LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Little Bit - BIG BIT - Little Bit

This lesson helps students who tend to jump right in and tell their entire story in the first few sentences and then struggle to complete their story. Students will learn to start and end their stories with just a "Little Bit" about the setup and closure of the story.

A lesson plan for grades 2–4 English Language Arts

By DPI Writing Strategies

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

  • understand the reasons for adding a short beginning and ending to the body of their narrative.
  • add “Little Bit” beginnings and endings to the body of a personal or imaginative narrative.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1 hour

Materials/resources

  • 3×5 colored index cards (green cards for beginnings, red cards for endings)
  • notebook paper
  • three transparencies, two with lined index cards traced on them, one with a sheet of lined notebook paper traced on it.

Technology resources

Overhead Projector (or some other projection device)

Pre-activities

Use an index card as a pattern. Make two transparencies with an index card traced on each one. Make an overhead transparency of a sheet of notebook paper. Have two blank index cards and a sheet of notebook paper available to use for demonstration purposes.

Activities

Modeling/Mini-lesson

  1. Explain to students that a beginning to a story should be just that - a beginning that sets up a story. It should not jump right in and tell the story. It should also not be very long. It should be short enough to let the reader know a “Little Bit” about what they are about to read.
  2. Model a beginning to a story. Print it on an index card on the first transparency.
  3. Next show the students the transparency with the piece of notebook paper on it. Explain that in proportion to the “Little Bit” needed to begin the story, that the largest amount of writing will be a “BIG BIT” part. It will contain the bulk of the story. The “BIG BIT” contains the main event and the actions of the story. It will be the biggest part of the story.
  4. Model the story middle on the notebook page transparency. (Reread as you write!)
  5. When you have completed this “BIG BIT” of the story, read back through the entire story so far, including the beginning.
  6. Be sure that students note/understand the difference in the “Little Bit” and the “BIG BIT” parts of the story.
  7. Then explain that the story is not yet complete and that it needs a “Little Bit” more to complete and end the story.
  8. Model the story conclusion on the other index card transparency. Again, upon completion, reread the story and make a point to show the amount of writing needed for the beginning, the story itself, and the ending.

Guided Practice

  1. Give students two index cards and a copy of the middle of a story. Read the middle of the story to students and ask them what parts of the story are missing.
  2. On the index cards, have students write an introduction to add to the beginning of the story and an ending to add to the end of the story. Have students share their introductions and endings in small groups.

Independent Practice

  1. Give students two index cards and a sheet of paper for them to organize and sequence their stories into the “Little Bit” (beginning), “BIG BIT” (story), and the “Little Bit” (ending).
  2. Identify the “Little Bit” beginnings and endings in picture books that you read to the class.

Assessment

Can students add a “Little Bit” beginning and ending on index cards to the middle of a story?

Supplemental information

Other useful ideas for this lesson are to make the cards color coded (green index card for the beginning and a red index card for the ending). Staple or tape the cards to the paper to focus the thinking about the whole story.

North Carolina curriculum alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 2

  • Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
    • Objective 4.08: Write structured, informative presentations and narratives when given help with organization.

Grade 3

  • Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
    • Objective 4.02: Use oral and written language to:
      • present information in a sequenced, logical manner.
      • discuss.
      • sustain conversation on a topic.
      • share information and ideas.
      • recount or narrate.
      • answer open-ended questions.
      • report information on a topic.
      • explain own learning.
    • Objective 4.04: Use planning strategies (with assistance) to generate topics and to organize ideas (e.g., drawing, mapping, discussing, listing).
  • Goal 5: The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.
    • Objective 5.04: Compose two or more paragraphs with:
      • topic sentences.
      • supporting details.
      • appropriate, logical sequence.
      • sufficient elaboration.

Grade 4

  • Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.
    • Objective 4.05: Use planning strategies to generate topics and organize ideas (e.g., brainstorming, mapping, webbing, reading, discussion).
    • Objective 4.08: Focus revision on a specific element such as:
      • word choice.
      • sequence of events and ideas.
      • transitional words.
      • sentence patterns.

  • Common Core State Standards

    • English Language Arts (2010)

      • Writing

        • Grade 2
          • 2.W.3 Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.
        • Grade 3
          • 3.W.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. 3.W.3.1 Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds...
        • Grade 4
          • 4.W.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. 4.W.3.1 Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize...