Short stories strike the perfect balance of challenging, engaging and rewarding for language students, giving them a break from formal learning while still bringing English to life.
Reading short stories also builds on the foundation of many ESL skills, including reading, writing, grammar, listening and discussion.
Have a look at the list below to see which short stories you can incorporate into your lesson plans.
In “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, a married couple figures out how to get each other Christmas presents despite having no money.
As your students are reading, talk about how much the characters care for each other, considering what they are willing to give up for the other.
The story is full of rich descriptions you can use to teach descriptive writing or even the use of adjectives. At the end of the story, talk about the idea of irony—because the couple finds out their gifts are useless because they both can’t use the present they gave to each other.
In “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs, a man receives a monkey’s paw and it promises five wishes, though it comes at a price.
As you read through the story, talk about how someone’s words can be twisted or misinterpreted, as when the son comes back to life but is no longer the same man.
“Be careful what you wish for” is a fitting saying to introduce with this story, and having your students think about their priorities in life (and why) is a great follow-up activity.
In “Mrs. Packletide’s Tiger” by Saki, Mrs. Packletide plans on shooting a tiger, and it dies in an unexpected way—resulting in a story that is perfect for teaching satire.
It is also a great opportunity to talk about jealousy and whether or not you should do something just to show off. The rich descriptions of the characters and the ways the villagers behave can be used in a lesson to talk about character sketches.
In “The Tell-tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, a man commits a murder and his guilt consumes him.
As you read this story with your students, talk about how the author is creating suspense with the use of repetition and sentence choice. As you near the end of the story, talk about what the symbolism of the lantern means.
You can also use this story to teach how verbs can be used to set the tone of a story. The phrase “open the door stealthily” is a great one that Poe uses a lot, for example.
This short story brings a bit of West African folklore to your classroom. It is about following directions, which Anansi, the anti-hero of the story is not the best at.
“How Anansi Brought Wild Animals into the World” is perfect for all ages and, although it may seem like a children’s story, even your more advanced-level students may find a word or two that they may not recognize.
There are also a few essential phrasal verbs in this short story you can utilize for further practice and reinforcement activities.
“The Door in the Wall” by Marguerite de Angeli is a story about a young boy who wants to become a knight during the bubonic plague.
You can use it to teach character analysis, following how Robin changes throughout the story. It’s also a great way to teach about using colorful descriptions instead of simple words.
For example, when the author describes blooming flowers instead of just saying “the month of May,” or how the main character recognizes various characters by the way they walk.
“Kung Fu Monkey Style” is a mix of the animal kingdom and human amenities that will get your students’ imaginations flowing.
It offers dialogue, presents wonderful adjectives and develops new vocabulary and also offers a bit of humor and fun to your students.
You can ask your students questions and explore with them how this may differ from their own culture. This will open up cross-cultural communication that will allow your students to explain their lives and culture in English.
“A Haunted House” by Virginia Woolf is a story about a woman and her husband who live among ghosts in their house.
As your class reads the story, have them note the idea of the couple’s treasure symbolizing love.
The words “it” and “here” are quite important, and you can note their repetition to discuss why the author emphasized those words, and what they could be referring to.
“Fenris the Wolf” is a powerful Norse myth about Fenris, a wolf that tormented the Norse gods. The gods and Fenris often battle with one another due to Fenris’ cunning skills.
This short story is told in a compelling way and offers a bit of mystery and a feel of the unknown as your students read it. You can use this mystery and employ a group writing activity to further your students’ ESL skills in regards to the story.
“Robin Hood And The Golden Arrow” is an educational tale of Robin Hood. Some of your ESL students may have some form of knowledge about Robin Hood already and this is a perfect place to begin this lesson.
Open up the floor for discussion about Robin Hood and evoke discussion in your classroom. After a bit of discussion, move into reading and listening.
You can employ a bit of ethical English thought into this short story lesson and ask your students if Robin Hood is a bad guy or a good guy. What makes him good or bad?
“The Gingerbread Man” is a timeless classic that dates back to around 1875. There have been several variations and versions of the story since its first publication and it remains a wonderful ESL reading tool.
It’s exceptionally short and very easy to read and understand as your students flip from one page to the next. The plot isn’t very difficult to get: The main character, the gingerbread man, runs and runs throughout most of the story.
