overview
Lesson 1 | Summary
Activity Pages
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| lesson 1 | |
collaborators,
dictators,
managers & soloists |
activity | telling stories—alone &
together
| Time Period: |
Two 45 minute sessions |
| Materials: |
Manila folders, newspaper or
magazine photographs, paper, pens |
Divide the class into groups of three. Give each group a folder
with a news photograph attached to the cover. To start this activity,
ask each person to write their own story based on the image. After
each person in the group has completed a story, they should place
the story inside the folder and pass it to another group.
Without looking at the stories written in the first round, the group
will now create a story together, but with a minimum of cooperation.
They should look at the image and decide on a few key points: name
of character(s), place and time. Then each person in the group should
choose beginning, middle, or end and write their part of the story
individually without help from the others. Upon conclusion of this
second version, this group story should be stapled together, placed
in the folder and passed to a third group. Be sure that no group
has an image they have already used.
For the final step, the third group should discuss with each other
and orally create the story together. When they have agreed upon
the story, they should each take the beginning, the middle or the
end and write the story as determined by the group.
Finally, have students read a selection of the different versions
of stories aloud. For each image, choose one of the stories by an
individual and the two group stories. Discuss with the class.
Before revealing which story was created in which manner, have students
answer the following:
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Which of the stories were written
by an individual, which was written by a group, and which
was a complete collaboration? |
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What are the clues
that inform their choices? |
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Which part of the
exercise demanded more creative effort? |
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How did writing the various versions
of the story prompt students to write differently? |
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Was there a version that was most
successful, most surprising, most cohesive, most unusual,
most interesting? |
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