Combining Student Story Ideas for An Embedded Reading
How can embedded stories and “classroom-created” stories blend together? Here is one example…..This can be helpful if you need to prepare for a day out of the classroom, give your voice a rest, or get additional reading time in….
I’ll use sample phrases from one of Anne Matava‘s stories: receives a package, is afraid to open the package
Divide students into groups. Ask them to create a skeleton story (3-10 lines) in the TL (or English if you have beginning students) using the target phrases. Give students 10 minutes to write their version down and hand it in.
Collect the skeleton stories. Now you have your ideas!
(At this point Michele has used these stories in class to build and write the stories as a group….I will let her explain that…she has had a lot of success with it!)
Let’s say you collect the following:
Group #1 On July 4th, Arnold Schwarzenagger receives a package in the mail. Arnold is afraid to open the package. He gives it back to the Post Office. The Post Office gives it back to Arnold. Arnold buries the package in his backyard.
Group #2 Mr. Tanner, the math teacher, receives a package. It arrives at his classroom, during 5th period. Mr. Tanner ignores the package. He wants to teach. The package starts to sing like Elton John. The students say, ‘Mr. Tanner, the package is singing”. Mr. Tanner is mad. He doesn’t like Elton John. Mr. Tanner gives the package detention.
Group #3 Apolo Anton Onho is in Vancouver counting all of his medals. He receives a package from the Canadian hockey team. Apolo is afraid of the package. Apolo is afraid of the Canadian Hockey Team. Apolo calls Lindsey Vonn. Lindsey is not afraid. Lindsey opens the package. Inside there are 245632.56 Chicken Nuggets with Spicy Chili Sauce.
So…now…you look at the possibilities and combine as much of it as you can into a skeleton story.
Arnold Schwarzenagger receives a package. Arnold is afraid to open the package. Arnold gives the package back to the Post Office. The Post Office sends the package to Mr. Tanner the math teacher. Mr. Tanner gives the package detention. A boy in detention takes the package on the bus. He leaves the package on the bus. The hockey team finds the package. The hockey team leaves the package at the hockey rink. The Canandian Hockey team finds the package. The Canadian Hockey team sends the package to Apolo Anton Ono. Apolo is afraid to openthe package. He calls Lindsay Vonn.
You copy and paste the skeleton story on to a new page. Now you go back to the stories written by the students and add more details.
Arnold Schwarzenagger receives a package. The package starts to sing the Star-Spangled Banner. Arnold is afraid to open the package. Arnold gives the package back to the Post Office.
Peter the Postman takes the package from Arnold. Peter is also afraid to open the package. The package sings “They Say It’s Your Birthday!” Peter the Postman from the Post Office sends the package to his friend, Mr. Tanner the math teacher.
Mr. Tanner receives the package on the first day of school. He receives the package during 5th period. Mr. Tanner is afraid to open the package. Mr. Tanner gives the package detention.
Mark Messesup is a boy in detention. He puts the package on his desk. Mark Messesup takes the package home on the bus. On the bus, the package sings Miley Cyrus songs. Mark is afraid to open the package now. He leaves the package on the bus.
The bus picks up the hockey team. The hockey team brings the package in to the hockey rink. It sings more Miley Cyrus songs. The hockey team is also afraid of Miley Cyrus. The hockey team leaves the package at the hockey rink.
The Canadian Hockey team finds the package. The package is still singing Miley Cyrus songs. The Canadian Hockey Team is not afraid of Miley Cyrus. But they don’t like her music. The Canadian Hockey team sends the package to Apolo Anton Ono.
Apolo Anton Ono is in Vancouver when he receives the package. The package starts to sing. Apolo calls Lindsey Vonn. “I received a package that sings” Lindsey Vonn arrives. “Wow!” she says. The package starts to sing very loudly like Miley Cyrus. Now, Apolo is afraid of the package. He is really afraid of Miley Cyrus.
Lindsey Vonn is not afraid of Miley Cyrus. She is not afraid to open the package. She opens the package. Inside of the package she finds 245632.56 Chicken Nuggets with Spicy Chili Sauce. She eats 245627.56 Chicken Nuggets.
And repeat the process……..
On July 4th, Arnold Schwarzenagger receives a package. The package starts to sing the Star-Spangled Banner. Arnold is afraid to open the package. Arnold gives the package back to the Post Office.
Peter the Postman takes the package from Arnold. Peter is also afraid to open the package. The package sings “They Say It’s Your Birthday!” Peter gets an idea. Peter the Postman from the Post Office sends the package to his friend, Mr. Tanner the math teacher.
Mr. Tanner receives the package on the first day of school. He receives the package during 5th period. The package sings the Star-Spangled Banner, but the 5th period class is very loud and no one hears it. During 6th period the package “They Say It’s Your Birthday”,Mr. Tanner thinks that it is a student. He thinks that it is his favorite student George Geometria. Mr. Tanner is afraid to open the package. Mr. Tanner gives the package detention.
