Story surgery

As early as first grade, children can begin to revise their stories using "Story Surgery." In this lesson, students learn how to use scissors to perform "story surgery" by cutting their stories apart at the point where more information can be added.

A lesson plan for grades 3–4 English Language Arts

By DPI Writing Strategies

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Related topics

• Learn more about details, language arts, revisions, style, writing, and writing process.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• cut apart stories in appropriate places.
• add details at different points in the story.
• use the “Story Surgery” strategy to add details to their own drafts.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1 hour

Materials/resources

• The Birthday Party (Draft 1) transparency: pdf | rtf
• The Birthday Party, cut apart transparency: pdf | rtf
• Handouts of The Birthday Party (Draft 1)
• Scissors for each student
• Tape
• Blank paper for each student
• Student stories

Technology resources

Overhead Projector

Activities

Modeling/Mini-lesson

1. Tell students: “When good writers revise their stories, they ask themselves questions such as ‘Does it make sense?’ and ‘Have I left anything out?’ One strategy for adding information to their stories is to perform ’story surgery.’ I’m going to show you how to cut your own stories apart at the point where you want to add new information to your story”
2. Put the transparency of The Birthday Party (Draft 1) on the overhead. Read the story aloud. Ask students to identify 3 points in the story where they would like more information. Mark those 3 points with an overhead pen. Then outline the lines where you would cut the story apart.
3. Put the second transparency of The Birthday Party, Cut Apart on the overhead. Tell students that now that you have “cut apart” the story, you have room to add more details to the story. Have students supply you with 2 or 3 new sentences to add to your story at each point.

Guided Practice

4. Give students scissors, tape, blank paper, and copies of the Birthday Party story. Demonstrate to students how to cut the story apart with scissors. Have them tape just the first part of the story to the top of the blank sheet of paper. Tell students that they have opened a window into their stories. Then tell students to think of 2-3 sentences to add to that part of the story, and then write them under the first part.
5. Tape the second part of the story down after students write. Adding the tape last allows students to move the story parts as needed. Tell students to continue adding 2-3 sentences to each part of their story.
6. Continue this process for each section of the story.
7. Have students read their revised versions of the Birthday Party story to a partner.
8. Share a few examples with the class. Point out to students that every story they wrote is different. By adding details, they personalized the “Birthday Party” story to make it their own.

Independent Practice

9. Conference with students to help them identify points in their drafts where they can use “Story Surgery.” Encourage students to cut and to tape their own stories and to elaborate on all parts of their stories as necessary. This process keeps students from having to rewrite their whole story and allows for revising in a less threatening way.

Assessment

Can students:

• cut apart their copies of the birthday party story in appropriate places?
• add details at different points in the story?
• use the “Story Surgery” strategy to add details to their own drafts?

Supplemental information

Another teaching technique that supports this lesson is for students to delete (cut out) sentences that are unrelated to the movement of the story’s actions.