Storybook Weaver Writing Unit
Tiffany Johnson
Storybook Weaver Writing Unit
Age-Range of Students/Setting
Upper elementary, grades 3 – 5, itinerant – based setting (one-on-one)
Goal
To encourage a student to practice his/her creative and story-writing skills by using a software story-writing program
Unit Objectives
1. Student will write a short story about a favorite pet, using the Storybook Weaver software program.
2. Student will identify the four elements of a story (characters, setting, plot, solution).
3. Student will create an outline for the story.
4. Student will write a story that is at least four pages in length.
5. Student will include at least two characters in the story.
6. Student will use graphics to provide pictures for the story.
7. Student will demonstrate sequencing events (beginning, middle, end).
8. Student will edit his/her own story.
Length of Unit
6 meeting/teaching sessions, lasting 40 minutes each session
Abstract
Story writing is a prominent skill in our educational system, beginning with young students writing sentences regarding a picture that they drew or appearing with older students, who are often required to write narrative paragraphs or essays. Story writing is used with our Deaf and Hard of Hearing students as well, particularly in the form of their IEP goals and objectives, which frequently involve the tasks of correctly establishing story elements and accurately sequencing stories as well as using proper sentence mechanics. The purpose of this unit is to combine story writing with a creative story-writing computer program, which will encourage the development of students’ story writing skills and will likely increase the students’ motivation to complete the unit.
Day One – 40 minutes
Day One Lesson Objectives
1. Student will view a sample story in the Storybook Weaver program.
2. Student will identify and discuss the four elements of a story.
3. Given three story examples, student will identify the four elements within each story.
Materials Needed
· Computer/laptop with Storybook Weaver Deluxe software program
· Sample story in the Storybook Weaver program
· Scratch paper/whiteboard, writing utensils or whiteboard markers
· Skills for Young Writers-Grade 3/4/5 (worksheets to use to re-teach story element concepts)
· 3 example stories
Introduction of Storybook Weaver unit
To pique the student’s interest, introduce the unit by demonstrating a story in the Storybook Weaver program. Briefly discuss the content of the story and the corresponding graphics. Tell the student that he/she will be expected to produce a similar story at the end of this unit.
Discussion/Mini-lesson on the four story elements (character, setting, plot, solution)
Refer back to the story elements, which is information that has been used with writing samples and for writing assessments during previous one-on-one sessions. (If necessary, reteach this information. focusing on four specific elements (characters, setting, problem, and solution). Ask the student to identify the elements of a story and keep record of what the student says. After getting the student’s input, categorize the information into the four story elements and define and discuss each element. For further discussion, identify the four story elements in a Storybook Weaver sample story.
Practice identifying the four story elements
Have the student practice identifying the four story elements, using three example stories. Ask the student to write down the four story elements and to fill them in accordingly as he/she listens to the story being read. Discuss each response and point out any key words that assist in recognizing a story element, such as afternoon for setting.
Evaluation
Informally assess the student’s understanding of the story elements, seeing if the student can independently identify the four story elements and then if the student can correctly identify those story elements in the three example stories.
Day Two – 40 minutes
Day Two Lesson Objectives
1. Student will brainstorm ideas for story.
2. Student will develop a story map for his/her story, using the four story elements and story sequence as guidelines.
Materials Needed
· Paper and pencil
· Whiteboard and markers
· Sample story map (from Day One’s story sample)
· Computer/laptop with Storybook Weaver program
· Grading rubric for story assignment
Brainstorming
After reviewing the story concepts discussed during the previous meeting session, encourage the student to freely brainstorm ideas for his/her story, taking notes of his/her ideas as the two of you discuss the project. Offer input as to the requirements of the story and show the grading rubric of the story as a guide for developing and publishing the story.
Story Mapping/Outlining of the story
Show the student a prepared story map, based on the sample story used during the previous day’s lesson. This story map will serve as a model and a guide for the student. Using the four story elements, help the student create a story map for his/her story, before detailing the story further by sequencing the story (beginning, middle, and ending). The purpose of this activity is to prepare the student, so that when he/she begins work on the software program, he/she will be more efficient when writing the story and using the graphics.
Evaluation
Assess the student’s understanding and development of his/her story map. Provide positive and constructive feedback.
Day Three – 40 minutes
Day Three Lesson Objectives
1. Student will observe a tutorial on the Storybook Weaver program.
2. Student will begin work on his/her story.
Materials Needed
· Computer/laptop with Storybook Weaver software program
· Student’s story outline
· Minute-timer
· Grading rubric
Introduction to using the Storybook Weaver program
Assuming that the student is unfamiliar with the Storybook Weaver program, introduce the student to using the software program by having the student complete the tutorial section. This section explains the tools of the program and the different options available for use when creating a story.
Writing the story
Use the remainder of the meeting session for the student to work on his/her story. The student may wish to start with the graphics before entering text or he/she may want to type the text in first; be respectful of whatever format the student chooses to do. However, because students may likely spend much more time creating the graphics, use a minute-timer to limit the amount of time a student spends on each picture and to encourage the student to make timely progress on his/her story.
Evaluation
Encourage the student to use the grading rubric as an additional guide when writing the story. Informally assess the student’s creative writing process and his/her specific writing skills, keeping in mind that editing the story will be done during an upcoming meeting session.
