Budding Authors

Words are fun! We speak them, we read them, we write them, we even play word games, and we learn new ones. In this activity, we will begin writing a short story.

You remember that a story has a lot of different parts. It has a beginning, middle and an end. It is about something or someone or more than one thing or person. Think about stories that you like to hear or read. What makes them special to you? Think of something you would like to write a story about. What are some questions you have about this idea?

To help you turn these questions and answers about your idea into a good story, go to the Story Map. Use this tool to help you get started. Each graphic organizer has questions for you to answer as you develop your story. You should complete each organizer by answering the prompts. You don’t need to use complete sentences here if you don’t want to, because this is just a tool. Print one copy of each organizer and exit the program. Use the patterns from the organizers to add more characters or conflicts, as you need.

Assignment:

Review your story map organizers, and begin to write your story. You might want to spread them out so you can see them all at the same time. Remember to have a beginning, middle and end. Making a timeline will help you with this. If you need help, review the timeline instructions. In your small groups, share your ideas with each other. Are there new questions that you need to answer? Go back and add to your story or make changes so it’s easy for others to understand.

We will discuss each story in the next few weeks and you will have more opportunities to fine-tune them before we print them.

Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com