Publish a short story about your school!

Title: Come to Darko!

Grade level: 3rd-4th Grade

Subject Areas: English, persuasive writing, editing.

Target Audience: The Darko Community

Objectives: Students will practice persuasive writing and communicating, for the purpose of showing their friends and families that their school is a unique and exciting place to learn. Students will plan and revise their products and then publish them and share them with an authentic audience.

Scenario: You have been hired by the school’s director to create a picture book that tells a story about going to school at Darko.

What story could you tell other people about going to school at Darko?

Guiding Questions:

• What is special about your school?
• How is it different from other schools?
• What does your day look like?
• What are you learning now?
• Who would benefit from going to Darko? What does a Darko student look like? How is she or he the same or different from students at other schools?

Prerequisites: Students know how to

• Express their opinions and back their ideas up with at least two supporting details
• Students convey a simple narrative with some description
• Use a story generating application to support the creation of their story
• Utilize the camera function of the iPad or similar device
• Utilize color and balance to create an attractive visual product

Instructional Objectives and Standards:

4th Grade Common Core:

Writing W.4.1: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting point of view with reasons and information. W.4.2: Write informative/Explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

W.4.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

W.4.6: With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others, demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of one page in a single setting.

Speaking and Listening: SL.4.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one on one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

SL.4.4: Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes, speak clearly at an understandable pace.

SL.4.5: Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.

Language: L.4.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Time Line:

1. Introducing the idea: Who would like to write their own book? Introduce the 7 components of a story, and have the group create a poster with examples. The teacher can access the Storyjumper prompts to guide the class.
1. Character
2. challenge
3. motivation
4. setting
5. obstacles
6. Climax
7. Closing
2. Then  In this activity, the class is divided into partners. Each dyad brainstorms ideas for the 7 components. Explain that the story has to be set in Darko either in this school year or next school year. Share the ideas and have the class vote on which components to use.
3. Character development: the students introduce a character by creating a “baseball trading card” with the character and general attributes of the character. Mix up the cards, and the teacher selects cards randomly. Students identify heros vs. villains.
4. Students fill in the worksheet to build the components of their story: Link to worksheet.
5. Creating a story in Storyjumper:
1. We will make sure everyone has access to the website. The teacher hands out printouts with usernames and passwords. A letter goes out to parents explaining the plan for this learning experience.
2. Review of the steps to create a story. Link to instructions.
3. Students take pictures and crop and import them into their stories.
4. Students write their stories solo or with a partner.
5. Students review their work, checking for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. The instructions online remind students to watch for passive voice, and change into active voice: instead of “The ball was hit by John.” write “John hit the ball.” Take out extra words.
6. Students review each other’s work and make positive suggestions.
7. Students create their book cover, make a dedication, and save. Share your book online on your Kidblog.
8. Families have the option to order copies of the books in paper form.
9. Summary and reflections: What worked, what didn’t? What did we learn? How might we do this differently if we were to do it again?

Materials/Equipment/Resources: Kidblog.org, Storyjumper.com, iPad and/or computer with Internet. LCD projector or screen to share the steps/model how to use the website.

Student Product: Students create an ebook about going to school at Darko.

Standards Based Rubric:

Guidelines for Using Storyjumper Online: