Edgar Allan Poe Short Stories
By MARISSA DESPINS Updated Oct 3, 2023
Edgar allan poe short stories for middle school
As we hit record temperatures here in BC, I will admit I am already looking forward to some cooler Fall days. I am definitely a child of the Fall. Cozy sweaters, new school supplies, and pumpkin spiced anything are pretty much my favorites. With Fall, of course, comes Halloween, and I absolutely love finding ways to incorporate this spooky holiday into my classroom. In middle school, my favorite way to do that is with Edgar Allan Poe short stories. While the true king of American Gothic literature can be enjoyed any time of year, I particularly love bringing in Poe activities in the first few weeks before Halloween.
Looking for a COMPLETE set of Edgar Allan Poe short stories to engage your learners this Halloween season? Click on the image or button below to grab this giant bundle of Poe resources!
Are you looking for a way to bring a little bit of darkness to your ELA curriculum in October? I have collected some of my very favorite Edgar Allan Poe short stories and activities and will be sharing them in a series of upcoming blog posts. They are sure to engage your middle school learners, and help focus the kiddos in the crazy days before Halloween.
Edgar Allan Poe – Reading Aloud “The Raven”
The stories of Poe often revolve around murder and madness. In “The Raven”, however, Poe shows that true horror comes from losing someone you love.
Listening to this poem read aloud is pretty much essential – the language and rhythm really brings this classic work to life. The version above is one of my favorites, but there are lots of other great versions on YouTube if you do a little digging.
For tips and tricks to help you keep your students engaged and accountable during a class read aloud, check out this post on read aloud accountability.
Close Reading Activities with Edgar Allan Poe Short Stories and Poetry
As many of Poe’s works can be challenging for students, it is a great opportunity to work in a bit of close reading practice.
Close reading is a highly effective strategy that helps students better understand text. It asks them to dig deeper into what they have been reading, and back up their thinking with text evidence. According to Close Reading gurus Fisher and Frey, Close Reading is “an instructional routine in which students are guided in their understanding of complex text”. Basically, Close Reading is an instructional approach that integrates several reading strategies, where students add knowledge gained from text to their schema. Doing so builds habits of successful readers, and builds stamina and persistence with complex text.
For more information on close reading, with tips and tricks to help set up this activity for success in your classroom, check out my previous post here.
I have created resources featuring three of Poe’s classic tales with text annotation activities built directly into the passages. Students follow the directions on the page, marking up the text as they go. This really simplifies the process, as students don’t have to go back and forth between multiple sheets of paper.
Text annotation also makes assessment easy, as you can clearly see the ways students have interacted with the text by the colors and words written all over the pages.
These annotation passages are especially helpful if your class anthology does not include these classic tales, as the resources contain full text versions.
Interested in trying one of these Edgar Allan Poe short story or poetry activities out in your classroom? Click on the images below to grab copies directly from my TPT shop!
For additional information on the benefits of close reading, and tips and tricks for incorporating it into your classroom teaching, check out our complete guide to close reading!
Modern Day Narratives
Reading Poe with middle school students definitely requires some time spent on language dissection. The language Poe uses can sometimes be a bit challenging for students. A fun way to work through this is having students write their own “modern narratives”. To do this, they re-write the poem into modern day language.
Writing a modern narrative is a great way to boost understanding of a text. Students really have to know a piece of writing in order to re-write it in a way that is easy to understand.
This is a great activity to complete after reading “The Raven”. Because it is a shorter piece of writing, it lends itself well to the activity.
When students are done, we share our writing with partners. Their creativity always impresses me!
No unit on “The Raven” is complete without a viewing of the version done by The Simpsons, which really helps drive the idea of the “Modern Narrative” home.
You can snag these, as well as some other really great activities to use along with “The Raven”, “The Black Cat”, and “The Tell Tale Heart” in my TPT shop. Check them out by clicking here or on the image below.
I hope that these lesson ideas help you bring some Halloween spirit into your ELA classroom this Fall. Stay tuned for the the rest of the posts in this series, where I will be sharing some more ideas for incorporating Edgar Allan Poe short stories into your curriculum!
Interested in seeing some spooky Edgar Allan Poe short stories and activities in action? Check out the YouTube video below!
Looking for more Edgar Allan Poe lesson ideas?
Check out some of these engaging Poe activities! Click on the images below to go directly to my TPT store.
Looking for a fun Poe freebie?
This FREE resource is a fun way to introduce Edgar Allan Poe to your students. It includes an online research template so students can pop online and do some fact gathering about this spooky author. Click here or on the image below for instant access to your FREE copy!
Looking for more information on teaching short stories?
Check out the blog posts below!
The BEST Short Stories for Middle School
Close Reading Strategies: Tips and Tricks
9 Favorite Dystopian Short Stories for Middle School
Favorite Science Fiction Short Stories
Diverse Short Stories: Ideas and Activities
Interested in signing up for my email list?
If you are interested in signing up for my email list, you can do so by clicking on the link below. I periodically send out emails with free resources, teaching tips, and exclusive deals. Signing up will also give you immediate access to some of my best selling Interactive Notebook resources – foldable activities, graphic organizers, and other fun activities.
