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Meggie, you have done an absolutely superb job in giving us tools to prepare us for AP Lit. You are a treasure! Thank you very much!

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Meggie thank you so much for a wonderful week of learning. I appreciate all the resources, group discussions, and the alignment to the test. I hope that everyone has a restful summer and blessed school year.

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Thank you for being amazing and awesome, you habe given me the language and ability to better support my colleagues for the following year. I now know what to say and how to better support them, waht suggestions to give and overall how to adapt materials for AP Lit!

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Seriously Meggie, this course was superb! I appreciated the combination of direct instruction, small group work, and time for independent work. I learned a ton and I know that I am going to rely heavily on the resources you shared with us, especially this first year. Thank you!!!

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Meggie,

The information and material you provided in this workshop is above and beyond what I expected. I cannot thank you enough! I feel so much more confident going into my first year teaching AP now that I have this experience, and I honestly cannot picture having this amazing experience with a different instructor or cohort.

I know that we will all be busy when our demanding schedules take effect in the beginning of the school year, but I want to wish everyone the best of luck with their classes. I have a feeling that we will all rock it!

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I appreciate all of your wonderful resources you've shared, especially your poetry resources. Thank you!

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1) Gallery Walk: beautiful student created posters on theme and symbolism

2)Digging: students do a deep dive into poetry analysis through a scaffolded analysis

3) Bento Box: students use objects to represent their novel

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Thank you so much for such a great week with such awesome information and resources. I had a great time and feel much more confident after this course.

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I feel much more confident about going into the AP journey after taking this workshop. Thank you so much.

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I loved hearing the short stories you all teach and am excited to read them and incorporate them this year! I will steal the idea of the novel board game - thanks Mitchell!

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Fahrenheit 451

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

The Night Face Up by Julio Cortazar

The Man in the Well by Ira Sher

12 Angry Men

Harrison Bergeron

Romeo and Juliet

Antony and Cleopatra

I am excited to teach

Things Fall Apart (I picked it for our summer reading this year)

Kindred

Born a Crime

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I cannot pinpoint one idea honestly, they're all amazing! Thank you for your generosity and sharing the pedagogical strategies that have worked you. You're all phenomenal educators and hope you have an amazin summer and academic year

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Meggie, it's been such a pleasure! What a great workshop: effective, relevant, entertaining, helpful! I'm going to use many of your resources and assignment ideas in my classroom next year! Hope we can stay in touch! :)

Have a restful and fun summer!

Iryna

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It's another of my favorites from Goldberry Studios.

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An audio anthology of the best poetry ever written, presented with brief commentary, to enrich and enliven the daily routine (along with the occasional article, essay, or list).

This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts

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The Daily Poem Podcast | David Kern | Substack

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An audio anthology of the best poetry ever written, presented with brief commentary, to enrich and enliven the daily routine (along with the occasional article, essay, or list). Click to read The Daily Poem Podcast, by David Kern, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

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Night, Of Mice and Men, Romeo and Juliet, Allegedly, Patron Saints of Nothing, Unwind, Scythe, Monday's Not Coming

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First, I want to thank everyone who helped me with technology and just being so open.

I really loved the Yellow Wallpaper shared in our last breakout session. I can see pairing it with The Great Gatsby and women's rights during the 1920s.

So many other great ideas from so many people. Thank you so much!! I enjoyed meeting and getting ideas from everyone across the globe.

And Meggie, this has been one of the BEST workshops I have ever taken. I can't wait to go back into all of your shared lessons. You have been so wonderful...and I love your dogs!!!

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The Odyssey - 9th

"There Will Come Soft Rains" - 9th

Macbeth - 10th

Hamilton (lyrics) - 10th

Frankenstein - 11th

"The Story of an Hour" - 11th

"The Yellow Wallpaper" -11th

"Everyday Use" - 11th

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Thank you for a great week. I've gained a wealth of information.

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If you are teaching a new novel or just want to tune in for some great listening, this is my all-time favorite podcast.

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Close Reads HQ is a place for the incurable reader. We produce podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more, all related to bookish things.

No thanks

"for lovers of books, bookstores, and rich conversation."

This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts

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Close Reads HQ | Goldberry Studios | Substack

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Close Reads HQ is a place for the incurable reader. We produce podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more, all related to bookish things. Click to read Close Reads HQ, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

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I'm grateful to all who have shared teaching activities and ideas in the Drive folder. Sharing creative ideas makes our classrooms much more fun. I appreciate the games and projects, the short story ideas, and the easily adaptable Power Points.

