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English Language ArtsEnglishMiddle schoolKey Stage 3

How to teach The Gift of the Magi

To teach The Gift of the Magi, have students judge Della from lines in the story, then ask why the narrator calls Della and Jim wise when neither gift can be used. A free Flint activity comes with this page, where students find the one text on Della's phone she would never send.

Jemel Fanfan

Jemel Fanfan | Founding Member at Flint

Title card reading 'How to teach The Gift of the Magi', next to three cards from a student's chat: the student picking the text where Della cries on the couch, Sparky quoting the line where Della flops down on the couch and howls, and a harder question about why the narrator calls Della and Jim the wisest.

"Students can have conversations that prod their thinking and push their comprehension. They receive instant feedback on their work which is both encouraging and constructive, enabling them to make targeted improvements. And - they love it!"

Sherry PielstickerSherry Pielsticker, 6th grade humanities teacher at The York School

Why this matters

A student can retell every event in "The Gift of the Magi" and still not know Della. Asked what she would or wouldn't do, that student guesses from the plot instead of from what Della wants. A plot summary looks the same either way, and the teacher has to wait for quiz day to find out.

Maya's chat: which text would Della never send?

Maya is a middle schooler saving up for K-pop concert tickets. She read the story in class and follows the plot. She reads Della as someone who wouldn't make a fuss.

The whole class gets the same activity: the same greeting, the same eight texts on Della's phone, and the same five scenes to rate. Each student picks their own text and gives their own ratings, and Sparky's next message depends on what that student picked and wrote.

Sparky sends the student back to a line in the storySparky graphs the student's own ratingsA right answer gets a harder questionSparky uses what the student is saving up for
M

Maya

Interest: Saving up for K-pop concert ticketsStarting point: Follows the plot, reads Della as someone who wouldn't make a fuss

Sparky

Hi! In this activity you get to read Della's phone. Della is the main character in "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry. One of her texts from Christmas Eve is something she would never send, and your job is to find it. To start, tell me one thing you're saving up for, or have saved up for, and whether you've read the story yet.

Maya

im saving up for concert tickets to see my favorite kpop group. yeah i read it in class

Sparky

Concert tickets are a real goal to work toward. Here is Della's phone. Read all eight texts, then tell me: which message would Della never send, and which line in the story shows you she wouldn't?
A phone screen Sparky built, showing a text thread with Lou on Christmas Eve. Della's first four texts are visible: one dollar and eighty-seven cents, counted three times; sixty cents of it in pennies haggled from the grocer and the butcher; just cried on the couch for ten minutes straight; and honestly I'll skip Jim's present this year, we need the money for rent more. Below the phone: Tap the text Della would never send, then tell Sparky which one and why.
InteractiveDella's Phone

Maya

the one where she cried on the couch for ten minutes. della wouldnt cry about money shes not that dramatic

Sparky

The story tells us Della did cry: "There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it." So that text matches what really happened. Look again at the other messages. Which one describes something Della would never actually do?

Maya

oh ok. then its the one where she says shes skipping jims present this year. she would never do that, she tells jim i couldnt have lived through christmas without giving you a present

Sparky

Exactly right, and you found the line that proves it. The story also says "Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him." Now rate how hopeful Della feels from 1 to 10 at five moments: counting the $1.87, selling her hair, finding the fob chain, Jim staring at her short hair, and opening the gifts at the end.

Maya

A 2, B 6, C 9, D 3, E 7

Sparky

There's your graph. Your ratings show a big drop between "Finds the chain" (9) and "Jim stares" (3). What happened in the story between those two moments that knocked Della's hope down so much?
A line graph titled How hopeful is Della, with Maya's five ratings: Counts $1.87 at 2, Sells her hair at 6, Finds the chain at 9, Jim stares at 3, and Opens the gifts at 7.
GraphHow hopeful is Della?

Maya

jim came home and just stared at her short hair and she got scared he didnt think she was pretty anymore. right before he came in she prayed please god make him think i am still pretty

Understanding check

Exactly, and you used the story to explain it. His stare "terrified her" because she couldn't read his expression. Now the harder question: Della and Jim each gave up the thing they were proudest of, and now neither gift can be used. Why does the narrator still call them "the wisest"?

Maya

because the gifts were really expensive and nice?

Sparky

The chain was $21 and the combs were expensive, so you're right that they cost a lot. But think about what each person gave up to pay for those gifts. Imagine you sold your concert tickets to buy a friend a gift, and they sold theirs to buy one for you. Would that be foolish or wise?

Maya

oh. they each gave up the thing they loved most for the other person. so even if the gifts are useless it shows they love each other more than their stuff. thats wise not foolish

Sparky

That's it exactly. The gifts can't be used, but the love behind them is real, and that's what the narrator is calling wise. Last step: write one sentence about the conflict Della faces and how her choice solves it.

Found the text Della would never send, backed it with Della's own words, and explained why the narrator calls Della and Jim wise

Maya picked the crying text because she thought Della wasn't the kind of person to cry about money. Sparky didn't tell her which text was right. It quoted the line where Della cries on the couch, and Maya found the real one herself and backed it with Della's own words to Jim. Her graph of Della's hope was built from her own numbers, so the question about the drop was about her reading, not a model answer.

Maya is an example student, and Sparky's replies are shortened. Lou and the texts are invented for the activity, and every text but one matches something Della does in the story.

What Flint did for Maya

  • Sparky built a phone screen with Della's eight texts in Maya's chat, so she judged Della's character by what Della would and wouldn't say.
  • When Maya picked the crying text, Sparky quoted the line where Della cries on the couch instead of telling her which text was right.
  • Sparky drew a graph from Maya's own five ratings and asked about the biggest drop in it.
  • When Maya said the gifts were wise because they were expensive, Sparky used her concert tickets to ask what each person gave up.

A teacher can't do this by hand for 30 students, and Sparky does it in every student's chat.

Who still reads Della from the plot alone

When a student gives three wrong answers, Sparky flags them for the teacher under Needs attention while the class is still working. When students finish, Sparky grades each chat against the activity's rubric and sums up the class on the activity page: what most students understood, which mistake came up most, and what to practice next.

Flint's activity page for an activity called The Gift of the Magi: Della's Phone. Needs attention shows a live alert that one student has picked three texts that match the story. Activity analytics lists what the class does well, an area of improvement where 11 students first picked the crying text, and a follow-up with a button to create a follow-up activity. The Sessions table shows two submitted students and one still in progress.

Example activity page

After an English class finishes Della's phone

The school and students are made up for this page. In this example, 11 students first picked the text where Della cries, so the follow-up asks them to predict what Jim would text after he sells his watch.

Set up the activity for free

The Della's phone activity is in Flint's public library, with Sparky's guidelines (the full story and the eight texts), the greeting and a rubric already set up. Open it, select Use activity to copy it into a free Flint account, and move it to a class. Sparky builds the phone in each student's chat after the student says they've read the story. In the activity's Preview tab, select Try session myself to test it as a student before you assign it.

For more English activities, see Flint for English language arts.

Start the activity for free

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