short stories

A SHORT TEXT SET AT YOUR FINGERTIPS: CELEBRATING WOMEN

Written by Julie Wright & Elizabeth Keim

This short text set celebrates women.  March is Women’s History month and it seems fitting - although we like to celebrate women all year long! 

Short text sets can be used to celebrate a certain group of people, especially a group that has been marginalized in the past, like women.  It can highlight accomplishments – in this case the Women’s Rights’ Movement – or anything else that makes these individuals unique and worthy of study. 

In the summer of 2020 a statue was unveiled in New York’s Central Park.  14 foot-tall and made of bronze, it depicts Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.  The monument is the first sculpture of real women (there are some fictional figures) ever erected in the Park’s history.  Of the 5,193 public statues depicting historical figures in America, only 394 are of women.

TRY THIS

Step 1

Print or project a photo of the Statue - this photo is a short text! Here is one you could use, but there are lots of examples out there so find one you like.

Women Statue

Statues often represent individuals worth remembering. Ask some questions to get the discussion rolling about who these women are and why we should honor and remember them:

  • Who are these women?

  • Can you tell anything about these women by just looking at them?  Look closely at their clothes, and the other things the sculptress chose to show

  • When did they live?

Step 2

The story of the effort that went into getting this historic statue erected is a fascinating one. The Story from Smithsonian Magazine is a great short text for you to read aloud or one that older students can read in a small group or independently.

Step 3

Let’s get to know these three fascinating women.  There are lots of ways to do this.  For example, read some of the wonderful short biographies about Stanton, Anthony and Truth (see the resources below) and:

  • Report on these women to the rest of the class.   Divide your group/class into three and each group could read about and then “report” to the rest about the woman they studied

    • Read a picture book about each one

    • Or a short biography (there are So many to choose from!)

    • Listen to a podcast (or two) about these courageous women

      • “American History Tellers” and “The History Chicks” are two we like (Please note: they are geared to adult listeners).  There’s a new podcast based on the “Who Was” series that is just for kids.  Hopefully these women will be featured on it in the future.)

  • Study some of these women’s words:

    • “Truth is powerful and it prevails.” Sojourner Truth

    • "Organize, agitate, educate, must be our war cry."  Susan B. Anthony

    • “The best protection any woman can have... is courage. ..” Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Step 4

If your goal is to increase reading volume and/or give students an opportunity to write about this topic, consider: 

  • Reading more about The Women’s Suffrage Movement

  • Listing the other women who should be celebrated

  • Writing about a woman who deserve to be celebrated and why you believe there should be a statue erected to honor her

  • Writing from the perspective of one of these women.  Perhaps a letter from one to the other

GOING DEEP & WIDE

Looking for more titles and short text types that add to and expand your text set? Check out these titles:

Celebrating Women
Celebrating Women 2

STAY TUNED!

More about short texts and short text sets coming soon!

Using Short Texts to “Warm-up” Reading Muscles & Build Community

Written by Julie Wright & Elizabeth Keim

Last spring, when the world did an abrupt pivot and teachers and parents were suddenly teaching on screens from home, we offered a series of blog posts.  We suggested using short texts that could be found “right at our fingertips” to create access and interest to keep children reading.   Please find all the posts below:

“WARM UP” THOSE READING MUSCLES

Now it is August.  The hoped-for, regular, back-to-school, normal that we are used to is clearly not going to happen.  Instead, we are faced with a lot of uncertainty and a myriad of education models.  Whether you are teaching remotely, face-to-face, or in a hybrid model, you will be meeting children who have not been in a classroom in more than 5 months.  While we hope that each of them had a rich reading life all summer, we will be facing a wide variety of experiences and skills.

Short texts offer a way to ease back into reading in a comfortable, low-stakes way because they are easy to read and discuss in one sitting.  Short texts are great to use with students across grade levels and content areas because they:

  • Create conversation starters that can positively impact whole group, small group and one-to-one learning

  • Increase reading volume by reading widely (lots of topics) and deeply (read a lot about one topic)

  • Help students read the world around them, not just what they find in books

Short texts give us reasons to read, write, talk, and think because they entertain, inform, and often inspire us.   Here’s what we mean.

