Actions and Reactions

Resource Ideas

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Description

This unit provides opportunities for students to read and respond to a variety of contemporary short stories. The activities should help students develop skills and strategies for reading and writing fiction. Throught the unit, the emphasis should be on interpreting and making personal connections to events and characters in the stories they read. Students should be encouraged to develop their ideas through close reading and rereading of the selections and to provide evidence for their views. Activities should also engage students in exploring techniques used by fiction writers - inventing characters and story problems, developing dialogue and creating "narrative books".

Major Integrated Resource (MIR)

• Identities 7 Series available from Oxford University Press (Canada)

Web Resources

• Classic Short Stories - A collection of online electronic short stories by writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Rudyard Kipling, James Joyce, Edgar Allan Poe, Virginia Woolf, Dorothy Parker, H. G. Wells, and Jack London
• Short Story Fair: Responding to Short Stories in Multiple Media and Genres - Students read short stories from a collection in small groups then prepare responses in multiple media and genres that are shared in a culminating Short Story Fair.
• Grab a Story and Go! - In this shared-writing activity, students collaborate to create a short story.
• Creative Writing for Teens - If short fiction is your passion, then these sites may be of help in developing your craft. Some of them are about fiction in general, but most supply useful information specific to the short story form.
• Short Story Tips - Why do some stories truly ring in the mind while others leave you with the feeling of 'what was the point?'. To make your students' short stories more effective, here is a list of points to keep in mind while writing.
• Tips for Writing a Short Story - Advice for Novice writers on how to structure their short stories

Web Quests

• Short Stories are Like a Box of Chocolates - You have just learned that the person you like really enjoys one of the authors you just read in English class. The problem is, you only paid half attention in class when the teacher was talking. You now need to find information about the author and the short story to continue your conversation with this very special person.

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