Charles by Shirley Jackson - Digital Short Story Lesson, Slides, & Assignments
Charles by Shirley Jackson - Digital Short Story Lesson, Slides, & Assignments: Introduce your students to Charles by Shirley Jackson using this comprehensive digital short story bundle. This resource includes a Google Slides presentation to guide the lesson, digital reading analysis questions to support comprehension, an interactive vocabulary mystery activity, and targeted assignments on foreshadowing and point of view. Students will respond to the story in a creative way by writing Laurie’s report card, reimagining the narrator, and crafting their own short story with a twist ending. This ready-to-use digital short story resource provides teachers with everything needed to explore Charles by Shirley Jackson.
This is a Google-compatible activity, and students complete all the work on the computer. This works well with distance learning, 1:1 classrooms, remote teaching, Google Classroom, or for online education.
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Included in This Charles by Shirley Jackson Digital Short Story Resource:
➡️ Charles Google Slides Presentation: Guide students through all stages of the lesson with this 24-slide Google Slides presentation that includes:
- Biographical information about Shirley Jackson
- Background information on Charles
- Pre- and post-reading discussion questions
- Literary device analysis notes (foreshadowing, plot diagram, conflict, inference, theme)
- Answers to analysis questions
- Prompts for whole-class and individual activities
➡️ Charles Digital Reading Analysis Questions: Reinforce comprehension with text-based questions on irony, theme, characterization, suspense, and point of view. A detailed answer key is included for easy grading or discussion.
➡️ Vocabulary Mystery Word Activity: In this digital sorting activity, students match vocabulary words with definitions and story quotes to uncover a key theme in the story—perfect for reinforcing context clues and inference.
➡️ Finding Foreshadowing Digital Assignment: Have students identify and explain three examples of foreshadowing that hint at the story’s twist ending.
➡️ Unreliable Narrator Point of View Digital Assignment: Encourage deeper analysis by having students consider how the story would change if narrated by someone other than Laurie’s mother.
➡️ Laurie’s Report Card Digital Assignment: Have students step into the teacher’s shoes and write Laurie’s report card based on story evidence, practicing inference and text evidence.
➡️ Writing a Twist Ending Creative Task: After analyzing how Jackson builds her surprise ending, students will use a digital brainstorming organizer and writing template to craft their own short stories with a twist.
Help your students annotate the short story with this resource:
>>> Annotating Fiction Lesson and Student Guide
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