

Jose gains the understanding that there will always be people in the world like Arnie, but he will be like his father, a born worker. When Arnie proposes that he find jobs for them with Arnie taking a 50/50 cut, Jose knows he must keep his head and his values as he deals with Arnie’s dishonest nature. His cousin, Arnie, is just the opposite: wealthy, lazy, and deceptive. Jose comes from a poor family and has been a hard worker all his life. His father has become totally withdrawn, and very often his “eyes go away.” After he has a breakdown in public, Terry attempts to talk to him, and is surprised when his dad suddenly opens up about the killings he witnessed and the guilt that haunts him. This story centers around thirteen-year-old Terry and his father, who is suffering with post-traumatic stress syndrome from the Vietnam War. Read the story here: The Treasure of Lemon Brown 5. Greg and the man, Lemon Brown, scare away some menacing thugs, and when Lemon Brown reveals a “treasure” he claims to have, Greg learns something about parents that causes him to have a change of heart towards his father. When he leaves his house upset with his father, fourteen-year-old Greg finds a homeless man in an old tenement. Here’s a story brochure you might like for this one: Thank You M’am Story Brochure 4. She gives him money to buy the shoes he wanted, and Roger leaves having learned a lesson about right and wrong. After shaking him up quite a bit, she takes Roger to her home, shares a meal with him, and talks about wanting things she couldn’t have when she was young. Langston Hughes’ classic story begins with Roger trying to snatch a purse from Mrs. Instead, Martin learns startling things about his grandfather he never knew, causing him to change his outlook profoundly. Exhausted and sickly, Grandpa has come to pass a Sioux tradition on to Martin, causing Martin fear. Martin feels embarrassed when his aging Sioux grandfather shows up at his family’s home unannounced. Read the story here: The Scholarship Jacket 2. This story addresses the topics of prejudice and unfairness in a school setting, integrity, and grandparenting. Nearing graduation, an eighth-grade Hispanic student in a small Texas school is denied the scholarship jacket she has earned with top grades. Here are 10 best short stories found online – perfect for middle school: 1. The stories are wherever you are, so you can refer to them whenever you need to. The stories are always at your fingertips.

Teachers who are starting at a new school or grade level can access the stories and start planning lessons without wondering if the stories will be available in print for students. You can plan lessons in advance without an anthology.This arrangement also works well for students who have missed class. Instead of having to take home a textbook, or you having to make copies, you can have students read at home on their devices. Reading is easy to assign for homework.Whether you have a 1:1 classroom or you’re able to use (or borrow) a cart of devices, students do enjoy reading from their screens. Students can read the stories from their laptops or other devices.Here are some other benefits of finding great short stories online: Many teachers have lots of short stories to choose from, but there are also many who don’t! If your school is low on resources, your students can enjoy 10 amazing short stories for middle school by using the links below. Short stories online – What are the benefits? In fact, I find that I can really dig into many of the standards for literature, including new words, figurative language, development of theme, and more. At the same time, I can acquaint them with pertinent literary terms. Students can toss around their ideas on characters’ decisions and infer and predict as the action rises. I like starting the year with short stories to build my students’ appreciation for brief, attention-grabbing fiction.

And because these gems can be taught in a few class periods, students gain some solid literary momentum when we add several to a unit. Plus, students enjoy discussion around the conflicts and themes in short stories. Short stories are perfect for teaching literary terms and vocabulary. Teachers love using short stories for so many reasons, and short stories found online offer added convenience and motivation! A great short story can get our students thinking and making connections.
