We all love stories

What are the characteristi

cs of our target

audience?

cc USAG-Humphreys' photostream

Types of stories

folktales, fairy tales, fables,

myths, legends, adventure, fantasy, family, animal, tall

tales, trickster tales, scary

stories… (the list goes on) 

Examples of what children need when they are learning to read (from Sheila Drew)

• Enjoyable stories• Authentic contexts, not contrived by adults• Rich visual images that make sense and can support the

reading of the text• Play with words and sounds• Not necessarily ‘real’, but logically developed – 'nonsense that

makes sense‘• Text that has visual qualities• ‘Matching relations’ – rhyme, rhythm, repetition, similar

elements, different elements, setting rules and breaking them etc.

• Suspense and danger (can be frightened / take risks within the safety of the story)

• Beginning, middle and end … always?

Finding inspiration for a story

http://www.meddybemps.com/9.700.html

The ‘What If’ method

An example of using

‘free writing’ with a class

Our world loves stories. Do you like stories?

Catch the story going around in your head! (Classical music is playing)

Concentrate hard until you find the story

Who found a story?

Let’s discuss our stories in groups

Oh, that is a funny story!

That’s a very good idea!

Now it is time to put your thoughts on to the computer. Don’t worry about spelling and grammar – just write!

The words are done, the story is in paragraphs and Ihave checked the spelling. My friend helped me. The pages are in order. Now it’s time to illustrate my story.

How do you do this

snipping thing

again?

We use a snipping tool to get the pictures and words into PowerPoint.

The book binding team at work

We created the stories, added illustrations and put them into

PowerPoint. We then printed them as A4 booklets.

Each class wrote stories made using PowerPoint

We created a reading scheme of 77 books from Grade 1 – Grade 7 for a disadvantaged primary school in our area

One class was selected to deliver them to he recipient school and read some of the stories

to each grade in their school hall.

Thank you for these books!

Adding structure to your story

The main elements of a

story in a simple form

Plot Character/s 

Conflict and resolutionTheme Setting

http://www.storyjumper.com/ http://www.storyjumper.com/main/starter#teacher

1. CHARACTER:Who is your main character, and what is your character like?

2. CHALLENGE:What challenge or problem must your character solve?

3. MOTIVATION:What is motivating your character to solve thechallenge?

4. SETTING:Where and when does your story take place?

5. OBSTACLES:What obstacles stand in his/her way?a)b)c)

6. CLIMAX:How does he/her finally solve the challenge?

7. OUTCOME:What is the outcome of the story?

An excellent planning guide from StoryJumper

Beginning Middle End

Act 1 Act 2 Act 3

The setup The conflict The resolution

• The main character in his/her setting

• The character has a motivation and a goal

• The hero moves towards the goal

• Protagonist introduced

• The hero falls and hits a major low point

• This could happen several times

The final pushThe final fightThere might be a low pointThe hero digs deepThere is a wrap up

Adapted from Eddy Ching’s Story Structure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jBcitU7kBs

Putting this all togetherhttp://childrenswritersworld.blogspot.com/2012/11/mgya-webinar.html

Start with a big question (what if?) and then think about how you would turn that question into a story.

The structure of the story might be: * an inciting incident* turning points* around three attempts to resolve a big problem* a dark moment* the climax* the resolution Things to consider about the characters:* The main character needs to undergo a change. * The main character must have a motivation or goal and obstacles that get in the way of the goal. * Secondary characters may bring out other traits of the main character.* Characters should be allowed to make mistakes.

Example from Flat StanleyThe structure of the story might be: * an inciting incident* turning points* around three attempts to resolve a big problem* a dark moment* the climax* the resolution

What is required by the African Storybook Project

In a separate blogpost we’ll talk about:• Length• How to gauge the level of Grade 3 reader• You can write the story in another language as

long as you send us a separate translation.• etc

Thank you!