We will link this article to the Super Mini Stories category and keep adding them in here for ease of reference next year:
1. Eating Kittens (Diane Neubauer): (students need: would like to/wants to eat, numbers, good)
She is (Lady Gaga).
Lady Gaga is not good!
She wants to eat.
She wants to eat (kittens).
She wants to eat (10) (kittens)!
She eats (10 kittens)! [Student actor now role plays eating one at a time with the whole class counting under teacher’s lead.] (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 kittens).
She ate (10 kittens)! (Very good!)
Eating (10 kittens) is (very good)!
2. Spiderman loves Beyoncé (Diane Neubauer): (students need: is, likes, very/really, cries) I story-ask the part about the second character not really liking the first character, but only will take that answer so there’s now some unrequited love. Skip the crying lines if it’s complicated.
He is (Spiderman).
She is (Beyonce).
(Spiderman) likes (Beyonce).
(Spiderman) really likes (Beyonce)!
But (Beyonce) doesn’t really like (Spiderman).
(Spiderman) really likes (Beyonce), but (Beyonce) doesn’t really like (Spiderman).
(Spiderman) isn’t good! He cries!
He cries because (Beyonce) doesn’t really like him.
But (Beyonce) is good.
She doesn’t cry.
3. Fish Story (Ruth Fleishman):
There is a fish.
The fish wants a cat.
The fish buys a cat.
That’s silly.
The cat eats the fish.
That’s sad.
4. Turtle Story (Ruth Fleishman):
There is a [turtle].
Her name is ______.
She is [green, white, and black].
She wants to go to [the moon].
She finds a [multi-colored boat].
She goes to [the moon by boat].
She is happy.
5. Dolphin Story (Ruth Fleishman):
There is a girl.
She wants a friend.
She goes to [the pool].
She sees a [dolphin].
They are friends.
6. Scarf Story (Ruth Fleishman):
There is a [girl].
She lives in ____.
She is cold.
There is a boy.
He has a scarf. (having a real scarf is good)
He gives the scarf to the girl.
She is not cold.
She is happy.
He is happy.
7. Hamburger Story (Ruth Fleishman):
There is a [boy]. His name is ___.
He is hungry.
He wants to eat [100 ice creams] and [100 hamburgers].
He eats [100 hamburgers and 100 ice creams].
That’s a lot!
Is he still hungry?
8. Coat Story – orig. Judy Dubois – adapted by Catherine Greenberg, who says: “I had a lot of fun with primary children simply by taking some jackets off the hooks outside the room (with their owners’ permission) and having a student go to a store to buy a jacket and trying on one that was too big and one that was too little and one that was pink! and then he tries on his own jacket and it’s the right size and the right color and he buys it. The kids thought it was hilarious!”)
There’s a girl.
Her name is Lucy.
Lucy is cold.
Baby’s coat is too small.
Mr. Hudson’s coat is too big.
Bu Cathy’s coat is just right.
9. Fainting Story
Yesterday Bobby was at Macdonald’s.
Yesterday Shrek was at McDonald’s too.
Shrek said, ‘Halo. My name is Shrek. What’s your name?”
Bobby said, “My name is Bobby”
Shrek said, “Bobby? Bobby from Port Elliot Primary School? OMG”
and faints.
10. No Mouth Story (Jim Tripp – adapted)
Student A has a -burrito-. A is hungry. There is a problem. A has no mouth.
Student B has 2 mouths. So B gives A a mouth.
11. Brrr! (Jim Tripp – adapted)
Student A is cold. A says: I’m cold!
Student B gives student A a tomato.
Student A puts the tomato on the head.
Student A is still cold.
Student B gives A a chicken.
Student A puts the chicken on the feet.
etc.
12. Dino Likes Sushi
From Alisa Shapiro, who explains:
“Here’s the first CI story I ever did (with my gold lamé T-Rex puppet). It was for 1st & 2nd graders, and I still tell it – even to older kids (jazzed up). I have lots of plastic food (cognates) and a set of fake sushi (really pencil erasers). The students love to hold the food and offer it to the dinosaur puppet, who sniffs and rejects everything except sushi. Sometimes he grabs the food from them in his big red mouth with sharp teeth, then dramatically spits it out, “¡Qué asco!” [How disgusting!] “I LIKE SUSHI!””
There’s a dinosaur.
He’s hungry.
He only likes sushi.
He goes to (Local eatery #1).
Is there sushi at #1?
Of course not! There are hamburgers at #1!
Dino is hungry. Dino only likes Sushi.
He goes to (local eatery #2).
Is there sushi at #2?
Of course not! There are bananas/tacos/pasta/ other cognate foods at #2.
Dino is hungry. Dino only likes Sushi.
He goes to COSTCO. There are hamburgers at Costco, there are bananas/tacos/pasta other cognate foods at Costco…[BUT] Dino only likes sushi.
There’s sushi at Costco! Lots of sushi! Dino is happy!
Dino eats and eats and eats and eats sushi at Costco.
[NOW] Dino has a different problem.
Dino is thirsty!