Story Mapping with Success by JoAnne Moore (PDF)

Story Mapping Story Mapping Story Mapping Story Mapping with with with with SSSSuccess uccess uccess uccess by JoAnne Moore © JoAnne Moore, revised January 2021 www.books4results.com  Story Mapping with Success by JoAnne Moore ISBN 0-9733876-0-2 ISBN 978-0-9950892-2-8 (renamed Story Mapping SMARTS in Language Arts) © August 12th, 2003 by author JoAnne Moore. All rights reserved. Published by Books for Re- sults, Inc. first in Calgary, Alberta and later in Turner Valley, Alberta. Permission is granted to the purchaser to reproduce this book in sufficient quantities to meet a single teacher’s own class- room needs. Reproduction of this book for more than one classroom teacher, an entire school or school system is strictly prohibited. Clip art credits: Corel Systems Corp. 1991, version 3.0, Softkey International Inc. and its licen- sors, Microsoft Publisher 97, Books for Results, Inc. © JoAnne Moore, revised January 2021 www.books4results.com  © by J. Moore 2000 Do not reproduce These story maps are laminated so that story ideas can be brainstormed on them by the teacher with an overhead pen and wiped off when finished. The graphics are attached with self-sticking Velcro after the poster has been laminated. This allows the teacher to change the graphics with ease in order to demonstrate many story ideas for children dur- ing carpet time. The stuck poster uses a pocket to show the character or object that gets stuck. The graphics shown on the pocket could be replaced with writing to show the attempts made at freeing the character/object. The copycat poster shows two characters meeting and one copying the other’s be- haviour. When the copying ends in either dis- aster or success, the copycat stops causing the characters to split up again. The contest story shows two characters meeting, posing a contest, having one, and the winner emerging at the bottom. © JoAnne Moore, revised January 2021 www.books4results.com  © by J. Moore 2000 Do not reproduce Circle stories start and end in the same place and require a subplot (usually stuck, copycat or contest). Switch stories have two objects, characters, positions etc. swapped and changed back at the end. They also require a subplot. Transformation stories can be physical changes or character changes and they also require a subplot. © JoAnne Moore, revised January 2021 www.books4results.com  © by J. Moore 2000 Do not reproduce Sensory Imagery Story settings are built with sensory imagery as the author describes what is seen, heard, felt, smelled, or tasted to transport the reader to a setting. The sen- sory imagery verb vocabulary used in books can be collected into the idea bank to help children build effective settings. Authors also use sensory imagery to show encounters between characters. What a character sees, hears, feels, or smells is used to create an interesting meeting. Suspense is a scary encounter and it too, is created using sensory imagery. The way two characters meet is a critical part of most stories and can also be col- lected from books and added to the idea banks. Showing Authors use the “showing” technique to build the emotions and motives of the characters. Emotions are the feelings of charac- ters which are not overtly stated in a book. Instead, the author takes face parts plus verbs, body parts plus verbs, speech that is spoken or thought, and the character’s ac- tions to depict the emotion. If a character were angry the author might write some- thing like this: Frank’s eyes flashed as he pounded his fists on the table. “Get out of my office!” he thundered. Motives drives the character’s actions and the plot structure. The basic motive of every character is what they do or do not want. They are built through speech that is spoken or the thoughts of the character, or told by the omniscient narrator. © JoAnne Moore, revised January 2021 www.books4results.com  Table of Contents Part I Stuck Stories Story Mapping and Story Writing 1 Stuck Idea Bank 3 Teacher Models and Student Exercises 6 Stuck Story List and Idea Bank 24 Modelling with the Stuck Poster 29 Stuck Story Poster 43 Part II Copycat Stories 54 Copycat Idea Bank 56 Teacher Models and Student Exercises 58 Copycat Story List and Idea Bank 73 Modelling with the Copycat Poster 77 Copycat Story Poster 96 Part III Contest Stories 107 Contest Idea Bank 113 Teacher Models and Student Exercises 109 Contest Story List and Idea Bank 130 Modelling with the Contest Poster 137 Contest Story Map Poster 148 Part IV Circle Stories and Story Outlines 161 Circle Idea Bank 164 Teacher Models and Student Exercises 166 Circle Story List and Idea Bank 176 Modelling with the Circle Poster 182 Keys for Planning Circle Story Subplots 192 Circle Story Poster 207 Part V The No Fail Picture Prompt Exam Outline 213 Teaching Steps 215 Sample Picture Prompts 219 Test Pictures and Sample Outlines 230 © JoAnne Moore, revised January 2021 www.books4results.com  Part VI Switch Stories 239 Modelling with the Switch Poster 244 Switch Story List 245 Switch Idea Bank 247 Keys for Planning