Old Monster Dog:FOUNDATION-English-Engage2

Little J is initially scared to approach the ‘monster’ in the back yard. Encouraged to face his fears, he vows to catch the frilly-necked monster and sets about building a monster trap with the help of Levi.

Engage - Listen to and respond orally to texts and to the communication of others in informal and structured classroom situations

Theme - SCARY STORIES

Story Circle

Ask students to sit in a ‘story circle’. In this circle, each student is invited to contribute (one sentence/information) to a group story.

The focus for this story circle is a story about a friendly monster named “Billy”. Each student takes turns in adding to/building the story. How the students take turns to talk should be agreed by the class, e.g. clockwise, anticlockwise, random via catching a ball, etc.

The character is Billy, in the story, The Beautiful Beast. The story needs to tell the audience something about him/her; therefore, what Billy looks like, sounds like, smells like, feels like, and where and how he/she lives, etc.

The teacher starts the story with, ‘Once upon a time …’, then asks one of the students to complete the next sentence. The teacher can use story prompts along the way, such as, ‘What colour was the monster?’, ‘How did the skin of the monster feel?’, ‘Where did the monster live?’ etc. This questioning develops the ‘detail’ for character, setting and plot. As each student states one fact about the monster and/or an action that the monster completes, the story unfolds and can take different directions. Talk to the class about the terms, ‘character’, ‘setting’ and ‘plot’.

The plot requires three stages: an introduction, body, and conclusion. Assign a number of students in the class to each stage of the story and call on them at that stage in the story to contribute. Define what action is expected for each stage. Encourage all students to have a go, use their imagination, and listen to the person who goes before them so that they can add to the story as a continuous line.

Record the story and make an eBook of the story.