It has a runtime that’s just under two hours, which means you can teach that and the story in one week. It’s interesting to compare the story to the film for many reasons, one of them being the differences in the character (Walter is younger and unmarried).
For a fun “science” twist or crossover, consider showing this TED-Ed video about daydreaming after reading the story. Then have students consider this question: “How does Walter’s daydreaming affect his mood, emotions, or goals in the story?”
If you’re looking for thoughtful and thorough one-pager templates, rubrics, and prompts, you can view my product bundle over on Teachers Pay Teachers.
If you want, you can find a printable, teacher friendly version of this blog post on my Teachers Pay Teachers store. You can also find other teaching tools available for purchase there.

A final word:

Generally, I figure that if you’ve found your way to this blog, you’re familiar with the story. Because of that, I don’t spend much time discussing what I think of as “SparkNotes” details—things like themes, character development, literary devices, or important quotes. Instead, I focus on the tangible questions and activities you can bring into your classroom. That said, if you have questions about those aspects of the story, please feel free to leave a comment. Also, if you have other teaching ideas, I’d love to hear them!

Thanks again for reading.

Nate Geeting

My name is Nathan Geeting (Nate’s fine), and I studied secondary education in the “Water-Winter Wonderland” that is Michigan. After graduating, I moved to the warmer world of North Carolina, where I taught ELA, Creative Writing, and Science Fiction to many lively middle schoolers. Since then, I’ve been sharing my instructional resources with other educators (across all fifty states and around the world) through my Teachers Pay Teachers store, Write with a Point. (Maybe you’re one of the 12,000+ teachers who downloaded my “Video Note Taking Guide” during the pandemic?) Now, I’m trying to help even more teachers by making lesson ideas practical, accessible, and exceptional here on my blog.