Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement Richard Peck’s short story “Priscilla and the Wimps.” A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: bionic, immense, inclined, laceration, malnutrition, pun, straggler, suitable, trot, and wittiness. By engaging with these activities, students will: Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences

Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Ugly Duckling.” A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, the short story, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: agreeable, bound, brood, disposition, endure, fancies, farther, fragrant, hasten, moor, obliged, persecute, plumage, privation, saucy, seldom, spiteful, and whet. By engaging with these activities, students will: Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences

Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Sphinx.” A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: apex, apparition, apprehension, demeanor, diffusion, epoch, fortnight, germination, heartily, knell, liability, omen, principal, proboscis, propinquity, quell, redolent, reign, and temperament. By engaging with these activities, students will: Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences

Help middle and high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and develop critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering the short story “Early Autumn” by Langston Hughes. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will: Read for literal comprehension Utilize dictionaries to ensure knowledge of word meanings Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques Describe tone in context Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop Apply knowledge of literary devices including metaphor and symbolism Consider themes in context Write about literature with clarity, precision, and accuracy Support claims and inferences with relevant evidence and sound reasoning Come to class better prepared to discuss literature

Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement Guy de Maupassant’s short story “The Necklace.” A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: boudoir, caste, convent, coquettish, descend, dictation, dowry, endeavor, frowsy, garret, hierarchy, immoderate, impoverished, noctambulant, odious, privation, sole, stammer, tureen, usurer, and vestibule. By engaging with these activities, students will: Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences

Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement Ray Bradbury’s science fiction short story “The Veldt.” A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: abruptly, abstractedly, bemused, conjure, emanations, flue, intersperse, jaunt, joviality, neuroses, persecute, recede, subside, telepathic, thatched, and veldt. By engaging with these activities, students will: Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences

Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and develop critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering the short story “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will: Read for literal comprehension Utilize dictionaries to ensure knowledge of word meanings Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques Determine the functions of given passages Describe tone in context Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop Apply knowledge of literary devices including allusion, hyperbole, metaphor, onomatopoeia, simile, situational irony, and more Consider themes in context Come to class better prepared to discuss literature

“The Rats in the Walls” by H.P. Lovecraft is a dark and engaging short story for high school students, especially during the Halloween season. Use this plot-based quiz to evaluate general reading comprehension, or assign it as a guided reading worksheet to facilitate active engagement with a work of Lovecraftian horror. An answer key is included, as well as a copy of the narrative, which has been edited to eliminate invective. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the following: The name and location of the ancestral estate The protagonist’s intentions for the estate Secondary characters and their connections to the protagonist Secondary characters and their primary roles in the text The content of the protagonist’s dreams The fate of the protagonist’s ancestors The protagonist’s fate And more

Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the classic Grimm’s fairy tale “The Four Clever Brothers.” A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, the public domain short story, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: adept, apathetic, artful, comely, destitute, discreetly, formidable, hasten, jovial, meddle, proffer, purloin, quarrel, and wily. By engaging with these activities, students will: Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences

Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the classic Grimm’s fairy tale “The Seven Ravens.” A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, the public domain short story, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: allude, amiable, arresting, bestow, brusquely, doleful, earnest, furtively, hasten, jubilant, scarcely, weary, and winsome. By engaging with these activities, students will: Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences

Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the short story “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, answer keys. and a copy of the parable are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: abashed, antipathy, apprehensive, countenance, fain, hastily, hoary, imbue, indecorous, iniquity, irreproachable, magistrate, moldered, ostentatious, pathos, portend, precede, pulpit, remonstrance, sagacious, shudder, solicitude, summon, thither, tremulous, venerable, waggery, and zealous. By engaging with these activities, students will: Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences

Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the classic Grimm’s fairy tale “The Dog and the Sparrow.” A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, the public domain short story, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: amble, apoplectic, deftly, dejected, earnest, emaciated, hapless, hastily, haughty, incredulous, lament, lethargic, morsel, odious, plaintive, rash, repent, sulky, vanquish, vexation, and voraciously. By engaging with these activities, students will: Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences

Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and develop critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce. An answer key and copy of the narrative are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will: Read for literal comprehension Utilize dictionaries to ensure knowledge of word meanings Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques Discern the function of a given passage Describe tone in context Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop Apply knowledge of literary devices including flashback, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, personification, symbolism, and more Consider themes in context Come to class better prepared to discuss literature

Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the short story “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane. A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, answer keys, and a copy of the narrative are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: aberration, abrupt, acquiesce, admonition, apprehension, assent, conjure, dinghy, direful, effect, emphatic, formidable, gale, gunwale, haggard, heartily, impetuous, indifferent, ingenuously, invariably, jeer, listlessly, myriad, obstreperous, ominous, opprobrious, oration, phosphorescence, plausible, schooner, sidle, wily, and wistfully. By engaging with these activities, students will: Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences

Help high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and develop critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering the short story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner. An answer key and copy of the narrative are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will: Read for literal comprehension Reflect on the significance of the narrative’s title Utilize dictionaries to ensure knowledge of word meanings Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques Describe tone in context Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop Compare and contrast two characters Apply knowledge of literary devices including foreshadowing, personification, metaphor, symbolism, and more Consider themes in context Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence Write about fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision Come to class better prepared to discuss literature

Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the short story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner. A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, answer keys. and a copy of the narrative are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: acrid, archaic, bier, cabal, circumvent, coquettish, cuckold, diffident, haughty, impervious, jalousie, macabre, pallid, pauper, pervade, sibilant, temerity, vague, vanquish, vindicate, and virulent. By engaging with these activities, students will: Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences

Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce. A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, answer keys. and a copy of the narrative are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: acclivity, apprehension, apprise, ardently, assent, brooding, deference, dictum, elude, gesticulate, giddy, idler, ineffable, keen, luminous, monotonous, oscillation, pier, poignant, presage, preternaturally, secessionist, sentinel, stockade, subdue, summarily, uncanny, and undulation. By engaging with these activities, students will: Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences

Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the short story “American History” by Judith Ortiz Cofer. A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: abrupt, altar, dilapidated, discreet, elation, enthralled, hierarchy, hija, hue, infatuated, resigned, solace, vigaroes, and wail. By engaging with these activities, students will: Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences

Help middle and high school students go beyond basic reading comprehension and develop critical thinking and literary craft analysis skills with this close reading worksheet covering the short story “American History” by Judith Ortiz Cofer. An answer key is provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. By completing this close reading activity, students will: Identify what the text states explicitly as well as implicitly Utilize dictionaries to ensure knowledge of word meanings Infer the intended effects of the author’s word choices and narrative techniques Consider how a change in point of view would affect the reader’s perception of Elena’s mother Discern the main conflict of the narrative Explore how complex characters think, behave, interact, and develop Compare and contrast two characters Apply knowledge of literary devices including allusion, personification, simile, and more Support claims and inferences with sound reasoning and relevant evidence Write about fiction with clarity, accuracy, and precision Come to class better prepared to discuss literature

Support vocabulary development and enhance reading comprehension with this set of games and activities to complement the short story “Catch the Moon” by Judith Ortiz Cofer. A crossword puzzle, a word search activity, a vocabulary application worksheet, and answer keys are provided. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats. Specifically, the following vocabulary terms are addressed: ancient, barrio, cementerio, correspondence, decapitate, hijo, hubcap, juvenile, makeshift, metal, relic, and vulgar. By engaging with these activities, students will: Determine the meaning of unfamiliar and complex words Consult reference materials in order to learn and verify word meanings Discern the most proper application of words as they are used in sentences