Translate This Page
Humor:
They’re Made Out of Meat
by Terry Bisson
I love introducing students to science fiction.
We really don’t use
it enough in our English
classes. In this story, two aliens discuss the
bizarre new life form they’ve discovered and
try to figure out how it thinks and lives.
Your students will laugh out loud when they
discover that the aliens are talking about
humans and love figuring out the everyday
activities and items the aliens just can’t
seem to make sense of.
In class: This is perfect for introducing a
new genre to students. After reading, ask
students to craft their own science-fiction
short
story.
As a class, brainstorm a list of activities of
events that take
place all the time that we
think are totally normal. Then, ask students
to write their version of an alien race trying
to figure out a birthday
party, after-school
detention, or lunch in the school cafeteria.
Charles by Shirley Jackson
by Shirley Jackson
Written by the same woman who wrote
the eerie short story “The Lottery,” this
story is guaranteed to make students of
all ages chuckle. The tale of the worst
kindergarten student ever, as told by a
student in the same class to his mother
at the end of every school day, your
students will love hearing all about
Charles’s antics. The twist at the end of
the tale will make students gasp and giggle.
In class: Perfect for lessons on irony,
your
students can debate whether Jackson’s
funny short story demonstrates verbal,
situational, or dramatic irony. I’ve also
used this story to show students how
an author can utilize dialogue as a
method for developing characterization.