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I'm looking forward to creating Novel Board Games with my students! Thanks, Mitchell.

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Thank you, guys! It's been a great week and I learned so much from all of you! Such an insightful group of fellow literature teachers! Particularly thank you to Meggie for this wonderful workshop and very helpful resources!

Good luck to everyone for the upcoming school year! :)

Iryna S-B

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Fahrenheit 451

Night

Romeo and Juliet

Ceremony

Frankenstein

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An idea I will incorporate at the beginning of the year is having students create brochures for the review sheet assignment found in the CED. Many of them love being creative and a lot of my students are always asking for opportunities to use Canva. I will have them create a 6 panel brochure that incorporates title, author, genre, symbols, character analysis, setting with social/historical context analysis, explanation of references, style analysis, plot, quotes, and author's dominant philosophy in addition to a book rating (1-5 stars). -A. Pantoja

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One thing I really appreciated is that many of the lessons shared today incorporated movement into the lesson. I love finding ways to get the students up and moving throughout the class period!

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I really like the idea of having students move around while reading poetry. It seems like a great way to make students think about what they're reading!

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Dream Variations By Langston Hughes

Shooting an Elephant By George Orwell

I am prepared to die By Nelson Mandela

Frankenstien By Mary Shelly

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Some great takeaways! I loved them all! But I will try the walking around idea with poems for sure.

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Some of my favorite texts to teach (Iryna S-B): 

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Some of my favorite texts to teach (Iryna S-B): 

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Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (collection of short stories) by Haruki Murakami

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Homegoing by Yaa Giasi

Hanif Abdurraqib poetry

Reading Lolita in Tehran (memoir) by Azar Nafisi

Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov

The Trial by Franz Kafka

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Everyone had great ideas and activities, but I especially liked Audrey's activity on "The Yellow Wallpaper" with all of the context she had gathered to introduce this story.

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I love teaching Othello, Frankenstein, and as much poetry as I can weave into the course all year!

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Chief John Ross Speech vs Andrew Jackson on Native American Treaties/Trail of Tears-Compare/Contrast/Propaganda/Rhetorical Devices

The Great Gatsby 11th

The Crucible 11th

Harlem Ren Poetry various poems 11th

I cant wait to try and incorporate some of the new texts given in the workshop!!

Will try Passing this year.

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"The Rez Sisters" & "Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing" plays by Tomson Highway (Canadian)

The Outside Circle- graphic novel by Patti LaBoucane-Benson (Canadian)

A Streetcar Named Desire

The Crucible

A Long Way Gone

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian (for younger students)

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I am especially grateful to Ms. McGowan for the unit on characterization in Animal Farm. I teach this short novel in English 10, but I love how each of these lessons and units can prepare our students for AP Lit and Comp in the future. Great poster activity! Thank you for sharing!

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Meggie!

You are amazing and such a wealth of knowledge. Thank you for being so generous with your knowledge, experience, and resources. The workshop was perfectly designed where I didn't feel too overwhelmed and I know exactly where to go to get help, if I need it. Big thanks to you for making the content approachable. I'm excited to start my AP Lit teaching journey. ❤️

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11th (Brit Lit):

-A Clockwork Orange

-The Lonely Londoners

-Romeo & Juliet

-The Picture of Dorian Gray

12th (AP):

-One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

-Passing

-The Great Gatsby

-Slaughterhouse Five

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Poisonwood Bible--AP

Passing--11th

Of Mice and Men--9th

Outliers--11th

The Everglades--River of Grass--9th

Silent Spring--11th

Much Ado About Nothing--9th

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Lots of great stuff shared today! It was especially great to see the creativity of the educators we have in here! Special shoutout to Taylor, who had a really great activity using "Metaphors" by Sylvia Plath!

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Thank you everyone for sharing your ideas! I love how you all have focused on student engagement. -AP

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I appreciate the diversity of types of activities that my groups shared. Furthermore, I really enjoyed listening to each teacher's explanation for how they have adapted materials; it really shows that we are a passionate group who knows our students well!

The brochure reading list could be a great motivator to get kids reading outside of class.

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To Kill A Mockingbird - 9th

Of Mice and Men - 9th

Romeo and Juliet - 9th

Odyssey (graphic novel by Gareth Hinds) - 9th

Book Thief - 10th

Fahrenheit 451 - 10th

Night - 10th

Great Gatsby - 11th

Kite Runner - 11th

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The Yellow Wallpaper

Invisible Man

Beowulf

Animal Farm

Frankenstein

Of Mice and Men

The Great Gatsby

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My 10th grade on-level students really enjoyed Things Fall Apart, and especially enjoyed debating whether or not we should feel sympathetic towards Okonkwo. I'll probably wait a year to teach it again, as a lot of those students are now joining my AP Lit class. Looking forward to trying to teach Othello this year!