Switch Story Subplots 251 Teacher Models and Student Exercises 270 Switch Story Map Poster Part VII Character Transformation Stories 276 Keys for Planning Transformation Story Subplots 279 Physical Transformation Stories 280 Transformation Idea Bank 281 Modelling with the Transformation Poster 283 Transformation Story List 284 Transformation Story Map Poster 297 Part VIII Character Motives Made Simple 302 Part IX Engaging Encounters Between Characters 308 Part X Long Range Plans for Narrative Writing 321 Part XI Story Language: Verbs, Showing, Sensory Imagery 331 Sensory Imagery and Showing Posters 338 Part XII Story Problem Vocabulary Dictionaries 353 Sequencing the Problem 354 Dictionary of Action Words to Help Describe Disaster 355 Dictionary of Action Words for Possible Stuck Problems 358 Dictionary of Action Words for Possible Contest Problems 359 Dictionary for Possible Acts of God and Magic 360 Tips for Researching and Writing Independently 361 Part XIII Graphics Index 366 Australian Graphics 367 Dinosaur Graphics 370 Fairy Tale Graphics 374 Farm Graphics 382 © JoAnne Moore, revised January 2021 www.books4results.com  Forest Graphics 391 Hutterite Graphics 398 Insect Graphics 402 Jungle Graphics 407 Miscellaneous Graphics 411 First Nations’ Graphics 419 Ocean Graphics 424 People Graphics 429 Pet Graphics 438 Predator Graphics 442 Sports Graphics 447 © JoAnne Moore, revised January 2021 www.books4results.com  Introduction One of the biggest hurdles for children to overcome in story writing is having good ideas and an awareness of how to develop and resolve the story problem. The purpose of this book is to help children develop an inner library of ideas and the ability to plan successful story problems and resolutions through story mapping. It does not involve the story writing process, although it certainly leads there. This is accomplished through the teacher guiding the class in researching picture books and chapters from novels. The research is then collected into idea banks and plot pattern categories. The idea bank categories are: 1. encounters between characters 2. essential dialogue 3. tricks 4. disasters 5. acts of god 6. force 7. skill 8. courage 9. lucky breaks 10. help 11. hard work 12. truth that is discovered or revealed When these idea banks and plot pattern categories are combined with picture graphics of new characters they stimulate imagination so that it is much easier to create an original story map. This book explains the “how to”. The teacher and students read a book, then verbally identify the plot pattern, and collect a specific idea, or object from the story to use in creating a new story map. (When ideas are collected, interesting variations on the concepts may also be triggered. These variations should also be recorded in your idea banks and they can sometimes prove more useful than the original idea.) This gathering process is followed by the teacher modelling the story map on the overhead or with a poster. It will correspond with the book’s plot pattern. The teacher will then choose new characters, and use the specific idea or object to create an original story map. Each child is then given a copy of the story plot pattern map. Next, he chooses his own character from a base of characters provided by the teacher. Finally, each child plans his own story map using the idea banks the teacher just built with the class from the book. Planning stories in this fashion should occur as often as time permits (once a week if possible) in order to develop the inner library of how story problems are built and resolved. In conclusion, the goal of this book is to help children plan many stories. Planning opportunities (when guided and modelled by the teacher) provide children with lots of practice learning how to re- search from books, identify different plot structures, and apply the research into new settings using dif- ferent characters without having to write an entire story. It is an excellent addition to your current read- ing program, because it ties the reading and writing process directly together in a very high level think- ing activity. I hope you have fun looking at books in a whole new light, gathering ideas with your class, and generating amazing story problems from your research! Note: The teacher can model new story maps on an overhead transparency or on a poster. When using laminated story map posters, graphics can be attached with self-sticking Velcro pieces. The teacher can use an overhead pen to write ideas on the poster and wipe them off when finished. The other option is to have the small graphics made into transparencies, cut them up into individual character pieces, and place them on the story map transparencies. The teacher can then use an overhead pen to record ideas on the story map transparency. These can be wiped off at the end of the lesson and used again later. The plot pattern categories are: 1. stuck 2. copycat 3. contest 4. circle 5. switch 6. physical or character transformation © JoAnne Moore, revised January 2021 www.books4results.com  Story Mapping and Story