Emoji Emotion II: Interactive Storytelling Game

L'effroi
Jean-Baptise Greuze
1725-1805

I’ve been teaching storytelling for 20 years, so I am always looking for new games and activities to keep it fresh, both for me and my students. A few years ago, I purchased some emoji stress balls at my local dollar store, thinking I might be able to use them in my class one day. Finally, last week inspiration struck.

Initially, I only had six of the emoji balls. I immediately knew this game was a success and I would need more for a larger group. I found them on Amazon. 

I tried the game three times with smaller groups until all nineteen of my students came together. They were eager to play the game again. It was controlled chaos, lots of laughter and the students loved playing with their stories, changing up the emotions, adding facial expressions, and gestures.

Below are the instructions for Emoji Emotion II.

• Students stand in a circle.
• Each one is given an emoji ball. 
  
• Teacher assigns a number to each student one through six since there are six numbers on the die.
• If there are more than six students the count begins at one again with the seventh student. Example: If you have a class of eighteen you would assign the numbers one through six three times.
• Teacher plays music as the students pass the balls. Note: I queued up music via YouTube on my phone.
• Teacher stops the music at their discretion. When the music stops the students keep whatever emoji ball is in their hand.
• Teacher throws the die. Whatever number is rolled, the student who has that number chooses a line of dialogue from their story and tells it with the emotion on the emoji ball, even if it is not the correct tone for the story.
• If you have more than six students then each student with the rolled number takes a turn.
• Repeat the process as time allows, playing the music each time as the students pass the emoji balls.
  
  

This is a terrific game to use after the students are comfortable with their stories but I can easily envision using it as an ice breaker game. For example, the teacher assignes one sentence to be used by all but with a different emotion, to teach them how vocal intonation/expression will change the meaning of a sentence. Another way would be to have the students share one sentence about something from their lives using the emotion on the emoji ball. For example:

• My favorite sport is baseball.
• I have a big, brown dog. 
• I went to the beach last summer.

Last year I created a different emoji-based game that also worked well. It was very successful but this new game is definitely more interactive. That game may be viewed at the link below.

Emoji Emotions: Interactive Storytelling Game
https://karenchace.blogspot.com/2022/04/emoji-emotions-interactive-storytelling.html.

This game is definitely a keeper! If you decide to try this out with your students, please let me know how it turned out for you and for your students. I would love to hear what you think about it. Please leave a blog comment if you have time.

Permission for private use is granted but I do ask that you maintain the copyright information and offer proper attribution. Publication is prohibited without my expressed written permission. 

There are many more original games I have created in my book, Story by Story, along with worksheets to help your students step into their story. 

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links. At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

 

Karen Chace 2023 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission, please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I appreciate your support and personal integrity.

Story Wok - A Peer Coaching Worksheet

Listening Boy
Robert Henri, 1924

I am in my 20^th year teaching and directing a student storytelling program. Every year I try to develop new tools, either written or interactive, to help my students work with their stories, and their peers.

I always make time for the students to independently practice their stories during class time, but another component is a turn and tell, where students share their stories with a partner. 

This year I designed a new tool, the Story Wok. The name is an acronym, with each letter corresponding to a specific story or performance element, to be used during the turn and tell. 

Since the worksheet is fairly extensive I instruct the students to choose three things they want to focus on. As the student tells their story the partner listens deeply. When the teller is finished the listener/peer coach writes down some suggestions, then shares it with the teller. The process is then repeated with the partners switching rolls.

I only use this tool after we have met for many weeks, when trust is established within the group, and after the students have participated in one round of story coaching. Before we begin, part of the instruction process is to remind them that their role as listeners is to be supportive and encouraging. 

Below are some of the specific notes the listeners took on the various stories they heard and then shared with the tellers.

Setting: Perhaps you could describe where the alligator lives.
Talking: You could add dialogue when the king finds the fairy.
Omission: You might want to leave out the royal chair.
Reactions:  When you're climbing maybe you could use a scary expression.
Yawn! You could add more action when the horse gets its tail stuck in the fence.

Word(s): Maybe you could add some similes.
Observation: You were very calm when you told the story.
Kindness: I loved your different character voices. 

