How should I begin?
Often during personal writing time our children ask the question, "How should I begin?"
Today, one of the Writer's Workshop groups explored the different ways that authors start their stories. We looked at some examples from real books and compiled this list:
Description of a character
Description of a setting
Description of a setting and character
Action
Dialogue (characters talking)
A question
A statement
The children then wrote some story starters of their own. They were able to identify which type of 'starter' they had used from their list. Here are some examples of the student's work.
Description of a setting
It was a dark night. Too dark to see the trees and the
jungle rustled quietly. (Lola)
Jacquelyn was surrounded by birds, the ocean and a beautiful
sunset. (Alaura)
Heidi was on a plane to Hawai. It was an awesome plane. It
had a TV, cup holders and was two storeys! (Isabella L)
Description of a
setting and character
Lily was living in a little yellow house that was
surrounded by spiders and creepy
In a lovely cottage covered in roses, in a quite wood lived
daddy koala, mummy koala and two baby koalas. (Saskia)
Action
Jordan sweated as he tugged the rope some more . (Kaden)
Jack was running in the jungle. He didn’t see a cliff and he
fell. (Alex)
George was lying flat on the ground cold. When he woke he
was in a white room full of people. (Lizzie)
Molly was on an island, stuck out at sea, surrounded by
water and sand. (Eleanor)
Ivey was walking to the shops very quickly to get the last
newspaper before it was too late (Isabella I).
Dialogue (characters talking)
“Dinner time” said Doug to his ten kids. (Oliver)
“Hi Lucy, I was planning to go shopping” said James.
(Freddie R)
“See, just looking at one game doesn’t mean anything” Tim
exclaimed as Sam grunted. (Mohamed)
“Bye mum” said Shona running full pace to get to school on
time. (Wilhelmina)
A question
Have you ever been laughed at by girls with ten pairs of
underpants super glued to your head? (Ed)
I wonder why most of the boys at school are in love with me?
(Olivia)
Description of a setting
It was a dark night. Too dark to see the trees and the
jungle rustled quietly. (Lola)
Jacquelyn was surrounded by birds, the ocean and a beautiful
sunset. (Alaura)
Heidi was on a plane to Hawai. It was an awesome plane. It
had a TV, cup holders and was two storeys! (Isabella L)
Description of a setting and character
Lily was living in a little yellow house that was
surrounded by spiders and creepy
crawlies. (Milly)
In a lovely cottage covered in roses, in a quite wood lived
daddy koala, mummy koala and two baby koalas. (Saskia)
Action
Jordan sweated as he tugged the rope some more . (Kaden)
Jack was running in the jungle. He didn’t see a cliff and he
fell. (Alex)
George was lying flat on the ground cold. When he woke he
was in a white room full of people. (Lizzie)
Molly was on an island, stuck out at sea, surrounded by
water and sand. (Eleanor)
Ivey was walking to the shops very quickly to get the last
newspaper before it was too late (Isabella I).
Dialogue (characters talking)
“Dinner time” said Doug to his ten kids. (Oliver)
“Hi Lucy, I was planning to go shopping” said James.
(Freddie R)
“See, just looking at one game doesn’t mean anything” Tim
exclaimed as Sam grunted. (Mohamed)
“Bye mum” said Shona running full pace to get to school on
time. (Wilhelmina)
A question
Have you ever been laughed at by girls with ten pairs of
underpants super glued to your head? (Ed)
I wonder why most of the boys at school are in love with me?
(Olivia)