A common use for Storyboard That is to help students create a plot diagram of the events from a story. Not only is this a great way to teach the parts of the plot, but it reinforces major events and help students develop greater understanding of literary structures. Sometimes students will really have to think carefully about which events are major turning points in the plot.
Students can create a storyboard capturing the narrative arc in a work with a six-cell storyboard containing the major parts of the plot diagram. For each cell, have students create a scene that follows the short story in sequence using: Exposition, Conflict, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution.
Elzie Pickens, an elderly woman, sits in a rocking chair. Her great-granddaughter, Tee gives her some dogwood blossoms that remind Elzie about a story from her youth.
Elzie and her friend, Ovella, ran away to a traveling show. They found a dog in a tutu dancing to music for pennies. Elzie accidentally throws her lucky stone at the dancing dog. The rock hit him on the nose!
The angry dog chases after her all over the grounds. Elzie runs as fast as she can to avoid being bitten. The crowd cheers for this new show.
A handsome young man lassos thedog and saves Elzie. He also helps her look for her missing lucky stone.
After all the excitement, Elzie and Ovella decide not to join the traveling show and walk home. The young man who saved Elzie accompanies them back to make sure they reach home safely.
Elzie reflects with Tee that hitting the dog with the stone seemed unlucky, but really led to Elzie meeting Amos Pickens, her future husband. It was truly the luckiest time of all.
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Create a visual plot diagram of "The Luckiest Time of All".