After I collected the papers I noticed some of the students wrote on their worksheets: “Thank you for the advice.” One even drew a smiley face.

I think it worked!

Permission to use the Story Wok in your personal work is granted with the following restrictions. Do not remove the copyright information and please credit the source. Do not reproduce in any publication in any form or format without my expressed written permission. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I appreciate your support. 

If you would like me to send the Story Wok worksheet to you in a Word .doc email me at storybug@aol.com . If you do use it I would be grateful if you shared how it worked for your students.

If you are interested in more original, interactive games, as well as story worksheets, please consider my award-winning book, Story by Story: Creating a Student Storytelling Troupe.

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links. At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

 

Karen Chace 2023 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission, please contact me at storybug@aol.com.

 

Emoji Emotions: Interactive Storytelling Game

The Girl with the Pearl Earring
by
Johannes Vermeer, 1665

Earlier this year I was struggling to help some of my storytelling students succeed using appropriate vocal intonations for the characters and situations in their stories. Even though I used a number of storytelling activities to demonstrate vocal expression, discussed character voices matching story events, characterization, and coached them on their delivery, nothing was working.

Then one night it suddenly became clear, they were struggling because for the past two years they have been wearing masks in school and in public. They were interacting with others seeing only their eyes, not their entire faces, and sometimes voices were muffled. The masks had affected their social interactions and ability to convey their feelings through facial expression and vocal tone.

What could I do differently? What could I use that they already understand? Emojis! Using emojis I designed a new activity. I found a variety of public domain emojis, copied each into a blank document and typed the corresponding emotion. I printed and laminated each one and the Emoji Emotions game was born. We played it the next day with remarkable success! Here are the instructions for you to try with your students.

EMOJI EMOTIONS GAME © 2022

Instructions

• Explain that you will be working on vocal intonations; share/display the emoji cards.
• Direct each student to choose a line of dialogue from their story to use for the game.
• Invite two students to come to the front of the class. 
• Fan the emoji cards face down and have each student chose a card at random. * You can also do this activity with a solo student.
• Holding the card in front of them have them hold a ‘conversation’ with the dialogue from their separate stories, using the chosen emotion. Of course, the conversation won’t make any sense, but it will be funny!

The following week I expanded the game. I passed out individual kazoos to each student. (Individual kazoos may be purchased through Oriental Trading.)  The directions were the same but this time they the conversation using a kazoo to speak the dialogue. *Many thanks to Andrea Lovett for this idea i.e., using kazoos to tell a story. It was hilarious!

* Note: When I did this for the first time, I noticed each student naturally added a facial gesture and changed their body language to correspond with the emotion.

The students couldn’t wait for their turn and asked to play the different variations of this game again and again. Not only was the game fun, but it also made a huge difference in how the student’s connected with their characters and emotions in their story. It loosened them up and gave them permission to play with their story. The next time they practiced their story it was obvious how much this simple activity helped their performance. Some of the emoji cards I created are below.

This is the list of emotions I used; there are many more you can add but I kept it as simple as possible due to the age of the participants, fourth and fifth grade students. You could add more subtle emotions for an older group.

• Angry
• Bored
• Confused
• Embarrassed
• Happy
• Nervous
• Sad
• Scared
• Silly
• Surprised
• Worried

A few examples I created for this game.

This game is a keeper! If you decide to try this out with your students, please let me know how it turned out for you and for them. 

Permission for private use is granted but I do ask that you maintain the copyright information and offer proper attribution. Publication is prohibited without my expressed written permission. 

There are many more original games I have created in my book, Story by Story, along with worksheets to help your students step into their story. 

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links. At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

 

Karen Chace 2022 ©
This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission, please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I appreciate your support and personal integrity.

Tweet Your Tale: An Interactive Storytelling Activity

A Perch of Birds

by
Hector Giacomelli, 1880

A few days ago I was reading a news item about the Super Bowl game. It pictured Derrick Nnadione of the Kansas City Chiefs laying down in the middle of the football field, creating a snow angel with the mounds of confetti strewn on the field. As I read further, I learned that there was something remarkable about the confetti, mixed in were tweets from the Chief’s fans, each one telling a tiny story of what the team and the season meant to them.

