Flash Fiction Lesson Plan- Three Day Set

Lesson inspired by Freshmen and Five Hundred Words- Featured Article

Link to Article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jaal.324/full
(adapted to apply to a 7th grade class)

Link to The Pin: ://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6ohBW_jWqN5cTNwekliT1hLQm8/edit

Link to What Are You, Anyway?:
http://edgeintegrity.weebly.com/uploads/6/8/9/0/6890635/so_what_are_you_anyway_short_story
.pdf

Rationale: Flash fiction is a relatively new idea that has brought a new twist on teaching reading
and writing in middle and high schools. Flash fiction is the idea of using very short texts to show
students that writing does not have to be long in order to convey a lesson or point. Throughout
this series of lessons, students will consider the nature of stories and learn to write more
concisely by reading and writing flash fiction. They will be exposed to the essential elements of
a story- length does not ensure quality when it comes to writing.

Standards:
7.1
Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text.

7.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of
the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

7.5
Analyze how a drama's or poem's form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its
meaning
(not in poem form but how structure plays a role in the text)

Day 1-
Objective: By the end of day 1 students will be able to identify the point of a sentence as well as
understand the goal of writing is to convey a message (quality over length).
Procedures: I will introduce flash fiction by starting out with sentences instead of stories. Just as
a novel can be seen as a detailed flash fiction story, a detailed sentence can be seen as a long
version of a simple sentence. The students will engage in a do-now activity, a whole class
activity, a group activity, and an individual activity; all of which will further their knowledge of
flash fiction/ the idea behind flash fiction.

Engagement/ Anticipatory Set: In their notebooks, students will be asked to answer two
questions: 1. What is meant by the term point of a sentence/ statement/ story?
2. Does there need to be detail/ a lot of writing to get the point across?

Mentor- Teach and Model: I will display two sentences that will exemplify the idea of flash
fiction. Sentence one: The dog jumped off the bed and broke its leg.
Sentence two: The huge, brown dog leaped off the elevated bed, landed with a crash, and
broke its leg. I will show the class that both sentences convey the same message, but one
provides more detail and gives more life to the story. The goal of flash fiction is not to
discourage students from using descriptions, but instead to show them that the point of texts that
they will read/ texts that they will write is the central message, not the detail surrounding it. It is
also meant to drive home the point that we do not need to add fluff or achieve a high word
count in order to have a good story.

Guided Practice: In small groups, the students will be given a worksheet that will have another
set of sentences. Sentence one: The farmer grew corn but made little profit.
Sentence two: The hardworking farmer grew as much corn as he could, but
some crows swooped down and ate most of it, leaving very little for the hungry townspeople to
buy. On the worksheet (under the two sentences) there will be a chart that they will have to
complete. The groups will have to identify the strengths and weaknesses of both sentences. The
chart will have a place for them to explain what both the sentences convey and discuss how the
details enhance our understanding but dont take away the point of the sentence. The meaning
stays the same- he farmer sold little/no corn.

Independent Application: Each student will then be asked to write their own two sentences on a
black document on Google Classroom: one that leaves out detail and just delivers the point, and
one that is full of emotion and detail.
I will ask the class: Which sentence they wrote first? Which sentence took them longer to come
up with? Do they deliver the same overall message?

Materials: Each student will need their notebook for the do-now questions and a writing utensil.
The white board/ projector will be needed for the do now questions and for the two sentence
example. I will need to print the worksheets for the small group activity. They will need their
Chrome-Books to access Google Classroom for the independent activity of writing their own
sentences.
Assessment: I will be able to check the students sentences in Google Classroom after class has
ended. I will look to see if: 1. they all wrote two sentences and
2. they included detail in one sentence and left it out in the other
3. both of their sentences deliver the same message

Technology Connections: Google Classroom is the technology piece that is included in day 1 of
this lesson set. This allows them to work individually during class and the assessment to come
after class, I can check it after they have left.

Day 2-
Objective: Students will explore a text and come up with reasons as to why the author chose to
include pieces of the story that could be omitted without taking away from the meaning of the
story. They will learn that details can add to the story, but are not always needed. This will
prepare them for writing their own flash fiction stories.

Procedures: I will further explain flash fiction by introducing and reading a story that is very
long. The class will work to determine what is not necessary in the story, they will develop ideas
about why authors choose to expand on certain things. They will learn to justify details and
descriptions in texts.