Entertain -- brings us joy 

Inform -- teaches us new information and/or renews our thinking about ideas and topics 

Inspire -- motivates us to read, write and share more

BUILDING COMMUNITY

When we ask a group of students to read the same short text, whether they are face-to-face in the same room or interacting online, it gives them a common experience and a way to build community and positive relationships.  Here are some examples of short texts your students might enjoy!

ELEMENTARY

Picture books are wonderful short texts! Check out these resources about friendship, community and being an upstander! Click the links below to order copies!

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My Friend is Sad by Mo Willems

  • Use the text as reader’s theater.

  • Examine the thought and speech bubbles and the use of punctuation.

The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig

  • Read the story aloud and discuss their friendship.

  • Discuss the problem in this story and how it is resolved.

Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev 

  • Discuss how it feels to be excluded.

  • Discuss how it feels to be included.

  • Use this book as a springboard to creating a classroom community where all feel included.

Giraffe Problems by Jory John

  • Read this story aloud or listen and watch it using this link.

  • Discuss the giraffe’s perspective compared to the other animals.

  • Make a list of ways we can be a good friend to others.

The Power of One by Trudy Ludwig

  • Talk about different ways to be an upstander.

  • Think about and discuss, What is an “act of kindness”?

  • Make a list of different acts of kindness that we can do for one another each day.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Excerpts of novels, picture books, podcasts and short stories are great to use when curating short texts.  Reading short texts often leads to reading longer texts, especially when students’ interests have been piqued or they connect with authors.  Check out these resources about friendship, community and being an upstander!

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Two Naomis by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich

  • Read an excerpt from the book.

  • Read and/or write a review about the book.

  • Listen to the podcast with Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich.

  • Read the entire book together or offer it to students who may want to read it independently.

  • In addition, check out 50 Must Read Middle School Friendship Stories curated by Book Riot for more ideas!

Weslandia by Paul Fleischman

  • Discuss what it means to accept [and show acceptance of] others.

  • Talk about ways we can ensure that everyone in our learning community feels accepted and welcome.

One by Kathryn Otoshi

  • This book, often thought of as a book to read with younger students, is an amazing story to spark discussion with older students.

    • Share and discuss the definition of upstander.

    • Discuss what it means to be an upstander.

    • Investigate websites committed to anti-bullying work.  Here’s one example.

Dear Bully: Seven Authors Tell Their Stories by Dawn Metcalf

  • Read aloud and discuss one story or give students an opportunity to read several stories from this anthology.

  • Find and share quotes related to being an upstander such as, “If not now, then when?  If not me, then who?” [Hilell].

Dictionary of a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham

  • Explore this book and the many words, definitions, ideas, and illustrations across several days.

  • Give students an opportunity to talk about how they can apply each word to create a better, more accepting, world.

TRY THIS!

Step 1

Choose a short text that you feel will grab your readers’ interests such as a short magazine article or a top ten list. Look for an engaging and “easy” text.  This experience should be fun, more like dipping your toe into a nice warm bath than plunging into an ice cold lake.  Find a way to make it available to your readers.  Consider print copies or post it in a place where your students can either read it online or print it for themselves.  Before reading, ask students:

  • What do you notice about this piece?  

    • Title

    • Author

    • Illustrations,  images or graphic elements

    • Headings, subheadings

  • What do you already know about this topic?

  • What do you wonder?

Step 2

Read the text.  Decide if you want students to mark the text in some way to hold their thinking or if you want students to make that decision.  Consider sharing ways students could hold their thinking to note important or interesting information. Students could:

  • Take notes in a notebook or on a piece of paper.

  • Use sticky notes to capture their thinking.

  • Create margin notes and/or highlight words, sentences or sections. 

Step 3

Share your thinking with others.   Some ways to do this include:

  • Pose a question and have everyone answer it (on a post-it or via an online forum).  Provide time to read others' answers.

  • Ask readers to pose a question, then have readers answer someone else’s question.

  • If students noted their thinking in some way, ask them to pick 1-2 ideas to share with others.

