Standards Correlations

R.1, R.2, R.3, R.4, R.7, W.3, SL.1, SL.2, L.4, L.6

Learning Objective

Students will make inferences to better understand events in a story.

Key Skills

inference, text features, vocabulary, character’s motivation, key details, plot, critical thinking,  narrative writing

Complexity Factors

Levels of Meaning: The story delves into the theme of deception. To understand it,  the reader must make several inferences.

 

Structure: The story is mostly chronological, with flashbacks depicted in a different color scheme.

 

Language: The language is somewhat formal, with some old-fashioned phrasing.

 

Knowledge Demands: No prior knowledge is needed.

 

Key Skills: inference, text features, vocabulary, character’s motivation, key details, plot, critical thinking,  narrative writing

Levels

Lexile: 500L-600L

Guided Reading Level: S 

DRA Level: 40

SEL Connection

This story and lesson plan promote responsible decision-making skills.  

Lesson Plan: The Open Window


Essential Questions:

  • How does what we believe to be true affect the way we act?
  • Is it wrong to deceive others, even if it’s meant as a joke?

Literature Connections:

  • Novel: Liar, Liar by Gary Paulsen
  • Short story: “Charles” by Shirley Jackson 
  • Short story: “Click Clack the Rattlebag” by Neil Gaiman 

1. Preparing to Read 

Preview Text Features (10 minutes)

Guide students to locate the story. Then preview text features with the following prompts:

  • Look at the image of Vera on the title page. What can you guess about her mood and her thoughts? What does her facial expression tell you? Students might observe that Vera is smirking, like she’s got a secret. She is looking to the side and has her hands behind her back, suggesting that she is not being honest or that she is hiding something.
  • Like a graphic novel or a comic book, the story is made up of boxes (known as panels) that contain pictures and text. The way a line of text is presented helps you understand its purpose. Look through the story and find an example of a speech bubble, which contains the words a character is saying. Then find an example of a thought bubble, which contains a character’s thoughts. How are these two types of text features different? Examples will vary. The difference between the two types of text features is that a speech bubble has a little arrow-shaped element that points to the character who is speaking, while a thought bubble is connected to the thinking character by several bubbles.

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

  • Point out the vocabulary box. Read the terms (anxiety, tragedy, recovered, pariah dogs, specialty) aloud and discuss their definitions.
  • Play the Vocabulary Slideshow

Make a Plan for Reading

  • Before students read the play, set a purpose for reading by telling them that they will make inferences about “Secrets of Splat Night.” Explain that making an inference means using clues from the text  to figure out something that isn’t directly stated. (You may also consider showing our “Skills in Action: What Is an Inference?” video.)

 2. Reading and Unpacking the Text

  • Read the story (or visit Action Online and click Presentation View to access an audio read-aloud). Then discuss the following close-reading and critical-thinking questions.

Close-Reading Questions (25 minutes)

  • How does Mr. Nuttel feel when he first arrives in the countryside? How do you know? (inference) Mr. Nuttel feels anxious and doubtful. He thinks to himself that visiting strangers won’t help his anxious mind, which shows that he is nervous and has doubts about what he’s doing.
  • What does Vera tell Mr. Nuttel about why the window is kept open? (key details) Vera says her aunt’s husband and two brothers went hunting three years ago and never came back, and their bodies were never found. She says the window is kept open because her aunt believes they still might come home.
  • What does Mr. Nuttel think of Vera’s story? (inference) Mr. Nuttel believes the story and thinks it’s sad.
  • Why does Mr. Nuttel leave the house quickly at the end of the story? (inference) Mr. Nuttel leaves quickly because he thinks he sees the ghosts of Vera’s aunt’s husband and brothers coming back. 
  • Consider the question on the title page: Why are the details in the story Vera tells Mr. Nuttel important? (plot) The details that Vera includes in the story (about the brown spaniel, her aunt’s husband’s bag, and her aunt’s brother singing) describe exactly what Mr. Nuttel sees when the men return. Mr. Nuttel believes this is how the men appeared when they left three years ago, so the details make it seem as if the men have come back from the dead. 

Critical-Thinking Questions (10 minutes)

  • Why do you think Vera makes up the stories about her aunt’s tragedy and about Mr. Nuttel’s bad experience with dogs? Vera likely makes up these stories to entertain herself and to see how her audiences will react. She seems to enjoy using her imagination and playing pranks on others. In the last panel, she even seems to be proud of her ability to make up these stories, saying it is her “specialty.”
  • Do you think it’s wrong of Vera to make up these stories? Why or why not? Answers will vary. Some students might say that Vera’s story causes Mr. Nuttel unnecessary fear and anxiety, which can be seen as mean and wrong. Others might view it as harmless fun, arguing that Vera can’t predict Mr. Nuttel’s reaction. 

3. Skill Building and Writing

  • Have students work in pairs to complete the Spotlight Skill Workout: Inference activity at the end of the play.
  • Assign students to work independently on our Character Motivation skill builder. (Click here to see all your Skill Builders for this feature.)
  • Writing prompt: Imagine you are Mr. Nuttel and you have just returned home after your visit to the countryside. Write a letter to your sister describing your experience. Include details about the story Vera told you, your feelings during the visit, and your thoughts on whether you believe her story now that you’ve had some time to think about it. What has this experience taught you about seeking rest in the countryside?

Learn-Anywhere Activity

An enrichment activity to extend the learning journey at home or in the classroom

Project the task below on your whiteboard or share it with students in your LMS.

Write With Irony

Irony is when you expect one thing to happen, and instead the opposite happens. For example, in “The Open Window,” Mr. Nuttel goes to the countryside to relax and ends up running away in terror. 

Another example of irony in the story is that the name Vera comes from the Latin word for truth, and yet Vera tells huge lies just for fun. 

The story’s author probably laughed when he named a skillful liar Vera. Now it’s your turn to give a character an ironic name. Below is a list of some names and their meanings. Choose one and write a paragraph describing a character that really doesn’t fit the name. Feel free to make your paragraph silly! (For example, for Nadia, you might describe a character who always expects the worst: She wears a raincoat everywhere she goes, is always looking around for lions and bears that might attack her, and refuses to ever, ever cross the street.)

  • Adler (brave)
  • Ethan (strong) 
  • Felix (happy)
  • Hillary (cheerful)
  • Nadia (filled with hope)
  • Sandra (protector)
  • Sophie (wise)
  • Victor (winner)

Language-Acquisition Springboard

Teach contractions to make reading more fluent.

Before reading, tell students that a contraction is usually two words shortened into one, with an apostrophe in place of the missing letters. Write or project these sentences from the story on the board, and ask students to identify the two words from which each contraction (in bold) is made.

  • “I hope you don’t mind the open window.” (do not)
  • “They’re out hunting, so they’ll make a fine mess on the carpets.” (they are, they will)
  • “We’re home, dear.” (we are)
  • “He told me he’s terrified of dogs.” (he is)
  • “That’s enough to turn anyone into a nervous wreck!” (that is)

Looking for more ELL support? Download our full lesson plan and scroll to p. 5 to find questions that will help your ELLs respond to the text at the level that’s right for them.

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