Engagement/ Anticipatory Set: Answer these questions in notebooks:

1. What does a story need to be a story, what does it have to consist of?
2. What makes a story powerful?
3. Do you think its harder to write a short story or a novel? Why?
We will then discuss our answers as a class. I will explain that why it seems harder to write more
(more meaning more words/ pages as in a novel), it is difficult to be concise and clear cut; it
doesnt come naturally to leave out details.

Mentor- Teach and Model: Each student will receive a copy of a short story: The Pin:
://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6ohBW_jWqN5cTNwekliT1hLQm8/edit
I will read it out loud to the class as they follow along on their own copy.

Guided Practice: In the same groups they were in yesterday, they will go through the story and
circle sentences that are necessary to the story and underline sentences or parts of sentences that
are not as needed. These directions will be projected on the board so that they can refer back to
them if needed throughout the class period. Each group member will do this on their own copy of
the story. I will walk around and help as needed, ask all of the groups some questions to further
their learning.

Independent Application: After they have completed that activity in their groups for all or most
of The Pin, they will go back to their seats and open Google Classroom. I will have already
uploaded a worksheet that they can all separately access and download. The worksheet will have
four questions (two to do in class and two do do at home)- the questions will have a few parts:
they will have to type a quote from the story that they have underlined (a sentence that they think
isnt necessary), explain why they underlined it, and then explain why they think the author
included it/ how it helps develop the point or lesson. I will go into Google Classroom and check
all of the worksheets the next day, once they have all completed all four.

Materials: They will need their notebooks for the do-now. They will all need a writing utensil.
The white board/ projector will be needed for the do-now questions. The copies of the stories
need to be printed and handed out. Chrome-Books need to be brought to class so that they can do
the individual assignment as well as access the story if they need to.

Assessment: The individual application will be the assessment. I will check to see if what they
underlined was actually unnecessary and how they explained the authors reasoning for it.

Differentiation: If a child needs differentiation, they will only be asked to state and justify two
quotes as opposed to four (one in class and one for homework). If a child needs more help, they
can state one or two unnecessary quotes without justifying why they think the author included
them or why they think they are unnecessary.

Technology Connections: Google Classroom is allowing the class to work independently on their
Chrome-Books as well as letting me check their work without having to print, hand out, and
collect hard copies. They will also have access to read The Pin online, the link is also in Google
Classroom.

Day 3-
Objective: Students will now go through the process of writing their own flash fiction story,
understanding how to be concise and to the point. They will be able to put the lessons that they
have learned- quality over length- to use in their own writing.

Procedures: The class will be asked to expand on my example simple sentence as well as on their
own simple sentence. This will show them how to expand a thought, while keeping their ideas
concise and practicing how to only mention important points that help to communicate the story/
theme of the story.

Engagement/ Anticipatory Set: I will tell the class to take out their notebooks and write a simple
sentence that you know you can expand on, try to leave out any detail!

Mentor- Teach and Model: I will give the class a copy of a flash fiction story: What Are You,
Anyways? I will read it out loud as they follow along. This is their first time during this lesson
set that they are seeing/ reading an actual flash fiction story.

Guided Practice: I will instruct the class to take out their notebooks and write down my simple
sentence from the do-now. I will tell them to each write three or four more sentences, adding a
story to my sentence. This will create a very short flash fiction story. We can compare them as a
class and see how different each story is, despite the fact that everyone began with the same
sentence.
Independent Application: The class will take out their Chrome-Books and open Google
Classroom. They will take their do-now simple sentence and expand on it, creating their very
own flash fiction story. They can begin in class and finish up at home. This will show me that
they have learned to keep it relatively short and concise, while still telling a story.

Materials: They will need notebooks and writing utensils. I will use the white board and
projector. I will also need copies of the flash fiction story. They will need their Chrome-Books
too.

Assessment: Their own flash fiction stories, submitted on Google Classroom, will tell me if they
understand how to write in this style. This will demonstrate what they have taken away from this
three-day lesson set.

Differentiation: If a student would benefit from only having to expand his/her simple sentence
with a few more sentences as opposed to a whole flash fiction story, that is one way I could
differentiate. Reading the story out loud could also be helpful for some students who have a hard
time comprehending when they read a text themselves.

Technology Connections: Google Classroom and Chrome-Books is the technology connection

used this day and throughout the lesson set.

Future Connections: In the future, they will need to know how to write effectively and deliver a
point or lesson. I also think that it is important that they learn not to solely focus on a word count
when given a writing assignment. Not all great texts are super long, they dont have to be long to
be effective!