Where Do I Begin?

Picking a good beginning helps you to focus your story on just one main event. In this lesson students will learn how to pick a good beginning for their personal narratives.

A lesson plan for grades 2–5 English Language Arts

By DPI Writing Strategies

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Related topics

• Learn more about English language arts.

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Learning outcomes

Students will learn how to pick a good beginning for their personal narratives.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

40 Minutes

Materials/resources

• Blank Transparency
• Vis-a-Vis marker

Technology resources

Overhead Transparency

Pre-activities

None

Activities

Minilesson/ Modeling (15 minutes)

1. Say to the students:
   
   “I am planning to write a story about something that happened to me when I was in the 4th grade. It is about something that happened to me on the playground during recess. The most important event (focus) of the story is that I caught a fly ball during a softball game. It was the third out in the last inning, and because I caught the ball, my team won. Now I need to decide where my story should begin. I am going to ask you to help me with that part.”
2. Turn a blank transparency long-ways on the overhead (or write on a dry-erase or chalkboard). Draw a long line/time line from one side of the transparency straight across to the other side. Mark the left side of the line “My Birth.”
3. Say to the students:
   
   
   “This is a timeline of my life so far. Here (indicate left end of line) is where I was born. This end (indicate the right end of the line) is today. I suppose that since this story is about me, I should begin with the day I was born. Let’s see. I’ll start my story; ‘Once upon a time a baby was born in the town of _____. I was that baby.’ Then I’ll tell everything that happened to me from the time I was born until the time I caught the fly ball in the fourth grade. Does that make sense?”
4. The students will realize that beginning with your birth is silly.
5. Continue:
   
   
   “I suppose, then, that, since this story is about something that happened to me at school, I should begin with my first day of school in kindergarten. Then I could tell everything that happened to me from the time I started kindergarten until I caught the fly ball in fourth grade. Would that be a good idea?”
6. Students will quickly catch on that you are purposefully being ridiculous about where to begin your story.
7. Say:
   
   
   “Should I begin with getting to school that morning? Since the main event happens on the playground, maybe I should begin when the teacher tells us to line up to go outside. No? Well, perhaps I should begin my story on the playground since that is where the main event happens. Does that make sense?”
8. By the time you get to this point in the lesson, your time line will look something like this:

9. Reinforce the idea that, when deciding where to begin telling a story, it is helpful to first decide where in the story the main event takes place. The story should get to that location as quickly as possible. If the story happens in the grocery story with Dad, don’t begin with getting dressed to go (unless clothing plays an important part in the story). If the story happens in the ocean at Myrtle Beach, don’t begin the story with packing a suitcase and loading the car for the trip.

Guided Practice (10 minutes)

10. Allow the students to practice choosing where to begin a story with the following brief exercise. Say:
    
    
    “If the story is about bungee jumping at Grandfather Mountain, where should the story begin?
    • when your brother dares you to jump with a bungee cord.
    • when you start to climb the tower.
    • when you get to Grandfather Mountain.
    • when you decide to spend the weekend in the mountains.”

    
    

11. Allow the students to discuss where the story should begin. If a student can sensibly justify his/her choice, accept his/her answer. Most students will probably say that the story should begin as the writer starts to climb the bungee tower.

Independent Practice (15 minutes)

12. Have students select a personal narrative from their collection of writing samples. Ask them to identify the main event and write down 3 places/times during that day that they could begin their story. Then ask them to read their 3 beginnings to a partner and select the best place to start the story.

Assessment

1. Can students identify an appropriate beginning for the bungee jumping story?
2. Can students identify 3 places to begin their own personal narrative and select one appropriate beginning?

Supplemental information

• Writing Feature: Focus
• Writing Process Stage: Planning
• Writing Environment: Expressive
• Writing Genre: Personal Narrative

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