Here is a story that came out of a simple one word image today. It demonstrates the versatility of that process, which is explained in detail on this site at resources/workshop handouts.
The word the kids chose was dog. The kids on first hour had the excellent idea of the dog coming into contact with a statue. I saw the potential and ran with it. I wrote up the story below in very general terms (each class was different but followed the general outline, as is typical). Variables are underlined. Note again that scripts are written in the present but told in the past:
The Statue
is going down the sidewalk
downtown
is crushed under the foot of the statue
There is a dog. The dog is going down the sidewalk in downtown Denver. There is a problem. The dog has to urinate badly.
The dog sees a statue. The dog looks at the statue. The statue looks at the dog. The dog is happy. The statue is not happy. The statue shakes his head at the dog (class, how does the statue shake his head, quickly or slowly, in a friendly way, etc.). The dog relieves himself on the statue and runs away.
The statue, who is very strong because he is made out of stone, chases the dog. The dog runs fast. The statue runs faster than the dog. The statue catches the dog. The dog pleads for mercy. The statue crushes the dog under it’s foot.
As a footnote, I would add that many of us, certainly me last week, forget how simple stories can be. Fifty minutes is not long for a story class, especially considering that we have to call roll and do step one and a student retell somewhere in there plus a quick quiz. Even leaving out the SSR, there is little time. Why not just make stories simpler?
What are we trying to do, cramming all that CI into a class? The more CI we cram in a hurry into our lesson, the less CI is acquired. That has been, along with the misuse of English that was much better today, a source of my weekend angst over TPRS.
I know that the stories in Anne’s book are rather complex, but I don’t think that they start out that way. We are reading what her Hogs – masters in German – produced via the questioning. (Anne, if I am incorrect on that please let me know.)
Thus, in the past days I have learned two important things: simpler stories and no English. If I can combine that with remembering to be happy and just enjoy the stuff they say, and not feel like I have to hammer teach the story, it is pretty much guaranteed to be a good day. Of course, to see the fleur de lis back waving in the wind helps as well.
[Note: the story above needs strong actors. It’s funnier when the statue doesn’t smile and when the dog is just impish enough. Rule #6 (this site/resources/posters/rules chart) must be observed, as in all stories.]