A

Wrinkle
in Time
Novel Study
Emily Freeman

Social Studies
Standard: 5.11 Identify causes of the Civil War,
including states' rights and the issue of slavery.
Explaining events that led to the conclusion of the Civil
War
Objective: When given a worksheet highlighting the
connection between the Gettysburg address and A
Wrinkle in Time, students will answer all 3 questions with
no errors.
Using the provided worksheet, students will complete
information about the relation between the Civil War and
A Wrinkle in Time. The teacher will begin by introducing
the Civil War to students, providing background
information and explaining the context. The teacher will
have students read a portion of the Gettysburg address,
highlighting where Charles Wallaces line came from.
Students will then break into their literature circle groups
to complete the worksheet, walking through and
discussing each question.

NAME:____________________

Gettysburg Address
Before You Read
Brainstorm with your table: What basic freedoms do you feel
are most important in a society?
Background
Lincolns Gettysburg Address was given during the U.S. Civil
War after one of the wars bloodiest battles. In this speech,
Lincoln encourages people to keep the ideals of the United States
in mind and to remember those who fought for those ideals. He
does not want people to give up on the idea of a unified nation. In
A Wrinkle in Time, Calvin recites Lincolns speech in order to resist
the bad influences of the red-eyed man (page 136). Some of the
ideas in the address contrast with those of the society that the
children discover during their journey.
1. According to the speech, to what ideals where the founding
fathers of the United States dedicated?

2. What is the unfinished work to which the living citizens of

the country should be dedicated?

3. Contrast the ideals laid out in Lincolns Gettysburg Address

to the practices Meg encounters during her time on
Camazotz. Why does she disapprove of these practices?

Technology
Standard:
5.2.) Use various technology applications, including word
processing and multimedia software.
Objective:
Students will create a comic book online, summarizing
the events from one of the first 6 chapters of a book,
scoring at least a 3 in each category for proficiency.
Using comicmaster.org.uk, students will create a comic
book summarizing the events of one of the first 6
chapters (to be assigned by teacher). Working with their
literature circle group, students will collaborate to
determine the most significant events and information
and how they want it to be communicated. Students will
brainstorm as a group, designing and planning out their
comic book. Students will then share their comic book to
the class page, allowing other students to see their work
and review it for the final test.

Mathematics
Standard:
5. 7.) Use place value understanding to round decimals
to any place. [5-NBT4]
Objective: When given a series of 8 decimals to round,
students will round decimals to the tenths, hundredths
and thousandths places with no errors.
On page 49, Meg is showing her skills in math to Calvin
and ends up explaining that the fraction 3/7 is equal
to .428571. The teacher will explain the purpose of
rounding decimals and how we would round the
decimal here, writing it a .43 The teacher will explain
that we will be rounding numbers to the hundredths
and thousandths places. The teacher will do a quick
review of place value, reminding students where the
hundredths and thousandths places are. The teacher
will give students the worksheet that has a series of
decimals that need to be rounded. The students will
work together to round the decimals, following the
directions for each one. When the worksheet is
complete, the teacher will point out how all of the
rounded numbers are similar. She will prompt the
discussion of which is more accurate, aiming that the
students will see that the one rounded to the
thousandths place is most accurate because it includes
the most digits from the original number.

Name:__________________

Rounding it home

Round to the tenths place

.4698
3.2413
1.63589
.3219
Round to the hundredths place

.4698
3.2413
1.63589
.3219
Round to the thousandths place

.4698
3.2413
1.63589
.3219
Music

Standard:
5. 8.) Demonstrate appropriate use
of legato and staccato in a song.
Objective:
Students will take a popular song and change the words
to summarize A Wrinkle in Time, scoring a 3 in all areas
for proficiency.
The teacher will break students into small groups of 3-4.
The groups will work together to choose a popular song
and rewrite the lyrics to summarize A Wrinkle in Time.
The song should summarize 1 chapter, assigned to the
group, in great detail. This will be used as a review before
the summative test. The students will figure out if any
parts of their song should be sung legato or staccato. The
teacher will review with students that legato parts are
connected whereas staccato ones are short and
separated. The students, after typing out their song
lyrics, must label what parts are staccato with a pink
highlighter and the parts that are legato with a yellow
highlighter. Students will then present their songs to the
class- choosing to sing or just read the lyrics they wrote.
The songs will then be evaluated on the rubric with
proficient students scoring a 3 in each section.

Name:_____________
Score:_________
Song Rubric
4
3
2
1
Some lyrics A majority None of
Changing The
majority of
stayed the
of the
the lyrics
the lyrics
same from lyrics were were
of lyrics

Quality of
Summary

Highlighti
ng of
legato
and
staccato
Presentati
on

were
changed to
fit with the
book. The
lyric
changes
made sense
and
summarized
the book.
The
summary
accurately
summarized
the chapter
assigned,
highlight all
the key
events
The legato
and
staccato
portions are
highlighted.

the original
but many
were
changed.
Some of
the
changes
didnt make
complete
sense
The
summary
summarize
d the
chapter but
missed 1-2
events.

