EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 3
Just like in real life, characters in short stories show their true personalities through their words and deeds. Decipher the character development in Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" with a set of activities...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 1: Unit 2, Lesson 6
Is history "little more than a relic," as one of the characters in "The Palace Thief" contends? Has Hundert's love of antiquity kept him from changing with the times? Readers consider how the author uses these conflicting views to...
E Reading Worksheets
Context Clues Vocabulary Builder Activity
Reading comprehension improves when you can use context clues to define unfamiliar words. Help your kids practice using context clues with a activity that provides space for seven sentences with new words, as well as a place for kids to...
Great Books Foundation
State of Affairs
Good verses evil. Scholars make inferences after taking a close look at the short story, State of Affairs, in which Daniel Defoe goes back and forth comparing good and evil thoughts through his writing. After reading the text,...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 1: Unit 2, Lesson 1
The complex relationship between a teacher and his student takes center stage in an instructional activity that asks readers to pay close attention to how author Ethan Canin introduces his characters and how he develops the character of...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 4
Connect with the text using helpful annotation strategies. As your class reads the first section of Karen Russell's short story, "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," they note important passages that establish character...
Curated OER
Short Stories Through Multimedia Presentations
Ninth graders summarize and paraphrase a short story read in class. They identify the six story elements of character, setting, plot, conflict, solution, and tone/mood. Students create a PowePoint presentation that illustrates the...
Curated OER
Unit Plan: Short Stories
Tenth graders complete a unit of lessons on the story elements of Sherlock Holmes short stories. They analyze the plot elements, complete graphic organizers, read and discuss the plots, observe a person and take notes, and analyze an...
Curated OER
Reading Response Log
In this reading response log worksheet, 3rd graders summarize what they have read. Using the prompts, students complete 6 short answer questions about their story.
Curated OER
You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover… But Can You Judge a Book by Its First Line?
In this literary prediction worksheet, students predict the topic, genre, setting, characters, and interest level of a book based on its first line. They research the title and author of the book using the line. They write a short story...
Curated OER
We Love to Read!
Students find ways to share their favorite books. In this reading strategies lesson, students advertise books, create a top ten countdown, give a video book talk, simmer story stew, make book medals, play name that book, design a...
Curated OER
New York State Language Arts Test Grade 4
Quiz your class with this New York state language arts test. The test is composed of several informational and fictional passages and 28 multiple choice questions. The questions are based mostly on reading comprehension.
Curated OER
The Pearl: Directed Reading Thinking Activity
Guide readers to think about what they are reading with a comprehension activity. Using John Steinbeck's The Pearl, learners predict what is coming, verify and judge their predictions, and analyze what they are reading more closely.
Curated OER
The Too Small House: Story and Craft Activity
Engage students in setting and character with this story and craft activity set. To begin the activity, learners read the short story "The Too Small House." They then cut out and color a picture of the house and paper figures of the...
Curated OER
Cloze Passage: Rain
It's no fun when it rains! Young readers apply twelve words from a bank to a short passage about rain. You could use this activity as a homework assignment or a class activity to reinforce context clues. An answer key is available for...
Curated OER
Cloze Passage: Skateboard
Reinforce vocabulary and context clues with this Cloze activity. After reading a short passage about skateboarding, second graders fill in ten missing words. This worksheet contains an answer key.
Curated OER
The Sea Wolf
After reading the 1904 psychological adventure The Sea Wolf, have pupils take this short quiz to test their reading comprehension, or take specific questions from the quiz and create a more comprehensive assessment.
Art Institute of Chicago
African Myths and Stories
Young historians discover African stories associated with a royal altar tusk from the Kingdom of Benin in Nigeria, read myths illustrated on the tusk, and write a story about the life of an oba using figures depicted on the tusk.
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...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Benjamin Franklin and Learning a Lesson
Examine stories with a moral in a character development instructional activity. The class reads a short story written by Benjamin Franklin in which he pays too much for a toy whistle. Individuals then make text-to-self connections and...
Indiana University
Literature of Asia and the Middle East: "A Sound of Hammering" by Dazai Osamu
Dazai Osamu’s short story, “A Sound of Hammering” is the focus of a three-day investigation of modern Japanese literature and life in post-World War II Japan. The events in Osamu’s story mirror those in his own life, and give a...
Read Works
Halloween Leftovers
Halloween isn't fun for everyone — but playing together is! Read about Esme and her space pirate friend with a short reading passage, accompanied by ten short answer questions.
Novelinks
The Martian Chronicles: Literature Circles
Discussing great works of literature with peers is an excellent way to both comprehend and celebrate reading! Learners work in literature circles during a unit on Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, and share paragraphs that...
K12 Reader
Narrative or Expository?
Narrative or expository? That is the question readers face on a two-part comprehension activity that asks kids to read a short passage about these two different types of writing, and then to answer a series of comprehension questions...