Imagine It!

Sky Cramer
3 Grade/Language Arts
rd

Common Core Standards:

Reading Literature:
RL.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the
basis for the answers.
Writing:
W.3.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive
details, and clear event sequences. a. Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize
an event sequence that unfolds naturally. b. Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to
develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations. c. Use temporal words and
phrases to signal event order. d. Provide a sense of closure.
W.3.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by
planning, revising, and editing.
W.3.6 With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using
keyboarding skills), as well as to interact and collaborate with others.
Lesson Summary:
This lesson is designed to allow students to create their own story. To do this they need to be able to have a
plot, setting, characters, and a conflict that has a resolution. They will use Storybird.com to come up with their
story. Once they are finished with their story they will upload it using a QR Code onto their blogs. This will
allow their classmates to read their story and as the classmates read they should be able to identify the
elements that we discussed in class.
Estimated Duration:
This assignment will take up to five days depending on the amount of detail the students provide. I will divide
this up into 50 minute sessions each day.
Commentary:
I will get the students interested in this lesson by showing them a story that I have already created on
Storybird. Then together as a class we will go through the story and identify the story elements needed to get
full credit. We will also discuss why it is so important that they not leave any elements out no matter how
small they may be. Some challenges that the students may face is making sure that they remember to include

all the story elements. Another challenge they may come across is understanding plot and to make sure they
understand Ill use some of their favorite books and have them identify what plot is in each book.

Instructional Procedures:
Day 1:
First 10 minutes: For the first ten minutes I, will have the students do their pre-assessment. This gives them
time to start thinking about what they do and dont understand already.
15 minutes: I will go over the assessment with the students and explain what the answer is and why. Students
will check and correct their assessment to be turned in.
25: For the last 30 minutes I, will pass out a note packet that will go with a PowerPoint. On the note packet it
will have blanks for the students to fill in as I go through the PowerPoint. The PowerPoint will go over the
definitions of the story elements. It will also give examples of each story element to allow the students to
understand the elements better. The students will follow along with the PowerPoint and fill in any of the blanks
that they have on the notes. They will also be able to ask questions about the concepts if they do not
understand something.
Day 2:
20 Minutes: I will go over my Storybird story that I had created to show the students. While I show the
students my story, I will go over the different elements that they will need to show in their final story. I will
read the story to them and have them follow along while it is on the SmartBoard. After I am finished reading I
will ask them what they remember about what we learned on day 1. The students can then ask questions about
the story.
20: For the last 20 minutes I, will talk about what they need to start their story. This includes talking about the
different story elements they will have to include, the point system for their final story, and different ways to
get help. For the point system, it will be based on originality, making sure they include all story elements,
grammar, and punctuation. The different ways that they can get help is by asking a peer, asking their parents at
home, and asking me. Then I will tell them that we will start on Wednesday.
Day 3:
20 Minutes. For the first 20 minutes I, will help them create an account on Storybird.com by giving them their
e-mail and passcodes that I used. I will show them how to log on by using the Smartboard to give them a
visual of where to go on the website. After that I will show them how to create the story on Storybird. I will
also show them the teaching tool that they can use to help them with their story, which is the cube creator.
30 Minutes: Then for the last 30 minutes I will allow them to start on their story. If they are still having trouble
logging on, I will help them during this time. I will also circulate the classroom to help any students that might
need it. If they dont understand a concept I will sit down and help them some more to make sure they can get
started on their story.
Day 4:
45 Minutes: For the first 35 minutes, they will continue working on their story and completing it. During this
time, I will also be going to each student to see how far they are getting to see how much time they might need
to finish on the last day for it. I will also ask to see if they have any other questions that they might have before

they have to submit it. The students should also during this time have their peers read their story at least once
to make sure that they have most of the story elements added.
10 Minutes: For the last 10 minutes I, will show them how to upload their assignment on Storybird to make it
a QR Code. I will ask if they have any questions and the students will raise their hands if they have any. After I
am done showing them how to do that I will show them how to upload the QR Code to put on their Blogger
through their Gmail account.
Day 5:
30 Minutes: On the last day, the 30 minutes will be used to look over and start submitting their assignments.
Ask any last questions that they may have. During this time, I will be circling the room to help students who
may have trouble submitting their work. I will also have other students, when they are done, they can help the
other students with uploading their assignments. I will also have the SmartBoard on that will show who has
submitted their story or if they havent.
20 Minutes: The last 20 minutes will be to have them review what they learned by taking the post assignment.
Once they are done with the post assignment they will turn it in to me. Then they can have a quiet study hall
where they can do other homework that they have been assigned or silently read a book.

