One of my favorite authors to teach is Langston Hughes. I love his poetry, but he also wrote some fabulous short stories. I like doing his 1958 story Thank You Ma'am. You can get a free copy of the text on Common Lit. Then students complete a character development tracker (available for free on my TPT page!).
It's the tale of a boy named Roger who has a lot to learn about manners and how to treat other people. Students enjoy the blunt way the opposing character, Luella, corrects Roger.
There are a lot of things you can do with this story, but I like to use it to focus on character development. Then I finish up by having students take the quiz associated with the Common Lit passage.
By having students track Roger's character growth, and include text evidence, we are able to practice two different skills.
I make sure that students explain their reasoning at all three points in the story - beginning, middle, and end.
I know, you may be wondering why I didn't phrase it as "introduction," "rising action," "conclusion," etc. Honesty time. Our state test never phrases it that way, so I don't emphasize it. I have other vocabulary that I am more concerned about students retaining. You are free to disagree - that's just where I am at.
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