How to Use Story Starters in the Classroom
Teachers readily take advantage of the way students respond to a good story opening. After reading the first few sentences aloud, a teacher can often get kids hooked, enticing them to eagerly continue reading on their own. In the same way, using a story starter can encourage kids to write.
Instructions
-
List of Story Beginnings
-
1
Make up a list of story beginnings. Each beginning should be 1 or 2 sentences in length, state the name of at least one character, and set up a conflict or problem. Two examples: “Tom looked under his bed for the box he had hidden there the night before. It was gone...” or “Today was the third day in a row Keisha had seen the purple dog that no one else could see.”
-
2
Print out a list of story starters. Use one of these methods: cut the story starters apart and give one to each student, give everyone the entire list to choose from or divide the students into groups and give one story starter to each group.
-
-
3
Ask students to individually write 3 to 5 sentences for the middle of the story and 2 to 3 sentences for the ending of the story. Explain to students that the ending of their stories should satisfy the reader’s curiosity about the beginning of the story.
-
4
Invite students to share their stories aloud, either with the entire class or their groups. When identical story starters are used, discuss the part imagination played in all of the variations based on the same beginning. You could also post the stories.
Already Written Story Starters
-
5
Find some books or stories that have particularly intriguing first sentences. Read the first sentence to your students without letting them see the book (so that they have no preconceived ideas based on the book cover or illustrations). Ask students to summarize what happens in the book in one sentence.
-
6
Show students the cover of the book and ask them to revise their sentences based on what the cover of the book looks like. They may simply want to add to what they have already written.
-
7
Read the book aloud and discuss the differences between their original impressions and how the book actually developed.
-
1