The legato
and
staccato
portions
are
highlighted
but 1-2
were
flipped or
left out.
The group
The group
presented
presented
the full song the full
with correct song but
expression
without

the same.
Many of
the lyric
changes
did not
make
sense

changed.
The few
lyrics that
were
changed
did not
make
sense.

The
summary
missed
several of
the main
events
from the
chapter.

The
summary
did not
include
any events
from the
chapter.

The legato
and
staccato
portions
are
highlighte
d but
many are
inaccurate
.
The group
only
presented
part of the
song and

The legato
and
staccato
portions
are not
highlight.

The group
did not
present
their song.

and
legato/stacc
ato reading.

legato and
staccato
reading.

did not
include
proper
legato and
staccato
reading.

Science
Standard:
5. 12.) Defend the claim that one factor determining
the apparent brightness of the sun compared to other
stars is the relative distance from Earth.
Objective: When given a worksheet, students will
make connections between Einsteins theories of
relativity and A Wrinkle in Time, connecting it all to
their understanding of the Earth and Space.
The teacher will play the video from VOVA online that is
about Einstein. Since the video is long, the teacher can
choose which sections to skip in a time crunch. Before
watching the video, the class will discuss with their
neighbors what the phrase Everything is relative
might mean. This will be an area of misconception for
many students because many may think that the
definition here is referring to family members. The
teacher will then play the video, pausing along the way
to answer questions and clear up misconceptions. The
teacher will then administer the worksheet. The
students will read the background paragraph and use
their chrome books to learn more about Einstein with
their literature groups. The students will then answer
the questions in their literature groups. The teacher will
focus on the students understanding the basics of
Einsteins thoughts about time travel. The teacher
should bring the class back together periodically to talk
about any questions that arise as well as to have
students share what they think about time travel. After
completing the worksheet and exploration, students
will participate in a discussion lead by the teacher that

focuses on how we can relate it all back to Space

travel. The idea is that students will connect the Earths
position to be relative to other stars.

Name:_____________
Exploring Einstein
Background
Before Albert Einstein (18791955), most physicists believed in the theories of Sir Isaac Newton
(16421727), who asserted that space and time intervals are absolute and that the speed of light
is relative. In contrast, Einstein theorized that the speed of light is absolute and that space and
time intervals are relative.
Although Einsteins theories are complicated, they are not as hard to understand as you might
think. Just imagine that you are standing on a sidewalk watching a train go by. A friend standing
in the center of a passenger car of the train is holding a machine that can instantaneously send
out forward and backward beams of light. These beams of light automatically open the front and
back doors of your friends passenger car. When your friend turns on the machine, she sees the
front and back doors open at the same time. You, however, see the back door open first. Why is
that so? We see objects and events when the light bouncing off them reaches our eyes. For your
friend standing in the center of the passenger car, the forward and backward light beams travel
the same distance to reach her eyes. For you, however, the back door of the moving train appears
to move forward to meet the light pulse, while the front door appears to move away from the
light pulse. As a result, from your perspective the back door opens first. How do Einsteins
theories apply to time travel? The Web selections provide an intriguing example.

Responding to the Reading

1. According to the selections, what is time dilation?
2. What causes the clock aboard the rocket to move more slowly relative to the clock on Earth?
3. What experiment did scientists perform to test Einsteins theories? Did his theories pass the

test? Explain.
4. Making Connections How might Einsteins theories apply to the time travel described in A

Wrinkle in Time?

Take it further
Use basic library and Internet resources to learn more about Einsteins theories. You might start
with Joseph Schwartz and Michael McGuinnesss book Einstein for Beginners, a hardcover
comic book that presents accurate information in an easy-to-understand format. Share your
findings in a brief oral report to your class.

Art
Standard:
5.1) Utilize the elements of art and principles of design
and the structures and functions of art to communicate
personal ideas.
Objective:
When given a variety of paint and drawing tools,
students will create a new cover of A Wrinkle in Time,
including the title, author, and an award.
The teacher will show various covers of A Wrinkle in
Time from throughout its publication. The teacher will
explain that there have been many different covers
designed for the book but all of them convey what the
book might be about. As she goes through different
book covers, the teacher will challenge students to see
what the cover illustrates and what portion of the book
it might come from. The teacher will then provide
students with a variety of art tools for the students to
create their own book cover. The student should
convey their favorite part of the book or the part or
idea they thought to be the most important. The book
cover should include the title of the book, the author,
and 1 medal for an award it won.

Book cover examples to be put into a slide show for

students to examine.