One skill that you can strive to build using this short story is simple verb conjugation, as most of the verbs here are in the past simple. You could also identify parts of speech.
“The Elves and the Shoemaker” is a Brothers Grimm tale that is timeless, ageless and wonderful for all ESL levels.
This exceptional Christmas-themed short story offers a plethora of wonderful new vocabulary your students will find very useful. Though it is a short story about fantasy and elves, the vocabulary is anything but simplistic.
To build on the reading of the short story, you can employ a crossword worksheet to really solidify the new vocabulary.
“The Californian’s Tale” by Mark Twain is a more complex short story about gold prospectors and miners during the California Gold Rush days.
There are several literary notes to point out during your lesson. The first would be the shifts of mood and changes of scene that occur within the story. Ask your students what they think of the twist at the end.
Start students off with this abridged, simplified version, and for advanced students, move them to the longer, original version after. There are also great audio versions of this short story.
“Do You Speak English?” by Simon Collins highlights some funny aspects of what it’s like to be in another country looking for someone who speaks your language.
It also depicts some key cultural differences between people from different places in the world. The plot is easy to follow and the nice flow helps students become really engaged with the story.
You can do thoughtful, communication-based activities, letting your students predict what will happen next in the story.
“Jeremy and the Magic Lobster” by Matthew Licht is about a boy who finds a talking lobster in his mother’s groceries.
The lobster has a funny sense of humor and pleads to be released from the inevitable cooking pot awaiting him. It has aspects of a children’s story with enough humor to be enjoyable for young adults and adults.
The dialogue is an important element of the story, often being where much of the plot is unveiled. There are also great descriptive sentences and funny phrases like “Get me out of this jam.”
Paul Bunyan is a legendary figure who was rumored to be a real person, a larger-than-life logger from the northeastern area of the United States and Canada.
There are several Paul Bunyan stories such as “Round River Drive,” “Paul Bunyan Tames the Whistling River” and, the most famous of them all, “Babe the Blue Ox.” The short stories vary in length and each one has a different theme, usually involving Paul Bunyan doing something amazing.
This is a great chance to introduce certain expressions and idioms, like “knee-deep” and “teeny-tiny,” as they appear with great descriptive force in the stories.
Essential ESL Skills Short Stories Bring to Your Classroom
Short stories serve a wealth of ESL skills. Instead of focusing on just one aspect of English, short stories connect various essential ESL skills together in an almost seamless way. You can utilize short stories in your classroom to cover almost every aspect of English.
Your students can read the content, listen to others read or listen to a recording of a native English speaker reading.
You can implement discussion breaks after a certain period of reading and listening, allowing your students to communicate and dive a bit deeper into what the short story is about.
Your eager ESL students will also see the correct grammar used in the various short stories. They will see how sentences are structured and how dialogue is written and/or used.
If you pair your classroom short story with an activity, your students can also gain vital writing and action-oriented ESL skills not found in traditional lesson plans.
You can also pair short stories with tech. For example, you can play a short story on the FluentU language learning program.
FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.
Play these for your class or assign them for homework. Students will have the benefit of seeing accurate interactive subtitles and the ability to click on any word within those subtitles for a definition.
Utilizing short stories in your classroom is an exceptional, fun and exciting way to build on almost every ESL skill your students need to communicate effectively in English.
It’s a surefire way to keep students engaged and active with each turn of the page!
Think your students are ready to move on from short stories to books? Take a look at this list:
Books for English language learners (ELLs) should be engaging, culturally relevant and appropriate for the level you’re teaching. Check out these 18 excellent ELL books…
If you want to watch it, the FluentU app has probably got it.
The FluentU app and website makes it really easy to watch English videos. There are captions that are interactive. That means you can tap on any word to see an image, definition, and useful examples.
FluentU lets you learn engaging content with world famous celebrities.
For example, when you tap on the word "searching," you see this:
FluentU lets you tap to look up any word.
Learn all the vocabulary in any video with quizzes. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning.
FluentU helps you learn fast with useful questions and multiple examples. Learn more.
The best part? FluentU remembers the vocabulary that you’re learning. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You have a truly personalized experience.