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MagicSchool.ai - AI for teachers - lesson planning and more!

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Join over a million teachers saving hours of time using the #1 AI Platform for Education, MagicSchool, to help lesson plan, differentiate, write assessments, write IEPs, communicate clearly, and more!

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I loved the idea of brochures in my presentation group! Identifying characters and outlining characterization through brochures would really help students keep track when reading!

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Got lots of great ideas from my group!

1. "Walking a Poem" - students physically walk or stop based on the structure of the poem

2. "Book Talk & Share" - for their independent reading book, ask the students whether their book is a mirror, a window, or a sliding glass door for them.

3. Book Bento - a great visual presentation of the books students are reading!

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The Crucible - 10th

The Yellow Wallpaper - 10th

Long Way Down - 9th

The Poet X - 10th

I am also really excited to teach The Round House by Louise Erdrich

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Wow! I'm in awe of how talented you all are! Harrison Bergeron, Fahrenheit 451, Beloved, poetry March madness! Can't wait to try these!

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Brochures for books already read in the beginning of the school year.

Harrison Bergeron "handicap" activity

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David Barber is poetry editor of The Atlantic, where he has been a staff editor since 1994. Barber has taught writing and literature at Middlebury College, the Harvard Writing Program, MIT's Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies, and the Emerson College graduate writing program. He also writes on natural history, music, and art.

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Poetry Out Loud encourages the study of great poetry. The program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life.

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You all have given me so much more confidence coming into my first year teaching. So many of the assignments/activities you all shared are so interactive and fun! I can't wait to implement them in my own classroom.

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Although I have not yet taught AP Lit and Comp, the following are my favorite texts to teach in other classes:

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Although I have not yet taught AP Lit and Comp, the following are my favorite texts to teach in other classes:

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To Kill a Mockingbird - 9th

The Hiding Place - 9th

Frankenstein - 10th

Romeo and Juliet - 10th

A Tale of Two Cities - 10th

Animal Farm - 10th

The Great Gatsby - American Lit - 11th

Beowulf - British Lit - 12th

Pride and Prejudice -Brit Lit - 12th

Macbeth - Brit Lit - 12th

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In at least one new post, share what you liked about the lessons your peers shared. This will act as a reminder later on - hopefully you will come back to this padlet when your school year starts and look at the lessons you were most interested in trying!

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Lots of great stuff on this site, I particularly like this activity.

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The Poetry Scramble is designed to work with larger screen sizes. Please visit this page on a desktop computer or a wider tablet to create and share your own Poetry experience.

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The Artificial Intelligence Playbook by Hargrave, Fisher, and Fry

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The Artificial Intelligence Playbook by Hargrave, Fisher, and Fry

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I asked my campus librarian to order this book for me. I plan to read this book over the summer and I'm attending AI PD offered through my district as well. I've Fisher and Fry strategies before, so I'm sure I'll learn some new strategies for AI.

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If you're familiar with Quizizz, their website now has an AI option to craft questions, pull questions from a particular source, create worksheets and quizzes, etc. I have not used this extensively, but I have played around with it to generate study guides and vocabulary activities.

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Quizizz - The world's most engaging learning platform

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Find and create gamified quizzes, lessons, presentations, and flashcards for students, employees, and everyone else. Get started for free!

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Thanks for the link to John Warner's website. I think I will invest in reading his books on writing. Also, I have heard great things about magicschool.ai. It can help develop lesson plans, activities, and differentiate instruction.

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I look forward to sharing conversations with my students about using AI and how it can be used to support learning.

I love the suggestion of using AI for generating vocabulary activities.

In my classroom, we do a lot of in-class writing with paper and pen/pencil without technology. There should be room for both in order to prepare our students for the future.

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AI is really helpful for students who struggle with reading. It can be a text-leveler as Mason mentioned, and can also translate texts for ML students. I've used Diffit to translate a text or lower a Lexile level (its generative text-dependent questions are quite bad, as a warning).

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I have no suggestions yet, but this has been a conversation I have been looking forward too. I have many new links and articles to continue reading. I stepped away from teaching in 2006, and I am returning this year! This topic, learning about available tools and how to see the potential faults, but use the positives is great information as I step into a practically new world!

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This is a teacher-verified website to potentially help students work with AI.

