


He sets a trap and… (well, I’ll let you discover what happens). Webb wants revenge against a supposed thief. “This story is an absolute hidden gem! Judson Webb, an arrogant business man, gets caught in his own nefarious web. I promise you your students will love creating their own ending, finding the literary devices, and applying this story to their lives!” Heck, use it at the start of school as you feel summer leaving you. It’s great for summer school students stuck inside, or for a story in the midst of winter when you’re craving sunshine. This story not only is great for analysis it also allows you to really delve into this topic without seeming preachy. Especially in this time of cyberbullying, it is important to bring up the conversation of advocating for others, in your class. Even though it takes place in a strange time in another planet, EVERYONE can relate to the concept of bullying. I’ve used it with high elementary students, middle school, and high school students. He manages to convey so much emotion and use so many different forms of figurative language, and yet his language is pretty simple. “Bradbury is by far one of my favorite authors. Even though we all know she’s guilty, it’s fun to hear the arguments they come up with!” Maloney’s defense lawyer or as the prosecution. Then, students choose whether to write a closing argument as either Mrs. Once students have solved the mystery, we read the full story.

I start off with a PBL exercise written from the cop’s perspective, and students make inferences to decide how and why Mrs. “I love teaching this story for its surprise actions from a seemingly harmless protagonist. *Recommended by Marypat from Just Add Students A fantastic gem of a story that students referenced throughout the school year.” This story is perfect for teaching foreshadowing, point of view, and irony. “My students love this creepy story! But more than that, they love the suspenseful ending that leaves them wondering, questioning, and debating.

Here are 15 other short story recommendations from middle school and high school English Language Arts teachers. While those are my go-to stories for teaching literary elements and pairing with other texts, there are so many other options out there. Last year, I wrote about 13 of my favorite short stories to read with middle school and high school students.
