Short stories are excellent tools for teachers. They fit well into lesson plans, help introduce big ideas in a simple way, and can fill up empty spots in your teaching schedule. Because they’re short and complete on their own, you can use them to teach students how to read carefully and think deeply about what they read. This can be really helpful when you later ask them to read novels.
In this blog post, myself and several teacher friends are going to share how you can use short stories in your classes. We’ll give you some strategies for making the most out of these stories, and we’ll share some great short story ideas that work well for middle and high school students. The goal is to show you how short stories can make your teaching more effective and fun, and help your students improve their reading skills.
Skill Based Stations
Kristy from 2 Peas and a Dog loves to use stations activities to teach specific short stories and literature skills. Not every lesson needs to be a slideshow. Explain and model each skill you want students to practice, then have them work in groups to apply these skills to specific short stories. You can make anchor charts for students to refer to while working in their groups.
Kristy uses a picture book or a short in length short story to model plot, character, setting, theme and conflict for students. Check out what short stories Kristy recommends for 6th Grade and 7th and 8th Grades.
She also teaches them which literary devices they need to look for while reading. Before group work, the groups have already been created based on the needs of the class. Kristy selects a variety of short stories that meet the needs of students who are working below, at or above grade level.
Then, students work with their group to read the short story together (or listen to the provided audio file if one can be found). Once they find the required literary elements and devices they write it down on their graphic organizers.
Each part of this is scaffolded so students can be successful. Have students work in groups to work on their reading comprehension skills as well as finding literary elements and devices using this free lesson on the short story โJust Onceโ by Thomas Dygard.
Inference skills
If there is one skill that students tend always to need to practice, itโs how to read between the lines! Lesa from SmithTeaches9to12 gives students plenty of practice with inference skills using short stories like these. She builds in prompts for students to pause at certain points in a story to consider what more there might be to understand.
For example, in โThe Lottery Ticketโ by Anton Chekhov students first think about the title, and then unravel the charactersโ feelings that exist just below the surface.
Lesa finds that adding the prompts to the storyโs text to be more effective than a list of questions to accompany the story. In this way, it provides that needed pause for consideration and encourages students towards the deeper meaning and ideas.
You can do this with any short story:
- Decide on the focus for reading. Is it specific to character like in many of Chekhovโs stories? Is it about mood and tone like in Poeโs stories? Or maybe itโs irony in stories by Shirley Jackson? Once you decide on a focus, you have a purpose for creating prompts, which in turn provides a purpose for students while reading.
- Complete your first reading of the story to figure out where your students will need direction to read between the lines. This is where youโll add in prompts.
Lesa always starts with the storyโs title. What do students predict for the story? This gets their brains in motion!
Then look at the subtle moments of the story since students tend to gloss over details. Consider dialogue tags, word choice in descriptions, the use of figurative language (simile or metaphors in particular), and even the historical or social elements of the storyโs time period (adding a bit of context to the prompts can be helpful in this instance). - Finally, make sure that the prompts donโt give everything away or take away from the reading of the story. If you keep your focus on the big idea when adding prompts, youโre less likely to bog down the reading of the story for students and theyโll get what they โneedโ from the story and still enjoy reading it.
Novel Excerpts as Short Stories
For as long as Amanda from Mud and Ink Teaching has been working in education, sheโs been looking for a way to teach short stories in a more integrated and inclusive way. So often short story units can feel isolated or disjointed from the rest of the year, and Amanda took on this challenge and is ready to share the results!
Her โhackโ for more a more diverse, cohesive, and engaging short story experience? Teaching novel excerpts as short stories. *mind blown!*
This is not to be confused with teaching excerpts, but using novel excerpts AS short stories and treating them as such, is a powerful way to incorporate more modern voices into the experience for students.
As always, her short story unit begins with an Essential Question. This is what creates the arc throughout the unit and sets the trajectory for the cohesiveness of the texts. Then, Amanda selects specific moments from YA novels to use on their own or in pairing with other short story classics to all add to a larger conversation around that Essential Question. Sheโll walk you through the whole process in her blog post here or you can jump right in with a pre-made unit thatโs ready to go right here!
Use Short Films to Deepen Connections
One of the first things Katie from Mochas and Markbooks checks for when looking for new short stories to include in her classes is whether it has a decent short film version on YouTube to accompany it.
Katie finds that most of her students tend to be visual learners, so after reading through a short story, consolidating and synthesizing learning through a short film or animated version of the tale can really deepen connections.
