1. BUILDING STORIES STEP-BY-STEP

2. DON’T WRITE A SUMMARY. WRITE A STORY! Instead of: I went swimming with my best friend. It was hot. He showed me how to flip backwards.

3. WRITE A STORY! Try: On Saturday, John and I spent the whole day in the neighborhood pool. When we couldn’t think of other games to play, John asked, “Do you know how to do a backwards flip underwater?”

4. DON’T WRITE A SUMMARY Instead of: Adam and I played at the playground. It was a hot day. I showed him how to roll rocks down the path.

5. WRITE A STORY! Try: On a warm, summer afternoon at the beginning of August, Adam and I headed to the playground for some fun. After we had played on the slides, swings, and seesaw, we both seemed to be getting a little bored of the regular routine. That’s when I noticed some pretty, round rocks located on the side of the paved path that winds down to the Lathrop Street ball field.

6. DON’T WRITE A SUMMARY Instead of: I went camping with my best friend. We made smores. They were yummy. Then we told campfire stories.

7. WRITE A STORY! Practice telling a story about the previous slide!

8. STORYTELLING Oral storytelling with good details can help you with your writing! Don’t just list a summary of brief events.

9. CAN YOU TELL A STORY ABOUT THESE PICTURES?

10. IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING WITH SEQUENCING THE EVENTS IN YOUR STORY, THEN CREATE A STORYBOARD OF PICTURES

11. WRITE A STORY, NOT A SUMMARY!