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Common Lit & Quill on How to approach "the conversation" about if students used AI - T. Mayfield

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Common Lit & Quill on How to approach "the conversation" about if students used AI - T. Mayfield

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I have used this AI "game" as a warm up activity to help students with descriptive writing, vocabulary, and elaboration. It's fun and they like it! It works for a variety of grade and course levels.

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Say What You See - Google Arts & Culture

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Learn the art of image prompting with the help of Google AI.

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It's an amazing writing assistant that helps students jot down their ideas without actually writing for them

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When we claim a sample syllabus, are we able to change any of the works used, or we are making a commitment to the exact resources used within that syllabus?

Laura

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Most of our AP teachers only have 1 section of the AP class they teach. The benefit of that, however, is that we teach a lot of "on-level" classes and push students in those classes into AP classes based on what we see in the classroom and the relationships we build with them. I think relationship building with students in the school can do a lot in terms of expanding access.

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My school is very small. AP Lit is the only AP English class offered, and it is the only option for juniors that are not on the alternative trade school pathway. I have only been at this school one year, but I have already noticed that many underclassmen are choosing the alternative pathway not because they are interested in that coursework but because they are intimidated by having to take AP classes. I like the idea of having the lower grade travel to your classroom to hear the information and get a taste of the fun that AP can be. Also, because AP is the only junior level English offered, I have many students who would benefit from the AP boot camp. I love that idea and think if it could be done in the first week of school in your own classroom if it could not be done school wide.

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Our school has been very intentional about offering alternative pathways for students who haven't taken the traditional prerequisite courses, such as summer bridge programs, prep courses and teacher suggested recommendations at the start of the year if we identify a gifted student in a regular class. We also consider students who test well on the admissions test even if their GPA was low, this alternative admissions criteria has yielded good students who might have been overlooked initially. Teacher recommendations are the crucial backbone for inclusivity however. And that sometimes is in how students write, students' essays that demonstrate academic potential are also usually flagged.

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Iryna Sirota-Basso

My school has prerequisites for taking AP: a B+ in an on-level class the previous year, teacher recommendation, and a student's own interest. But I love the idea of inviting AP Lit students to both my on-level junior American Lit class and my colleague's junior AP Lang class to talk about their AP lit experiences. They could recommend books they enjoyed, activities or assignments they found rewarding, hopefully motivating more students to challenge themselves both in their junior year and applying for senior year AP Lit.

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This is similar to your idea of having the English III students visit your room...I think it would be so nice for the students of all varying grades and levels to spend a day visiting rooms and teachers they do not currently have in their schedule to rotate for introductions and sample lessons. What a fun day of meeting the other educators in the school and getting a better understanding of course offerings! It could help promote electives that are important to keep as well!

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We have a great AP program at our campus. I think we can make it stronger by having a listening session. Input from students in the program will help us to improve.

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I think holding a Q and A for both sophomores and juniors would reduce the fear of the unknown in students. Then the sophomores would already be familiar enough with AP to know if they wish to pursue that path when they reach their junior/senior year.

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I think peer ambassadors is an excellent idea! My school is smaller, and the students all know each other. That foundation of trust can be really powerful in building student confidence going into AP.

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Ours is a small school, and I like the idea of including the option for juniors to enroll as well as seniors. I also appreciate the suggestion of having a preview day around the time of scheduling for the following year to have students sit in class and participate in a live lesson.

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Ours is a small school, and I like the idea of including the option for juniors to enroll as well as seniors. I also appreciate the suggestion of having a preview day around the time of scheduling for the following year to have students sit in class and participate in a live lesson.

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I love the idea of allowing Sophomores or Juniors swap classrooms to get a sample of what AP is like. I do think that the idea of a "college course" or even a more difficult course can scare students.

The demographic of our school is such that parents and students want AP. Our AP classes are at capacity.

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as a department, ensure that "AP Skills" are being taught and exposed to students in all classes and all levels. The terminology and all that doesn't matter, but if students are exposed to it at all levels, it might not seem so daunting to those who are on the fence about taking AP when they realize that they already have experience with the skills they will continue to develop.

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This is a great idea! Since the classes are non-sequential, it would be a great way to broaden interest in AP Lit as a class. It's also more in-line with how students will register for classes in college- they get to choose which class they want based on their interests.

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There needs to be multiple voices and inputs when gathering information about AP course.

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Swapping classrooms: English III or AP Lang students come to my room for a sample lesson, my students go to their room to work on something previously assigned. This lets students who might not have taken your class (due to preconceived notions that AP classes are "impossible") the chance to see your teaching style and get accustomed to the space they would spend time in. Have to coordinate with the English III/Lang teacher and make the swaps work over a period of a few days.

