by Kristin | Jul 30, 2025 | Back To School, Reading Comprehension, Short Stories
When was the last time you taught folktales or myths in your English classes? I didn’t until I started teaching American Literature, and that is so incredibly unfortunate! When you include tales like Native American stories of creation into your curriculum, you...
by Kristin | Jul 23, 2025 | Reading Comprehension, Short Stories, Test Prep
I personally enjoy incorporating the classics of the last several centuries, as well as the myths and legends, also known as the folktale story genre, that have captivated people for thousands of years. Because of this perspective, I enjoy using folktale story...
by Kristin | Jun 11, 2025 | Reading Comprehension, Short Stories, Test Prep
Let’s be real. We all love a little suspense now and then. You know what I mean? When you watch a movie, you feel the tension rise, and even call out to the characters as they’re about to face their deaths? Like movies, short stories about horror captivate...
by Kristin | Jan 8, 2025 | Reading Comprehension, Short Stories, Test Prep
There are so many classic Jack London stories, but my favorite by far is his To Build a Fire short story. Don’t let the title fool you- the story does not revolve around the steps of building a fire. In fact, no fire is actually created in the story. The irony...
by Kristin | Oct 1, 2024 | Short Stories, Teaching the Standards, Test Prep
I can clearly remember reading The Lottery story by Shirley Jackson in 11th grade. My English teacher, Mr. Canning, gave us zero background information, previewed nothing, and just read the story aloud to us. And I still remember the shock the whole class felt at the...
by Kristin | Sep 17, 2024 | Reading Comprehension, Short Stories, Teaching the Standards
When it comes to selecting what we want to read in our classrooms, we should consider several things like our students’ reading level, text language/vocabulary, complexity, literary value, and engagement. Short stories popular with middle and high school...
