Appendix 2

Tier 1
Differentiated Short Story Lesson Plan
By Phoebe Budge

Name: ___________ Date: ________________

Todays Task!
Today you will be analysing the short story Popular Mechanics by Raymond Carver
your group. Please read the short story through once before you complete this task sheet.
Then, answer the questions below using the yellow sheet (Appendix 6) as a guide.

1. Identify the 5 elements to a short story with your group. Highlight the elements as
you find them in the short story. Write some dot points below of the elements you
find:
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________

2. Identify the perspective that the short story is written in. Write the answer below:
______________________

3. Discuss with your group:

How do you believe the point of view has changed the story?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Would it be different if it were conveyed from someone elses point of
view?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Do we know if this characters perspective is reliable? Why/ why not?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

1
Appendix 3

Tier 2
Differentiated Short Story Lesson
By Phoebe Budge
Name: ___________ Date: ________________

Todays Task!
Today you will be analysing the short story Haircut by Ring Lardner with a group of
your peers. Please read the short story through once before you complete this task sheet.
Then, answer the questions below.

1. Identify the 5 elements to a short story with your group. Highlight the elements as
you find them in the short story. Brainstorm these below before beginning;
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________

2. Identify the perspective that the short story is written in. Remember, the three types
of point of view are are;
__________________
__________________
__________________

3. Discuss with your group:

How do you believe the point of view has changed the story? Would it be
different if it were conveyed from someone elses point of view? Do we
know if this characters perspective is reliable? Why/ why not?

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

2
Appendix 4
Tier 3
Differentiated Short Story Lesson
By Phoebe Budge

Name: ___________ Date: ________________

Todays Task!
Today you will be analysing the short story The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe
with a group of your peers. Please read the short story through once before you complete
this task sheet. Then, answer the questions below.

1. Identify the elements of a short story within your group. Highlight the elements as
you find them.

2. What perspective is the short story written in?

_________________________

3. How does the setting in the short story The Tell-Tale Heart, create an intriguing
back drop for the storys plot line?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

4. What were your initial thoughts of the protagonist in the short story? Why?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

5. How has the perspective that Poe has written the short story in altered the amount
of information you (the reader) is provided with? Why do you think they chose to
write from this perspective?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

Tier 4

3
Appendix 5

Tier 4
Differentiated Short Story Lesson Plan
By Phoebe Budge

This task is specifically created for the student with Autism Spectrum Disorder. They will be
assisted in completing the task with an SSO that visits twice a week, and will also be
provided with the yellow short story pocked guide (appendix). This student has a large
interest for animals, therefore the short story has been chosen accordingly.

Name: ___________ Date: ________________

Todays Task!
Today you will be analysing the short story The Zebra Storyteller by Spencer Holst.
your group. Please read the short story through once before you complete this task sheet.

4. Please find the 5 elements of your short story. Once youve found them, record
your answer below:

Character/s: __________________________________________________
Setting: ______________________________________________________
(Brief) Plot:
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Conflict:
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Theme: ______________________________________________________

5. What perspective is The Zebra Storyteller written in?

______________________

6. What other characters within The Zebra Storyteller could tell us the story from
their perspective?
______________________
______________________

7. Would this change the story? Why or why not?

_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

4
 Appendix 6

Short Story Pocket Guide

This pocket guide can be used as a reference point throughout our time looking at short stories this term.

5 Elements of a Short Story

Character A character is a person, or sometimes even an animal, who takes part in the action of a
short story or other literary work.

Setting The setting of a short story is the time and place in which it happens. Authors often use
descriptions of landscape, scenery, buildings, seasons or weather to provide a strong sense of setting.

Plot A plot is a series of events and character actions that relate to the central conflict.

Conflict The conflict is a struggle between two people or things in a short story. The main character is
usually on one side of the central conflict.

Theme The theme is the central idea of belief in a short story.

Perspectives

1st person point of view

When we talk about ourselves, our opinions, and the things that happen to us, we generally speak in the
first person. The biggest clue that a sentence is written in the first person is the use of first-person
pronouns. In the first sentence of this paragraph, the pronouns appear in bold text. We, us, our and
ourselves are all first-person pronouns.

2nd person point of view

The second-person point of view belongs to the person (or people) being addressed. This is the you
perspective. Once again, the biggest indicator of the second person is the use of the second-person
pronouns: you, your, yours, yourself, yourselves.

3rd person point of view

The third-person point of view belongs to the person (or people) being talked about. The third-person
pronouns include he, him, his, himself, she, her, hers, herself, it, its, itself, they, them, their, theirs, and
themselves.

5
Appendix 7

Exit Cards
By Phoebe Budge

The Following exit card questions will be presented to students at the end of the lesson. The first exit
card is for all students in tier 1, 2 and 3. The second exit card is for the student in tier 4. These exit
cards will be used as a form of assessing the students understandings of the lesson. It will also be
used as a form of pre-assessment for the following lesson. Students will usually be asked to answer
the questions on a sticky note and place it on the back of the classroom door as they leave, however, I
have created these exit cards as an example of what they are asked to complete.

Name: ______________ Date: _____________

Explain how the point of view in one short story may have influenced the amount of
information given to the readers.

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Name: ______________ Date: _____________

Please choose one of the following questions:

1. Explain how the point of view in one short story may have influenced the amount of
information given to the readers.
OR

2. Write down two pieces of information you learned this lesson and one suggestion of
how this lesson could be improved.

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________