Below are links to and sug­ges­tions for les­son plans about read­ing and respond­ing to short sto­ries. These les­son plans can be used with my writ­ing and any other fic­tion you choose. If you are a teacher, please feel free to down­load my work and make copies to dis­trib­ute to your class. Thanks for stop­ping by and check back often for updates!

Short Story Fair: Respond­ing to Short Sto­ries in Mul­ti­ple Media and Genres

This is a set of seven, 50-minute les­son plans aimed at grades 9–12, in which stu­dents read sto­ries from a col­lec­tion in groups and then respond by writ­ing jour­nal entries, select­ing music, writ­ing poetry, or cre­at­ing col­lages, ads or other media to be shared in a Short Story Fair. From the Inter­na­tional Read­ing Asso­ci­a­tion and the National Coun­cil of Teach­ers of English’s Read­Write­Think program.

Teach­ing Plot Struc­ture Through Short Stories

This is a set of four, 50-minute les­son plans aimed at grades 9 & 10, in which stu­dents learn the basics of plot struc­ture by view­ing a Pow­er­point Pre­sen­ta­tion and ana­lyz­ing the story “Jack and the Beanstalk.” Then, stu­dents read more advanced short sto­ries as a class, in groups and indi­vid­u­ally and ana­lyze and dia­gram three short stories. From the Inter­na­tional Read­ing Asso­ci­a­tion and the National Coun­cil of Teach­ers of English’s Read­Write­Think program.

Cre­ative Outlining–From Freewrit­ing to Formalizing

In this set of five, 50-minute les­son plans aimed at grades 9–12, stu­dents read a short story in class and then start to freewrite a response to the story. Stu­dents go through the process of devel­op­ing a the­sis and an out­line before finally writ­ing a lit­er­ary analy­sis essay. From the Inter­na­tional Read­ing Asso­ci­a­tion and the National Coun­cil of Teach­ers of English’s Read­Write­Think program.