Step 4

Look for other reading, writing and talking opportunities using this short text type.

Reading Ideas 

  • Present students with another short text similar to the first.  Compare them.

  • Present students with another piece that is on the same or similar topic, but is a different genre (e.g. both pieces are about penguins: one is an article and the second is a poem).  Compare the pieces.

Writing Ideas

  • Use the short text as a mentor text.  Writers write about a topic they know a great deal about using the same genre and style as the piece you read together. 

  • Make a top ten list. Be sure to share them with others.

Talking Ideas

  • Invite conversation about students’ reading lives. Ask:

    • Where do you like to read?

    • How long do you like to read?

    • What types of texts do you like most? Least?

Step 5

Invite students to share other things they have been reading.  Students could share book titles, but it could also mean that they talk about other text types and genres they particularly like (e.g. graphic novels or magazines or a reading website).

COMING SOON!

Short Texts:  Mighty Mentors That Move Readers and Writers Forward by Julie Wright & Elizabeth Keim (Benchmark, 2021).

Short Texts at Your Fingertips: Launching into Summer Reading

Written by Julie Wright & Elizabeth Keim

SHORT TEXTS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS: LAUNCHING INTO SUMMER READING

For the past ten weeks, we have offered a series called Short Texts at Your Fingertips.  One or two times each week, we provided teaching ideas around a different type of short text that is easily found in the home, so that no family feels under-resourced. The ideas we have shared were easily integrated into any curriculum and pedagogy, from Workshop to basal. If you are a caregiver, teacher, or curriculum director, these brief but mighty texts and lessons are our way of saying thanks. And our way of giving children authentic and enjoyable reading and writing engagements each day. For some, summer is already in full swing.  For others, summer is just a few short weeks or days away.  Regardless of when your school year ends, it’s important that students of all ages keep reading and writing across the summer months.  In this blog post we talk about the WHY and HOW to create voluminous readers this summer!  Stay tuned for next week’s blog post where we wrap up this series talking about the WHY and HOW to create voluminous writers this summer!

SUMMER READING

Readers bring so much to the reading experience. We love chapter books and novels, but we also know that for some kids short, interesting texts  will  keep them reading.  We think about reading as eyes on print - eyes on print - EYES ON TEXT.    It doesn’t matter if you are reading a long text or a short one, reading often with many pages turning is what creates voluminous reading.  We want kids to be in the driver’s seat so that they can create reading habits that last into adulthood.  Choice helps kids to feel empowered.  We often tell students that becoming a stronger reader requires building muscles.  When we are building our basketball or soccer muscles, our karate muscles, our art muscles (or even cooking muscles), we have to practice in order to get better and stronger.  The same is true for reading -- we get better at reading and build our reading habits when we read widely [lots of text types] and deeply (reading lots about a topic, idea, or author).

TRY THIS!

Step 1

Ask students what they want to read about.  Do they want to read:

  • Fiction or nonfiction?

  • Short texts or novels/chapter books?

  • Books and texts by the same author or different authors?

  • With someone or on their own?

If you want to find out about students’ interests and curiosities, consider using one of these surveys:

Step 2

Ask students to set up a summer reading goal.  Ask:

  • How many days each week will you read? 

  • How many minutes will you shoot for each time you read?  

If it’s helpful, ask students to set up a summer reading calendar outlining the days and times they plan to read.

Step 3

Ask students to identify different spots for their summer reading.  Create a short list of places that might be a perfect reading nook such as:

  • Comfy chair

  • Snuggled up on a couch

  • On the porch or in the backyard

  • At the park on a bench

  • Under a favorite tree

  • In the car

  • On the beach or at the pool

  • On the airplane or train

  • In bed on a rainy morning

Step 4

Ask students to gather a stack of summer reading books and texts.  Consider creating a stack and taking a picture of the spines to celebrate summer reading goal setting!  Here’s an example:

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Step 5

Visit the local library regularly (either online resources or if possible, in person).  And, make sure all readers have their own library card!  

Step 6

If it’s short texts that you are interested in, check out our blog series which is filled with lots of resources that can be found right at your fingertips! 