I began to think about the stories my students are telling. I am always searching for new worksheets and activities to help them break down their story, internalize it, and make it their own. Of course, I use the traditional storyboard and also different versions of my own invention. Now I began to think about tweeting. How could I use that in my storytelling class? Twitter has now increased the length of a tweet from 140 characters to 280 characters but could it be done? Even though my students are not old enough to have a Twitter account I was sure they were familiar with the social media tool and decided to give it a try.

I designed the worksheet below, Tweet Your Tale ©, to help them think about their story in a new way. I shared an example to illustrate how it can be done, and since they are familiar with Little Red Riding Hood, I read this before they tried tweeting their own tale.

Little girl in your scarlet cape, take care in the woods with your basket of goodies. Grandmother needs her food and the wolf is at the door. Ears. Eyes. Teeth. Don’t be fooled by the disguise. Danger! Screams fill the air. The hero comes, the ax falls.  Rescued at last. Joyful!
(279 characters) 

Did they know what story I tweeted? All of their hands went up. Success! I also included it on the worksheet so they could refer back to the example when they were writing.

Yesterday we tried it for the first time in class. Many of students were familiar with Twitter. We talked about it, I shared my example, offered additional directions on being succinct with their word choices, passed out the worksheet, and then asked them to tweet their tale. I set aside 10 minutes for the exercise but it actually took 20-25 minutes for most of them, along with some gentle guidance along the way. As they wrote I checked in with each student to ensure they understood the directions. Some students struggled with breaking things down from full, grammatically correct sentences, which I secretly applauded, but I encouraged them to edit it down further.

When they were finished, I instructed them to crumple up their ‘tweets’ into a ball and position themselves around the room. They immediately knew what they were about to do; on the count of three I shouted, “Ready! Set! Tweet!” and the (birds) tweets sailed into the air! Controlled chaos and laughter ensued! As each student picked up the tweet closest to them, they were instructed to unravel it, and read it to themselves. By now they have heard each other’s stories multiple times, so I called on volunteers, asked them to read it aloud and guess who wrote it. If they could match the story to the teller then it was clear the tweet gave enough information to identify it. Everyone was successful.

The activity also offered another opportunity to exercise their public speaking skills within the group. We did this three times, crumpling up the tweets, sailing them across the room. They asked to do it again and again. It was a fun exercise that employed the knowledge of their stories, writing and editing skills, and of course, movement and play! It will definitely find a home in my new storytelling toolbox. 

Some examples from the student’s work:

Now That’s A Story! (This is actually a very long story. I was amazed she was able to edit it down to 279 characters.)
Pretty princess loves stories but heard too many. Bored. A test! Best storyteller will be new prince. Princes. Merchants. Knights. No one. One poor lad came. Told a story about his special pig. The princess laughed. Now that’s a story! King is mad. And they got married happily.

(Character Count 279)

Fox and Mole

Fox and mole are friends. Fox likes adventure. Mole likes to stay home. Fox finds rope, ties it. Decides to go to moon, convinces mole. Asks condor to fly to moon, tie rope to moon. They climb. Mole slips, condor catches, back to earth. Fox stays on moon; look up and see!
(Character Count 273)

Tailypo

A man stirs his stew. Creature falls down chimney. Man chops of his tail, eats it. Creature runs, comes back. Dogs chasing. Creature haunts. Roof. Side of home. Inside. Foot of bed. Give it back. Shakes tail out of him.

(Character Count 219)

The Tail Trade

Beaver and muskrat trade tails. Beaver does tail tricks. Muskrat is envious, wants tail back. Beaver slaps tail on water at muskrat. Scared! Leaves. Now beaver has a beautiful, flat, wide tail. Muskrat has a short, thin tale.

(Character Count 225) 

You will find more of my original worksheets and interactive storytelling games in my book, Story by Story: Creating a School Storytelling Troupe. You can also join me in my Story Play workshop at the Sharing the Fire conference in April, 2020. This link will give you all of the conference information. https://www.nestorytelling.org/conference-details/          

You are welcome to use the above worksheet, Tweet Your Tale©, in your personal work. If you would like a copy of the worksheet email me at storybug@aol.com and I will send you the .doc file. However, I request that attribution and copyright be maintained, and there is no publication in any other published work without my permission. Your professional integrity is appreciated! If you do use it please let me know how it worked for you and your students. Tweet! Tweet!


Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

Karen Chace 2020 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.

Sensory Swish: An Interactive Storytelling Game

Last week I made my annual run for Easter basket goodies and found some delightfully different ‘baskets,’ pictured below, at my local Dollar Tree.  Rather than the traditional woven straw they were made to look like basketballs and I began to wonder, “How could I use these with my storytelling students?” 

Although my Storytelling Troupe classes have ended for the year, my colleague Andrea Lovett and I are currently working with students on an intergenerational project.  While we have many resources at our disposal we are always eager to add new games/movement to our classes.  I placed the baskets in my cart and continued walking through the store, and lo and behold, I found small, rubber basketballs. Now I knew this was too much of a coincidence and the Sensory Swish game was born!

  

SENSORY SWISH

 * Swish: A shot that goes through the basket without touching the backboard or rim.

Items Needed

• 5 Basketball ‘baskets’
• 10 small rubber basketballs (10 so you will have additional balls to hand the children if they miss.)

Easy Prep

• Cut off the basket straps so they will not be in the way when throwing the ball.
• Type up the five senses on the computer in large letters: Taste, Touch, See, Smell, Hear
• Paste one each on front of the baskets. Cover with clear postal tape to secure.

Directions

• Place five chairs in a straight row across.
• Place one basket on each chair.
• Place something heavy inside so they will not fall over when the ball is thrown.
• Students take turns throwing the ball at the basket of their choice.
• They have three turns at the throw line. If they miss they take one step closer.
• When the ball lands in one basket (it might not be one they were aiming for) they choose any part of their story and share one or two sentences describing something in the story using that ‘sense.’

Example: One student yesterday chose ‘smell’ and made the basket. She shared, “When I walked downstairs in the morning I could smell the delicious, crisp bacon sizzling on the stove.”

The students really enjoyed the game and cheered each other on. It was particularly fun because two of the girls actually completed the ‘swish’ on the first try while the boys did not, resulting in lots of laughter and good natured ribbing.

This game is a keeper and I actually purchased an additional set of ‘baskets.’ In the next school year when I begin working with a larger storytelling troupe I will turn this into a team relay game.

SENSORY SWISH RELAY

• There will be two sections of senses, one for each team.
• Students will line up in two teams.
• When the first makes the basket they will share a sentence from their story, run back and tag the next team member.
• Repeat until everyone on one team has completed the activity.
• First team to finish is the winning team.

* Note: I plan to have 10 additional small basketballs for a total of 20 when using this in the relay form of the game. This will make it easier to keep the game moving along.

I can also see this game being used in other ways, labeling the baskets differently. You can even use the same baskets, just tape new labels on the opposite side. Some suggestions:

• Exaggerated Gesture
• Small Gesture
• Character Description
• Dialogue
• Facial Expression
• First Sentence
• Last Sentence
• Etc.

This is a very easy game to set up and play. I offer it here for you to use in your personal storytelling work. It is not to be published in any form without permission although you may share the blog link with your colleagues. I ask that you respect copyright and offer attribution whenever you use it.

Here is another interactive game I created last year using the favorite American pastime, baseball! 

Step Up to the Plate: An Interactive Storytelling Game http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2016/03/step-up-to-story-plate-interactive.html

I would love to know what you think of this game, and if you use it, tell me how it worked out for you!

If you are interested in more original, interactive games, as well as story worksheets, please consider my award-winning book, Story by Story: Creating a Student Storytelling Troupe. I am also offering a workshop, Story Play, based on my book, at the Rocky Mountain Storytelling Conference in Colorado next week and at the National Storytelling Conference in Kansas City, Missouri in June. You will learn additional activities not found in my book, to help both you and your students.

If you would like to learn a bit more about the workshop head over to my NSN blog piece at
https://storynet.org/play-with-a-purpose/ .

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and web links may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

Karen Chace 2017 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.

Play with a Purpose: Story Play

Ring Around the Rosie
by Edward Henry Potthast,1910-1915

Below is an article I wrote last year for the Northeast Storytelling organization. I was honored to present a new workshop, Story Play, at their 2016 Conference in Amherst, MA. 

