I have a collection of Rory’s Story Cubes (On Amazon, here: https://amzn.to/3qQmRnU) which has a lot of add on packs you can add to it, which can add even more fun and motivation to students’ writing .There are sets with these themes: Harry Potter, a Batman, Star Wars, Dr. Who, Totoro, as well as not branded sets like actions, emotions, voyages, fantasy, heroes, mystery…seriously, the possibilities are endless! These are fun for everyone, especially when you mix all the cubes together! Wait until The Doctor has to get the Golden Snitch before he turns into a frog! There’s even an app you can get and add these packs!
*****NOTE: Google Play does NOT HAVE THIS APP FOR ANDROID, ANYMORE!!! Yes, I was really ticked off, considering I’d spent a lot of money on collecting digital versions of the dice for virtual learning, only for the app not to work on my new phone. GRRRR!)*****
That being said, there are so many different versions of these things! There are free online sets (like this one: https://davebirss.com/storydice/), different companies making them (like these COLORFUL ones that are a lot cheaper, but with fewer add-ons currently available: https://amzn.to/3XhRmiQ. There are so many options, have some fun shopping for them together!
Now, here’s where we start making this educational (DON’T TELL THE KIDS THIS PART!). You are going to move up the steps as your kid(s) get more comfortable with what they’re doing. The key here is to MAKE IT FUN! Let them read it to you, let them read it to the class! You WANT them to be a bit clowny, here. Don’t even try to make this serious!
STEP 1: Roll 3 dice. You have to tell a story connecting whatever comes up on the dice. Start by doing this verbally, focus on connecting them. Make it a game (that’s actually what these are, btw… a GAME!) and the person with the most creative connection wins!
STEP 2: Roll 3 dice. Connect these things IN WRITING! It can be a sentence, a paragraph, a poem… the format DOESN’T MATTER, here! Spelling DOESN’T MATTER! Grammar DOESN’T MATTER! Your goal here is to get their ideas onto the paper, so keep the focus on that. Do this EVERY DAY in their writing journals (I used it as part of their morning work/warm up work).
2A. On Friday (make this a regular thing), after they finish their writing, have them pick their favorite a PUBLISH it. Now, that word can mean whatever you want it to mean, but the general goal is to get it worthy of sharing with others. THIS is where they fix grammar, spelling, talk to them about word choice. Depending on the maturity of your writers, incorporate some construction tips into the this step.
From here, you’re going to repeat step 2 over and over and over. When they get bored (and they will) increase the number of dice, one cube at a time. You can also increase the writing requirement to a paragraph, story, or poem. DO NOT GIVE IN TO THE TEMPTATION TO MAKE THIS SERIOUS AS YOU DO THIS! Reward the creativity!
I used to post their PUBLISH drafts in the hallway and online on our class blog. The goal is to get other people to interact with it, so this would do very well in a setup like Class Dojo, where you can share them with the class and share the laughter with parents, too. The GOAL: LOUD POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT!
When you do this, put their published piece IN THEIR WRITING JOURNAL. You want to connect the praise and positive reinforcement from publishing the pieces they write to the work they did to get there. This encourages them to continue doing the work to continue getting the positive reinforcement.
I love these things so much! I hope you do, too!
~Mrs. F
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