Creating Stories with

Children (Workshop)
cynthia.james@moe.gov.my

Story-creating Activities

Activity 1: Story Warmers

Activity 2: Mental Picture Dictation
Activity 3: Audio-telling
Activity 4: Guess the Picture
Activity 5: Draw & Caption
Activity 6: Story Mountain
Activity 7: Post-reading Activity
Activity 8: Chain Writing
Activity 9: Song-telling
Activity 10: Video-telling

Activity 1: Story Warmers

The setting

In the jungle, on a busy street, by the river

The characters

Big Bad Wolf, Pak Pandir, Sang Kancil

The emotions

Three Bears discovered Goldilocks sleeping on

their beds
Little Red Riding Hood saw Big Bad Wolf lying on
Grandmas bed
Prince Charming gave Snow White a kiss

Activity 2: Mental Picture

Dictation
zoo

little boy

photographer

short

stood

tripod

took

sat
chair

picture

Video 1

Activity 4: Audio-telling

Teacher

Student 1
Teacher
Student 2
Teacher
Student 1
Teacher
Student 2

: (Uploading an audio file) While

waiting for the video, listen to this
sound again.
: Okeyy
: And let me know what you think
happened. Whats the story?
: I dont know teacher it so suspicious
: It is, isnt it Ann? Where did it
happen?
: Sorry teacher my internet is a bit
slow
: Its alright, take your time.
: I think it happen in the forest isnt it
teacher

Student 1
Teacher

Student 3
Student 4
Teacher
Student 4
Student 3

Student 5
Student 2
Student 3

: Ok
: Maybe Ann. Whats that noise?
Whos making it?
: Human...Noise like walking
: Camping
: Interesting. Continue please. What
do you think happen?
: Then she saw a something
: I think someone walking at the
forest
: Yup, sound like human walking at
the jungle...
: Ya i agree
: Ya i agree with u shuhada

Student 5
Teacher
Student 4
Student 6
Student 4
Student 6
Student 4
Student 2
Teacher
Student 2
Student 4

: And sound of something

crashing...but...I dont know
: Like a car braking or something
: Yes
: I guest its an ultraman..Haha.
Hmmm
: I guest it is a bigfoot. Teacher...
: Isnt it haha
: No...something badly
: But its not sound like people
screaming
: Sounds more like a screech
: Ya
: Not eating ok. Crashing

The REAL Story

Video 2
Video 3

Activity 3: Guess the Picture

There were three friends. They were sitting

together on one bench. They had long
hair. They wore red dress. They were
beautiful, but plain. They wanted more
colours. They were bored because they
were green. They wanted to sit on grasses.
Yes, they were sitting on grasses now but
the grasses were not real! They wanted to
run away but they had no legs. They had
no arms, too. They had nothing.

Fiqah, Fatin and Nadira

Students guesses:
the puppets in the English room
the cover of one of Miss Cs storybooks
the ladies at the canteen
the school janitors
some mysterious things in the toilet

Activity 5: Draw and Write

Take a piece of paper and a pencil /
pen.
Start drawing when the music plays.
Stop drawing when the music stops.
Write a short caption for your picture.
Music

Activity 6: Story Mountain

A Trip to the Beach
Walking Around Gudon Village

How do you explain what a climax is?

Dramatic Eagle

Activity 7: Read & Have Fun

Video

Activity 8: Chain Writing

When the music starts, the first student
writes the first sentence. After he's done
he'll pass the pen to the next person. The
second person writes the second
sentence and then pass it to the third
person. This continues until the music
stops. The last person who holds the pen
has to conclude the story.
Music

Activity 9: Song-telling
Slideshow
Shared Writing
Best Friend Forever

Video

Activity 10: Videotelling

Video
Slideshow
Lesson plan & worksheet

Publishing

Class blog
School newsletter / bulletin
English corner / notice board
Hand-made books
Printed books
Audio books

When my son was eleven and just starting

secondary school in England he wrote a story
entitled The End of the World, in five lines.
The teacher had written underneath, Five
spelling mistakes. Correct them. I said, Tom,
you have managed to bring about the end
of the world in five lines. Congratulations. He
replied, Theres something you learn at
school. The less you do, the less mistakes you
can make. What a tragic position for a child
to take at such a point in his education!
Andrew Wright in Creating Stories with Children, 1997

Some practical suggestions

Encourage any contribution
Dont ask children to think consciously about
accuracy when they are thinking creatively
Do a lot of preparation as a class before
asking children to work on their own
Do a lot of oral story-making before moving
into written story-making
Let story-making be a frequent activity rather
than an occasional one
If you want your students to write, you must
write too.

http://videotelling.com/
http://lessonstream.org/lessons/

"Don't rely upon knowledge-level

objectives. Within one year students
forget 80% of what they learn, most of
that being the facts they were
required to memorize. Skills and
attitude changes tend to have a
much more permanent effect."
~ Ronald L Partin, 'Classroom Teacher's Survival
Guide', p. 62.

I have prepared a send-out. Send me

an e-mail if you want it:
Cynthia James
cynthia.james@moe.gov.my