Writing In every classroom there are usually two to three intuitive story writers. No matter what story subject they are asked to write about their stories are alive and the plots work. The other twenty-two children’s stories are not so successful. The bulk of the children make developmental changes in the mechanics and spelling process through the grades, but little progress in terms of style and plot development. Going from teaching grade six to grade one in a single year allowed me to see the lack of story concept development even more. The little ones would write two or three sentence stories and then in capital letters put “THE END” at the bottom whether their story had been completed or not. It was common in the older grades to see children that wrote reams of pages which made no sense or had two page descriptions of settings and characters’ appearances, but no plot or resolution. Some children wrote their entire story in meaningless dialogue. Finally, when stories were modelled for the children some would copy my examples in their entirety. What did these recurring problems mean? Upon reflection, it made sense to me that this is what children did when they did not understand the concepts of plot, resolution and style. Due to the fact that story writing has mostly been facilitated rather than taught it is not surprising that only the intuitive writers showed concept development in plot, resolution and style. We do not teach music by playing a child ten Mozart pieces and then seating him at the piano, giving him a note to start on, and telling him to compose a song in one hour that sounds like Mozart. Reading a child ten stories and then telling him to write a story doesn’t work very well either. My goal became to find a process which would allow me to teach the concepts of setting, character, plot and resolution while simultaneously teaching style. Authors quotes became a source of valuable information for me in searching for keys to teach children how to write stories successfully. Judy Blume (author of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing), Jon Scieszka (author of The Frog Prince Continued), and Molly Bang (author of The Paper Crane) all spoke of learning to write from imitation. Molly Bang also talked about finding patterns to imitate from folk tales written around the world. These comments fascinated me. From Judy Blume and Jon Scieszka I learned the importance of learning and teaching through imitation. This means that copying is okay! Children that copy are learning story concepts through imitation. From Molly Bang, I learned that patterning is crucial for developing a solid grasp of plot and resolution. Molly writes beautiful folk tales from patterns she discovered in the literature. The only patterns I had been taught in university were rhyming, alphabet, number, and days of the week. Molly’s comment caused me to begin reading picture books for the purpose of discovering plot patterns. Over time seven recurring plot patterns emerged from the literature. This book is about how to develop a grasp of these patterns in students. Very simply there are seven plot and resolution patterns to teach students from books. The patterns are found in the simplest books and the most complex novels. The seven plot and resolution patterns are: copycat, contest, stuck, circle, switch and transformation (physical and character). Four of these are stand alone patterns (story problems) and three incorporate the use of at least one other plot pattern. Copycat, contest, stuck and physical transformation are stand alone story problems. They can be combined with each other or contained inside the other three patterns. Switch, circle, and character transformation stories generally show how a story will begin and end, but lack the story problem in the middle. For example: a time travel circle story may begin and end in an attic, but what happens to the character in the middle of the story? © JoAnne Moore, revised January 2021 www.books4results.com  A second plot, known as a subplot, must be chosen. This will usually be stuck, contest, copycat or a combination thereof. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle would be an example of a time travel circle story. It contains the subplots of contest and stuck combined. The young girl and her little brother are brought through time to rescue their father who is being held hostage. Even The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman, a simple picture book, contains two plot structures. It is a journey circle story with a contest subplot (the contest to find a better home). By reading and discussing these basic plot structures, children can link books/television/movies together by identifying patterns. They can also begin to create idea banks from which to base their own stories on. If this is followed by teacher modelling, and directed practice in story mapping a particular pattern (or a combination of patterns) using class created idea banks, the ability to create a successful story problem and resolution grows significantly. A child who