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Grade 8 English Students Analyze Elements of a Short Story, Then Publish Their Own
The writing was a culmination of a unit which explored short stories as a genre and reinforced students’ understanding of foundational reading and writing concepts.
Students in grade 8 English recently published a collection of short stories with a common theme, the culmination of a unit which explored short stories as a genre and reinforced students’ understanding of foundational reading and writing concepts.
The classes, taught by Christie McMahon and Rachel Mykkanen, started with an examination of four short stories where students identified literary elements such as characterization, point of view, setting and theme.
“In doing so, we practiced critical thinking in examining the texts, as well as considering writers’ craft,” Mrs. McMahon said.
The unit then shifted toward writing, where students drafted and revised stories with a wide variety of genres and topics centered around the theme of growing up. Stories ranged from historical fiction set a century ago to adventure stories to dystopian.
Students then wrote loglines for their story before sharing them on a grade-wide page on the online platform Padlet, which allowed classmates to read each other’s stories and share feedback.
Beyond short stories, Grade 8 English explores writing styles in a variety of genres including dialogues, analytical essays, explications, commentary writing and self-assessments.
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