Parts of a Story

In reading and writing, we have been learning about the parts of a story. The parts we are learning include:
Beginning - tells the characters, the setting and the problem the character has
Middle - tells the events in the story or the ways that the character tries to solve the problem - it includes lots of time words like first, next, then, after that, before, finally
End - tells how the character solves the problem and often how the character is feeling

We learned a way to use our hands and fingers to help us remember all of the parts. We use this method to retell stories we have read in reading and we use it to help us remember to include all of the important parts when we are writing a story about our life. We learned that the middle is flexible - it can have two or three parts or many parts depending on the story we are telling. (I have had a child tell me that their story had 11 middles.)

Ask your child to retell a story that you read together and teach you the hand/finger method we use.