Monday, January 7, 2013

Story Starters


Sometimes beginning is the hardest part of storytelling, and unlike Snoopy the ideas don't always flow for our students. 


Here's a website with a fun, interactive story starter to give students fresh writing ideas.  Users can choose from adventure, fantasy, sci-fi, or take a risk with the scrambler.  Buttons or a lever will spin wheels, giving quick ideas for a purpose, character and action at appropriate grade level difficulty.  Don't like what came up?  Try again.  Teachers can use Scholastic Story Starters with the class to create a group story, demonstrating writing skills as well as program logistics.  It's easy enough that most students who can read the suggestions the spinners offer can write and illustrate a story at the computer station, at the interactive whiteboard, or with individual laptops. What a fun way to practice writing at home too! 

In the revised Bloom's Taxonomy of computer skills, experiences that students can have with Scholastic Story Starters fall into the Analyzing where students will be comparing, organizing, deconstructing, attributing, outlining, finding, structuring, and integrating.

Give it a go, and see what your students can write using this engaging website!