The Secret Garden | Full Week Lesson | Adapted Version | Burnett | No Prep

Do you want students to read The Secret Garden, but you don’t have weeks to push through an 80,000-word novel with uneven reading levels in the room?

Here’s the solution: a resource that gives you both the complete original Frances Hodgson Burnett text (public domain) and a tightly adapted 5-Part, one-week version (20,000 words), 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 chapter mapping (Parts I–V). Every discussion question, multiple-choice exit quiz, short-answer item, challenge prompt, and themes-based reflection has been audit-validated to work for both tracks. Mixed-ability classrooms can now stay on the same scenes, ideas, and themes—even when some students are reading the full classic and others are using the streamlined adapted 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 ~80,000 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 ~20,000 words, 50 pages (PDF, DOCX, Google Docs)

• Divided into 5 parts for easy daily reading sessions

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 turns The Secret Garden into a five-part “mini-novel” that can be taught in one week.

• Part 1 – From India to the Locked Doors: Mary loses her parents in a cholera outbreak, is sent from India to gloomy Misselthwaite Manor, and begins exploring its silent corridors and distant cries.
• Part 2 – Discovering the Secret Garden: Mary learns the story of the locked garden, finds the buried key and hidden door, and starts bringing the neglected space back to life with help from the robin and Dickon.
• Part 3 – The Hidden Boy and the First Miracle: Mary discovers her cousin Colin, challenges his belief that he is doomed to die, and helps him see that his back is straight, beginning the “first miracle” of hope.
• Part 4 – Secret Magic and Growing Strength: Mary and Dickon wheel Colin into the secret garden, where fresh air, friendship, and “Magic” help him grow stronger as they hide his progress from the adults.
• Part 5 – The Garden Revealed and the Family Restored: Susan Sowerby’s letter and a mysterious experience call Mr. Craven home; he finds Colin walking in the garden, grief begins to lift, and the family’s life at Misselthwaite is transformed.

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

Try one of these free classical literature mini readers just like this one to see if it meets your needs:

• A Christmas Carol | Free Full Week Lesson | Adapted Version | Charles Dickens
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz | Full Week Lesson | Adapted Version Text | No Prep

Standards

• Reading Literature: CCSS RL.6-8.1, CCSS RL.6-8.2, CCSS RL.6-8.3, CCSS RL.6-8.4, CCSS RL.6-8.5, CCSS RL.6-8.6
• Writing: CCSS W.6-8.2
• Speaking & Listening: CCSS SL.6-7.1

Want more? Save 40%!

Get the full Middle School Classical Lit Sets | Bundle of 8 Adapted Text Versions

This bundle includes adapted versions of:

• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Baum, 1900) [FREE DOWNLOAD]
• Anne of Green Gables (Montgomery, 1908)
• The Secret Garden (Burnett, 1911)
• The Call of the Wild (London, 1903)
• Black Beauty (Sewell, 1877)
• White Fang (London, 1906)
• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Verne, 1870)
• Robinson Crusoe (Defoe, 1719)
• BONUS: A Christmas Carol (Dickens, 1843) [FREE DOWNLOAD]