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Below we’ve selected our favorite 16 short stories for middle school. These 16 stories can be found in our free PDF download (click thumbnail to preview). Accompanying lesson plans can also be found at TpT with over 182 pages of thought-provoking and engaging material.
- Top 10 Scary Stories for Kids
Bradbury was the greatest short story writer since Poe, and...
- 41 Short Stories for High School
Each story includes a link (READ IT) that will take you to a...
- Top 10 Scary Stories for Kids
- The Scholarship Jacket
- The Medicine Bag
- Thank You M’am
- The Treasure of Lemon Brown
- Stop The Sun
- Born Worker
- The Ransom of Red Chief
- All Summer in A Day
- The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street
- Seventh Grade
Nearing graduation, an eighth-grade Hispanic student in a small Texas school is denied the scholarship jacket she has earned with top grades. This story addresses the topics of prejudice and unfairness in a school setting, integrity, and grandparenting. Read the story here: The Scholarship Jacket
Martin feels embarrassed when his aging Sioux grandfather shows up at his family’s home unannounced. Exhausted and sickly, Grandpa has come to pass a Sioux tradition on to Martin, causing Martin fear. Instead, Martin learns startling things about his grandfather he never knew, causing him to change his outlook profoundly. Read the story here: The M...
Langston Hughes’ classic story begins with Roger trying to snatch a purse from Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones. 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. She gives him money to buy the shoes he wanted, and Roger leaves having learned...
When he leaves his house upset with his father, fourteen-year-old Greg finds a homeless man in an old tenement. 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. Read the story h...
This story centers around thirteen-year-old Terry and his father, who is suffering with post-traumatic stress syndrome from the Vietnam War. His father has become totally withdrawn, and very often his “eyes go away.”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...
Jose comes from a poor family and has been a hard worker all his life. His cousin, Arnie, is just the opposite: wealthy, lazy, and deceptive. 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. Jose gains the understanding that there...
In this humorous O. Henry story, two drifters, Sam and Bill, plan to kidnap a boy in a small town and hold him for ransom money. Their plan backfires when the boy, Johnny Dorset, becomes a total behavior problem that both men can’t handle. The men try to just return him without being caught, but run into more problems when they implement their plan...
Margot is different because she is from Earth, unlike her schoolmates on Venus. They are jealous of her past experiences, especially her memories of the sun. After seven years of solid rain, when the sun is about to make a rare appearance on Venus, the students punish Margot with a cruel act of bullying. Read the story here: All Summer in a Day Tak...
This one is a teleplay—an episode of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone. Neighbors fear that aliens have landed when a bright flash appears in the sky and strange things begin to happen. Incited by a young boy’s stories, people accuse each other of being an alien sent in advance. Panic and a mob scene leave readers questioning who the real monsters are. G...
Victor begins his first day in seventh grade hoping to make Teresa his girlfriend. After a series of awkward run-ins with her, he attends his French class, where she is also enrolled. To impress Teresa, Victor pretends to know French but has to use gibberish when responding to his teacher’s questions. Mr. Bueller does not embarrass Victor, but inst...
Jan 13, 2021 · The CommonLit team is excited to announce that over the next few months we will be adding dozens of new stories to our library — including five new Elementary and Middle school texts that were published in December. Today, we are able to share eight new stories with you.
Jul 12, 2023 · When it’s time to plan a new unit, it can be daunting to find high-quality, relatable short stories your middle school students will enjoy. That’s why we’ve put together a roundup of engaging, thematically rich stories that middle school teachers love.
CommonLit’s library includes high-quality literary passages, nonfiction texts, and short stories. Here is a list of our favorites for middle school students.
A selection of great short stories for Middle School teachers and students. These entertaining stories have been selected to introduce students to the short story genre and will help them build critical thinking skills while sharpening their reading skills and expanding their vocabulary words.
Feb 29, 2024 · Short stories definitely have their place in the middle school English classroom, as they are great for teaching literary elements and key reading strategies. In this post I list my 25 favorite short stories for middle school, with brief descriptions and suggested resources.
