I’m starting to see the story not in linear terms (first we create the story, then we read it, then we do all the ROA activities) but in spatial terms, where all the activities that we can do with a story, and there is a ton of them, can be tagged onto the story in the fashion of a word bubble. This takes the pressure off the teacher to “get through” all the ROA suggested activities. It’s a good thing.
The story is the core of everything in this work. So it behooves us to quit thinking of various activities that we can do with stories only being one of them. I can’t see doing that. I can only see connecting ALL my instruction to a story. It improves the play.