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Teaching Monster

There's a monster at the end of this Teaching Guide...and it ain't Grover.

  • Activities: 13
  • Quiz Questions: 63

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Walter Dean Myers' Monster is one of the most high interest and iconic works of recent YA fiction. It's got trial, prison, self-discovery, and Charlize Theron's Academy Award-winning depiction of America's most famous female serial killer to boot.

Well, maybe not that last one...but in this guide, you will find

  • re-imaginings of the novel's most intense scenes, through a film director's lens.
  • a thought-provoking journal series about self-perception.
  • research about the media's depiction of prison vs. prison realities.

Suffice it to say, this novel ain't your Orange is the New Black hijinks-filled walk through the park. But teaching it will be.

What's Inside Shmoop's Literature Teaching Guides

Shmoop is a labor of love from folks who love to teach. Our teaching guides will help you supplement in-classroom learning with fun, engaging, and relatable learning materials that bring literature to life.

Inside each guide you'll find quizzes, activity ideas, discussion questions, and more—all written by experts and designed to save you time. Here are the deets on what you get with your teaching guide:

  • 13-18 Common Core-aligned activities to complete in class with your students, including detailed instructions for you and your students. 
  • Discussion and essay questions for all levels of students.
  • Reading quizzes for every chapter, act, or part of the text.
  • Resources to help make the book feel more relevant to your 21st-century students.
  • A note from Shmoop's teachers to you, telling you what to expect from teaching the text and how you can overcome the hurdles.

Want more help teaching Teaching Monster?

Check out all the different parts of our corresponding learning guide.



Instructions for You

Objective: There are lots of ways prison is represented on TV, in Hollywood, and in stories. So what's real and what's not? In the beginning of Monster Steve even says, "I have seen movies of prisons but never one like this" (1.6). Your students will work in pairs to compare what they already know about prison and what they learn from Monster to reality.

Expect to use one full class period for this. If you can find out what they know about prison (steps 2 and 3) before reading the book, and then do the activity once the book is read, that'd be ideal.

Materials Needed: Pen and paper; computers with access to the Internet; larger paper (construction paper, poster board, etc.) for the finished product

Step 1: Let everyone know the general idea of the project: They'll do some prewriting and discussing, research a little, and then present their info on paper. They're going to end up with three lists before they synthesize their findings, and they can use three pieces of paper or one piece divided into thirds. The first list is Things I Know, the second is Prisons on TV, Movies, and Books, and the third is Stats, Facts, and Real Accounts.

Step 2: Find out what they already know about prison. Give everyone a few minutes to work with partners to list everything they know—or think they know—about prison. This focus here is on what they know firsthand, have heard from others, read in the news, or read from non-fiction. It doesn't include stuff from movies and works of fiction.

Step 3: Have students share what they've listed, either with the whole class or in small groups. Encourage them to add anything they forgot to their list.

Step 4: After finishing the book, have students list in the second column (or second page) all the ways prison is portrayed in TV, movies, and books, including Monster (remembering to cite pages, of course). When they're finished, have them briefly share with others and add things they forgot.

Step 5: Now it's time for a little research on the realities of prison life. Students can jot down their notes in the third column (or third page) as they check out some of the following sources online (check them out yourself to make sure they're good fits for your kids):

Step 6: Time to distill all the info into a visual product. This is a quick one, so your students don't have to get all crazy with it. That said, there are some guidelines:

  • Include a title
  • The focus is prison: fact or fiction
  • Use info from each of the three prewriting lists
  • Spelling, grammar, neatness—it all counts
  • Cite Monster and online sources

Instructions for Your Students

Objective: There are lots of ways prison is represented on TV, by Hollywood, and in stories. So what's real and what's not? In the beginning of Monster Steve even says, "I have seen movies of prisons but never one like this" (1.6). You and a partner will compare what you already know about prison and what you learn from Monster to reality, separating fact from fiction as you go along.

Step 1: Here's the idea: You'll do some prewriting and discussing, research a little, and then present your info on paper. You're going to end up with three lists before you synthesize your findings. The first list is Things I Know, the second is Prisons on TV, Movies, and Books, and the third is Stats, Facts, and Real Accounts.

Step 2: Take a few minutes to work with your partner and put together a list of everything you know (or think you know) about prison. The goal here is to capture the info you know firsthand, have heard from others, read in the news, or read from non-fiction. In other words, don't include stuff from movies and fiction.

Step 3: Share your ideas. If you hear something you forgot to write down, jot it down now.

Step 4: Now make a second list that includes everything you know about prison from TV, movies, and books, including Monster. When you include info from Monster, be sure to cite the page numbers.

Step 5: Time for a little research on the realities of prison life. As you check out some of these websites, jot down notes on your third list.

Step 6: Now it's time to take all those amazing notes of yours and present them in a visual product. This is a quick one, so no need to get all crazy with it. Here are some things you definitely want to include, though:

  • A title
  • The focus is prison: fact or fiction
  • Use info from each of your three prewriting lists
  • Spelling, grammar, neatness—it all counts
  • Cite Monster and online sources