Education Technology


NCTE: Collaborating on Foreshadowing

Activity Overview

Students will find examples of foreshadowing using a short story. With the teacher's assistance, they will evaluate how foreshadowing adds to the meaning and suspense of the story and is one aspect adding to the literary merit of the selected work.

Before the Activity

See the attached Activity PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity.

Print the appropriate pages from the Activity for your class.

Install the NoteFolio(tm) App on the students' graphing calculators following the attached instructions.

Review the term foreshadowing. Refer to the "Foreshadowing Analysis" from Activity 1 as a form of quick review of the analysis process. Inform students that in the literature they read inside and outside of class, foreshadowing is often used and is important to the literary merit of the story.

During the Activity

  • Distribute the appropriate pages from the Activity to your class
  • Distribute the NoteFolio(tm) file(s) to your class using TI Connect(tm) and the appropriate TI Connectivity cable
  • Follow the procedures outlined in the Activity


  • Students will:
  • Comprehend foreshadowing in literary works and works of popular culture.
  • Analyze a short story to identify foreshadowing.
  • Develop their own ideas of foreshadowing for a story.
  • Identify and evaluate the literary element of foreshadowing in professional models and peer writing.
  • After the Activity

    Students should share their responses with the other members of their small groups. Afterward, bring the class back together and share responses as a class. The teacher and class should critique the responses for accuracy and clarify the concepts presented. Students should agree on and understand the examples of foreshadowing found in the stories they read.

    As a final exercise, have the students critique the author's use of foreshadowing, evaluating whether or not it was essential to the merit of the story. Advise the students that they will be creating a plan for using foreshadowing in their own writing in the next activity.