Story Mountains were introduced at the beginning of the year in both Reading and Writing class. This strategy helps students to visually see how a story is built and also the steps needed to build a story.
Students and teachers can use this screen cast to practice story mountains either in the classroom or during their lab time. Students will follow the cast with either their hard copy or screen copy in the lab and fill out the mountain along with the cast. Students will be able to review this skill over and over from home or school on their own time through the classroom homepage.
This lesson will actually be used after students have learned the many pieces needed to build an adventure story through their adventure unit. This would become an Independent Practice activity with some "Think-Pair-Share" time during Writing Workshop.
Story Mountains are taught and used within our MAISA Writing Units that are aligned with the Common Core.
Issues to Consider:
One issue to consider is when to use this cast. It could be used for your fast learners who are ready for the next step and do not need a teacher or para one-on-one to get started.
Another issue could be the technology, a teacher using this screen cast would have to have the projector or lab capabilities in order for this cast to be successful.
Finally, the whole strategy of "Story Mountain" would have to be already taught prior to this lesson. This is definitely a lesson taught after much practice.
Copyright:
Nicksay, D. (Producer) (2003). Agent cody banks [Theater]. Available from http://www.mgm.com/