Telling Tales Teachers Number 10 - Stories In A Sentence

The thought of having to write a story doesn't fill all children with enthusiasm, because usually the teacher says "Make sure you write .... lines. A couple of sentences won't do!" It can be fun, therefore, to find that a story can be contained in a single sentence. This game also helps to sharpen up the child's imagination and quicken response times.

STAGE ONE

"You know that a story contains a beginning, middle and end. Well, we're going to make up some stories which have only a beginning and an end. I'll give you the beginning, which will be the first half of a sentence, and you give me the end, to complete the sentence."

'I took my dog for a walk on the park and . . . . '

Endings will include
    '. . . . he chased a cat'
    ' . . . . we played with a ball'
    '. . . . she fell in the pond'
    '. . . . he bit someone'
    'she dug a hole'.
After each, I usually repeat the whole sentence and say "A complete story!"

After a few goes, change the beginning

'I went to the supermarket for the shopping and .....'
'I climbed the ladder to clean the windows and ....'
'I saw someone robbing a bank and ....'
'I went to the circus and .....'

STAGE TWO

Now the middles can be incorporated.

"Now I'm going to give you some of beginnings again and I want you to think of a middle, before we add the ending".

'I took my dog for a walk on the park and ....'

Middles will be
    'I met someone else walking their dog . . . ', ending in 'and we swapped dogs',
    'he chased a cat up a tree . . . ' and 'I had to climb the tree to get the cat down'
    'he bit someone . . . ' 'who had to go to hospital'
    'a man asked if I'd seen his black Labrador . . . ' 'and we both went to look for her'
    'I went to the supermarket for the shopping and . . . .' 'found I'd forgotten the money and ' . . . . 'a friend lent me some' 'but they were shut' . . . . 'so I went home again'

Children enjoy this game and often continue it in the playground, and will come to you with their 'story in a sentence'. It also gives the less able child the chance to perform at the same level as his peers.

Teachers (10)

Stories In A Sentence

STAGE ONE

STAGE TWO