There are some really lovely children's stories in YouTube as your probably well know. Some of these demonstrate the stages of a story really well especially the most simple structure of beginning, middle and end. But today I want us to analyse these stories for the What If method. As you know every story has to have a problem/conflict of some sort to hold the interest of the reader. This problem is somehow resolved in the story.
"Conflict, struggle, overcoming obstacles, both inside and outside, are the primary ingredients in all drama," says Syd Fields.
In the 'What if' method you can actually start with the problem and then build your story from there. So, here are three stories. look through them and try to work out the 'What if'' method for each one.
1. Owl Stories by Martin Waddell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJe0WupukAw
2. Handa’s Surprise by Eileene Browne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyIV_xYi0as
3. Handa’s Hen by Eileen Browne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyIV_xYi0as
Let's analyse ‘Owl Stories’ by Martin Waddell
Let’s see how a problem was brought in and resolved to make this beautiful story so appealing. I’ll use the following story structure:
What if question? 'What if the mother of new baby owls didn't come back from hunting for food?'
1. Beginning: The babies are in their nest
2. Middle. A problem is introduced
a) Mother Owl doesn’t come back.
b) The baby owls start searching in the dark woods
c) They discuss where they think Mommy could be
3. The end: The problem is resolved – Mommy comes back and finds them.
A couple of tasks
"Conflict, struggle, overcoming obstacles, both inside and outside, are the primary ingredients in all drama," says Syd Fields.
In the 'What if' method you can actually start with the problem and then build your story from there. So, here are three stories. look through them and try to work out the 'What if'' method for each one.
1. Owl Stories by Martin Waddell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJe0WupukAw
2. Handa’s Surprise by Eileene Browne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyIV_xYi0as
3. Handa’s Hen by Eileen Browne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyIV_xYi0as
Let's analyse ‘Owl Stories’ by Martin Waddell
Let’s see how a problem was brought in and resolved to make this beautiful story so appealing. I’ll use the following story structure:
What if question? 'What if the mother of new baby owls didn't come back from hunting for food?'
1. Beginning: The babies are in their nest
2. Middle. A problem is introduced
a) Mother Owl doesn’t come back.
b) The baby owls start searching in the dark woods
c) They discuss where they think Mommy could be
3. The end: The problem is resolved – Mommy comes back and finds them.
A couple of tasks
- Why not take one of the other stories and see if you can analyse them in this simple format to see if there was a problem or conflict introduced and resolved and how it impacted the story.
- Try thinking of your own 'What if' question and build a story from that.
- Watching a video like one of the top three is a great way of getting kids to start their own stories - show the video and then get the kids to think of their own variations on the story. Try getting them to think of a 'What if' question.
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