Grade 1 — English Language Arts: Story Elements

Overview

Students listen to, and read stories in order to understand story elements (beginning, middle and end). Students use their understanding of story elements to aid their comprehension and for composing personal versions of known stories.

Activate

Over a few days, read several stories and model the Think-Aloud Strategy to demonstrate the beginning, middle, and end of stories. Read the electronic versions of the same stories (from a Website or Talking Books) projecting them on a screen, in order to demonstrate that the same stories can be read in different formats. Students use a simple Story Map or Story Vine/Braid or Triad to retell the stories. [Plan and Question] Students read the electronic versions independently supported by the computer’s electronic reader.

Suggestions for Assessment:
Observation: Note students’ retellings over time for understanding of beginning, middle, and end.

Acquire

Using painting or drawing tools, students sketch images based on an electronic story they have read to represent the beginning, middle and end of the story. [Produce to Show Understanding] Students display and share their electronic images with peers [Communicate].

Teacher Tip:
To develop the concept of story elements, students need to have had many guided reflections through Read-Aloud and Think-Aloud strategies.

Suggestions for Assessment:
Self-Assessment: Model purpose/goal and reflective thinking for the learning experience through Think-Aloud.
Observation: Observe and monitor students’ representations of the beginning, middle and ending of the story.

Apply

After demonstrations and ongoing support, using painting or drawing tools or presentation software, students sketch images to illustrate beginning, middle, and end of a story they have created or of a known story to which they invent a new ending. Students write a phrase or sentence to accompany their sketched images [Produce to Show Understanding].

Students present their work in an electronic slide show to peers [Communicate]. Build student-generated criteria about "What will a "quality" slide show look like?" [Produce to Show Understanding]

Support File:
Constructing Student-Generated Criteria for Quality Work

Suggestions for Assessment:
Peer Assessment: Using student-generated criteria, students assess peers' presentations.

Students participate in a guided conference to reflect on learning using ICT to learn. [Reflect]

Suggestions for Assessment:
Self-Assessment: Students write a reflection in their literature response journal/learning log such as "I learned..." or "One thing that I'd like to improve is...".