Pre-Assessment:
I pre-assessment that I will use will be having the students do a worksheet that gives them a passage that they
have to read silently. Once they are done reading it, they will answer the questions that talk about what the plot
is, who the characters are, and what the setting is in the passage. Once they complete this as a class we will go
over the answers and talk about how and where they found them.
Scoring Guidelines:
To account for this assessment I will give it a completion grade. So if the students tried and completed
it they would get the full credit. If it looks like they didnt really care, but they wrote down the answers
then they would get some credit. If they didnt do the assignment at all then they would get no points.
While checking their work for credit, I would look to see what the students understood and what they
had a hard time comprehending. If most of them understood a concept then we could more on.
However, if more than half the class didnt understand a concept we would review it some more until it
seemed as if they started to understand the concept.
Post-Assessment:
For the post-assessment in this lesson, I will have the students take a test that looks like the worksheet they did
at the beginning, except the test will have an impact on their grade. For the test, I will have a passage that the
students need to read. Once they are done reading there will be 25 questions that will ask about plot,
characters, setting, conflict, and resolution. This will have multiple choice questions and short answer. For the
short answer students will have to find evidence in the text to support their answer.

Scoring Guidelines:
To score this test their will be percentages. If they get an 80% or higher that means that they understand
the content that they were taught and wrote about. If they get a 65%-79% then they should look back at
the concepts either by themselves or one-on-one with a classmate that does understand. If they score
below a 65%, then they will need to work one-on-one with me to go over what they dont understand.
They will also get a few worksheets to do with me that well go over that they can use in the future.

Differentiated Instructional Support

Describe how instruction can be differentiated (changed or altered) to meet the needs of gifted or accelerated
students: This assignment could be altered for those who are gifted by having them present their story to the
class. While they present their story, they can talk about what their story elements are and where they were
incorporated. They can also be given a more detailed plan that they use while creating their story that has more
elements that you would see in a story, such as a symbol and theme. This would make them think more about
what they want their story to portray.
Discuss additional activities you could do to meet the needs of students who might be struggling with the
material: This assignment could be altered for those who are struggling with it by allowing them to partner up
with someone to create a story with the both of them. This allows them to work together to create a story that
the struggling partner can understand because the partner who already understand the content can explain it to
the struggling one. Another way you can alter the lesson is by doing peer reading, which is having the students
look over each others work. When they do this, they are capable of making sure that the students have all the
elements needed and make sure that spelling is correct. It also helps because then if a student doesnt
understand something their peer can explain it to them.

Extension
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/cube_creator/ - this site helps students identify what
their story elements are that way they can keep track of what they still need to write about. It also helps write
mystery, autobiography/biography, and creating your own topic. This will be helpful for the students because it
allows them to keep track of what they are writing about and making sure they include all the story elements
needed for this lesson.

Homework Options and Home Connections

The homework for this lesson could be different. One night, I could have the kids read a book with their
parents and just talk about the different elements. The second night, I could send home a worksheet that has a
passage with some questions about the story elements that they would have to complete for the next day. The
third night, I could have them look up a YouTube video about story elements and then write a paragraph about

what they watched. The fourth night, I could have them do a matching sheet that matches the definitions to the
correct story elements. For each of these homework assignments, except the read aloud to their parents, they
can do it on their google drive, and submit it back to me.

Interdisciplinary Connections
My lesson could also be used in ethics because they could write a story about right and wrong. They could also
use it for ethics by coming up with a theme that describes how someone is trying to become a better person.
They could also use my lesson in ethics by looking at a story in ethics and finding the story elements.
The second subject that my lesson could be used in could be art because they could make their own pictures
based on what their characters look like. This activity could also be used in art by having them create a book
based on artists paintings and artwork. This could help them develop more detail as to why an author may
have done the artwork they made.

Materials and Resources:

For teachers

For students

SmartBoard

Computer

Handouts

Storybird Story

Blogger Account

Google Account

QR Code website

PowerPoint

Laptop

Pencil

Paper

Cell Phone

Google Account

Blogger Account

Key Vocabulary

Plot

Characters

Setting

Conflict

Resolution

Story Elements

Additional Notes

QR Code website

Handouts/Homework