We absolutely love using short stories throughout the year to teach the various reading standards for middle school. Also, short stories are an awesome way to teach critical thinking skills as well as practice the various reading strategies every student needs to be a proficient reader.

Another added bonus is that there are so many short stories to choose from that you would never have a shortage of awesome content to inspire and engage your readers. We have written many blog posts in the past about our favorite short stories for middle school and high school. If you have not already done so, go back and check the hyperlinks above to see all of the awesome short stories we recommend.

There are definitely times throughout the year that a short movie may be exactly what is needed to engage and recharge your students. One short story that we use to teach characterization, plot, suspense, foreshadowing, point of view, and theme is “Lamb to the Slaughter,” by Roald Dahl. Alfred Hitchcock has a lovely thirty minute film adaptation of this short story that is creepy enough to keep every single seventh graders’ eyes glued to the screen.

Another great short story is “Monsters are Due on Maple Street.” This script is actually adapted from the original TwilightZone episode in season one. We remember reading this play when we were middle school students, and it stuck with us all these years later. There is something magical that happens when a story is written as a script. Students, who normally never speak up in class, are clamoring for a starring role in the in-class play. “Monsters are Due on Maple Street,” by Rod Serling is great for teaching plot, conflict, suspense, foreshadowing, characterization, and theme. You can find the short TwilightZone episode through Hulu, or you can purchase the single episode through Amazon. It is season one episode 22.

Last, one of our all time favorite end of the year activities is to read “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber. We explore characterization, plot, suspense, conflict, point of view, foreshadowing, and theme. Then we spend the last two days of class watching the fantastic film adaptation with Ben Stiller. Our students always comment on how much they enjoyed this feel good film, as if we would ever steer them wrong. The film is laugh out loud at times, but also beautifully heartwarming. You can purchase the movie on Amazon or stream for free if you have Hulu.

While this is by no means an exhaustive list of short stories with film adaptations, it is a great starting point for a middle school or high school ELA class. We often don’t have time to show many films in our class throughout the year, so when we do have time, we like to pick the best of the best. We hope you enjoy these adaptations as much as we do!

Happy Teaching

Three Short Stories with Fantastic Film Adaptations