Narrative Text Short Stories
Before Reading the Short Stories:
Set a purpose for reading
Read to answer these questions:
Why are we reading the short stories The Most Dangerous Game, Gift of the Magi and The Necklace?
What value do these stories have for the modern teenager?
What do these stories mean in terms of how I think about myself, my family, my peers, my community, my country and humanity?
Step 2: Formative Assessment-You will maintain an Readers Notebook
ReadersNotebookForShortStory[1].pdf
During Reading the Short Stories (Keeping a Readers Notebook):
- Effective readers ask questions as they read to clarify their thinking. Is it clear where the story takes place, who the main characters are, whether they are the "good guy" or the "bad guy", what problem they are facing, the different ways they might solve their problem.
- You will maintain a Readers Notebook as a place for you to write your reactions to what you read and to record your assignments.
- Rubric for the Readers Notebook Critical Reading Rubric.doc
- As you are reading each of the short stories, you will want to underline and highlight key words and phrases about the characters-what they say, what others say about them, their reactions to what is happening, what they are thinking.
- What words does the author use to let you know if the character is vain, if he is arrogant, or a sap or if the author wants to create a scary mood or a mood that is light?
- You will also make notes in the margins so you can come back to the notes later on. This is called Marginalia. Marginalia.pdf Things you will want to note in the margins are where the story takes place, what are the key ideas the author wants you to remember, who the main characters are, what the problem of the story is, where the conclusion takes place, what words and details the author uses to put you into the story, what is the authors opinion about the characters/ what is his point of view? When you download the short stories, you will want to make notes in the margins about what you are noticing as you are reading.
- You will also need to circle the words you do not understand as you read and make guesses in the margins using context clues to see if you can figure out those words you dont know when you first read the stories. As you discover what each of the unknown words actually means, jot down in the margin the one word or phrase you would use to describe or define the word.
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Below is an example of what to include in a Readers Notebook.
Before reading the three short stories, go to the on line site below and print out pages 6 through 10. As you read the three stories, you will be adding to your Readers Notebook where you predict what the stories will be about, what conflict the characters face, how the authors conclude the stories and what makes these stories unique.