Plan a Story About a Balloon That Floats Away

Let your child tell the story aloud before planning, then draw each part in its box. Point to each box as your child writes its sentence, and read the story back when it is done.

Read a made-up plan about a fish who wanted the sky, plan who, where and 3 drawings for a runaway balloon, then write it. A story has a beginning (first), a middle (next) and an end (last). The directions on the page read: Read the Model and the topic. Then, write who is in your story and where it happens. Then, draw the beginning, middle and end in the 3 boxes. Then, write your story on the next page. On page 2: Look at your plan and your 3 drawings. Then, write 5 sentences in order, one on each row. Then, start each sentence with the printed words.

Yes, both. We made it for 1st Grade writing prompts, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with story writing. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

Have your child tell the story out loud first. Then draw or write a few words in each box. Each box becomes a sentence, using time words like In the beginning, Then and At the end.

It is a five part plan: who the story is about, what they wanted, what got in the way, what they did and how it ended. The Talking Shoe sheet uses it to build a whole story in five sentences.

Yes. A talking shoe, a pet dragon or a snail who is late for a party is meant to be fun. What matters is that the story has a beginning, a middle and an end that make sense together.

No. Every child invents a different story, so there is no single right answer. Check that the story has a beginning, middle and end and that each sentence starts with a capital letter.