Denise Russell

Objectives

Students will identify the parts of a story.

Students will know how to write the beginning, middle, and end of a story.

• Utah Language Arts Core Curriculum, Third Grade, Literature Standard 5, Objective 1

Anticipatory Set

Last week we learned about how to describe characters as well as how to choose and describe the location of our story.

What we chose: • Character: Bunny• Location: Mrs. Smith’s garden

Today we will learn how to write the beginning, the middle, and the end of our story. Writing a story is like painting with letters!

Anticipatory Set - Game

Class, what could you say about the picture below in 5 minutes? I will write your ideas on the white board.

Teaching – Parts of a Story

Beginning:

Now that we’ve selected a character and the setting, what will happen to our character?

Who What Where When Details

Teaching – Parts of a Story

Middle:

Here is where things get interesting! Think of surprises, problems, conflicts for your character.

Events Reaction Plot

Teaching – Parts of a Story

End:

This is the part your readers have been waiting for! They want to know what happened to your character in the end.

Character EventsChanges

in Character

Modeling - Beginning

“The bunny was looking for lettuce again in Mrs. Smith’s garden one Summer morning.

He had been hiding from Mrs. Smith for weeks, always running away with the lettuce just as she would step into garden. But today, he would not be so lucky.”

Who - What - Where - When

Modeling - Middle

“As he hopped around the garden, the bunny got distracted by a row of brand new green leaves. They smelled so delicious! As he pulled and pulled, a long orange thing appeared at the end of the stem – it was a carrot! One after the other, he spent a long time pulling fresh carrots out of the ground.

Add at least two events.

He was so busy that he did not notice when Mrs. Smith stepped out of the kitchen and spotted him. Tiptoeing, Mrs. Smith grabbed a broom and made her way towards the garden.”

Modeling - End

“Suddenly, Mrs. Smith’s broom came down with a whoosh over the bunny’s head. Ouch! He scampered through the garden as Mrs. Smith kept swatting her broom in the air.

The bunny reached the garden fence and dove into the hole that would lead to his hiding place on the other side of the road. Phew! The bunny’s tummy was rumbling after all that work, but dinner will have to come from Mr. Drew’s garden!”

Resolution of events.

Check for Understanding

I will list details that belong to a part of the story.

Raise your hand and tell me if these details should appear in the beginning, the middle, or the end of the story.

Guided Practice/Monitoring

Let’s watch a short story. Fill out your answers on the Story Practice Worksheet as you recognize:

1. Who, What, Where, When2. What events are taking place3. How events are resolved

Closure

Stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Details and descriptions of events make them more interesting to the reader.

Writing a story is like painting with letters!

Independent Practice

Write a short story with a character and setting of your choice.

As you write, remember what should go in the beginning, in the middle, and in the end of your story.

Credits

Painted alphabet by: Pink Pueblo

Stories by: Denise Russell

Kids playing photo: http://news.discovery.com/human/health/to-avoid-injury-kids-play-for-fun.htm

Toontastic video by: Denise Russell

Bunny animation: https://luckygala333.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/rabbit-animation/