Students plan a true story as a movie on this 3-page 1st grade narrative planner. They name the special day, such as a field trip or a party, and list who is starring with them. Then they pick an ending feeling from happy, tired, excited, proud, silly and surprised. The storyboard has six panels labeled First, Next, Then, After that, Finally and How it ended, each with a caption line. Those printed time words give the plan the order that Common Core W.1.3 asks for.
W.1.3
“Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.”
The six storyboard panels sequence real events with the time words First, Next, Then, After that and Finally, and question 3 sets up the closing feeling.
A director prompt next to a clapperboard picture. It tells students to draw events in order and write a sentence under each.
Three questions on the day, the people in it and the ending feeling, with a six-word feelings bank.
Six panels, First to How it ended, with a caption space under each drawing.
Talk before drawing
Students tell a partner the story using the six panel labels aloud. Gaps show up fast when After that has nothing in it.
First draft
Use the six captions as the first draft. The next day, students join them into one paragraph.
A real ending
Panel 6 is where stories stop without an ending. Point students to the feelings bank and ask for a sentence like I felt proud.
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