Lesson Plan: Meeting Mary Lennox — The Secret Garden, Chapters I–II

Objective

Students will be able to describe Mary Lennox's character traits using evidence from the text and explain how her upbringing and circumstances shaped her personality.

Essential Question

How do the people and events around us shape who we become?

Materials

• Copies of Chapters I–II of The Secret Garden (excerpt provided)
• Chart paper or whiteboard
• Character Trait Web worksheet (or blank paper divided into sections)
• Pencils/colored pencils
• Sticky notes

Warm-Up / Hook (~5 min)

Ask students: "Imagine you woke up one day and your whole house was silent — no parents, no caregivers, nobody around. How would you feel? What would you do?" Take 2–3 quick responses. Explain that today's story character, Mary Lennox, actually experiences something like this.

Direct Instruction (~10 min)

• Introduce the book title and author (Frances Hodgson Burnett) and explain we are starting at the very beginning.
• Read aloud (or have students follow along) the first few paragraphs of Chapter I, focusing on the description of Mary: "thin light hair and a sour expression," raised by servants who "always obeyed her and gave her way in everything," and "as tyrannical and selfish a little pig as ever lived by six years old."
• Pause and ask: "What words does the author use to describe Mary? Why do you think she became this way?"
• Explain key vocabulary as needed: tyrannical, disagreeable, fretful, Ayah (a nurse/nanny in India), cholera (a serious illness).
• Briefly summarize the plot event: Mary is left alone in India when cholera sweeps through her home, and she discovers her parents and servants have died, leaving her completely alone.

Guided Practice (~15 min)

• As a class, create a Character Trait Web on chart paper with "Mary Lennox" in the center.
• Reread key passages together (e.g., her treatment of the strange servant woman: "I will not let you stay... I will not let you stay"; her calling the Ayah "Pig! Pig! Daughter of Pigs!"; her reaction to being forgotten: "Why was I forgotten? Why does nobody come? Stamping her foot.")
• For each passage, ask students to name a trait (e.g., demanding, spoiled, unkind, lonely, unaffectionate) and write it on the web with the evidence from the text that supports it.
• Discuss as a class: "The text says Mary 'did not cry because her nurse had died... She was not an affectionate child and had never cared much for anyone.' Why might a child grow up this way? Whose fault is it — Mary's, or the way she was raised?"

Independent Practice (~10 min)

Students complete a short written response (4–6 sentences) answering:
"Using at least two pieces of evidence from the text, describe what kind of child Mary Lennox is at the start of the story. Then explain one reason from the text that helps you understand why she might act this way."

Assessment / Check for Understanding

• Review completed Character Trait Webs for accurate use of text evidence.
• Collect independent written responses and check for: (1) at least two specific character traits named, (2) direct evidence or reference from the text, (3) a reasonable explanation connecting Mary's upbringing to her behavior.
• Quick verbal check: cold-call 2–3 students to share one trait and one piece of evidence.

Differentiation

• Support: Provide a partially filled-in Character Trait Web with some traits already listed (e.g., "spoiled," "lonely") so students only need to find matching text evidence. Allow oral response instead of written for independent practice.
• Extension: Ask advanced students to write a paragraph predicting how Mary might change now that she has no one to give her "her own way," using clues from the text about her situation (e.g., she will need to go live with new people who may not treat her the same way).

Closure (~5 min)

Gather students back together. Ask: "Mary has just learned there is 'no one left' to take care of her. Based on what we know about her personality so far, what do you predict might happen next? Will she stay the same, or do you think something will change her?" Take a few predictions and explain that next lesson will follow Mary as she leaves India for a new home in England.