LESSON 1.5
The What

Grades 1-3

We tell stories all the time. In fact, several thousand years ago, it was the main way people shared information. But we’re going to learn to tell a story for a different reason.

Many people think that each type of writing – an essay, a letter to Santa, a story – has a different structure.  However, we have known for 2300 years that they are all the same.

Creating a story is the easiest way to learn the structure. 

Let’s begin.

Using lined paper, draw one box like this. Make it as big as you need, but only half the size of the page.

Write the word What in the middle.

What

Put another box about the same size below it. The box on the left need not be very wide.

What

Label them like the one below. Color each row when you are done.

What
I had a problem with a troublemaker

You now have a What Statement.

The What Statement

The What Statement tells what the story is about.

The Main Parts of the What Statement

The two main parts are–

The Hero
The Troublemaker

They are separated by a phrase, had a problem with Or had a problem when

The Hero

It doesn’t matter if the hero is a 12-year-old boy named Zack or a 93-year-old woman named  Miss Fletcher.

Nor does it matter if the troublemaker is a bully, an alien, a tornado, or an angry cat.

It’s all the same. You have a hero with a problem and a troublemaker that is causing it. 

You will be the hero. So from now on we will say I instead of hero.

Do not be a superhero! That sort of story is very hard to create. Instead, be a girl or a boy about your age, with a young person’s interests and fears.

Task 1.5.1 – Individual

Draw a barbell on a piece of paper. Use something round, like the lid of a jar, to make each barbell end. 

Put I in the left circle and troublemaker in the right. What we have is like the ends of a barbell.  We can call this the “Communication Barbell.”

Now you’re holding up the What.

Trout Shout!

Go to the What Statement. Read the bottom row without stopping.

What you have is a sentence.

Say: A sentence is a group of words that sounds like a sentence.

Say it again!

And again. LOUDER!

Play pattycake at least five times each. Each time, say the sentence. 

Now say: I had a problem with a troublemaker.

 Say it again!

And again.  LOUDER!

Play pattycake at least five times each. Each time, say the sentence. 

Color it. Light green for the top row, yellow for the bottom.

LESSON 0.1
Launch New Layout