Making Story Outlines

Key Concepts: genre, setting, characters, plot, outline
Time: 45 minutes
Resources: 1 copy of Sample Story Outline per student OR this material on an overhead, white board & markers

Presentation: Elements of a Story Outline (15 minutes)

Genre

Ask students, "What does genre mean?" Elicit answers from students. If they are unable to define it, you can tell them it means "type."

Ask, "Can you think of different movie genres?" Write student responses on the board. Responses may include romance, horror, documentary, western, science fiction, comedy, action, adventure, musical, etc.

After writing all the responses on the board, say, "It's the same thing with books! Just like we have different types of movies, we have different types of stories. Can you think of what types of stories there are?" Again write the answers on the board and compare them to the movie categories. Inform students that whenever they want to start writing a story they should first decide the genre.

Setting

Say, "The setting answers the questions where and when." Explain that when writing a story we need to describe the place."

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