And don’t forget to think about how you will make these  short texts easy to access and use.  Maybe you have a basket or tub filled with inviting short texts or longer texts with the short pieces bookmarked and ready to go at a moment’s notice.  Or, if you have some printed short texts, fill a binder, manilla folder, or two-pocket folder so that you can store them easily and read them over and over again.

FOR MORE RESOURCES, CHECK THESE OUT!

COMING SOON!

Short Texts:  Mighty Mentors That Move Readers and Writers Forward by Julie Wright & Elizabeth Keim (2022)

Short Texts at Your Fingertips: Short Stories

We offer you Short Texts at Your Fingertips. One or two times each week, we provide teaching ideas around a different type of short text that is easily found in the home, so that no family feels under-resourced. These ideas can integrate into virtually any curriculum and pedagogy, from Workshop to basal. If you are a caregiver, teacher, or curriculum director, these brief but mighty texts and lessons are our way of saying thanks. And our way of giving children authentic and enjoyable reading and writing engagements each day. 

Written by Julie Wright & Elizabeth Keim

SHORT TEXTS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS: SHORT STORIES

Short stories provide lots of benefits for readers of all ages, one being they are short! Or  Short stories provide lots of benefits for readers of all ages.   For one thing, they are short!  They are usually fast-paced with a single-plot.  Short stories have other benefits too. Readers can read from start to finish, avoiding the struggle of failure to launch and failure to finish.  Short stories give readers opportunities to try new genres and authors.  Short stories are portable, tradable, can easily be read several times, and can be a path to reading longer texts.  Short stories are a great resource to use in flexible, small groups where kiddos have many opportunities for reading, writing, and talking opportunities!

We get jazzed up by short stories -- both stand alone stories and those collected in anthologies.  We would be remiss if we neglected to mention a favorite short story type called a picture book.  We wrote about picture books -- check it out here.  Take a look at some of our favorite short story anthologies.  They are sure to pique students’ interests, inspire reading more and more often, and create culturally responsive reading opportunities for students across grade levels.  

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LINKS TO THESE TITLES

Take the Mic: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance by Jason Reynolds, Samira Ahmed, et al.

Guys Write for Guys Read: Boys' Favorite Authors Write About Being Boys by Jon Scieszka

Fresh Ink: An Anthology by Lamar Giles

Baseball in April and Other Stories by Gary Soto 

Flying Lessons & Other Stories by Ellen Oh

A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories (World Full Of...) by Angela McAllister

Once Upon an Eid: Stories of Hope and Joy by 15 Muslim Voices by S. K. Ali and Aisha Saeed

Funny Girl: Funniest. Stories. Ever. by Betsy Bird

5-Minute Marvel Stories (5-Minute Stories) by Marvel Press Book Group, Brandon Snider, et al.

TRY THIS!

Step 1

Find a short story you want to share.  There are lots of ways to share a short story.  Ask yourself, will you share the short story:

  • As a read aloud?

  • As a text for shared reading?

  • With a small group?

  • With an individual student?

Next, ask yourself, will you and your students read the short story:

  • All together?

  • Partially together and partially on your own?

  • On your own?

Then, ask yourself, will you and your students:

  • Read just for the sake of reading?

  • Jot some notes, draw some images, write about what you are thinking or wondering about your reading?

Finally, ask yourself, will you and your students talk about the short story:

  • All together during the whole group?

  • In a half group?

  • In small groups?

  • One-to-one between teacher and student?

Step 2

Find other short stories that students will enjoy reading.  Check out these online resources:

Step 3

Select other short stories you want students to read.  Decide:

  • Will all students read the same short story?

  • Will students have choices in the short stories they read?

  • Will students go on a hunt and find [or curate] short stories for their peers to read?

Step 4

Consider giving students opportunities to write their own short story for their peers or for online publication submission.  Here are some publications that accept short stories written by students:

FOR MORE RESOURCES, CHECK THESE OUT!


COMING SOON!

Short Texts:  Mighty Mentors That Move Readers and Writers Forward by Julie Wright & Elizabeth Keim (2022)

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