British Council
Learning English through Short Stories
Use short stories to teach English? Yes! Designed as a professional development opportunity for English language teachers, the ideas in this booklet can easily be adapted to advanced ESL/ELL classes.
Curated OER
Brown Bagging with Short Stories
Students participate in a study of short story elements, applying their knowledge and understanding to a selection of short stories. In this short stories lesson, students read five short story selections, identifying conflict,...
Curated OER
Teachers See the Truth but Wait: Teaching Short Stories with Literature Circles
Students use literature circles to analyze four short stories from the Realms of Gold, Volume 3. In this literature circle lesson, students are assigned a role in the literature circle to improve their critical thinking skills for...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Silly Stories: Extra Support Lessons (Theme 1)
Kids who need extra support with the concepts in the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thematic unit on silly stories, will benefit from this packet packed with skill builders, activities, exercises, and practice sets.
Curated OER
Short Stories: The Puzzle Pieces of Life
Students distinguish the elements of fiction in a short story. In this fiction elements lesson, students complete nine lessons of activities to learn about the elements of fiction in short stories.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Edgar Allan Poe's Journey Through Life and Literature
How was Edgar Allan Poe able to create "intriguing, memorable, and lasting literature"? To answer this question, learners analyze the syntax, diction, and characterizations in Poe's poems and short stories and compare the impact of these...
Syracuse City School District
Reading Comprehension Unit Plan
A unit plan uses short texts to teach literary elements such as theme and characterization. Included are passages by authors such as Walter Dean Myers and Sandra Cisneros. Activities include quick writes, filling in graphic organizers,...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Surprise!: Extra Support Lessons (Theme 2)
Surprise! is the theme of a unit covering such topics as consonants, blending, short vowels sounds, high frequency words, and number words. The unit's lessons also include teachable moments covering story structure, illustrations,...
Curated OER
With Detective Fiction in the Urban Classroom
This abstract for an instructional unit using three-minute mysteries, stories by Sir Arthur Canon Doyle, and Edgar Allan Poe includes a short history of detective fiction, sample plans, and suggestions for exercises and activities...
Trinity University
Who Am I? Using Personal Narrative to Reflect on Identity
Who am I? Pupils work to answer this question through a unit that explores personal narratives and identity. Exit tickets for activities that examine different poems, short stories, and autobiographical writing serve as prewriting for...
EngageNY
Grade 12 ELA Module 4: Literary Analysis
Does identity come from within, or do external forces shape it? Explore the complex identity concept with a two-unit module for 12th-grade language arts. The first unit uses A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and "A Daily Joy...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Problem Solvers: Challenge Activities (Theme 4)
Creative activities help bring literature alive. The first of a set of lessons designed to accompany selections from Theme 4: Problem Solvers uses activities such as skits, responses to music, and social studies projects. These...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Animal Encounters: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 6)
Denali National Park and the rain forests of Brazil are the settings for a series of lessons on animal encounters with grizzly bears and golden lion tamarins. The 32-page packet includes scripted lesson plans, activity suggestions, and...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Problem Solvers: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 4)
How can you teach a text to a group of readers who struggling with the language? The second in a set of three ESL lessons related to Theme 4: Problem Solvers engages English language learners by introducing vocabulary and grammar...
Curated OER
Anansi: A Language Arts Twist to the Trickster
Students read African folk tales to learn about story elements and writing techniques. In this writing and reading skills lesson, students listen and retell African folk tales about Anansi the spider. Students complete four lessons to...
EngageNY
Grade 11 ELA Module 4 Overview
The intricate craft of narrative writing can make a happy story feel exuberant or a sad story feel devastating. With 42 extensive lessons that include poignant discussion questions, standards-aligned self-reflections, engaging writing...
Annenberg Foundation
Migrant Struggle
The American Dream is a goal that many pursue, but is it truly attainable for all people? An in-depth lesson explores the plight of migrants in twentieth-century America. The resource includes a video and author biographies and...
Curated OER
Magical Musical Tour: Using Music Lyrics to Teach Literary Elements
While music lyrics are often used to teach literary elements, the richness of this resource comes from the wealth of exercises, activities, and support materials provided in the packet. Although designed for gifted learners, the...
Tell City Schools
The Cay
Support your instruction of The Cay by Theodore Taylor with this extensive unit of materials. Provided here are prereading activities, worksheets and discussion questions for the entire book, and reading quizzes that you can use to check...
C.S. Lewis Foundation
Educator’s Guide to The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe #1
Perfect for both classroom and homeschool settings, this 72-page resource packet, designed for C.S. Lewis's The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, is a must-have for your curriculum library. Chapter-by-chapter vocabulary lists and...
Curated OER
Storytelling
Show young readers how to put some personality and voice into their storytelling with an in-depth assignment. Kids practice saying the same thing, such as counting from one to ten, in different tones and perspectives, and then work on...
West Jefferson High School
The Novel — Honor
For classes tackling To Kill a Mockingbird, this lesson plan sets readers up for discussions or essay writing with questions and prompts. The prompts encourage individuals to explore beyond the novel itself, looking at...
Smithsonian Institution
Water/Ways: The Poetry of Science
Water is the source of life. It appears in poetry in both peaceful and torrential descriptions; it appears in earth science in its liquid, gaseous, and solid states. Combine these interpretations of our planet's most precious and...
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...