Second Grade Authors

Second grade students have been immersed in How and Why stories. They have read numerous stories from around the world. Each child has picked a story to learn and tell at Second Grade Story Telling Night later this month. As authors, they have studied the structure of how to write their own how and why story. Students learned that these stories were originally created to help people explain various aspects of nature, before science evolved to help us better understand the natural world. 

The first step in story development was to choose an idea. Each class brainstormed a list of possible topics. Students picked three potential areas of interest and then thought about which one was the most compelling. They next completed pictures depicting transformational change in the story. Some of the ideas students chose include, why dogs learned to bark, how a bee got its stinger, why a cheetah learned to run fast, why the moon has phases and how continents separated. Students planned their stories carefully, thinking about the setting, the characters, why and how the characters changed and the plot. The next step was to write a first draft. 

Once initial drafts were complete, students shared their stories with other students and their teachers, gaining feedback that then helped them to revise. The last step will be to write their final story and include a before and after picture. Creating How and Why stories has been a wonderfully creative and challenging project!