I mentioned today’s topic, Story Chains, in my last blog entry Novel Responses to Novels on March 1, 2013. Story
Chains is a fun and motivating way for students to demonstrate
they have acquired the ability to retell a story, to sequence the actions in a
story, to relay the main idea and details of a selection, or to summarize the
plot of a chapter or book.
I have used this activity with my fifth- and sixth-grade students
who have read both fiction and nonfiction selections and with eighth-grade
Science students who have read textbook material. It could easily be adapted
for any grade level and any content area. In addition, it is an activity that
works well as a co-operative group activity or as an individual assignment.
Directions:
1.
Assign
a story, novel, or text selection for students to read.
2.
Prepare
numerous 1" by 8 1/2" white (or pastel-colored) paper strips.
3.
Distribute
your determined strips to each student or co-operative group of students.
4.
On
one strip, ask students to write the title and author of the selection. If it
is a selection from a textbook, have them write the chapter title, page
numbers, or any pertinent identification information.
5.
On
each of the remaining ten strips, the students should write a sentence or two
detailing important events or main ideas from the reading selection. Remind
them to include events from the beginning, the middle, and the end of the
selection. The chosen events should summarize the selection or identify the
main idea and supporting details.
6.
Require
the students to include various visual symbols that support the information on
each strip as well as page or paragraph numbers where the information is found.
7.
When
all the strips are completed, the students are to staple or glue them in an
interlocking chain in order, similar to holiday paper chains.
8.
Ask
the students to share their chains with the class.
9.
Use
the chains to decorate a bulletin board or hang them in the hallway for all the
students in your building to enjoy.
As I looked back at this activity
that I’ve used almost since I began teaching, I noticed that it aligns nicely
with the grs. 5 and 6 ELA Common Core Standards for Literature and
Informational Reading. I’m sure it could also be adapted for other grades as
well.
Happy Teaching,
Angela
The Teacher’s Desk 6
teachersdesk@yahoo.com
To
help celebrate this holiday, I am offering my St. Patrick's Day Parts of Speech
Mystery Pictures in a bundle. Each individual picture is priced at $1.00. For
the month of March I am offering the bundle of THREE for only $2.00... you get
one FREE! Click HERE or
on the link below the picture to download your bundle. Erin go bragh!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Leave a little message and let me know you've visited!