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parent newsletters

school-wide interest surveys

diagnostic testing to assess AP readiness

expanding the AP program to other departments (in my school especially)

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The CED is clear and organized. It's helpful that it includes essential knowledge and enduring understanding statements. I love the key questions under the developing course skills section.

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1. Grading/feedback practices that are time-efficient but effective

2. Sample pacing guide for the year ... ideas for short stories and poems (plus activities) that will keep students engaged.

3. Thoughts on independent reading - book clubs? literature circles?

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1. Instructional ideas and best practices. I want to keep the course engaging while still providing rigor, and would also lovely guidance and providing timely and relevant feedback for students.

2. Things that I can take into "general" English classes.

3. Text suggestions!

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It would seem that these units work with scaffolding of skills and understanding in mind, which is very helpful. I can see how they build on one another. I would like to work on trying to blend these units a bit more so they aren't so rigid, focusing (at least initially) on pairing texts that relate to one another in some way.

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Online AP Summer Institute Agenda UTSA 2024

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1. Instructional strategies and resources for deep learning

2. Practical considerations for the course (Example: pen & paper semester one, digital practice semester two)

3. Tips on providing feedback on practice essays

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I like that there is a clear framework for course content and skills. This allows us teachers to navigate more confidently particularly at the start of teaching this course. So far, I'm good and not confused, just excited to learn from others.

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Will we have continued access to this Padlet beyond our course this week?

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Will we have continued access to this Padlet beyond our course this week?

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I appreciate the suggestion of sources/materials within the CED. During our asynchronous time, I worked with Elizabeth Browning's "The Fish." I look forward to using this resource in my classroom. I also appreciate that we can use our own resources/recommendations as well. I plan to use Crime and Punishment for unit 3.

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I appreciate the suggestion of sources/materials within the CED. During our asynchronous time, I worked with Elizabeth Browning's "The Fish." I look forward to using this resource in my classroom. I also appreciate that we can use our own resources/recommendations as well. I plan to use Crime and Punishment for unit 3.

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1. Pacing ideas: What's the best way to structure the class to pace instruction and activities thoughtfully and purposefully? Daily, weekly, monthly. I love routines and structure!

2. Grading: Tips, tricks, and effective strategies for grading practices that provide constructive feedback while also allowing us to manage our time.

3. Lessons: I am always looking for great ideas and activities for students that felt meaningful and purposeful to them while also meeting the standards of the course. What has worked best in the past and with current students?

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1. How to keeping students actively engaged with the often-dense material of AP Literature? And learning new and fun interactive activities for classroom discussions, analysis exercises, or creative writing prompts would be a valuable takeaway from the workshop. 2. Some fresh strategies for tackling the FRQ and ensuring success. 3. To share and get ideas on what pedagogy works and how to best implement it

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1. I am grateful to glean ideas/strategies for implementing the teaching of knowledge and skills.

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1. I am grateful to glean ideas/strategies for implementing the teaching of knowledge and skills.

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2. The asynchronous time allotted to read and work with the CED and plan for the year ahead is a huge practical benefit.

3. I appreciate the collaboration and sharing of strategies and resources, such as Hope's success with originality.AI

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Love the structure, etc given in the CED

Nothing confusing so far, just taking in the information and structuring/planning is a lot because in other courses we are typically given a list of resources we can teach. Here, we can teach almost anything... so that part gets a little overwhelming.

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I also love looking up contemporary Flash Fiction. The New Yorker Fiction website also has a great selection. Often searching "contemporary indigenous stories" or "Nigerian short stories" can also narrow the selection. I also put a bunch of short stories into the Short Stories folder in Day 4!

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June 3, 2024

The short story can do so much in so little time. Although short stories for high school students are appealing due to their brevity, this doesn't minimize their lasting impact. Like the novel, short stories can leave readers undeniably moved, if not more moved, in powerful, unexpected ways. This form of storytelling has influenced the wider culture in film, television, theater, and other arts through its structure and use of literary devices.

Recommended below is a combination of classic and contemporary short stories that are great for high schoolers. Check out our 60 best short stories for high school students that will be hard to forget:

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students

"Do the scientists really know? Will it happen today, will it?"

Ray Bradbury's "All Summer in a Day" is, you guessed it, a science fiction short story. It was first published in March 1954 for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Heartbreaking and set in Venus, this makes for one of the best short stories for high schoolers to study character behavior.

"People want to put their arms around you when you tell them you were in a shelter, but it really wasn't bad."

