Are you looking for a Halloween short story middle school students will love?The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe short stories unit is filled with short story reading comprehension activities to teach the main idea, summary, theme, tone and mood, and more. This 8-day close reading unit is the PERFECT resource to help your middle school and high school ELA students think critically and dive deeper into Poe’s classic macabre tale. You will be provided with all the resources you need to assess student understanding and help them develop their creativity and writing skills.
Each close reading lesson is designed with scaffolded activities and differentiated reading strategies to support all learners. Teacher models for each activity set clear expectations for students. There is also a creative writing project that requires students to write a new narrative that details what happens after the nameless narrator confesses to the murder of the old man.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Resource:
✅ Editable Low Prep Resources
✅ Scaffolded Lessons to Meet the Needs of All Learners
✅ Teacher Models and Answer Keys
✅ Anchor Charts for Main Idea, Theme, Inferences, and Tone & Mood
✅ Clear Student Directions and Criteria
✅ Strategies and Activities for Student Collaboration
✋ What Standards and Skills Are Addressed?
• Citing Text Evidence
• Context Clues
• Making Predictions
• Main Idea and Supporting Details
• Objective Summary
• Theme
• Inferences
• Elements of Plot
• Tone and Mood
• and MORE!
✍ What’s Included:
1. “The Tell-Tale Heart” Probable Passage
➙ ➙ “The original template for Probable Passage is from When Kids Can’t Read/What Teachers Can Do by Kylene Beers. You can read more about this strategy on pages 87 – 95 of that book, which is available in e-format at http://www.heinemann.com/products/EBK03025.aspx.”
2. “The Tell-Tale Heart” Close Reading Activity
- Differentiated Vocabulary Activity
- Anticipation Guide and Four Corners Activity
- First Read: Main Idea, Supporting Details, and Objective Summary
- Second Read: Comprehension Questions with a Double Entry Journal
- Third Read: Mood and Tone + Development of Mood
- 3 Constructed Response Activities
3. “The Tell-Tale Heart” Assessment
- 5 Multiple Choice Questions
- 2 Extended Response Questions (Students select one to answer)
- Extended Response Rubric
4. “The Tell-Tale Heart” Narrative Writing Task: Investigate the Crime!
- Task #1- Prewriting: Four Square Organizer
- Task #2- Rough Draft
- Task #3- Self and Peer Assessment
- Task #4- Final Draft
- Narrative Writing Reference Sheet
- Narrative Writing Rubric
- Strong and Weak Writing Samples
5. BONUS: “The Tell-Tale Heart” Choice Board Activity
- Early Finisher Activity
- 4 Task
- Task Handouts
- Task Rubric
6. “The Tell-Tale Heart” Lesson Presentation (+75 Slides)
- Editable slides
- Daily Lesson Breakdown
7. Teacher Models and Answer Keys
- Provided for all activities
8. Teacher Guide
- Lesson Breakdown
- Daily Lesson Structures
- Activity Tips and Suggestions
- Modification and Differentiation Ideas
- Annotated Teacher Text
9. Anchor Charts
- Main Idea, Supporting Details, and Objective Summary
- Theme
- Tone and Mood
- Inferences
What Other Teachers Are Saying About This Resource:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: Jessica J. says, “My student really enjoyed using this as an extension to our reading of The Tell-Tale Heart. It reinforced the story, and gave them fun, engaging ways to revisit the story.“
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: Jennifer B. says, “Great differentiated activities. Very accessible for all students.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: Rachel C. says, “Excellent resource. Having differentiated activities for higher level and lower level students made this resource so great!”
