How to Teach Short Stories

Teaching a short story can be easy if you give your students the basic elements. All short stories need to grab the reader from the start and make them care what happens next. They must also have a strong plot, believable characters and a resolution that fulfills the promise of giving the character a solution to whatever conflict they faced in the story.

Instructions

Steps for Teaching Story Writing

1

Have your student choose a POV, or point of view, for the short story. Explain that the viewpoint from which the story is told must be consistent throughout the story. First person is when the narrator is the main character and is telling his own story. Third person is when the narrator is overseeing events that happen to others.

2

Instruct your students to choose a setting for their story. The student needs to decide the physical location and time frame of the story before beginning. Explain to your students the need to remember these details while constructing the story.

3

Explain the development of main characters. One tool used for this is the "Character Sketch". This is a list of likes and dislikes of the characters. It will help the student understand that creating believable characters will help the story move along and keep the reader's attention.

4

Explain how to plot out the story. Have your students make an outline of the events to take place in their short story. This will ensure they write the story in the proper sequence.

5

Ask your student what the conflict of their story will be. Explain that something has to happen within the short story that will keep the readers' interest and make them care about the main character. The conflict can be romantic, dangerous or humorous but should cause the reader to want to find out what happens next.

6

Once your students have written their short story, make sure they understand they need to end with a good resolution. Explain that the resolution should solve whatever issue the main character has struggled with in the story in a creative and satisfying way.

How to Use Torrents to Download Books

Bit Torrent allows the transfer of large file sizes, in contrast to most p2p (Peer to Peer) sharing networks. This makes it possible to download full albums, movies and even books. E-books can be downloaded using torrents in PDF format. This allows one to share these files with multiple users and even print the e-books out and create a hard copy.

Instructions

1

Download a Bit Torrent client. Install the program upon completion of downloading.

2

Go to a torrent search engine. This is what you will use to locate and find book torrents.

3

Search for the book torrent. Type the name of the author or title of the e-book that you want to download. Click on the download link.

4

Select a torrent download location.

5

Download the torrent. Click the "Download Torrent" link. Select "Open With Utorrent" and click "OK." View the torrent details and click "OK." The download will begin once Utorrent loads.

How to Make a Candy Bar Story Card for a Special Teacher

Many teachers put in innumerable hours beyond their pay-grade, from grading papers to helping out with after school projects to tutoring students that need a little extra help in mastering a subject. For these special teachers, it can be a nice gesture to create a one of a kind gift to let her know that she is truly appreciated. A candy bar story card can be the perfect creative gift for students to express their feeling; they can be created with a few craft materials and, of course, the recipient's favorite candy bars.

Instructions

1

Create a special personalized message that best matches the reasons that you want to create the card. For example, if it is a "thank you" card for going above and beyond as a teacher, then you could use a Milky Way to write a message that says "There's not a better teacher in the entire (insert Milky Way candy bar) Galaxy. To add humor you could add a line like "We're not always (insert Sugar Babies) but you're always a great teacher."

2

Leave enough space to tape each of the candy bars you want to tape to your poster board card.

3

Allow children to add decorative elements like adding stickers to the card as a boarder or simple decoration.

How to Level Books for Guided Reading

To engage in the effective practice of guided reading, teachers divide students into ability-based reading groups and provide them with books at their levels. The practice is effective in promoting academic growth. Students are more capable of practicing reading without frustration if they practice with books at their level. To begin a guided reading program, teachers must group students into reading groups and select ability-appropriate reading levels. Teachers can determine the reading level of books in a number of ways, allowing them to effectively assign appropriate books.

Instructions

1

Check the bar code. Publishers often print the reading level of the book in the white box that surrounds the bar code. Search around the vicinity of the bar code, looking for a numerical value labeled RL. RL stands for reading level, and the number that follows the distinction tells you the intended grade level of the text. The first number indicates the grade, and the number that follows the decimal indicates the month. For example, 1.4 indicates that the book is intended for students in the first grade, fourth month.

2

Look for an age listing on the back of the book. If there is no reading level indicated next to the bar code, check the area surrounding the publishers mark on the back of the book. You may be able to find an intended age, for example, ages 7 and up. This indication can also be used to determine how difficult the text is, but it is not as effective in determining the difficulty of the text as the reading level indication that may be found by the bar code, since content appropriateness as well as difficulty are both taken into account to arrive at this suggested age.