* Days Four and Five, the student will continue to work on story adding text and graphics as needed. Use the minute-timer to keep the student on track to finishing the story by the beginning of the sixth meeting session.
Day Six – 40 minutes
Day Five Lesson Objectives
1. Student will edit his/her story.
2. Student will apply finishing touches to his/her story, using the grading rubric as a reference.
Materials Needed
· Computer/laptop with Storybook Weaver software program
· Access to a printer
· Student’s story outline
· Grading rubric
· Resources for mini-lessons on spelling, punctuation and grammar
Editing story
Using the grading rubric as a guide, encourage the student to begin editing the story for content, checking to see that all story elements are present and that the story follows a logical sequence. Then begin editing the story for any spelling, punctuation or grammar errors (mini-lessons on such topics may needed, if necessary).
Publishing the story
Once the story is completed to the student’s liking, print two copies of the story, one copy for the student and one copy for yourself for grading.
Evaluation
Using the grading rubric, assess the student’s work and give points accordingly. Identify any areas in the story that were commendable and any areas that need further work for future reference. Give feedback on the student’s performance during the next meeting session and encourage the student to make corrections if needed.
Story Suggestions
· Encourage the student to design his/her story into a five-page story, creating a beginning/introduction page, a middle section with three events (one event per page), and an ending/conclusion page.
· Be flexible regarding the activities for Day Two. These activities may need to last two days instead of one, in order to fully address brainstorming, story mapping and outlining.
· While working on this unit, many valuable opportunities for vocabulary teaching may arise, for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students and for students who are learning the English language. Examples of vocabulary that can be taught and used for this story-writing unit are names for breeds of pets (German Shepherd, long-haired tabby), colors of pets (calico, gold), food (Purina, Nine Lives), and body parts (tail, claws). The graphics available in the program can also provide opportunities for vocabulary instruction.
· This unit can be done in an itinerant setting and in a classroom setting. When considering this unit for a classroom setting, add or modify activities that would invite classroom discussion. Doing this may be more beneficial to the students, for whole-group discussion would allow for a variety of student questions to be answered as well as for student contributions and understandings to be shared, thus increasing understanding in all the students.
· This unit assumes that the student is oral and a native English speaker, but this is not always the case with our students; some may use ASL or another sign system, or some students may have a different native language. As the teacher for this unit, it would be helpful if he/she could identify basic vocabulary (and concepts, if possible) in the student’s preferred language, such as ASL, Spanish or Somali.
· My Own Stories, a less-extensive but very similar version of Storybook Weaver, can also be used or substituted as the computer-writing program. The benefit of using this program is that the amount of time spent creating the graphics for the story may be reduced, given the smaller amount of graphics available to choose from.
Storybook Weaver Grading Rubric
Grading Criteria / Exemplary (3) / Proficient (2) / Novice (1)Content
(12 points) / · All four story components are present and clearly integrated into story.
· Two or more Characters are clearly present.
· Story consists of four or more pages.
· Story follows a logical sequence. / · Two or three of the story components are present, but may be unclear.
· Only one character is present in the story.
· Story consists of two or three pages.
· Story follows a sequence, but may be somewhat unclear. / · Only one of the four story components is present.
· No character is present in the story.
· Story consists of one page.
· Story follows no logical sequence.
Text Presentation
(12 points) / · Story contains no grammatical errors.
· Story contains no spelling errors.
· Story contains no punctuation errors.
· Three or more descriptive adjectives are used. /
· Story contains one or two grammatical errors.
· Story contains one or two spelling errors.· Story contains one or two punctuation errors.
· One or two descriptive adjectives are used. /
· Story contains three or more grammatical errors.
· Story contains three or more spelling errors.· Story contains three or more punctuation errors.
· No descriptive adjectives are used.
Graphics Presentation
(6 points) / · Graphics are used for every page of text and clearly reflect the text.
· No extraneous or distracting graphics or images are present. / · Graphics are missing for one or two pages of the story.
· Some graphics do not reflect the text or relate to the story. / · No graphics are used with the story.
· No graphics are present to reflect the text or relate to the story.
Total Points Possible: 30 points
Resources
Anderson, S. and others. Hearing Impaired Children`s Retelling of Stories Following Presentation in Whole-Class and Individual Contexts. Paper presented at the International Congress on Education of the Deaf (18th, Tel Aviv, Israel, July 16-20, 1995).
Bergenske, D.M. (1987). The Missing Link in Narrative Story Mapping. Reading Teacher, 41, 3, 333-335.
Heikes, L., Hetland, D., Pecoraro, D., Willette, L., and Olson, L. (1998). Effective ESL Methods and Materials: A `Recipe Book` Compiled by the ESL Work Group of the Minnesota Literacy Training Network (LTN). Minnesota State Department of Children, Families, and Learning, St. Paul, Minnesota.
My Own Stories [computer software] (1994). Minneapolis, Minnesota: NECC.
Pan, A.. Comparison of Young Children’s and Preservice Students’ Performances in Using the Storybook Weaver Program. Presentation at “Call of the North, NECC 1996”, Proceedings of the Annual National Educational Computing Conference (17th, Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 11-13, 1996).
Basic Skills Series: Skills for Young Writers, Grades 3 - 5 (1997). Instructional Fair, TS Denison. Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Storybook Weaver [computer software] (1992). Minneapolis, Minnesota: NECC.