4 Reasons to teach short stories

 I have been thinking a lot about what I love to teach and how to focus on that. As a former high school English teacher, with a masters in English education, literature is definitely my first love. And the thing that has always been my favorite to teach is the short story. So I thought I'd do a quick series here on the blog about short stories and how to use them in your ELA classroom or homeschool block. Here are 4 reasons why:

1. They're short. The first and most obvious reason I love short stories is because they're short. This means they can be read and taught in one sitting and don't rely on outside reading (which sometimes doesn't get done) or drag on for weeks and months.
2. They have a clear structure. When teaching novel studies or plays, it's sometimes hard to highlight a specific narrative structure. Short stories generally have one plot, one conflict, b and one climax, which makes them easy for students to map out
3. They can be used for a specific focus or skill. You can choose short stories for your lessons that illustrate a specific theme, literary term, or reading skill. Again, because they're short and focused, you can touch upon several of these skills in a much shorter span of time than if you tried to find novels for all of them.
4. They can be used as models for writing. For most students, it is not realistic to expect them to write an entire novel. Generally all students can write short stories though. Reading widely in the genre can help student's get a feel for the craft and become better creative writers.

Do you enjoy teaching short stories? What challenges do you face? What would you like to learn more about?