"True! - nervous - very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?"

Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a classic murder mystery that tries to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity.

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students (Continued)

"The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes."

"With a clamor of bells that set the swallows soaring, the Festival of Summer came to the city Omelas, bright-towered by the sea."

Ursula K. LeGuin's legendary short story was originally published in 1973 and centers on the misery of a single child.

"At home, you know, we have a driver."

"You mean a chauffeur?"

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students (Continued)

"America was where all my mother's hopes lay."

Perhaps you've heard of Amy Tan's book "The Joy Luck Club." Published in 1989, "Two Kinds" is a great short story for high schoolers. It focuses on a mother-daughter relationship, set in San Francisco's Chinatown.

"Her name was Connie. She was fifteen and she had a quick, nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors or checking other people's faces to make sure her own was all right."

"Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death."

Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" was written on April 19, 1894 and published in Vogue as "The Dream of an Hour."

Read College Transitions' summary and analysis of the short story here.

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students (Continued)

"I had brought my grandson to New York to see a show."

"She felt as though she had been living in that part of the country for ages and ages, for a hundred years, and it seemed to her that she knew every stone, every tree on the road from the town to her school."

Anton Chekhov's "The Schoolmistress" was published on December 21, 1987. This classic makes for a great short story for high schoolers through its use of symbolism.

"While he was bent over the counter with the pencil in his hand, she studied his coarse features and wondered if he'd ever done anything else with his life besides be a baker."

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students (Continued)

"Pain is an illusion, I know, and so is time, I know, I know. I know. The shift manager never stops reminding us. Doesn't help, actually. Doesn't help when you are on your third broken leg of the day."

Charles Yu's "Standard Loneliness Package" is a science fiction story first published in 2010 that asks what we should do with our emotions. High schoolers might find this to be familiar terrain.

"She was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as if by an error of fate, into a family of clerks."

"Day had broken cold and grey, exceedingly cold and grey, when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth- bank, where a dim and little-travelled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland."

Published in 1902, Jack London's "To Build a Fire" is the perfect, timeless short story for any adventure-hungry high schooler.

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students (Continued)

"One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin."

It stands as one of the most famous first lines in literature. Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis," published in 1915, is an unforgettable classic short story for high school students.

"But nothing's too good for our children,' George had said."

"Depending upon one another's hearts, ye had still hoped that virtue were not all a dream. Now are ye undeceived. Evil is the nature of mankind."

Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" was published in 1835 and reveals the tragedy of blindly following tradition.

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students (Continued)

"After a flood, eggshells and beer-can tabs and bottle shards clung to the Creek's banks, as if even trash hoped to escape."

"'Never mind, dear,' said his wife soothingly; 'perhaps you'll win the next one.'"

21) "Powder" by Tobias Wolff

" Just before Christmas my father took me skiing at Mount Baker. He'd had to fight for the privilege of my company, because my mother was still angry with him for sneaking me into a nightclub during his last visit, to see Thelonious Monk."

Tobias Wolff's "Powder" will resonate with high schoolers contemplating father-son relationships.

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students (Continued)

" When I came into the kitchen, Ward was using a knife to help his wife, Irene, peel the skin from two buffalo tongues."

" She was a large woman with a large purse that had everything in it but hammer and nails."

Published in 1958, "Thank You, Ma'am" by Langston Hughes imparts timeless, lifelong lessons.

"The apocalypse was quiet. It had a way about it, a certain charm. It could be called graceful. It was taking a long time."

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students (Continued)

"The sunlight dripped over the house like golden paint over an art jar, and the freckling shadows here and there only intensified the rigor of the bath of light."

F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Ice Palace" makes for one of the best short stories for high schoolers in its depiction of love. And all the tension that comes with it.

26) "The Storm" by Kate Chopin - Best Short Stories for High School Students

"'Mama'll be 'fraid, yes,' he suggested with blinking eyes."

Kate Chopin's "The Storm" was published in 1898 and uses the storm as symbolic imagery of social norms and desires.

A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down into the swift water twenty feet below. The man's hands were behind his back, the wrists bound with a cord.

Written by Civil War veteran Ambrose Bierce, this makes for a completely surprising short story for high school students.

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students (Continued)

"You are thirteen so, of course, I am convinced I still have some say over you."

"A rumor of some unaccountable phenomenon had preceded Mr. Hooper into the meeting-house, and set all the congregation astir."

"The Minister's Black Veil" was first published in 1836 and centers on themes of repressed guilt.

