In this activity, students decide on what they think the important parts in the text are, and categorize them into the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Having students decide on the beginning, middle, and end will help them break up the text, and make it easier to choose one or two main events to create. Students can plan their ideas with a partner or individually, and decide what main parts they would like to add to their storyboard.
The storyboard above shows one example for the beginning, middle, and end, but you could set a number of frames for the students to use based on the ability of the student, or length of the text.
Pandora and Seabold live solitary lives until a storm brings them together. Pandora saves Seabold and they become friends.
Seabold and Pandora enjoy each other's company and work together to tend to the lighthouse. One day they rescue three mice from a box floating aimlessly in the ocean.
Seabold, Pandora, and the three mice are happy. They are not lonely anymore; they are a family.
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Make a storyboard summary of The Storm.
Lead a brief class conversation about the beginning, middle, and end of stories. This helps students recognize important plot points and prepares them to summarize effectively when making their own storyboard.
Read a short section aloud and pause to verbalize your thought process when identifying important events. This demonstrates how to pick out the main ideas students should include on their storyboard.
Give students sentence frames like “In the beginning…”, “Then…”, and “Finally…” to help them structure their summaries and clearly connect the pictures to the story events.
Have students share their storyboards with a partner or small group. Ask for constructive feedback on whether each section clearly shows the beginning, middle, and end, promoting collaboration and reflection.
'The Storm' is a story about Pandora and Seabold, who live alone until a storm brings them together. Pandora rescues Seabold, they become friends, rescue three mice, and form a happy family.
Have students identify and organize key events from 'The Storm' into the beginning, middle, and end. Use storyboards or drawings and add short sentences to help students break down and summarize the plot.
Let students create a storyboard with three sections: beginning, middle, and end. Encourage them to draw pictures and write one sentence for each part to retell the important events of the story.
Dividing a story into beginning, middle, and end helps students understand structure, improves comprehension, and makes it easier to summarize or retell the main events.
Include Pandora and Seabold meeting after the storm, becoming friends, rescuing the mice, and all of them forming a family in the lighthouse.