A Christmas Carol | Free Full Week Lesson | Adapted Version | Charles Dickens

Do you want students to read A Christmas Carol, but you don’t have weeks in December to unpack dense Victorian prose and five full Staves with a roomful of varied readers?

Here’s the solution: a resource that gives you both the complete original Charles Dickens text (public domain) and a tightly adapted 5-part, one-week version (about half the length), so you can match the reading path to every student—without changing your assessments or losing instructional time.

The adapted and original versions line up part-for-part using a clean Stave mapping (Parts I–V). Every discussion question, multiple-choice exit quiz, short-answer item, and challenge question has been audit-validated to work for both tracks. Mixed-ability classrooms can now stay on the same scenes, ideas, and themes—Scrooge’s isolation, the three Spirits, social responsibility, and true “wealth”—even when reading different versions of the text.

Quick Guide for Teachers

Adapted-Only Track (Fastest: 5-Day Model)

• Best for classes that need a manageable, one-week novel study.
• Day 1–5: Students read one adapted part per day and use the matching discussion questions and self-grading quiz
• End the week with the Final Worksheet (Vocab + short answer + challenge questions).
• This track keeps the lesson tight, predictable, and easy to finish within the week.

Original-Only Track (Longer: Multi-Day Per Section)

• Ideal for advanced readers or classes with time for a full novel study.
• Students read the original chapters aligned to each adapted Part.
• Assessments still work exactly the same (except no vocab words)
• This track preserves Baum’s full language, pacing, and descriptive style.

Dual-Track Differentiation (Mixed Readers, flexible timelines)

• Lets your entire class study the same plot, themes, and characters at the same time—even if they are reading different versions of the text.
• Assign adapted version part 1 to students who need a shorter, clearer text and original chapters that correspond to part 1 to students reading the full text (This is fully detailed in the Teacher's Guide)
• Give original-text students multiple days per section while adapted-text students can reread, complete targeted vocabulary work, and/or tackle included discussion questions in small-groups.
• All assessments are usable for both tracks: Discussion questions + MC exit quizzes for each Part + Final Worksheet (except for Vocab Words)

What's the tradeoff of using the adapted version?

Pros:

• Reduces story to a fraction of its original length, fitting neatly into a one week lesson.
• Well suited for shorter attention spans to maintain student interest.
• Preserves core narrative elements, themes and character development.
• Better than omitting it completely due to time limits.
• Works for whole-class read-alouds, small-group novel studies, independent reading, or close reading unit.

Cons:

• Omits some original language and details for brevity, potentially losing nuances of the author's style.
• Limits opportunities for in-depth literary analysis by excluding certain subplots or descriptive passages.

This product includes a zip file consisting of:

Full Original Text ~29,000 words (PDF, DOCX)

• Great for advanced students that can read fast or for classrooms that want to take multiple weeks to read through the story.

Adapted Version Text ~16,000 words, 48 pages (PDF, DOCX, Google Docs)

• Divided into 5 parts for easy daily reading sessions

• BONUS: Free Access to the text on our LEVELED-LIT CLASSICS Library Platform.

 

Student Worksheet (PPT, Google Slides, PDF print)

• 10 Vocabulary Words
• 10 Short Answer Recall/Comprehension
• 5 Challenge Questions (synthesis, analysis, themes, real life connection)

Teacher’s Guide & Answer Key (PDF, DOCX, Google Docs)

• 5 Sets of Daily Discussion Questions (1 per part)
• 5 Sets of Self-Graded Exit Quizzes (1 per part, 20Qs each)
• Answer Keys for Vocab, Short Answer, and Challenge Questions
• Key Figures & Places reference sheets to help students track characters and settings
  

Text Summary

This mini reader treats A Christmas Carol as a “mini-novel in five acts,” with each part forming a complete day’s reading and discussion arc.

• Part 1 – From Marley’s Warning to a Haunted Night: Introduces Scrooge’s coldhearted attitudes, his treatment of Fred and Bob, and Marley’s terrifying visit that announces the three Spirits.
• Part 2 – Shadows of Christmas Past: Shows Scrooge’s lonely childhood, Fezziwig’s joyful party, and the breakup with Belle, forcing him to face how his choices turned him toward money and away from people.
• Part 3 – The Joy and Need of Christmas Present: Follows the Ghost of Christmas Present through London, highlighting the Cratchit family’s courage, Tiny Tim’s fragile health, Fred’s warm party, and the haunting figures of Ignorance and Want.
• Part 4 – The Terrible Future That Might Be: Reveals the bleak future in which Scrooge dies unloved, Tiny Tim is buried, and his belongings are stolen, pushing him to beg for a chance to change.
• Part 5 – A Changed Heart and a New Beginning: Shows Scrooge waking on Christmas Day, acting with secret generosity, reconnecting with Fred, supporting the Cratchits, and becoming known as someone who “keeps Christmas” all year.

This one classical literature reading resource gives you a complete, no-prep, one-week unit for teaching A Christmas Carol in bite-sized steps—preserving Dickens’s original story while making it truly teachable in real classrooms with real time limits.

Also, you may want to try another free Adapted Version:

[FREE DOWNLOAD] The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Adapted Version

Get this resource in a bundle and save 40% [Click here]