"Off there to the right-somewhere-is a large island," said Whitney." It's rather a mystery-"

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students (Continued)

" As the day was pleasant, Madame Valmondé drove over to L'Abri to see Désirée and the baby."

Kate Chopin joins the list for best short stories for high school students again with "Desiree's Baby." The story is set before the Civil War and examines issues around race and discrimination.

" None of them knew the color of the sky."

Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat" was first published in 1897. This story was based on Crane's own experience being shipwrecked off the coast of Florida while traveling to Cuba.

"'Y'are very snug in here,' piped old Mr. Woodifield, and he peered out of the great, green leather armchair by his friend the boss's desk as a baby peers out of its pram."

Katherine Mansfield's "The Fly" is a recommended short story for high schoolers because of how it deals with grief, death and survival.

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students (Continued)

"Five o'clock Ed Loyce washed up, tossed on his hat and coat, got his car out and headed across town toward his TV sales store. He was tired."

"Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry..."

Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl" is written like a to-do list, but it devastates the reader with its heartbreaking wisdom.

"I suppose you could say that it started with the storm."

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students (Continued)

"The first time I brought a date over she said: what's with your dad and that pole? and I sat there blinking."

This short story by George Saunders is not just about a pole and a dad. "Sticks" is a great short story for high schoolers and brings into mind what family unity means.

"In her last week in America, Shirin sells or gives away all her possessions, returning to the same small parcel she carried when she first arrived-a purse full of dried fruit and extra underwear. She feels thirty again."

"There was nothing conspicuous about them, nothing particularly noticeable, until the end of their meal, when it suddenly became obvious that this was an Occasion-in fact, the husband's birthday, and the wife had planned a little surprise for him."

Katharine Brush's heartbreaking "Birthday Party" was published in 1946 and implores the reader to examine what really is happening to the characters.

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students (Continued)

"The janitor makes her way through the hallway with purpose, suctioning space dust and human debris from crevices of the space station."

"'He died of a rope around his neck,' says she, and just went on pleatin' at her apron."

This is not a short story but a very short play. "Trifles" by Susan Glaspell is still a great short story-like read for high schoolers about the social oppression of women.

"She loved the shape of his mouth, and she especially liked the way he didn't complain about being tired."

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students (Continued)

"Besieged Paris was in the throes of famine. Even the sparrows on the roofs and the rats in the sewers were growing scarce. People were eating anything they could get."

Guy de Maupassant's "Two Friends" is an essential short story for high schoolers. The story is one of melancholy and dives into themes of loyalty during wartime.

"Normally you ring the bell and you have 120 at least a half-minute's wait before the door opens. But this dame was a like a jack-in-the-box."

"I knew enough about hell to stop me from stealing. I was holy in almost every bone."

Gary Soto's "The Pie" is an ideal short story for high schoolers as it delves into the guilt we carry throughout our lives.

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students (Continued)

"Della counted it three times. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas."

"The typhoon had passed and the sky was a gorgeous blue. Even a certain village not far from the city had suffered damage."

Shinichi Hoshi is a science fiction writer who wrote "He-y, Come On Ou-t!" in 1971. This short story illuminates the consequences of selfish behavior.

"Her interests were narrow, she had no friends to speak of, and she rarely journeyed farther than the corner grocery."

60 Best Short Stories for High School Students (Continued)

"What they don't understand about birthdays and what they never tell you is that when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one."

Published in 1991, Sandra Cisneros' "Eleven" asks the reader to confront questions around transition and remembering the years we carry.

"John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage."

Read our blog entitled: The Yellow Wallpaper Summary and Analysis.

"The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green."

A story that is brutal and questions tradition. Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is one of the best short stories for high schoolers because of how it subverts expectations.

Read College Transitions' Summary & Analysis of The Lottery.

"Since he had no present prospects of marriage, after two tormented days of turning it over in his mind, he called in Pinye Salzman, a marriage broker whose two-line advertisement he had read in the Forward."

"Not so fast! You're driving too fast!" said Mrs. Mitty. "What are you driving so fast for?"It's one of the best short stories for high schoolers, and it's the most famous of James Thurber's stories. First published on March 18, 1939, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is impossible to put down. It was even made into a film with Ben Stiller.

"Aton 77, director of Saro University, 11 thrust out a belligerent lower lip and 12 glared at the young newspaperman in a 13 hot fury."

"Robert Proctor was a good driver for so young a person."

Theodore Thomas' "The Test" was first published in Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine in April 1962. High schoolers, and any reader, likely won't see the ending coming.

"The pale boy with unfortunate Prince Valiant bangs and cublike mannerisms hulked to the mudroom closet and requisitioned Dad's white coat."

