Other
What Is a Short Story?
An essay that attempts to answer that question. The author is an author and teacher, and is understandably troubled with the idea of defining exactly what a "short story" is.
CommonLit
Common Lit: The Story of David and Goliath
A learning module that begins with "The Story of David and Goliath" from the Book of Samuel, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online...
Read Works
Read Works: "Jose and the Blue Crayons" Passage & Question Set
[Free Registration/Login Required] This literary text passage shares the story of a boy who listened to his teacher during a lesson about "sharing" and then shared a crayon with his classmate. This passage reinforces essential reading...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Mythology and the Odyssey: The Odyssey
This lesson focuses on The Odyssey by Homer; it provides a short summary of the beginning of the story. Students read with Book 9, 10, 11, and 12; links to the readings and a study guide with questions is provided. To get to the readings...
Read Works
Read Works: How to Have an Adventure
[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text about a boy named Kurt and his adventure with bees. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Read Works
Read Works: It's Opening Day
[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text about a boy named Matthew and his experience at opening day with his favorite baseball team. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
abcteach
Abcteach: Fictional Reading Comprehension Grades 4 6
[Free Registration/Login Required] Here is a great resource for teachers to check reading comprehension of students. Choose from several short stories complete with their own comprehension question sheets.
Read Works
Read Works: Kindergarten: Three Lesson Unit: Drawing Conclusions
[Free Registration/Login Required] Three lessons designed to introduce young learners and beginning readers to the concept of drawing conclusions based on actions performed in a charades game, on verbal cues given in a guessing game, and...
TES Global
Blendspace: Ghost of the Lagoon
A learning module with six links to videos, questions, and activities to use while reading the short story "Ghost of the Lagoon" by Armstrong Sperry.
Quia
Quia: Reading Comprehension (Reading for Facts)
There are 30 questions in this activity. Practice your reading skills with one or two short stories at a time. Read the story, then choose the answer that best answers the question.
Penguin Publishing
Penguin Random House: "Life Studies" Teacher Guide [Pdf]
Six-page teacher "Life Studies" guide written by Vreeland herself. "Life Studies" is actually a collection of three short stories. Guide includes the following for each story: synopsis, follow-up questions, related stories, and writing...
Google
Louisiana Curriculum Hub: Ela Guidebooks: Grade 8: Tell Tale Heart: Unit Files
A Google Drive folder with instructional presentations, discussion questions, student activities, and assessments for the short story, Tell-Tale Heart.
AdLit
Ad lit.org: Reading Discussion Guide: Cures for Heartbreak by Margo Rabb
In Cures for Heartbreak, Margo Rabb writes a fictional account of a 15-year old girl whose mother dies just days after being diagnosed with melanoma; then her father falls ill, too. Using vignettes - many appeared elsewhere as short...
CommonLit
Common Lit: A Retrieved Reformation
A learning module that begins with "A Retrieved Reformation" by O. Henry, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher...
Read Works
Read Works: Kareem's Playdate
[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text about a little boy named Kareem who had a playdate with a friend. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Read Works
Read Works: Buttons and the Blue Glove
[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text about a cat named Buttons who goes on an adventure with his little girl's blue glove. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Read Works
Read Works: Apple the Cat Calls a Meeting to Order
[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text about a cat who works with her friends to find a way to wake up her girl and get a treat. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Read Works
Read Works: Caught in a Lie
[Free Registration/Login Required] A literary text about a girl named Alexis whose friend was not honest with her. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
CommonLit
Common Lit: A Respectable Woman by Kate Chopin
Kate Chopin (1850-1904) was an American author of short stories and novels based in Louisiana. She is considered one of the leading feminist writers of the 20th-century. This story begins with a married woman's disappointment over the...
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University: The Fall of the House of Usher
Complete text of Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" with hyperlinks to definitions and comprehension questions.
Curated OER
Mexican Culture Worksheet
This reading comprehension activity teaches Mexican culture and reinforces reading skills with a short essay followed by multichoice questions to check comprehension.