Objective:
The students will write a story focusing on the elements of setting, characters, and plot.

Materials

• Three paper plate spinners - made with paper plates, paper fasteners, and tag board arrows for spinners.  

• Paper and writing utensils

• Spinning a Tale Worksheet (for older students)

• A story containing a spider (optional)

Procedure

1. Make the spinners ahead of time.  One of the spinners should have settings for stories on it, another should contain characters, and the last should have general plots on it.  Some examples of characters: 1. spider, fly, and horse 2. spider, the child, a giant...Examples of settings: 1. a farm 2. the child's house 3. a forest...Examples of plots: 1. meeting for the first time  2. finding a magic rock  3. sharing a toy...

2. Have a discussion on the elements of a story - setting, characters, and plot.  If desired, read a story containing a spider and identify the different elements.

3. Allow each student to have a turn spinning the 3 spinners.  Use the term "spinning a tale".  For younger students, work as a class to spin the spinners and make a whole class story which can be recorded on chart paper.

4. Older students may record their elements on the Spinning a Tale Worksheet.

5. Based on the elements the students have spun, they should then write a story.

6. Younger students may draw pictures of the story once the teacher has recorded the story on chart paper.

Other Lesson Ideas

1. Start reading Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.

2. Read a book containing a spider and make a story web of what happened in the book.

3. Read any of the Anansi the Spider books and discuss legends and  oral tradition.