This year, I am equally honored to bring this workshop, based on my award winning book, Story by Story: Creating a Student Storytelling Troupe, to the National Storytelling Conference in Kansas City, MO. The theme is "All Our Voices: Stories of Immigration and Migration" and there will be workshops and intensives on storytelling, business, education, cultural heritage and so much more.
For information go to http://www.storynet.org/conference/ . Workshop descriptions will be added very soon so be sure to bookmark the site.

“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.”                                                                                                  - Fred Rogers                                          

Play with a Purpose!
From the moment my students stepped into the room for the after school storytelling program, ‘after school’ being the operative words, I was already at a disadvantage. By then they had been sitting at their desks for almost five hours, with only 20 minutes for recess, barely any time at all to add movement and play to their day. How could I keep them motivated through 13 weeks of class, especially for those students who return year after year?  I quickly learned that play and movement were two key ingredients.

While I began to create different worksheets to help them sequence and visualize their folktales, I knew it was equally important to get them on their feet, let their bodies feel the stories. Sometimes it was a combination of both. One of my newest creations, Exaggeration Station, was a perfect marriage of the two. The objective is to encourage them to play with the elements of their story.

I prepared a worksheet for the students to complete before the game, which mirrored the nine poster boards placed around the room; this gave them a chance to think through their choices. Since we were in the school library I used the book stands for the poster boards, placing them on the shelves, no higher than eye level. They were organized in a pattern that wove them up and down the aisles so the children could easily move through the game. We immediately followed up with Walk the Talk, another movement activity, and they quickly incorporated what they discovered while playing Exaggeration Station.

More than once I've reconfigured a childhood game into a new classroom activity. Sometimes inspiration comes in an instant in the most unexpected places. One day I was working with my third grade storytelling troupe. We were using the school hallway for a version of The Virginia Reel. Rather than standing still and facing each other, they were paired up, walking side by side, one teller sharing their tale with their partner. As they were executing the activity I suddenly noticed two girls reach out to hold hands. Immediately, the memory of an old schoolyard game popped into my head and a brand new activity, Red Rover, Red Rover Send Story Right Over, was born.

Another day we began by completing the written exercise, Language Ladders. Immediately after finishing their worksheets I cued up the music and we began to “Dialogue and Dance!” By merging the tactile exercise of writing, then quickly moving to an interactive game utilizing their new story dialogue, it reinforced and stimulated their work.

After fifteen years of teaching I still continue to think about new ways to bring movement into the classroom. It’s no surprise we all love to play so why not incorporate as much as possible into our day and play with a purpose!

  

Want to add some more play to your classroom, to your storytelling? Whether you are a beginning or experienced storyteller, you will find something to add to your story toolbox. Register for my workshop, Story Play, at the National Storytelling Conference this summer and I promise we will have fun...and chocolates!

2016 Recipient Storytelling World Honor Award
2011 Recipient Anne Izard Storytellers' Choice Award
Available at www.amazon.com or http://www.parkhurstbrothers.com/ 

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

Karen Chace 2017 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.

Adding Actions and Adjectives: Storytelling Worksheet

For the past 15 years I have been working with students, teaching them the art of Oral Tradition. They choose their own folktales and through a number of written assignment and interactive games they add their own voice to the tale. Our final goal is an end of year Storytelling Festival for their families, friends and community members.

Last week I used a new worksheet I created with my fourth and fifth grade storytelling students to help their stories come alive. 

Below are some of the changes/additions the students made in their stories; they are capitalized and in bold font.

• They walked down the path and found a SHALLOW stone well.
• They QUICKLY tumbled down the shallow well.
• Once there was a GRAND Chinese ruler who had a cat he treasured above all other animals.
• The ruler gave a BROAD smile as he realized that his children were his wisest advisers of all. 
• She FIRMLY held out her needle
• “I see how fast you DEVOURED my mother’s butter.”
• It told the boy about strange, VICIOUS stone giants and GHOSTLY flying heads
• “I really should not say,” said the SNEAKY clam.
• Beaver thought of a plan, a very BRILLIANT plan!
• The oldest brother PROUDLY counted his bothers.
• The youngest brother had a CREATIVE idea.
• There once was a COLORFUL garden, filled with flowers STRETCHING toward the sun.
• The girls SWIFTLY ran off.
• They SLOWLY TIPTOED towards her.