plans many stories in the course of a year will build a great deal of experience with story problem and resolution. To teach story problem patterns, begin by reading the class ten picture book examples (or a single chapter from a novel) of one plot pattern. Keep in mind that very few picture books contain only one plot structure. Most combine more than two structures. Complex picture books and novels are excellent for gathering ideas from, but simple picture books are best for writing from. The first goal is to collect ideas and create an idea bank from the shared books. Next, brainstorm other ideas on the same theme that might be included. These would be things which the children have read about or seen in a movie before, as well as things that are imagined, or variations on the theme which might be triggered when reading the books. Add all of these ideas to the idea bank and create a story map. Summary of Steps: 1. Read the class a picture book example of the plot pattern you are studying. 2. Gather concepts/ideas from the book and add them to your Idea Bank. 3. Choose character graphics. 4. Create a story map for the children using one or more new character graphics. Base your story map on the concept borrowed from the book read to the children. 5. Have children create their own story map using one or more of the new character graphics you provide them. They will also base their story problem on the same concept/idea you modelled and collected from the author. Do not have children write the story. The point of these story planning sessions is to build the concepts of story problem and resolution. 6. Repeat this process of: reading books, collecting ideas, modelling a story map, and students creating own story map. 7. If students show a strong grasp of the plot structure go on to writing a story which uses the pattern. © JoAnne Moore, revised January 2021 www.books4results.com  3 © by J. Moore 2003 Permission granted for ONE classroom teacher to reproduce this page for ONE classroom of children. Reproduction outside of classroom use is prohibited. Title of Book: 1. Mrs. Toggle’s Beautiful Blue Shoe by Robyn Pulver ISBN 0-590-05701-4 2. Tiddalick, the Frog Who Caused a Flood by R. Roennfeldt ISBN 0-14-050349-8 3. The Whispering Rabbit by Margaret Wise Brown *Golden book only ISBN 0-307-00138-5 4. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell (Ch. 1-4) ISBN 0-440-43988-4 5. The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis ISBN 0-14-03-0240-9 6. King Midas and the Golden Touch a Greek Myth ISBN 0-394-90054-5 7. Snowed in at Poke- weed School by John Bianchi ISBN 0-921285-05-1 8. Sleeping Beauty Grimms The Can- dlewick Book of Fairy Tales ISBN 0-7636-0281-7 What got stuck and how: 1. Mrs. Toggle’s shoe got stuck in a tree when she tried to kick a soccer ball and it flew off her foot. 2. Tiddalick was thirsty and drank all the water there was during the dry season in New Zealand. The other animals had no water left to drink and wanted it back. 3. A little rabbit did not cover his mouth when he yawned and a bumble bee flew into his throat and fell asleep. 4. A young girl is left alone on an island with her brother when her people leave. 5. A prince falls under the enchantment of a witch. 6. Bacchus grants King Midas his wish of turning everything into gold. Upon turning his daughter into gold, he discov- ers the greediness of his wish. 7. The children of Pokeweed school get snowed in and have to spend a night at school. 8. Aurora is cursed to prick her finger on a spindle on her sixteenth birthday and sleep for a hundred years, because one of the fairies was not in- vited to her christening. How it was freed: 1. The shoe was freed when the janitor got a ladder, climbed it, and reached her shoe. 2. The animals decided to make Tiddalick laugh. When eel danced and got stuck in a knot Tiddalick laughed and the water spilled out. 3. The little rabbit made the noise of a bumble bee sipping nectar and finally woke the bee up. It flew away. 4. A ship comes and rescues her. 5. Rescued when truth is made known and the magic smoke put out. 6. Bacchus takes away King Midas’ golden touch after he has learned his lesson. 7. The snow melts and the children go home to have their breakfasts and then re- turn to school. 8. After the hundred years passes a prince enters the cas- tle, kisses Aurora and awak- ens her. Use in a New Story 1. Shoe - Any person, fairy tale character Rescue: ladder 2a. Water - Any per- son or animal Rescue: laughter b. Knot -A string, rope, snake Rescue: untie 3. Something stuck in the throat of any per- son or animal. How about your nose or tummy? 