"Martha!" now came her husband's impatient voice. "Don't keep folks waiting out here in the cold."Susan Glaspell wrote "A Jury of Her Peers" in 1917. This short story was loosely based on the murder of John Hossack in 1900.

"North Richmond Street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers' School set the boys free."James Joyce's "Araby" is a short story that was published in his collection "Dubliners" in 1914. It's one of the best short stories for high schoolers as it focuses on the struggles of growing up and the obsession of a crush.

"The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal."

"I was six when my mother taught me the art of invisible strength. It was a strategy for winning arguments, respect from others, and eventually, though neither of us knew it at the time, chess games."Also published in Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club," this short story for high school students is about independence and growing up.

Best Short Stories for High School Students

These stories pose questions that students will continue to ask themselves not just for their creative writing prompts but later in college and throughout their lives. As high schoolers read more short stories, they'll also understand that the power of literature is not confined to the form of the novel.

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60 Best Short Stories for High School Students

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The short story can do so much in so little time. Although short stories for high school students are appealing due to their brevity, this doesn't minimize their lasting impact. Like the novel, short stories can leave readers undeniably moved, if not more moved, in powerful, unexpected ways.

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1. resources - how do I choose texts that are diverse, outside of what collegeboard has in the CED?

2. literally a list of texts to choose from...the world as my oyster is too much.

3. while the CED says focus on shorter fiction and poetry, how often do you teach longer texts? teachers prior have told me one long novel per quarter...thoughts?

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The sample activities are useful, and I'm glad they are included for reference. I'll certainly use them as a guide this year. I do agree with others posting about wanting more diverse texts or more variety/choices as that would greatly benefit our students as well. Additional differentiation suggestions or strategies would be useful too!

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Is this course typically used for/in place of Eng III? Texas

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This has specific lessons tailored for high school English teachers, as well! I have found so many great poems to teach (a diverse range in every way) on this site.

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about

After "The Entombment" by Raphael

The night my father died, I sat on a stool
at the Buckhorn, gazing
out the window's cool counter seat.
Like a funhouse mirror, you appeared.
I have a familiar-looking face; my father used to say-
his wish for me to blend in.
Late after an argument, I fled
and was found bound to a prairie fence
after eighteen hours.
My body is like a sock in the wind
in a field just a mile from here.
My face blooms, velvety
and light like a lamb's ear,

frozen with blood; down
my neck, it goes. A medley of ants shuffles
away. My body is rich with the sour smell
of urine on my head like a crown of daffodils. stachys byzantina; my ears

Copyright © 2023 by Ruben Quesada. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on November 27, 2023, by the Academy of American Poets.

One does such work as one will not,
And well each knows the right;
Though the white storm howls, or the sun is hot,
The black must serve the white.
And it's, oh, for the white man's softening flesh,
While the black man's muscles grow!
Well I know which grows the mightier,

O, rich young lord, thou ridest by
With looks of high disdain;
It chafes me not thy title high,
Thy blood of oldest strain.
The lady riding at thy side
Is but in name thy promised bride.
Ride on, young lord, ride on!

I'm in my room writing
speaking in myself
& I hear you
move down the hallway
to water your plants

I write truth on the page
I strike the word over & over
yet I worry you'll pour too much water on the plants
& the water will overflow onto the books
ruining them

If I can't speak out of myself
how can I tell you I don't care about the plants?
how can I tell you I don't care if the books get wet?

I have folded my sorrows into the mantle of summer night,
Assigning each brief storm its allotted space in time,
Quietly pursuing catastrophic histories buried in my eyes.
And yes, the world is not some unplayed Cosmic Game,
And the sun is still ninety-three million miles from me,
And in the imaginary forest, the shingled hippo becomes the gray unicorn.
No, my traffic is not with addled keepers of yesterday's disasters,
Seekers of manifest disembowelment on shafts of yesterday's pains.

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Home The Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting American poets.

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1. To understand what is expected of an AP Student in terms of skills, abilities, level of understanding, etc. by the end of them taking the course.

2. To get some idea on how to incorporate the material I have from previous years of teaching in ways that will benefit my students, but not have me start over from scratch.

3. To gain confidence in the grading rubric so I will be able to provide appropriate and useful feedback to my students.

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This coming year our school is moving to a modular schedule so I will see my AP kids modules 1, 3, and 5 (6 weeks for each module). The breakdown of the 9 units gives me a much clearer vision of how to structure each 6 week module (short fiction 1, poetry 1, longer fiction/drama 1).