Using Short Stories to Teach Vocabulary and Literary Terms

By Mariama Sesay-St. Paul

Overview
These vocabulary activities, here used with "The Gift of the Magi" and "The nterlo!ers", can be a!!lied to any short story or novel. "se them to hel! students define, use, and a!!ly vocabulary words leading to better reading com!rehension s#ills. The activities used for identifying irony and conflict can be used to teach other literary devices as well.

Objective
Students will: $. %efine and use vocabulary words &. 'or# coo!eratively to create meaningful sentences and an ironic s#it (. dentify irony within a variety of te)ts *. Brainstorm ironic situations +. dentify the various ty!es of conflicts within a te)t. ,. -reate a story that involves at least three out of the four identified ty!es of conflict

Lesson Plans for this Unit

.esson $/ "The Gift of the Magi" 0ocabulary 1ctivities .esson &/ rony in "The Gift of the Magi" .esson (/ -onflict in "The nterlo!ers" -ulminating 1ctivity n !re!aration for an e)am, set u! a 2eo!ardy3 Game. The categories can include the following/ " rony or 4ot" 5students must identify situations as ironic or not6, "The Gift of the Magi" 5students must answer 7uestions about the story6, "The nterlo!ers" 5students must answer 7uestions about the story6, "'ord %efinitions," 0ocabulary 8ill in the Blan#s," "0ocabulary 1!!lication" 5students must a!!ly the words to real life in some way6, and "-onflict" 5identify the ty!e of conflict in a scenario6. f there are other stories that have been read and will be covered on the e)am, add a category for them too3 Su!!orting Boo#sVocabulary and Com rehension!"uilding "oo#list

The Gift of the Magi" Vocabulary Activities

Overview
Students will com!lete vocabulary activities that will re7uire them to define, use, and a!!ly the words. This will hel! them incor!orate the words into their !ersonal vocabularies and im!rove their reading com!rehension s#ills.

Objective
Students will: $. %efine vocabulary words &. 1!!ly vocabulary words to real life situations (. 'or# coo!eratively to use vocabulary words in meaningful sentences

$irections
$ay % 5These activities can be used for any short story, novel or !oem.6 $. 9ave students write down the words in their noteboo#s. &. Say each word out loud and have the students re!eat after you so that they #now how to !ronounce the words !ro!erly. (. 1s# students if there is a word that they already #now how to define or can use in a sentence. *. 1s students volunteer definitions, twea# them and !ut a wor#able definition on the board along with your e)am!le sentence. -om!are the class:s definition with the dictionary definition and discuss any differences you found. +. 'hen you get down to the words that no one #nows, use the words in a sentence and as# the students to use conte)t clues in order to figure out the meaning. ,. %istribute The Gift of the Magi 0ocabulary 'or#sheet 5P%86. Give students time to com!lete it. ;. 9ave the students switch !a!ers and grade them as a class. %iscuss the clue within each sentence that hel!ed them figure out which word to use. <. %istribute the 0ocabulary 1!!lication 'or#sheet 5P%86. Students should com!lete this for homewor# if they don:t com!lete it in class. Tell students to e)!ect a small 7ui= tomorrow. $ay & $. %istribute The Gift of the Magi 0ocabulary 'or#sheet 5P%86, minus the definitions at the to!, and tell the students that it:s a 7ui=. &. 1fter they:re done, brea# the class into grou!s of no more than three. (. >)!lain that as a grou! they are to create meaningful sentences that use the words.

*. >)!lain that meaningful sentences are those that contain a clue that hel!s the reader figure out what the word means. +. 1fter they:ve had time to brainstorm and com!ose their sentences, have each grou! go to the board and write its sentence for at least one of the words. ,. 1s a class, determine whose sentences are meaningful and whose aren:t. Turn it into a com!etition and give !oints for each meaningful sentence. ;. ?ead the story for homewor#.

'ome Connection
Give students a home assignment/ 1s# !eo!le in your home 7uestions that involve the vocabulary words. 8or e)am!le, "'hat are some things that are inconse7uential to you@" "se this o!!ortunity to teach them some new words if they don:t #now them.

(ssignments
$. &. (. *. %efine the words. "se the words to fill in the blan#s. 1!!ly words to real life situations. -reate meaningful sentences.

)valuation

%o you thin# the students have a clearer understanding of the !arts of the story in which the vocabulary words a!!ear@ 9ave you noticed students incor!orating the words into their conversations@