3rd-5th
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequencing.
Develops creativity, communication skills, and critical thinking.
Photos from a book at the appropriate reading level.
Say:
"Good morning, everyone. Today we are going to practice our storytelling skills. I have a book here (hold up the book and allow the class to see it). We will look at the photos in this book and see if we can write a story based on the pictures. Then, we'll see how it compares to the real story. First, I have a couple of questions for you, and then we will get right into it."
Ask:
"What is a story?" (Allow a few students to answer).
Do:
Write down each answer as a potential definition of "story."
Ask:
Organize students into groups if you have a large class where discussion could be overwhelming. Alternatively, the entire class can work on one story together. In either case, both groups will have the same goal - to create captions for each photo to complete the story.
For each picture, students will write a sentence or paragraph about what is going on in the picture. You'll write these options beneath each picture; the class will decide which to use, then you'll read the story to the class as they've written it.
This assignment can be a quick task or drawn out to be more than one lesson. It will depend on the age of your students, the unit you are currently in, and the end goal of the assignment (publication or simple graded assignment).
Say:
"Look at the picture in front of you. I'm going to set our timer for 5 minutes, and we will write as much as we can about this picture to tell our story. Think about the people in the photo, the background, and what's happening. Who are these people? What do you think they might be doing or saying?"
Do:
Ask:
These questions can be asked as a group or in a follow-up homework assignment.
Even though you'll read the published book, this assignment presents an exciting opportunity for students. A neat option for future assignments like this one is to look at services that turn student work into books.
School Mate Publishing and Student Treasures offer affordable options for turning your student's work into a published book. Students can purchase books, or you may choose to fundraise to buy a book for each student in your class. These books are a great way to showcase student work and progress from the year of learning.
Written by Melanie Barrozo
Education World Contributor
Copyright© 2022 Education World