The second and third graders have been writing narratives. The elements of a narrative are characters, setting, and plot. I've been teaching that the children must have a conflict or problem in their stories so that their stories can move along, with a resolution to the problem at the end of the story.
It's not easy for children to come up with a problem to solve, so I reminded them that everyday life contains tiny problems that could be solved. For example, I used my attempt at catching Punky as one of those annoying problems I had to deal with this week.
Punky had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday which meant I had to box him up in the crate. My problem was simple. I had to catch him first and then put him in the crate.
Here is a basic outline of my story:
First, I tossed catnip in the crate. Punky sniffed the catnip and got halfway in, so I decided to help him along. The minute he felt my hand on his rear end, he flipped around and dashed to the living room. Drats!
Next, I grabbed his little ball with the bell in it and shook it. Punky was interested for a moment, but when I threw it in the cat carrier, Punky lost interest and just layed down and stared at me. Good Grief!
By now it's almost 7:00 a.m. and I need to get to work for car rider duty. So I came up with one more plan...Friskies salmon and tuna treats.
I dropped a treat in front of punky and he gobbled it right up. Ah ha! This may do it. So then I tossed a cat treat in his crate. Punky walked to the crate, but I coughed about that time and my little orange kitty scampered to the living room again. Good golly Miss Molly!
I was not only late for work at this point. I was exasperated!
"I've got the solution," I told Truett. "It's really simple."
"What is it?" Truett asked.
"I'll cancel his doctor's appointment." And I did just that, which brought my narrative to an end.
I did remind the children that this story had an ending, just not the one I was hoping for.
So think about your life and an annyoing little problem you may have. Then think about how you will solve the problem. Write it down and voila...you have a narrative.
I like the photos of the cats. We had a punky untouchable named Tidbit. She never went to the vet or had flea medicine or anything. She lived to be 14. The week she died she not only let us rub her but begged to come into the house. Poor baby, I know she must have sensed the end.
Posted by: Sherry | March 21, 2009 at 06:37 AM
By the way,I finally was able to take her to the vet her last week. Her kidneys and other organs were shutting down. I left the cat carrier on the porch with the door open and she died in the cat carrier. Is this gruesome or what?
Posted by: Sherry | March 21, 2009 at 06:39 AM