Wilkoff+Short+Story

Readings: >
 * 1) Introduction to [|Past Perfect, Present Tense by Richard Peck.]
 * 2) Exerpts from [|The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Nighttime].
 * 3) Exerpts from [|Donald Duk].
 * 4) Dan Gutman's "Let's Go to the Videotape." from the collection of short stories for guys called [|Guys Write for Guys Read].

Process: >
 * I start of by reading the Introduction to Past Perfect, Present Tense with my students because of the fantastic definition it gives of short stories. The reading level is a little high, so I like to read it with them and do some think alouds. I really like what Peck has to say about how a short story is not merely a shortened novel, but is a unique and equally dificult genre to perfect.
 * I find myself using both short stories and exerpts from novels. I know that this sounds like it conflicts with the Richard Peck reading, but I really think that some exerpted books can provide superlative examples for the types of characterization and the plot chart.