Mark Messesup is a boy in detention. He receives the package when it arrives. He puts the package on his desk. The package sings like Michael Jackson. Mark Messesup takes the package home on the bus. On the bus, the package sings Miley Cyrus songs. Mark is afraid to open the package now. He leaves the package on the bus.
The bus picks up the hockey team. The hockey team thinks that the package is food for after practice. The hockey team brings the package in to the hockey rink. During practice the package starts to sing. It sings more Miley Cyrus songs. The hockey team is also afraid of Miley Cyrus. The hockey team leaves the package at the hockey rink.
The Canadian Hockey team finds the package. The package is still singing. The package is still singing Miley Cyrus songs. The Canadian Hockey Team is not afraid of Miley Cyrus. But they don’t like her music. The Canadian Hockey team sends the package to Apolo Anton Ono.
Apolo Anton Ono is looking at all of his medals in Vancouver when he receives the package. The package starts to sing the Star-Spangled Banner. Apolo calls his friend Lindsey Vonn. “I received a package that sings from the Canadian Hockey Team!!” Lindsey Vonn arrives. She looks at the package. “Wow!” she says, “You received a cool package!” Apolo walks towards the package. The package starts to sing very loudly like Miley Cyrus. Now, Apolo is afraid of the package. He is really afraid of Miley Cyrus.
Lindsey Vonn is not afraid of Miley Cyrus. She is not afraid to open the package. She opens the package. Inside of the package she finds 245632.56 Chicken Nuggets with Spicy Chili Sauce. She eats 245627.56 Chicken Nuggets.
And then…copy and paste…..and on the next page…one more set of details…….
On July 4th, Arnold Schwarzenagger receives a package. The package starts to sing the Star-Spangled Banner. Arnold is afraid to open the package. Arnold buries the package in his backyard. The package sings all summer in Arnold’s back yard. Arnold is really afraid to open the package. In September, Arnold digs up the singing package. Arnold gives the package back to the Post Office.
Peter the Postman takes the package from Arnold. Peter does not know what to do with the singing package. Peter is also afraid to open the package. The package sings “They Say It’s Your Birthday!” Peter gets an idea. Peter needs a birthday present for his friend Mr. Tanner. Peter the Postman from the Post Office sends the package to his friend, Mr. Tanner the math teacher.
Mr. Tanner receives the package on the first day of school. He receives the package during 5th period. The package sings the Star-Spangled Banner, but the 5th period class is very loud and no one hears it. During 6th period the package “They Say It’s Your Birthday”, but Mr. Tanner is yelling about homework and doesn’t hear it. During 7th period the package sings Rocket Man like Elton John. Mr. Tanner thinks that it is a student. He thinks that it is his favorite student George Geometria. “It’s not me!” says George. “It’s the package!” George is afraid to open the package. Mr. Tanner is afraid to open the package. Mr. Tanner gives the package detention.
Mark Messesup is a boy in detention. He receives the package when it arrives. He is not afraid of the package. He puts the package on his desk. The package sings like Michael Jackson. Mark likes to sing like Michael Jackson. Mark Messesup takes the package home on the bus. On the bus, the package sings Miley Cyrus songs. Mark is afraid to open the package now. He leaves the package on the bus.
The bus picks up the hockey team. The hockey team finds the package. The hockey team thinks that the package is food for after practice. The hockey team brings the package in to the hockey rink. During practice the package starts to sing. It sings more Miley Cyrus songs. The hockey team is also afraid of Miley Cyrus. They are afraid to open the package because Miley might be in the package. The hockey team leaves the package at the hockey rink and runs to the bus, screaming.
The Canadian Hockey team finds the package. The package is still singing. The package is still singing Miley Cyrus songs. The Canadian Hockey Team is not afraid of Miley Cyrus. But they don’t like her music. They only like polka music. The Canadian Hockey team sends the package to Apolo Anton Ono.
Apolo Anton Ono is looking at all of his medals in Vancouver when he receives the package. The package starts to sing the Star-Spangled Banner. Apolo is surprised. What a nice gift! Apolo calls his friend Lindsey Vonn. “I received a package that sings from the Canadian Hockey Team! Come over and see it!” Lindsey Vonn arrives. She looks at the package. The package starts to sing Rocket Man. “Wow!” she says, “You received a cool package!” Apolo says, “I want to know who is inside singing.” He walks towards the package. The package starts to sing very loudly like Miley Cyrus. Now, Apolo is afraid of the package. He is really afraid of Miley Cyrus.
Lindsey Vonn is not afraid of Miley Cyrus. She is not afraid to open the package. She puts on her ski helmet. She puts on her ski goggles. She opens the package. Inside of the package she finds 245632.56 Chicken Nuggets with Spicy Chili Sauce. Lindsey is very happy!! She is very hungry. She eats 245627.56 Chicken Nuggets. At the bottom of the box are a group of Chicken Nuggets that sing. They are afraid of Lindsey Vonn. “Don’t eat us! We sing!” Lindsey names the nuggets The Spicy Girls and they become famous on American Idol!!
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