4. Left alone on an is- land. How about at home, shopping, at a park? 5. Something en- chanted by magic. Any person, fairy tale character, Native cul- ture, African culture etc. 6. Golden Touch- any person How about the chocolate touch? What else? 7. The weather makes you stuck at: school, in a cave, at home, in a mall, in a restau- rant. 8. Stuck in sleep. What else? e.g. Stuck in a day (Movie: Groundhog Day) e.g.Stuck in time (novel: A Wrinkle in Time) e.g. Stuck young (novel: Tuck Ever- lasting) Stuck Idea Bank: Brainstormed Together and Written on Transparency by the Teacher © JoAnne Moore, revised January 2021 www.books4results.com  4 © by J. Moore 2003 Permission granted for ONE classroom teacher to reproduce this page for ONE classroom of children. Reproduction outside of classroom use is prohibited. Title of Book: What got stuck and how: How it was freed: Use in a New Story Stuck Idea Bank: Brainstormed Together and Written on Transparency by the Teacher © JoAnne Moore, revised January 2021 www.books4results.com  5 © by J. Moore 2003 Permission granted for ONE classroom teacher to reproduce this page for ONE classroom of children. Reproduction outside of classroom use is prohibited. Choose one picture book from the ten examples to use first as a story mapping example. Model how to change the setting and choose different characters. Using the new setting and characters, model how to story map a new story with ideas borrowed from the author’s plot and resolution. One of the easiest example would be changing the big, bad wolf and the three little pigs from a forest/plains setting to the big bad, snake and the three little frogs in a pond setting. This process of imitating an existing plot and resolution is used to teach a child plot and resolu- tion. Now, give the children character graphics and have them create their own individual story maps based on the idea which was taken from the book (the same idea you modelled using dif- ferent characters). After four or five experiences of watching their teacher read books, collect ideas, and model a plot structure through story mapping and then doing it themselves, children become more able to story map their own stories successfully. This process prepares the children to write a pattern story project or work on their own story based on one of the story maps created in the earlier lessons. The children should have created four or five story maps individually prior to writing their own story. The pages in this section illustrate the story map modelling process. Let us begin with stuck stories. A stuck story occurs when a character or an object be- comes physically stuck (e.g. a shoe caught in a tree which you can’t get down or a princess stuck in a sleep which she can’t be awakened from). The reasons which cause a character to become stuck are as follows: a trick is played (e.g. the antagonist takes something which belongs to the protagonist and won’t give it back), a disaster or accident happens to the main character causing him or an object of his to become stuck (e.g. tripping), or an act of god occurs causing the main character or an object of his to become stuck. An act of god is defined as a weather disaster (getting caught in a blizzard) or magic wielded by the antagonist on the protagonist (fairy zap- ping a dwarf into a frog). Finally, force can be used by another character. An example of the use of force might be kidnapping another character or taking something that belongs to a weaker character. For the purpose of story mapping we will use the following three point plot structure. First, begin by establishing what got stuck and what caused it to get stuck (trick, disaster, act of god). Secondly, plan two unsuccessful attempts at freeing the character/object. Thirdly, resolve the problem by freeing the character/object. A character/object is freed when: someone helps, someone plays a trick, luck, hard work, or by an act of god (weather or magic). In a story where one character is being held hostage, the rescuer will face two or more obstacles prior to the res- cue. The obstacles the rescuer faces will be one or a combination of: tricks, disasters, acts of god, or the use of force (physical or political). The story bank will show you how to create new stories using the same ideas with different characters and settings. Please Note: If you experience difficulty locating any of the picture books or novels listed in this book, try the following web sites: www.amazon.com or www.bookfinder.com or www.alibris.com. © JoAnne Moore, revised January 2021 www.books4results.com  6 © by J. Moore 2003 Permission granted for ONE classroom teacher to reproduce this page for ONE classroom of children. Reproduction outside of classroom use is prohibited. Teacher Models and Student Exercises Each assignment in this section requires the teacher to work with the whole class by: a. Reading the suggested book and collecting ideas together. b. Model a story map by creating a transparency of the students’ story map and writing the teacher example on it. c. Brainstorm with students prior to having them plan their own story map. For example: in the shoe stuck story, look at the given character graphics and brainstorm (with your students) for each one where his/her shoe might get stuck. d. After brainstorming around the concept taken from the shared book, have students choose their own characters from those given and plan their own stuck story using the brainstorming. © JoAnne Moore, revised January 2021 www.books4results.com