Short Story Units for Middle School (Short Story of the Month Club, 7th Grade)

Short Story of the Month Club, Grade 7

Grab this collection of popular Short Story Units tailored for Grade 7! I created these units specifically around the CCSS for grade 7, but they can absolutely be used in grades 6-10 - please check the preview file to verify this.

Try the first month (August!) free! Click here.

The Short Story of the Month, Grade 7, is a bundle of short story units created specifically to cover the Common Core standards for grade 7 using short stories that I can promise your students will LOVE. They'll also love these activities - they aren't your average short story activities! Again, I encourage you to download the free unit for Seventh Grade mentioned above to see just how these units are tailored.

DOWNLOAD FULL-BUNDLE ALIGNMENTS HERE! Includes breakdowns by skill, by Common Core standard, and TEKS will be available soon!

I created this short story unit bundle because I was sick and tired of wasting my money on cookie-cutter short story units that are generic and BORING.

With this purchase, you will receive ten months of short story units that increase in rigor and complexity as the year goes on and tailored to YOUR specific grade. This purchase includes ten months of short stories. A TEKS alignment will also be included.

Every unit is just as jam-packed and rigorous as the Seventh Grade Unit for August, including essential questions that tie together paired texts (included or access provided) across genres and types, close reading with annotation guides, mini-lessons for relevant concepts and skills, comprehension quizzes and tests, vocabulary guides, discussion questions, questions that require text evidence, and tons more.

These ten units will comfortably cover ALL Reading Literature Common Core Standards for Grade 7, address Reading Informational Text Standards for Grade 7, plus additional standards in Writing, Language, and Speaking and Listening.

Because the Common Core Standards for grade 7 heavily emphasize poetry, a paired poem will be included with many of the units, and I'll be teaching some poetry concepts with each paired poem. Nonfiction paired selections will be included with some as well, where appropriate. There is also one unit focused around a narrative poem, “The Highwayman.” Grades 6 and 8 are not nearly as focused on poetry.

Grade 7 Short Story Units Included:

FREE! August Selection (Available NOW!) – Seventh Grade by Gary Soto

1. September Selection – Available NOW – Rikki Tikki Tavi: Focus on Four Types of Conflict, Character Motivation, Figurative Language, Sound Devices (onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance, consonance) and Rhyme Schemes, Citing Text Evidence, Plot Structure (Review), Movie-to-Story Comparison Analysis (RL.7.7)

2. October Selection – Available NOW – The Monsters are Due on Maple Street: Focus: Theme, Mood & Tone, Plot and Conflict Review, Text-Dependent Questions, Compare/Contrast Multiple Versions, plus tons more! This is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE selection for 7th grade, and after you teach it with this unit, I can promise it'll be one of your favorites, too! :)

3. November Selection – Available NOW – "A Christmas Carol" - drama version: Focus: Elements of a Drama, Trace the Development of Theme, Connotation vs. Denotation, Conflict: Man vs. Supernatural, Provide an Objective Summary, Compare Historical vs. Fictional Accounts, and more!

4. December Selection – The Smallest Dragonboy Focus:*Text Evidence* Heavy Text Evidence Practice in this unit; Indirect Characterization, Character Traits, Types of Characters (protagonist, antagonist, round, flat, dynamic, static, sympathetic, minor), Analyzing Contrasting Points of View, Theme, Text Evidence w/Theme

5. January Selection – Song of the Trees Focus: Historical Fiction Analysis, specifically RL.7.9, Genres of Fiction, Imagery, Text Evidence (includes PARCC-style text evidence quiz), Development of Theme Analysis, Poetry Analysis of I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes and Caged Bird by Maya Angelou, Nonfiction Skills - analysis of Jim Crow Laws

6. February Selection – “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes

Poetry Analysis, including: Sound Devices, Rhymes, Rhyme Schemes, Rhythm, Plot Analysis, Effects of Rhythm, Rhyme, and Sound Devices on Poem and/or Stanzas, Figurative Language. Also includes Close Reading/Annotation Guide, plus Complete 7-page Question-Answer flow. See individual item listing's preview file for samples.

7. March Selection – The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

Focus: Irony, Symbolism, Allegory, Text Evidence, Implied Meaning

8. April Selection – Dark They Were, and Golden Eyed by Ray Bradbury

Focus: Text Evidence, Figurative Language (Vocabulary), Audio Techniques (RL.7.7), Circular Plot Structure, Author's Craft, Imagery, Point of View, Analyze Historical Context

9. May Selection – The Landlady by Roald Dahl

Focus: Text Evidence, Supporting Arguments With Text Evidence, Foreshadowing/Analyzing Author's Craft, Analyzing Word Choice, Mood & Tone

Plus comparing this short story to its short film, radio play, and another poem by the same author

10. June Selection - After Twenty Years by O. Henry

Focus: Characterization, Indirect Characterization, Classifying Characterization Examples, Character's Point of View (heavy on this one), Context Clues, Review of ALL grade 7 literature common core skills!

****Grade 7 Final Assessment for Reading Literature | Final Exam

*EDITABLE* I have added my own original files in PowerPoint format for you to edit if you wish for your own classroom use. This only includes story-specific printables and I can't guarantee your ability to edit them based on your computer's settings and your tech knowledge. Bonus activities that have been included here as a courtesy to you (like interactive notebook lessons) will not include the editable versions - those are only available in the original resources.

FAQ

Q: Are the short stories included with this download?

A: No, but I am taking care to choose stories that I can easily direct you to in case the story is not in your anthology. I’ll provide you with suggested links.

Q: I purchased more than one grade level club membership. Will you use any of the same stories in multiple grades?

A: No, definitely not. I will never use the same story in more than one collection.

Q: What about other grades?

A: The 6th and 8th grade clubs can be found here:

6th Grade Short Story of the Month Club

8th Grade Short Story of the Month Club