The Zoo Short Story Lesson

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Total Pages: 30 pages
Answer Key: Included with rubric
Teaching Duration: N/A
File Size: 1 MB
File Type: PDF

Engage your students in a deep and meaningful analysis of The Zoo by Edward D. Hoch Short Story Lesson Plan with this ready-to-use short story lesson! This versatile resource is perfect for introducing or reviewing key literary elements (plot, character, setting, theme, conflict) and literary devices (simile, metaphor, symbolism, foreshadowing) through a high-interest short story. Designed for in-person and digital classrooms, this lesson includes printable PDFs and Google Slides™ - making it ideal for 1:1 technology schools, Google Classroom™, or hybrid learning environments.

Click Here To View The Preview

What’s Included:

• Detailed, easy-to-follow Lesson Plan
• Graphic Organizers for Literary Elements & Devices
• Targeted Comprehension Questions & Answer Key
• Extend Your Learning Choice Board Assignment – great for differentiation!
• Assessment Rubrics (Levels or Points version)
• Printable and Digital Versions for Google Classroom or other platforms

Save Money - Buy The Complete Unit: This lesson is found in the 7th Grade Short Story Unit.

Perfect For:

• Middle school ELA
• Literature circles or whole-class study
• Reviewing literary elements and literary devices
• Preparing for literary analysis writing tasks

Why Teachers Love This Resource:

• Ready-to-Use & Flexible – Whether you're teaching in person, online, or in a hybrid model, the included PDFs and Google Slides™ make this lesson easy to implement across any classroom setting.
• Engages Students with Meaningful Analysis – Students aren’t just reading; they’re thinking critically about literary elements and devices, fostering deeper comprehension and discussion.
• Saves Planning Time – Everything is included—questions, answer keys, graphic organizers, and assessments—so you can focus on teaching rather than prepping.
• Designed with Modern Classrooms in Mind - This resource is ideal for in-person learning and one-on-one classroom environments, integrating seamlessly with Google Classroom.

Teacher Feedback:

1. “This resource has a variety of questions and vocabulary to use in class.  Students were engaged and focused on the questions.  It took approx 30 min to complete the questions.”
2. “This has been an interesting story and lesson for both my students and myself. Every time we re-read the story, students come up with observances that I had not even thought about. It is very engaging for students who like to debate. Love it.”
3. “My students and I loved this short story and your resource was a great compliment and provoked much discussion.  I used this as an introduction to our novel study of The One and Only Ivan.  We have referred back to it multiple times while reading the novel.  Thanks for sharing.”

Teacher Notes:

1. Due to copyright laws, the short story is not included. Teachers will need to find the short story themselves.
2. This resource is NOT editable.

Strengthen student connections to reading and ELA content - all with this ready-to-use resource.