ELA
Name: _____________
Short Story Unit: Teach the Class!
Objective: I can show literal and critical comprehension of complex fiction through collaborative learning.
Not only will you continue to read fiction throughout your high school
and college careers, but short stories in particular will be a part of
your academic future, regardless of which high school you
attend or your college major. Short fiction is often dense with
meaning and is carefully crafted to fit a lot of emotion,
symbolism, characterization, and other literary elements into a
short time, while also delivering a strong message and riveting
emotions! (Whew!)
Though short stories are still an ongoing art form (modern readers are even reviving short stories as
trendy, calling them “micro-fiction” instead), most of the short stories you read in school will be older,
established classics by famous authors. Reading their short stories NOW will not only help you learn
literary devices and difficult reading comprehension skills, but it will also expose you to writers whom
you may see again in future classes.
In this project, we will teach each other the fundamentals of short stories and of all fiction by taking
turns reading AND presenting a specific short story to the class! 
Step 1: Sign up for partners, short stories, and dates
Sign up for ONE of the short stories/dates listed below. You should consider factors like:


When you have significant rehearsals, sports events, or other time commitments
Which partners are actually trustworthy to put in the same time and quality commitment as you
Title
Author
# of Pages
Presentation
Date
A Sound of Thunder
Ray Bradbury
12
Daughter of Invention
Julia Alvarez
10
The Cask of Amontillado
Edgar Allen Poe
7
The Lottery
Shirley Jackson
9
The Scarlet Ibis
James Hurst
12
Step 2: Read & Annotate Your Story
EACH student in the group is REQUIRED to use significant, consistent annotation of JUST the short story
that you choose. You must do this independently, without the help of other group members. (I need to
see that YOU understand the story!)
Though you ARE allowed to use your own personal annotation style, you MUST use a minimum of three
annotation techniques THROUGHOUT the entire story: highlighting, underlining, and margin notes.
You may either choose to either: A) print out the story to show your annotating, B) Annotate on the
computer and email me your story and annotations, or C) Create an annotation journal.
ELA
Name: _____________
Step 3: Prepare Your Lesson/Presentation Visual Aid
With you group, decide how you want to present this story. Below are the requirements for your lesson with
some ideas listed. You do not have to use these ideas, they are merely there as an idea/suggestion. If your
group can think of another idea, that’s GREAT :)
1. An engaging way to teach the story: You can play a game, do a skit, radio broadcast, a Prezi,
etc. NO POWERPOINT!!!
2. Address the plot elements and literary devices: Title and author, plot diagram, theme, point of
view, and so forth. Look at your notes for everything you need to address. Include significant
quotes from the story and explain why they are significant—connect it to the characters, the
plot, and/or the theme. You can make this interactive with the class or address it in your
engaging lesson.
3. Create a handout for the class: The class will need some study notes for the story. You can do a
Sparknotes style handout, fill in the blank, just have the students take notes, etc.
4. Q&A from the Audience: As audience members you will be required to ask questions to the
“teacher” about the lesson and story and as the group presenting, you must answer these
questions to the best of your ability.
5. Q&A for the Audience: Ask your “students” questions about what you presented, the story, etc.
The three levels of questions are: Facts/Recalling, Analysis/Interpretation, and Open-Ended
6. Connections: Relate your story to your peers. Make connections between your short story and
another story/novel/book you’ve read, a movie or TV show, personal experiences we may have
faced or currently facing, something on the news, events in real life, and so forth.
7. Evaluate your peers: You can do a quiz, a Socratic seminar, a writing assignment, a mini project,
etc.
There’s only one thing that you will NOT do in the presentation: summarize. Though you can THOROUGHLY
discuss the story, you may NOT summarize in a way that will “bail out” a student who did not read the story!
Here are some other details:
 Images: I recommend, but do not require, 1 image/slide: memes, clipart, photographs, etc.
 Humor: use if appropriate to keep our attention! 
 Have fun with this project!
Step 4: Participate in ALL the Short Story Presentations!
As both a listener and a presenter, you must participate in the Presentations in the following manner:

Listener: on the days when you are NOT presenting, you must:
o Read the short story in advance, answer any verbal questions that the presenters ask you,
and then take the EVALUATION on that short story at the end of the class period. (I repeat:
though you will only annotate and present ONE story, you must read and quiz on ALL stories
so I know that you comprehended them.)
o DURING the presentations of others, be respectful and complete what is asked of you! You
wouldn’t want someone to be disrespectful when you’re presenting so don’t do it to them.

Presenter: You and your group will be given about 25 minutes to present…
o Each group member must speak for EQUAL time. This is not negotiable.
ELA
Name: _____________
o
REHEARSE!!! If you go over that is okay, the more detail you give the better. It is okay if
you’re a few minutes under but if your presentation is half the time or very short, then you
need to determine what you’re missing or what else you can add into your presentation.
o
Everyone must do their fair share of the work and fill out the assignment sheet so I know
who did what.
Grade Breakdown:
50% Teaching (materials, engaging, equal talk time, meets all requirements)
10% Group Evaluation (did you do your fair share of the work?)
10% Peer Evaluation (did your peers learn something, were they engaged in the lesson?)
30% Teacher Evaluation (assessments on stories, presented, did fair share of work, used class time
wisely, listened to others and asked questions, annotations)
Short Story Listener Rubric
4
3
2
1
Student demonstrates
consistent, critical note taking
and listening skills to acquire
information. Asks questions.
Student demonstrates active
listening skills through
attentive behavior AND
critical note taking. Asks
questions.
Student shows some
listening skills to acquire
new information through
some written notes. Did
not ask any questions.
Student does not
demonstrate active
listening and note taking
skills through notes. Did not
ask any questions.