I give you permission to use the worksheet in your storytelling work, however, I respectfully ask that you do not remove the copyright information and credit the source. Permission does not include using it in any other print material, i.e. books, workshop handouts, blogs, e-books, etc. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. 

If you would like the worksheet in a .doc file I will be happy to email it to you. You may reach me at storybug@aol.com . If you do use it I would be delighted to know how it worked for your students. You will find additional handouts and games I created for my storytelling troupes in my award-winning book, Story by Story: Creating a Student Storytelling Troupe .

Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think about this new worksheet. *Note: I monitor blog comments to avoid spam so you will not immediately see your note until I approve it. 

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

Karen Chace 2017 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.

Slicing Up Your Story: Story Board

Children Eating a Pie
by

Bartolome Esteban Murillo, 1670-1675

I like to use a variety of both written and interactive tools to help my students learn the art of Oral Tradition, telling stories! There are already several wonderful books with useful ideas, however, because many of my students return year after year, I always want to have something new and fresh for them to try.

While I use the traditional story board to help students break down their tales, and also created, What's Driving Your Story? (Available in my book, Story by Story), this year I designed another type of story board, Slicing Up Your Story. I use this towards the end of the program, long after they completed their initial story boards and were very familiar with their stories. I wanted to see if anything new bubbled to the surface and also how succinctly they could now describe different elements of their story, i.e. setting, character, events, etc. Below is the handout I used along with some of the answers the students shared.

Please feel free to use this in your own personal work; however I do request that you respect copyright, offer attribution, and do not publish it in any form without my permission. Note: You may share the link to this blog post with your colleagues.

SLICING UP YOUR STORY INSTRUCTIONS

Before I pass out the worksheet I go over the instructions with the students, using Little Red Riding Hood as an example.

1.      Who is the main character in your story? (Red Riding Hood)

2.      Describe one character in two words. (petite, brave)

3.      Describe the story setting in three words. (dark, damp, ominous)

4.      Describe the main event/problem in four words. ( Girl meets dangerous wolf)

5.      Describe something in your story using ONLY ONE of your five senses. Describe the wolf using the sense of touch: hairy, dry, coarse, solid, muscular) Note: Be careful to clearly explain that you are looking for descriptive words.

6.      Describe the ending of your story in six words. (Woodsman rescues girl and grandmother.) *Of course this might be different if you are using another variant of the story. 


WORKSHEET

COMMENTS FROM ACTUAL STUDENT WORKSHEETS

#2. Describe the main character in two words.

• Tiny/Forgetful
• Cross/Selfish
• Prankster/Beggar
• Greedy/Thoughtless

#3. Describe the story setting in three words.

• Sweet/Warm/Stone
• Pretty/Colorful/Fragrant
• Cold/Winter/Damp 
• Green/Glistening/Well

#4. Describe the main event/problem in four words.

• Sister, spell, fairy, curse
• Monkey loses his tail.
• Cat wants delicious cake.
• Girl won’t share bread.
• Tom wants leprechaun's gold.
  

#5. Describe something in your story using only one of your five senses.

• Taste: Frosting: vanilla, sugary, delicious, rich
• Sight: Cloud: high, white, fluffy, drifting
• Taste: Bread: sweet, warm, buttery
• Touch: Bucket: cold, smooth, shiny
• Smell: Farm: animals, manure, flowers, fresh air

 #6. Describe the ending of your story in six words.

• Tries to chase his baby donkey.
• Sadly Tom doesn’t get the gold.
• Nasty sister turns into an owl.
• Be careful what you wish for.
• Happy monkey gets his tail back.

Extra Bonus: Leave a comment on the blog and I will send you the actual worksheet in a .doc file so you won't have to make one up yourself. (I am not above bribery :)

If you are interested in more innovative storytelling tools and games, you will find them in my award-winning book, Story by Story: Creating a Student Storytelling Troupe.I hope you will have the opportunity to try this out with your students or even when you are learning a new story. If you do, please let me know, I would love to hear how it turned out for you.

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and web links may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

Karen Chace 2016 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you