A story with a beginning, middle and end

Ages 6 to 8 Read together, then try alone · about 25 minutes

Read together

A story has a beginning, a middle and an end. The beginning shows who and where.

The middle has a problem. The end shows how it was solved.

Do it

1. Fold a paper in three. Label the parts: start, middle, end.
2. Draw and write who and where in the first part, a problem in the second and the solution in the third.
3. Read the story aloud. Does the ending fit the problem?
4. Swap with a family member and listen to theirs.

Talk about it

• What was the problem?
• How did it end?

For the grown-up

Planning a story in three parts is the basis of narrative writing. Many Bible stories can be read this way, though not every story has a tidy ending.

Mark as done

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Where this comes from

• Graham, S., and Perin, D., Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools (Carnegie Corporation of New York, 2007)
• Applebee, A. N., The Child's Concept of Story (University of Chicago Press, 1978)

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.