However, Kids struggle with story hooks. Too many of them begin with these painful leads that we, as teachers, shrink from know so well:
Once upon a time ...
One day ...
Hi, my name is ...
I am going to tell you a story about ... (this one actually makes a teacher cringe inside!)
So, we do a pretty intense mini-unit on hooks - with the theme being Captain Hook from the classic Peter Pan.
First, we identified different kinds of appropriate and engaging narrative hooks.
First, we identified different kinds of appropriate and engaging narrative hooks.
Then, we identified interesting vs. not so interesting hooks that I had written to start a story about camping. The kids worked in pairs to choose whether they thought the hook deserved a 1,2,3. We also helped poor Pirate Pete, who cannot write interesting hooks, by using some of these hooks out.
Students did this first as homework, and then later together as a class. We also reflected on how we improved the second time around and gave an example.
Students did this first as homework, and then later together as a class. We also reflected on how we improved the second time around and gave an example.
Then, we went back to our own writings and created 3 hooks to introduce our story. For each hook the students created, and got checked by me, they earned a pirate coin. Once they earned three coins, they were able to participate in our pirate treasure hunt!
Today, the last day of our Hook mini-unit, we went on a "hook" treasure hunt around the school. Each pair was given a list of the hooks we have learned. Then they traveled together through the hallways reading and identifying what clues hook was and where the hook was leading them too.
Eventually, the clues led them back to the classroom carpet area where the "prize" was a bag of swedish fish, tying in nicely with the "hook" theme :) The kids really enjoyed this activity and have seemed to pick up the idea of "hooking" their reader a lot better!
CONCLUSIONS:
We knew that our characters needed to learn some sort of lesson, either humorous or serious, that our reader could take away (the MESSAGE) see THIS lesson for how we studied the author's message/theme. We looked at real examples and created three of our own using sentence stem starters. Students could combine, use word for word, or create their own. Once they had tried three, they chose the BEST one (after sharing and discussing with partners) and added this to their rough draft. This sums up our work with narratives - the rest of this week will be editing and publishing!
We knew that our characters needed to learn some sort of lesson, either humorous or serious, that our reader could take away (the MESSAGE) see THIS lesson for how we studied the author's message/theme. We looked at real examples and created three of our own using sentence stem starters. Students could combine, use word for word, or create their own. Once they had tried three, they chose the BEST one (after sharing and discussing with partners) and added this to their rough draft. This sums up our work with narratives - the rest of this week will be editing and publishing!