Searching through YouTube for quality versions of short films based on short stories can take a while, but luckily, Katie has this post to help you out. Some of her personal favorites include the animated version of Poeโs The Tell Tale Heart by Anette Jung which is sure to entertain and engage your students while still teaching them all of the elements of fiction like suspense and conflict that you will likely want to touch on, and a short film of Vonnegut Jrโs 2BRO2B by Tommy Tranfaglia that will definitely grab your studentsโ attention from start to finish.
Solve a Mystery
Who doesnโt love solving a mystery? The Boscombe Valley Mystery, a Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is a great choice for using classical literature to practice and improve critical thinking skills.
In this story, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are thrust into a complex murder investigation in the Boscombe Valley. The intrigue of the case, coupled with Holmes’s legendary deductive reasoning, not only enthralls readers but also invites them to unravel the mystery alongside the iconic detective. This aspect of solving the mystery can be particularly engaging for students, as it transforms passive reading into an interactive investigative experience.
As students read, they are gathering (text) evidence to solve the mystery. This approach to reading story not only makes literature exciting and interactive for students but also supports the development of key skills necessary for academic success. By inviting students to solve the mystery alongside Holmes, it turns the classroom into the investigation headquarters where every student plays a part in solving the mystery.
This method of teaching not only promises a deeper understanding of literary elements but also ensures that students’ analytical skills are sharpened in a fun, immersive, and engaging manner. For additional ideas for using short stories in the middle school classroom, read this post
โExamination Dayโ
If you need an engaging story that literally leaves students with their jaws on the floor, Krista from @whimsyandrigor suggests โExamination Dayโ by Heny Sleaser.
In this short story, students encounter an adolescent boy who is preparing for his exam. The reader doesnโt know details of the exam, nor does the protagonist. When he presses his parents for information, they deflect his questions and downplay the importance of the โGovernment Intelligence Test.โ
Examination day arrives. The reader is left to infer exactly how the boy performs. And if they infer correctly, their jaws hit the floor.
This is an excellent read aloud because the students get to experience a collective gasp as they understand the resolution.
Krista uses this when teaching about dystopia because the very nature of the test, and the way in which the results are used, is a perfect match for all the dystopian worlds authors have imagined.
โGirl Gangs of Pacific Avenueโ
Jeanmarie from McLaughlin Teaches English polled her Instagram followers about their favorite short stories to teach. As a result, she was turned on to the short story โThe Girl Gangs of Pacific Avenueโ by Heather Kamins. She immediately knew that this was the perfect story to anchor a short story unit on coming of age for high school English and for helping students to see how authors use contrast and juxtaposition.
Have students focus first on the girls in the short story. Kamins develops their characters with details that point to their juxtaposition of innocence and experience. She cleverly points out how the girlsโ childlike appearances at the same time they are doing something destructive to the neighborhood. This makes this the perfect story to be part of a short story unit for coming of age with a focus on innocence and experience.
To learn more about putting together a coming of age short story unit for upper levels of high school English, check out this post where you can grab a freebie for this unit.
As we’ve seen, short stories offer a unique blend of simplicity and depth, making them perfect for both introducing key themes and teaching analytical skills. By incorporating these narratives into your curriculum, you’re not only enriching students’ literary experiences but also equipping them with the tools they need to think deeply and critically about the texts they encounter.
Remember, the goal is to foster a love for reading while building critical thinking skills. With the strategies and story ideas shared in this blog, you have a roadmap for utilizing short stories to achieve these objectives. Whether you’re filling gaps in your syllabus, complementing major texts, or introducing complex themes, short stories stand ready as your ally in the classroom.
Frequently Asked Questions About Using Short Stories in the Classroom
What are some ways to use short stories in the classroom?
Short stories can be used for skill-based stations, inference practice, literary analysis, close reading, discussion, and comparison activities. Teachers can also pair short stories with short films or use them to introduce genres, themes, and literary elements before moving into longer texts.
Why are short stories useful in middle school ELA?
Short stories give students an opportunity to work with a complete text in a relatively short amount of time. Teachers can use them to practice reading comprehension, analyze literary elements, build discussion skills, and help students apply reading strategies they will also use with longer texts.
What reading skills can students practice with short stories?
Students can practice skills such as inference, characterization, theme, conflict, plot, mood, tone, figurative language, and analyzing an author’s choices. Because students can work with the entire text, they can also return to specific passages to find evidence and explain their thinking.