Short Story Unit: 3+ Weeks of Literary Devices & Classic Stories (with Google)
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Description
Need an engaging, student-driven way to teach short stories and/or literary terms? Use this unit as a high-accountability way to scaffold students into tougher literature!
In this unit, small groups of students are assigned to one short story (so you can differentiate to students by difficulty level); then, each small group takes a turn PRESENTING the short story to the rest of the class before everyone takes a reading comprehension quiz on that short story. (The process is repeated for all 8 stories, gradually building up students’ ability to understand difficult fiction.)
In addition to showing comprehension through quizzes and presentations, students will also be gradually taking notes on the stories by using a Literary Terms glossary, collecting examples of the devices as they appear in the short stories; these 28 terms are assessed on the unit test.
The stories include a combination of American, British, and World authors with varying lengths, genres, and difficulty levels, which includes:
• Dystopian Sci-Fi: “The Lottery” (Jackson) and “All Summer in a Day” (Bradbury)
• Horror: “The Tell-Tale Heart” (Poe) and “The Monkey’s Paw” (Jacobs)
• Ethics: “The Lady or the Tiger” (Stockton) and “The Bet” (Chekov)
• Plot Twists: “The Story of an Hour” (Chopin) and “The Most Dangerous Game” (O’Connell)
Originally designed for a mixed-ability 8th grade classroom as high school prep, this unit will work best for grades 7-10, but the EDITABLE docs can be adjusted to best suit your classroom.
You can complete this in a compressed unit (approx. 2-3 weeks) or spread it out over a longer span of time (such as one short story per week over the span of a quarter, which is what we did).
This 80-page/slide download includes:
• NOW INCLUDES Word/PPT, PDF, and Google Docs/Slides/Forms! The quizzes and test can be self-grading Google Forms or another format of your choice.
• Unit Plan and Teacher’s Guide, including suggested calendars and extensive tips for teaching
• Pre/Post Test on Literary Terms (with answer key)
• PowerPoints: One introducing the unit, one as a sample PPT that students should strive to imitate, and one template for students to make their own
• Student Packet: includes directions, unit/presentation rubric, literary terms dictionary (with answer key), and access to a Quizlet set of online flash cards of the terms
• Quizzes: One quiz per short story with a combination of multiple choice and short answer questions, plus answer keys
• Unit Test: assesses literary devices as well as concepts like theme, symbolism, and quote analysis using multiple question types
• Optional Essay: general prompts AND options for each short story WITH a writing rubric!
NOTES about the unit:
• Multiple Common Core standards for speaking and reading literature are used in this unit.
• Since some of the stories are not yet in the public domain, copies of the texts are not included; however, hyperlinks to the stories are given, and they could be found in an internet search.
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