"Duffy's Jacket" Common-Core Teaching Unit - Printable & Google Ready

This is a teaching unit for the short story "Duffy's Jacket" by Bruce Coville. The activities and handouts included in this unit are printable and GOOGLE ready! They include a pre-reading prediction activity, vocabulary preview, and a post-reading analysis of setting and the author's craft (specifically imagery and suspense). In addition, there is a handout that will guide students in determining how the stated theme affects the main character. Questions requiring students to look back in the text and support their answers with text are also included. And that's not all! A fun tableau activity is in this packet as well as directions for writing a poem about the story.

All handouts are aligned to the Common Core standards and ready for you to copy and use immediately! These activities will work well as whole group instruction or as independent work. The following list describes each handout in detail.

Prereading activities: (both are Google ready!)

Prediction guide - will initiate a discussion on some of the issues and key concepts in the story.

Vocabulary preview - provides words in context so that students can determine meanings.

Setting - (Google Ready!) With this activity, students are required to look back at the text and analyze the setting. They must find details that describe the place, time, and environment. Then, they must explain how certain passages and words affect the characters in the story. CCSS7RL1,3

Imagery - (Google Ready!) This handout helps students analyze how the author creates imagery. With this activity, students will find a passage; then, using the information provided on the handout, they will explain how imagery has been created by the author. CCSS7RL1

Suspense - (Google Ready!) This handout requires students to examine the author’s craft. They find sentences from the text that create suspense and then explain how these sentences create suspense.

Theme - (Google Ready!) The handout on theme can be used to teach what theme is and how a theme statement can be developed. Students are required to find the stated theme in this story, analyze how the theme affects the main character, and explain how this theme is true for life in general. CCSS7RL-1,2

Defending your Answers With Passages And Practice Answering Constructive Response Questions - This handout explains step by step how students should return to text to support an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn. It includes examples and non-examples to help the students. CCSS7RL-1

Duffy’s Jacket Questions - (Google Ready - 8 questions) This handout includes nine questions. Students are required to return to the text to draw conclusions and analyze various elements of the story. Many CCSS are addressed within these questions. Students determine central ideas, cite text, and analyze text. They must cite evidence to support their answers.

Duffy’s Jacket Poetry - This activity provides a sample poem based on the story and requires students to write their own. CCSSW Anchor Standard 4

Tableau - This activity requires students to work in groups to develop a creative tableau and then perform it for the class. A rubric is provided. CCSSW Anchor Standard 4

Answer keys are provided for all handouts.

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