Presentation on integrating technology into a short story unit for middle school classrooms

1. Short Story Unit
Middle School Lesson
Katharine Bray

2. Technology Integration Rationale
• English should no longer consist of simply a
piece of literature and a piece of paper to
write on. In order to further engage students,
target all styles of learning, and practice new
ways of reading, writing, and speaking the
English language, we must integrate
technology in our classrooms. This
presentation will address ways in which
teachers and students can work together
with technology to increase excitement and
engagement for English, particularly short
stories, both inside and outside the
classroom.

3. Evaluation and Citation of Internet
Content
• The Internet provides numerous resources to
aid in writing practice, reading aids,
interactive websites for teachers and
students, and resources for ESL students,
something particularly important for an
English classroom.
• All Internet sites used in this presentation
have proven to reliable and valid for the topic
and the subject of English as a whole.
• Links will be provided on each slide that will
take you directly to the sites described.

4. Blog
• VeryShortFiction is a blog written by a man
named Tom Lisowski, who sits and writes one
short story each day, in one sitting, on his blog
page. Looking at his blog and reading his short
stories will help students get a modern taste of
the short story, and give them some inspiration
to write their own, whether for an assignment or
on their own time. There are numerous other
blogs like this one, and displaying them to
students may help them realize how relevant
short stories still are today.

5. Podcast
• TheGuardianPodcast is
a free website/podcast
that is run by Lisa
Allardice, the editor of
Guardian’s Saturday
Review section. The
podcasts contain
interviews with well-
known published
authors, as well as
their readings of other
author’s short stories.

6. Instructional Video
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6I24S72Jps
• This video from YouTube is a fun, silly rap song that
lists, describes, and provides examples of the five
elements of a short story. It uses language and
images that students can easily relate to.
• A video like this one is effective in the classroom
because the song provides a new way for students
to remember the five elements. The “chorus” of the
five elements will provide students with a way to
remember them that does not simply come from a
list. This video is a fun way to introduce the topic in
the classroom, and help students to become
engaged right away.

7. Instructional Video
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuXNye
C0YCY
• The link above is an audio video from
YouTube of a reading of the short story
,“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson.
• On YouTube, you can also find videos of
short stories being read by their author, or by
others. These videos can be played aloud in
the classroom as students read along, or can
be used at home with students as they read
along.

8. Internet Resources
• Merriam-Webster Dictionary
– The Merriam-Webster Dictionary was first written in 1828, and has since
created a website, http://www.merriam-webster.com/ On this website,
you can look up any word that can be found in their dictionary at the
search bar found right at the top of the homepage. This is helpful for
students to use while reading at home, or looking up words for their
writing.
• Purdue OWL
– https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ is an Online Writing Lab (OWL)
created in the writing lab at Purdue University. It has endless amounts
of free information for both teachers and students on ways in which to
improve writing. The standard rules of grammar, citations, and more are
all listed.
• Citation Machine
– http://www.citationmachine.net/ is a website where students can
manually enter the information necessary to create both MLA and APA
citations for when citing other pieces of literature in their writing.

9. “Inspiration” Diagram- 5 Short
Story Elements

10. Teaching Materials
• This worksheet could be used
as students read through a
short story. It contains all of
the elements, and organizes
them in a fun, visual way for
students. It could be
completed in class while
reading the story aloud and
discussing together, or could
be completed at home while
students read independently.
• https://www.teacherspayteac
hers.com/Product/Plot-
Diagram-Graphic-Organizer-
Template-550103

11. Teaching Materials
• At
https://www.superteacherworksheets.com
/, teachers can find websites under
numerous subjects and categories, and
can also create their own worksheets on
the topic of their choice- word searches,
multiple choice, and fill-in-the-blank
worksheets.

12. Teaching Materials
• The app and website
“Connu”, uploads a new
short story every day that
was read and
recommended by a
legitimate, published,
short-story author. This
app can be used for
homework assignments,
each student presents on
the “short story of the
day” each class to their
peers. (Link to article in
notes)

13. Teaching Materials
• “East of the Web” is
both a mobile app and
a website with a large
collection of short
stories to read. You can
search by genre, and
even adjust text size on
your phone to read.
Word games are also
available on the
website.
• http://www.eastofthew
eb.com/

14. Subject-Specific Internet-Based
Resource
• http://www.readwritethink.org/
is a website that provides
English teachers as well as their
students with different activities
and lesson plans for English
classes according to all grade
levels. One a short story specific
lesson is titled, “Teaching Plot
Structure Through Short
Stories”. The site provides
resources and preparation,
standards, and instructional
plans in detail.

15. Use of the Internet- Online Books
• http://www.readbookonline.net/shortStory/- is a
website that holds over six thousand pieces of
literature by numerous different authors, available
to read for free online directly through the site.
The works of literature are divided by genre, with
the short story being one of them. There is a
search bar, and the authors provided are also
listed in alphabetical order. This can be useful for
teachers to find short stories to include in their
syllabus, and also provides students with an easy
way to read the stories at home.

16. Use of the Internet- Interactive
Website
• https://www.learner.org/interactives/story/ is a
site directly focused on the elements of the short
story. Students listen to and watch illustrations of
the story “Cinderella” at their own pace, and then
proceed interactively learn about each element
and it’s part in the story. They choose the answers
to questions about each element as they go along.
Using a story that most have heard before, and
interactively teaching/asking them about the
different elements in the story as a class or for
homework will be effective to their understanding
of the terms.

17. Web 2.0
https://speechpeek.com/
is a website that allows
teachers and students to
listen to each other and
work together through
technology while at
home.
The site is used mostly for speaking exercises, where the teacher
records his/her lesson and/or homework assignment to the site, and the
students are able to listen, record their responses to the exercises, and
upload them to receive feedback. Once each individual student has
uploaded their assignment, the teacher can grade, comment, and
respond individually to each child. This site can also be useful for
classrooms where most stories are read in class, and not given to read
for homework. If there are school cancellations, and teachers fear
getting behind, they can upload themselves reading the story to the
students to this site, and students can listen while at home and come to
school for the next class prepared and up to date.

18. Web 2.0
• http://www.eslvideo.com/index.php is a site with
numerous resources for teachers and ESL
students. There are listening activities, quizzes,
and different videos for ESL students to use to
be able to enhance their writing and speaking
skills for the English language. They can be used
at home for these students to be able to practice
their English, and teachers are able to observe
their progress and provide feedback. This is
something that ESL students can work on to
improve their skills with short stories, as this
might be a lesson that is overwhelming to
someone who’s first language is not English.

19. Slideshare
• You can also find this presentation on