Providing Support For Storyline Teachers

2. Episodes and Key Questions

Guiding Questions

Episodes

• Do coherent episodes frame the story structure? (setting, characters, daily rhythms/rules, incidents, and culmination)
• Do they provide a logical progression and narrative sequence that learners can understand and embrace?
• Do they keep the story moving and the learning rich?
• Are they are a natural part of the story?

Key Questions

• Are the key questions big and broad for a rich and wide array of student responses?
• Are the key questions used to determine what students know and what they need to know?
• Do they honor studentsʼ prior knowledge?
• Do they support students in constructing their own models first?
• Are the key questions motivating and meaningful?
• Do the key questions support the story, providing a narrative thread throughout?
• Do they allow students to effectively use their imaginations?
• Do they encourage students to speculate, hypothesize, reflect, and ask further questions, using their higher level thinking skills?
• Do they give students a sense of purpose?
• Do they reach to the key concepts that are being taught?
• Do the key questions fit the curriculum into the story in natural way?

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3. Setting

Guiding Questions

• Does the teacher have a vision for the setting that incorporates the basic framework for story development, yet is open-ended enough for student input and ownership?
• Do students participate in research, setting criteria, and development of frieze?
• Is the frieze the studentsʼ own conceptual model?
• Is it kid-generated and kid-constructed?
• Is student ownership and pride evident?
• Have prototypes and a best parts list been created?
• Have teacher/students set criteria for quality work, with clear expectations for process and product? (structure before activity)
• Have students critiqued and revised the frieze to promote quality?
• Is the frieze is up and completed as soon as possible to keep the story moving and interest high?
• Is the frieze is alive and continually growing and changing with the story?
• Is it a working backdrop for incidents?
• Does it provide a site for character interaction and story development?
• Are writing, poetry, and vocabulary lessons included?

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4. Characters

Guiding Questions

• Has the teacher selected one of the following types of characters to best fit the Storyline?
  1. fictitious characters that the students create and develop
  2. characters playing a defined role (students as themselves)
  3. multiple characters through which students view the story (book based study)
• Do the characters fit naturally into the story and have a vital purpose?
• Are they easy for students to identify with?
• Do the characters enhance the story and bring it to life through active daily roles and meaningful activities?
• Do the characters create a strong Storyline community?
• Have students developed and expanded the story through the eyes of their character?
• Do the characters explore the affective as well as the cognitive domain?
• Do they develop and change as the story moves along?
• Are characters developed and kept alive by students throughout the Storyline?
• Have students gathered information about charactersʼ physical characteristics, clothing, occupations, etc. through research and detailed study?
• Have teacher/students set criteria for quality work, with clear expectations for process and product? (structure !before activity)
• Have biographies been written and characters introduced?
• Have activities been included for characters to get to know each other?
• Has a routine been established for getting in character?
• Are opportunities provided for characters to develop as the story moves along?

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5. Rhythms and Rules

Guiding Questions

Rhythms

• Have students built background about the daily lives of their characters through research, discussion and practical activities?
• Have students envisioned their characterʼs way of life and defined patterns? (seasonal, weekly, daily, etc.)
• Have the rhythms been designed to fit the unique narrative of the Storyline? (in a single episode, integrated within, or both)
• Have students developed their own conceptual model of their characterʼs actions, thoughts, feelings, interactions, experiences, etc. within the rhythm cycle?
• Do the rhythm activities allow for student speculation and anticipation?
• Have teacher/students set criteria for quality work, with clear expectations for process and product? (structure before activity)
• Does the Storyline offer choices for students to explore the daily rhythms of their characters using a variety of modalities? (art, drama, kinesthetic movement, etc.)
• Did students develop and enrich the story by sharing their rhythms piece with their fellow characters in the story?

Rules (for some Storylines)

• Has a question or problem led to a consideration of possible rules/laws or modes of behavior?
• Have students created a list of valuable rules for their community, effectively exploring reasons and desired outcomes?

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