Hi Friends!
When my son, Austin, was a little boy, I used to make up bedtime stories in which he and his cousin, Mason, were the main characters. These stories took them on adventures in a variety of settings. Each setting had its own set of problems, but Austin and Mason were able to solve them and emerge as heroes in all of the stories. I loved making up these stories and Austin begged me to retell the same ones over and over again. Austin is 21 years old now and still remembers some of those stories.Kids love to hear stories as well as create them. So, when I saw Story Stones on Pinterest, I thought I could use them with my class in a fun way to make up stories and review story elements along the way. I decided to make my own Story Stones because they are a little pricey if you want to buy them.
The Story Stones I made include pictures of a variety of characters, settings, and things that may cause problems and/or offer solutions.
I plan to teach my class how to use them after spring break. I will model how to do this with the whole class at first, but then I'll have them work in groups. I'm not sure how other teachers use Story Stones, but here's how I'm going to use them:
1. Put students in groups of 4.
2. Place 12 Story Stones in a bag and have each student take 3
(No peeking).
3. The student with a character(s) or setting will go first. This student begins making up the story by introducing the character(s) or setting. Why? Because we know that authors introduce the setting and character(s) at the beginning of the story.
4. Continue in a clockwise manner. Each student must add to the story using his Story Stones. You can only use one stone at a time. Keep in mind that your story must have a beginning, middle and end as well as all the story elements (setting, characters, problem, and solution).
5. Have fun! Stories may be silly, sad, scary or outrageous, but they can't involve violence on any kind.
Here are the materials I used to make my Story Stones:
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| Bag of stones from the Dollar Tree ( I bought 4 bags because I wanted lots of flat stones.) |
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| Mod Podge & a foam brush |
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| Stickers from the Dollar Tree |
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| Pictures from catalog |
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| Adhere sticker or picture to stone and paint over top with Mod Podge |
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| I made 48 Story Stones. I included pictures for each of the story elements.
Children have such great imaginations that I know they will have so much fun making up stories with these Story Stones!
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