3

Use words to check readability statistics if no reading level is given. Type a selection of the intended text into a Word document. Go to the Tools menu. Select options, and click on the spelling and grammar tab. Check the Display readability box. To see the readability of the text, run spell check. Once the check is finished, a box including the passage's reading level will appear, allowing you to determine the readability of the passage of text.

How to Analyze Short Story Plot

Plot is an element of fiction that consists of the stages of action leading up to the climax of the story. A short story does not afford the writer much time to develop an elaborate plot. A short story plot is rather simple and can be analyzed by following a few steps.

Instructions

1

List the events. A short story usually has one main character around whom all the action takes place. Your list of events for any short story will probably consist of the movements of the main character. Also make note of mental or emotional events that take place with respect to the main character, such as he learned how his mother died, he understood why his mother left him, and he stopped feeling sad.

2

Create a timeline. Take your list of events and put them in chronological order. Sometimes a short story begins with a flashback, in which case the events of the story are presented out of order. Arrange your list of events in chronological order, even if that isn't the order in which they took place in the story.

3

Identify the conflict. Conflict is what compels the reader to continue reading, so all well-written short stories have a conflict. It may be as obvious as a struggle between two characters in the story, or it can be subtle, like the main character's internal struggle to decide what is right. Identifying the conflict will help you understand the plot, since the plot is the main character's journey toward resolving the conflict.

4

Find the climax. The climax of a short story happens when the tension heightens just before the conflict is resolved. In a mystery, for example, the climax is just before you find out who the killer is. The climax of a short story takes place shortly before the end of the story. After the climax, the writer ties up the loose ends and the story is over.

How to Download Audio Books to Kindle

An Amazon Kindle owner can easily download audio books to the device through Audible, which is an Amazon company. An Audible connection will permit transfers of existing audio books or download new audio books to the Kindle. All a user needs to do is download some software and connect the Kindle to a computer.

Instructions

1

Go to the Audible.com website and sign up for a free account.

2

Choose the option "Listen on My Computer" as the primary listening method.

3

Download the free AudibleManager software.

4

Connect the Amazon Kindle to the computer through the USB port. It may take a few moments for the compute to recognize the new device.

5

Run the AudibleManager program. Click on "Activate" under the Devices menu and select "Amazon Kindle" from the drop-down menu.

6

Use the AudibleManager software to transfer audio books to the Amazon Kindle.

Elementary School Assessment Tools

Using a range of assessment tools in elementary schools gives teachers the chance to track student learning in a variety of ways. While most people are familiar with formal assessments, such as standardized tests, there are several other assessment options available for elementary schools that are more informal and focus on student work instead of exam scores.

Formal Assessment

Formal assessments are typically used as a standardized measurement of student progress. Statewide assessments that are given to all students are formal assessments. End-of-unit tests given after an elementary school class has finished a section in a textbook are also a common form of formal assessment. Formal assessments are typically multiple choice exams, though short answer questions and essays may be included in some instances.

Portfolio

Portfolios track a student's learning over time, often throughout a school year. Portfolio assessments focus on long-term learning gains and allow teachers to see how a child has made progress throughout the year. Portfolio assessments often include rough drafts and final works, graphic organizers, classroom assignments and student reflections. Students are typically included in selecting the work that is placed in a portfolio and the items selected should include samples of the child's best works.

Teacher Observation

Teacher observations allow the teacher to assess students during a typical day in the classroom. Observational assessment is often used to track student progress or check understanding of previously introduced topics. Observational assessment may include anecdotal notes that are written about each student or a checklist of skills that is checked off when the child masters the skill. Some teachers choose to videotape or record audio of their observations to review later or to use as additional record and documentation of the observation session.

Performance Tasks

Elementary students are often asked to complete a performance task to assess their learning in a specific area. A report and presentation may be used to assess student knowledge about a specific book or historical time period, for example. Students in a science class may be asked to complete a simple experiment based on previously taught material, while a math performance task often involves solving a word problem that focuses on the skills being assessed.

Self-Assessment

Self-assessments are used in the elementary classrooms to help students reflect upon their learning and give teachers feedback. Self-assessments may include more traditional assessment activities such as having students take and grade their own pre-test before an exam, and less formal activities including open-ended questions for students to answer, such as what was the hardest part of an assignment, or what they learned during a specific unit of study.