Short Story Unit Plan - Scary Stories Lessons, Slides, Assignments, & Activities
Elevate your English class with this chilling and thrilling short story unit, guaranteed to send shivers down your students’ spines! Perfect for Halloween or any time of the year, this collection of surprising and scary stories will captivate and engage your students from start to finish. Explore the dark and mysterious world of suspenseful, creepy, and spooky tales with handpicked stories that feature eerie settings, unexpected twists, and unforgettable endings. These stories will keep students on the edge of their seats and eager to read what happens next. With complete lessons, engaging activities, meaningful assignments, creative projects, and more, this short story unit gives you everything you need to confidently teach each each of the scary stories from start to finish.
What Teachers Are Saying About This Surprising and Scary Short Story Unit:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ These plans are amazing. Everything is laid out for the teacher and there are more than enough activities to accompany each story. Thank you!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My students have loved the short story selections and get super excited when I announce we are doing another spooky short story. Also the activities for each short story are perfect and creative ways to engage students in literary analysis.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ There were so many stories to choose from which means that I can use it year after year! I loved the presentations and the students enjoyed the activities. It was a fun way to engage the students near Halloween while still working on their skills. Thanks!
➡️ A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury: Send your students back in time to hunt dinosaurs with Ray Bradbury’s short story. The 23-slide PowerPoint presentation provides a guided exploration of the story, featuring discussion questions, author background, a link to the comic book adaptation, and insights into the Butterfly Effect and descriptive writing. Accompanying the presentation are analysis questions and a descriptive writing assignment.
➡️ The Open Window by Saki: Enter Vera’s mischievous world of ghost stories with The Open Window by Saki. This lesson includes a 32-slide PowerPoint presentation that guides you through the story with an author biography, discussion questions with answers, analysis notes, and engaging video clips. Students complete a vocabulary-in-context assignment for pre-reading and analyze plot using a plot diagram. The lesson finishes with analysis questions and a creative letter-writing assignment where students step into the shoes of Mr. Nuttel.
➡️ Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl: Introduce your students to the fascinating fiction of Roald Dahl with this creepy short story. This short story package includes everything you need to teach Lamb to the Slaughter, with resources to assess student understanding and build creativity through reading comprehension questions, a plot diagram, a diary entry writing assignment, a fake police investigation report, and more.
➡️ The Landlady by Roald Dahl: Dive into the chilling world of Roald Dahl’s The Landlady with this comprehensive short story unit resource. The 26-slide PowerPoint presentation serves as your guide and includes discussion questions, author background, and analysis support. Students complete analysis questions, a vocabulary activity, and a characterization assignment, then finish with a creative newspaper article writing task focused on Billy’s post-story fate.
➡️ The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe: This The Tell-Tale Heart short story unit includes everything you need to teach Edgar Allan Poe’s classic work of gothic fiction. Resources support comprehension and creativity with activities such as figurative language practice, vocabulary work, comprehension questions with answer keys, a prequel or sequel writing assignment, a police report activity, and a PowerPoint presentation to guide instruction.
➡️ The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs: Be careful what you wish for! This 30-slide PowerPoint presentation serves as your roadmap for teaching The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs and includes author biography, discussion questions, and detailed story guidance. Students complete a vocabulary activity and analysis questions, then dive deeper into the text using the It Says, I Say, And So strategy for character analysis. The lesson wraps up with a creative assignment where students write alternate endings to the spine-chilling story.
➡️ The Lottery by Shirley Jackson: Have your students examine a horrifying tradition in Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery. The 25-slide PowerPoint presentation includes discussion questions, author background, and guidance to deepen understanding. Students complete analysis questions and a symbolism assignment focused on names, places, and objects. They also compare the text to a film version before exploring and evaluating a tradition from their own lives and completing a creative newspaper project featuring multiple article types from the story’s town.
Please Note: We are not permitted to include the stories for copyright reasons, but they can easily be found online by searching the title + full text. Please reach out if you need help finding a story.
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