🌙 “I Never Want to Walk on the Moon” – Short Story Reading & Analytical Writing Lesson Pack

Flip the script on symbolism and tone.

In this witty short story from BJ Novak’s One More Thing, the narrator resists society’s usual “reach for the stars” ideals. Instead of big dreams and space exploration, we meet a character who values practicality, caution, and humor. Students will laugh, debate, and reflect while strengthening close reading and writing skills.

What’s Inside:

• Reading Questions (print + digital) — comprehension checks that push students to notice irony, diction, and symbolismNovak_Moonwalking RQs
• Mini-Lesson Slide Deck — warm-up on moon symbolism, Armstrong’s quote as contrast, symbolism/irony quick write, tone check, and discussion prompts
• Analytical Paragraph Assignments — two differentiated options:
  • Option 1: 2 prompts (characterization & symbolism) with sentence frames + organizers
  • Option 2: 3 prompts (characterization, symbolism, irony) with deeper scaffolding
• Passage Analysis Activity — a guided close-reading task with claims, evidence, and effects of language
• Rubrics + Peer Review Tools — clear criteria for claims, evidence, reasoning, and analysis

Why Families & Teachers Love It:

✅ Engaging text with humor and irony teens actually enjoy
✅ Flexible design — use as a 1–2 day lesson, or extend into a full writing project
✅ Scaffolded supports make it accessible for different levels
✅ Includes exemplars, organizers, and rubrics for both parents and students

Learning Outcomes:

By the end, learners will be able to:

• Explain how irony and diction shape tone in a short story
• Analyze how traditional symbolism (moon/stars) can be subverted
• Write an analytical paragraph with claims, evidence, reasoning, and integrated quotations

What's Not Included?

⚠️ Please note that this unit includes scaffolded reading questions AND instructional writing materials and mentor texts for "I Never Want to Walk on the Moon" in the collection, One More Thing by BJ Novak, but I do not own the rights to distribute the stories themselves.

You will need a copy of the story.

I recommend purchasing a copy of the text to use for yourself, previewing the text here, or borrowing from the library.