Competing with students’ love of all things technology can be difficult, particularly in middle school English. As a result, finding ways to hook these young readers becomes imperative. Enter short stories for middle schools, especially short stories with twists!
Short Stories for Middle Schools are an amazing way to meet the standards for your curriculum and engage students at the same time. With such a wide array of stories available, there’s something for everyone at every skill level.
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Why Short Stories Are Great For Middle School Students
There are many benefits to teaching short stories for middle schools. And a lot of that comes down to one main thing: Short Stories for Middle Schools are, well, short!
- Quick: A short story can be explored in 1-2 days whereas a novel study will require a longer time investment. And if a short story is not working for your students, you have a clear end-time where you can pivot to another story or lesson.
- Somewhat easy to read: Because of their length short stories rarely feel daunting. Often, the plot in a short story moves at a faster pace so students can progress at a satisfying pace.
- Simply storylines: To meet students’ needs you can find short stories that are more straightforward with limited layers to the plot or fewer characters. But if you want to challenge students, the opposite is also available with layered plotlines that can have them practice their inference skills or explore multiple characters and more!
- Flexibility: With a range of short stories you can teach them in whole groups, small groups, or independently. This is ideal for differentiating reading levels and skills development for the students in your classroom.
- Versatility: You can use short stories for middle schools to teach any number of skills. One story may work well for inference skills, another for summary or author’s purpose, and so on. Or there’s the potential of using one story for multiple goals! Whatever skill you want to address, there’s a short story or many that you can use in class.
- Variety and Diversity: With short stories for middle schools, you can easily include short stories by diverse writers with diverse characters. You can also vary the types of stories you include too! There are stories with a twist, stories that are dark and mysterious as well as stories that are light and funny, plus everything in between!
7 Short Stories for Middle Schools
With these benefits in mind, here are seven short stories that range in subject, theme, and length. Each of the stories can work for different activities and skills development. In addition, this list has variety and diversity that can complement any lessons you might already have but want to freshen up.
1. “Click Clack the Rattle Bag”
This short story by Neil Gaiman is creepy and fun in the best ways possible! The narrator is taking care of his girlfriend’s little brother and walking him to bed when the child asks for a story. Instead of the narrator sharing a story, the boy shares about the Click Clacks who drink their prey and leave behind rattling bodies.
The unexpected developments of the story and Gaiman’s signature style make this story a great addition to a Short Stories for Middle Schools Unit. Add to it this quiz and reading questions pack with differentiated options, and you can practice test prep with your students, so they will feel more confident analyzing short stories and preparing for state assessments!
2. “The Veldt”
This science fiction story by Ray Bradbury story was first published as “The World the Children Made” and it is quite fitting as a title! The story focuses on a futuristic world where a video screen can be controlled and it turns out to be more than simple virtual reality! By the story’s conclusion the world the children made is the downfall of their parents.
One of the valuable elements of the story is its tie to hot topics such as the dangers of technology. Even 70 after the story’s publication the topic is still fresh! Consider discussions of the dangers of social media as a way to update students’ connection to the story.
Before examining the big ideas in the story there is the ever-important need to ensure students’ comprehension of the story. Check out these comprehension activities to help save time and support your students.
3. “The Gift of the Magi”
This 1905 story by O. Henry is about a couple struggling to make ends meet who try to figure out gifts to buy one another for Christmas.
This story is great for studying characterization with the story’s focus on two main characters – Jim and Della. Save your planning time with these activities for characterization, one-sentence summaries, and more!
Want to check out more ideas for Short Stories for Middle Schools? Click below!
4. “Thank you, Ma’am”
This heartfelt story by Langston Hughes tells the story of Luella, an older woman in the neighborhood, who is nearly robbed by a young man named Roger. In response to Roger, Luella brings him back to her home and treats him with an abundance of kindness, which has a profound effect on Roger.
Focusing on the two characters in this story is a great way to work on compare and contrast skills. Use this bundle of resources for the story to support your students with their development of these skills.
Do you need questions for teaching “Thank you, Ma’am?” Click HERE!
5. “A Vendetta”
Guy de Maupassant’s late-19th century story is all about revenge. A mother is obsessed with creating a plan to avenge her son’s murder and she then puts the plan into action.
Completing a close reading of the story, including creating short summaries with this bundle will help students with their overall understanding of the plot. From there, students can focus on the story’s themes of revenge and justice.
6. “Lamb to the Slaughter”
This classic story with a killer plot twist is about a woman who kills her husband and gets away with murder thanks to cooking a leg of lamb!
Students can play detective using their inference skills during a close reading of the story. This bundle of activities will encourage your students to explore the internal and external traits of the characters and trace the plot in order to cite evidence with expertise!
7. “The Scarlet Ibis”
This short story by James Hurst about two brothers is a must-read that is also heartbreaking. Through flashbacks, the unnamed narrator tells the life story of his younger sickly brother William Armstrong, who is nicknamed Doodle.
The story is loaded with symbolism as it examines the negative impact of pride. Analyze this classic story stress-free with this bundle of activities including questions and answers that are aligned to Common Core standards and modeled after standardized tests. Make this tale a part of your Short Stories for Middle Schools curriculum!
Do your students need help with learning vocabulary in short stories for middle schools? Check out “Teach Vocabulary in 7 Easy Ways!”
Takeaways for short stories for middle schools
Including short stories in your middle school ELA classes provides so many benefits including flexibility and versatility.
These seven spectacular short stories for middle schools are a starting point. There are tons of other short stories that would be great choices for your middle school students, including additional stories by the authors included in this post. For even more options check out this post from the New York Public Library with short story collections for young readers.
And short stories are a building block. Practicing skills with reading shorter texts can prepare students to use those same skills once they encounter longer texts. Developing students’ skills and expanding students’ breadth of reading experience are clear benefits when teaching short stories in middle school English.
So while short stories might be short on words they are definitely not short on benefits for your middle school students!
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