Stories

In this episode of Raven’s Quest, we’ll meet Emily who loves to dance. She knows how to breakdance and also practises hoop dancing which is a traditional type of First Nations dance.

Student Success

Guide your thinking

Emily taught us that stories come in different forms. Hoop Dancing, for example, is a storytelling dance that comes from the Jemez Pueblo Nation.

Think of one of your favourite stories. Use the following questions to guide your thinking:

• What happens in the beginning, middle, and end?
• What is the setting? (Where the story takes place)
• Who are the characters?
• Is there a problem and a solution?

Note to teachers: See your teacher guide for collaboration tools, ideas and suggestions.

Story elements

Think about the parts of a story. What elements does a story have?

Use the Story Elements Checklist below to help you identify the elements of a story.

Story Elements Checklist

Title Plot (Beginning, Middle, End) Character(s) Setting Problem Solution

Test Your Skills!

It’s time to write your story!

Compose an original story.

You can use the Story Map Template provided to plan your story or one of your choice (just be sure to include all of the elements of a story).

Press the Activity button to access Story Map Template.

Activity (Open PDF in a new tab)

Write my own story

Think about how you are going to present the story elements in your template as a story – it should have a beginning, middle, and end.

Beginning

You will begin your story by introducing your characters and establishing the setting. You may begin to set up the problem.

Middle

What will happen in the middle of your story? This is where the story problem builds and gets bigger. You want to build the anticipation for the reader in the middle. You want the readers to think, “What’s going to happen?”

End

This is where you put the solution to the problem. How will you end your story? How do you want to leave your readers feeling and thinking?

Ready, set, write!

Draft

Compose a draft of your story.

Final draft

Revise

If possible, work with a partner to edit your story. You can use the Writer’s Checklist below to guide you as you revise your writing.

Create your final draft with the changes you made.

Writer's Checklist

Begin with a capital
Example: My dog likes to run. Have good spelling
Example: kat  cat Have spaces between words
Example: Ihaveadog.  I have a dog. Make sense
Example: I pizza.  I like pizza. End with punctuation ( . ! ? )
Example: I like to play.  Here it is!  Do you like pizza?

Rewrite a final draft to include spelling corrections and punctuations.

Reflection

How do you feel about what you have learned in this activity?  Which of the next four sentences best matches how you are feeling about your learning? Press the button that is beside this sentence.

I feel...

I have an excellent understanding of the concepts I have a very good understanding of the concepts I have some understanding but need to review some more my understanding of the concepts needs a lot more work

Now, record your ideas about your feelings using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.

Press ‘Discover More’ to extend your skills.