I introduce my high school first-years to writing structure with this lesson every year, and it's been a hit each time!

Prep the Board:

1. Character:
   (who)

2. Setting:
   (where)

3. Goal:
   (want)

4. Problem:
   (but)

5. Solution:
   (so)

6. Ending:
   (then)

Warm-Up: Guess the Story

Today is all about stories! These categories on the board are the main elements of any story. Go through each category briefly, connecting them to their keywords and translating when necessary with the help of the JTE.

Think of your favorite story. It can be any story you like, Disney or Ghibli or a fairytale or whatever, but keep it simple! Using the structure above, describe the story to your students, writing the sentences on the board next to each category as you go. For example...

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
(JP: Akazukin)

1. Character: Once upon a time, there was a girl with a red jacket.
   (who)

2. Setting: She was walking in the forest.
   (where)

3. Goal: She wanted to give sweets to her grandmother.
   (want)

4. Problem: But a wolf ate her grandmother!
   (but)

5. Solution: So, the girl called for help. A man came and killed the wolf.
   (so)

6. Ending: Then the grandmother was free! The girl, the grandmother, and the man happily ate sweets together.
   (then)

The students must guess the title of the story. When they guess correctly, give them another example, but don't write that one down. They have to listen closely! Here's another example:

CINDERELLA
Once upon a time, there was a handsome prince.
The prince lived in a wonderful castle.
He wanted to marry the beautiful girl he danced with at a party.
But the girl ran away and left only her shoe!
So, the prince searched the kingdom for the girl who could wear the shoe.
Then he found her at last! They got married and lived happily every after.

After they guess the second example, tell the students to think of their own favorite story. Again, any story is fine. It can be a movie or a manga or an old fairytale, whatever they like. Then pair them up and have them janken. The janken loser will speak first and describe their favorite story using the structure on the board. Point out the key phrases like "Once upon a time" and "But" and "So" and "Then". The janken winner must guess the name of the story. Then they switch roles. This continues for about 3-5 mins.

Line x Line Picture

Put the students into groups of 4-5 and have them clear their desks. Each person only needs a pencil (or a colored pen if you wanna be fun like me). Give each group one sheet of blank paper.

On the paper, the students will create one drawing together. BUT! There are some rules!

1. No talking!! No Japanese, no English, no Chinese, German, Spanish, Tagalog, whatever--no speaking of any kind!
2. No gestures!! No communication at al!
3. Each person can only draw ONE LINE and then they must pass it to the next person in the group. It can be a straight line or a curved line or a shape or whatever you like, but it can only be one line. Demonstrate this with two volunteers and the JTE on the board.

I give my students about 3 minutes to draw. They have to keep passing the paper for the entire three minutes, no stopping, and I encourage them to go quick quick quick pass pass pass! I always get a lot of giggles at this point, which is really great! But definitely reiterate the first two rules!

When the timer goes off, pencils go down, and then the class explodes with laughter! Let the students talk about it for a minute while you pass out the worksheet.

Storytime

Explain to the students that they must use the picture as inspiration for their own original stories! Give them time to talk about it with their group members. Who is/are the character(s)? Where are they? What do they want? What is the problem and how does it get solved? Does the story have a happy ending or a bad ending? Go around the room while they talk and give them some comments if they're having trouble.

Once they've have some discussion time, look at the worksheet. There is another story example! Read it out loud to the class, emphasizing the keywords again. Then tell the students to write their own stories in the blank boxes. Every box only needs one or two sentences. Keep it simple! And remember to use past-tense!

They students MAY NOT speak to each other while they write! Otherwise, they'll be too focused on talking to actually fill in the boxes.

Files:

Small files

LinexLineWorksheet.pdf (27.4 KB)