Understanding and teaching short stories at secondary level What is a short story? Why use short stories in class?

Extremely Short Stories For sale: Baby shoes, never worn. - Ernest Hemingway Corpse parts missing. Doctor buys a yacht. - Margaret Atwood (wired.com Internet Magazine. Issue 14.11) A short story.. Can be read in one sitting ( Edgar Allan Poe The philosophy of Composition) Is 1,000 20,000 words long Why teach Responding to texts Giving opinions Justify Opinions Knowledge of text features Applying knowledge to their wirtibg Reading Skills Making inferences Getting the main idea Predicting Events Responding to characters Responding to plot Responding to themes Writing,oral,performance

Ex-poser- Special Features

Theme/Plot Gradual increase in tension during questioning process Twist ending Characters David reveals himself through his thoughts and attitudes to others David himself cannot interpret these, but the reader can Language features Firs person narration Simple present tense

Language features of narrative text Nouns that identify specific characters Adjectives that provide accurate descriptions of the characters and settings Verbs to illustrate the actions in story

Time words that connect events, indicating when they occurred. Strategy/Activity used Use of pictures to introduce idea of a lie detector Use of dictionary extracts to focus on the meaning of the title While reading Teaching Focus Think aloud of first two paragraphs Inferring meaning of words from context. Tick chart about characters Teaching students Predicting the questions Post Reading Completing a chart of main characters emotions Writing Sandras Diary Approach to teach a short story 1. Understand the features of the text type 2. Understand the features of the genre 3. Analyse the text 4. Decide teaching objectives 5. Plan lessons Questions for consideration Which level of students does the story suit? What are the strengths and weaknesses the story? How many lessons will you teach this story? Thinking about the treatment? Plot? Characterization? Writing Techniques? Messages? Language function Structures/vocabulary? Generic Skills What task can