Curated OER
Understanding Realistic Fiction
Students write a story. In this genres lesson, students learn the meaning of realistic fiction and write a short story in that genre.
Curated OER
Outline and Shine
Seventh graders read and discuss a short story. They complete an outline of the story. They pair and share to evaluate each other's outlines.
Curated OER
Poe ... in the Real World?
Eleventh graders work in groups to choose a project/presentation from a list of approved activities to develop. They select and use appropriate software for organizing and refining their product. Groups produce a short...
Curated OER
Using Similes, Synonyms, and Antonyms
Children study similes, synonyms, and antonyms and identify examples in the book Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood. They write short stories about themselves using antonyms, synonyms, and comparisons of themselves to animals. They draw...
Curated OER
Using Science Fiction To Understand Biological Concepts
Students read and discuss," The Andromeda Strain" by Michael Crichton and complete a short writing exercise as a warm-up for a longer piece of science fiction writing. They choose a topic and create a science fiction short story such...
Curated OER
Justice for All
A reading of Roald Dahl’s Lamb to the Slaughter opens a discussion of justice and fairness. Using a Venn diagram and an Idea Wheel graphic organizer, class members consider the similarities and differences in these two terms. They then...
Curated OER
Probably Passage
Students apply reading strategies to improve understanding and fluency. They use their imagination and create their own short stories. They identify words as various parts of the story - including setting, character, problem, solution...
Curated OER
The Joke is on You
Learners discuss catacombs, casks, and Amontillado. The class reads the first two pages of the short story, The Cask of Amontillado, and discuss the situation of the story and the mental state of the narrator. Then they predict what...
Curated OER
"The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe
High schoolers read and analyze the short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe. They take notes while reading the story, select an element to analyze, and write an essay about the characters, theme, or the setting.
Curated OER
Comparing Cinderella and The Rough-Face Girl
Pupils examine similarities and differences between cultures. They'll see that literature, reading, and story telling is something all cultures have in common. They should construct Venn diagrams to help them compare and contrast the...
Curated OER
Small Actions with Big Results
Students explore philanthropy in literature. In this literature instructional activity, students read text from three different genres that all have a moral. Students compare and contrast these pieces of literature, focusing on the...
Curated OER
Understanding Cause and Effect using A Sound of Thunder
Students listen to a short story, A Sound of Thunder, and retell parts of the story which is about time travel. They respond to the story by writing cause/effect outcomes about the ecosystem using a handout.
Curated OER
Snowman in Winter Sequence Writing
Students develop a creative snowman using step-by-step stickers. They write a short story about the snowman they have created, explaining the sequence they used to create their snowman. Students present their completed story in front of...
Curated OER
Exploring Science Fiction
Twelfth graders read a variety of science fiction short stories. Using the text, they identify the components that make it science fiction and a well written piece of literature. They record their observations and share them with the...
Curated OER
Matter and Energy
Students participate in a small group read aloud of the short story, "Cerium" by Primo Levi. They answer several questions about the story and then relate the reading to a lecture on Kinetic theory. After the lecture they apply the...
Orange County Department of Education
Integrity and "Thank You, M'am"
Ninth graders explore the definition of integrity through a class discussion. They provide positive/negative examples from the story and their own experiences. Students determine character traits by analyzing the dialogue in a short...
Curated OER
Learning About Honesty
Students read a short story about honesty, a character skill. They then answer comprehension questions and discuss the story with their classmates as well as study about the consequences of not telling the truth.
Curated OER
The Monkey and the Coconuts
In this puzzle based worksheet, students read a short story featured in the Saturday Evening Post in 1926. After reading the story, students determine the starting number of coconuts that were available to the shipwrecked island dwellers.
Curated OER
Movie Poster: Persuasive Text
Students create movie posters based upon short stories they've recently read. In this persuasive writing lesson students analyze a poster that is intended to persuade people to want to see the movie and convince Steven...
Curated OER
Protest Art in Pre-Revolutionary Russia
High schoolers study the social class conflicts that existed during the Russian Revolution by reading the short stories of Anton Chekov and Leo Tolstoy. They analyze the stories to find criticisms of pre-Revolutionary Russia before...
Curated OER
Writing a Children's Book -- Young Authors
Students practice their writing skills by creating a children's book. They integrate five elements of short stories into the narrative. They share their stories with their book buddies.
Curated OER
Discovering Language Arts-Intermediate Fiction
Explore the elements of science fiction. Students investigate the literary elements present in science fiction and write their own science fiction stories.
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Dolphin's First Day (Zoehfeld)
Travel out to sea as scholars learn vocabulary in context through Kathleen Zoehfeld's informational book Dolphin's First Day. Go over the new words scholars will hear before reading: approach, coast, expert, feeble,...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.5
Your students already know when they like a story and when they don't, but they may not know that the plots of these stories are shaping that opinion. Like all resources in this series, the two activities and quizzes provided here deal...