If you're building an SF unit from scratch — or patching the hole where "what even is science fiction?" should have been answered on day one — this is the resource that handles it. Ten pages. Three frameworks for defining SF. Every major subgenre mapped. Twenty-plus vocabulary terms.
See it on Teachers Pay Teachers — $5.00
Discussion questions built in throughout. Nothing proprietary, nothing locked to a specific novel — it works with whatever texts you're already teaching. What's Included: Three-lens framework for defining science fiction (scientific premise, extrapolation, and the mirror) SF vs. fantasy vs.
horror comparison chart with clear criteria Hard cases analysis — Star Wars, Frankenstein, The Handmaid's Tale, Get Out — students argue whether each qualified Complete subgenre reference table: cyberpunk, hard SF, soft SF, dystopian, space opera, solarpunk, alternate history, and more 20+ essential vocabulary terms with definitions students will use all course long Discussion questions throughout — no extra prep required How to Use It: This runs in one to two class periods depending on how deep your discussion goes. Works as the opening lesson in a dedicated SF or speculative fiction course, or as a front-loaded intro before any dystopian, cyberpunk, or speculative fiction unit. The hard cases section — Is Star Wars science fiction?
Is Get Out horror? — tends to generate more argument than teachers expect, which is exactly the point. About This Resource: I built this because every SF course I've taught needed a starting point that generated real conversation, not just a definition students copied into their notebooks and forgot. The three-lens framework gives students an actual tool — something they can apply to texts they encounter for the rest of the unit, not just a dictionary entry.
This resource is part of the Complete SF Literature Unit — 9 Resources Grades 9–12 ELA, which builds a full science fiction literature course from genre introduction through essay writing. If this resource saved you prep time, please leave a rating under My Purchases Provide Feedback. Every review earns you TpT Credits toward future purchases — roughly $1 in credits for every $10 reviewed. Follow Starmaker Tools for Teachers to be notified when new resources launch or go on sale. Keywords:
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Designed for grades 9–12.
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