This page has various in-class resources that are examples that can be used to help aspiring and current educators start to plan how to initiate the choose-your-own-adventure stories project in their own classrooms.
- Choose_your_Own_Adventure_Stories (Guidelines, tips, and general process) [Provided by Chelsea Faase]
- Example Template [Provided by Chelsea Faase]
- Student Roles
- Character Creation Worksheet
- Process for Writing Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Story
One interesting way to get students started with brainstorming ideas for a story is by using Rory’s Story Cubes. The Story Cubes are a set of dice (usually nine die) that have different images on each side of each die. Students can take turns rolling the dice and making a small story using all of the images shown on the dice they have rolled. This can be used as an introduction game to the CYOA Project. Playing this game will help students begin to brainstorm ideas for stories they could write and have them start to critically think about what they need to do in order to make a story logical and not just a string of words.
There are also many different ways this project can be implemented so that students can build on their creative writing and thinking skills. Hyperstudio Author or similar programs, a few of which are shown under the Different Sources tab on the menu, can be used. Aside from having students create their own stories, some additional suggestions are listed below.
- Decisions, Decisions
- This is a simulation game where students make choices that lead to different routes depending on what they chose
- It encourages analyzing abilities and decision making skills
- If students made the simulation prompts, they would use a process very similar to the CYOA creation process in order to create proper routes with consequences
- Retell a historical event
- Virtual science fair
- Study guides
- Self-introductions
- Choose-your-own-adventure story that talks about different mammals/animals
- Describing an ecosystem
- Advertise for a product/business
- Book talking about different countries
- Alphabet book
- Vocabulary book
- Class yearbook/magazine/newspaper
- Biography of a famous person/historical figure
- Comic books
Even just the process of assigning roles can be applied to other challenges. Having students choose roles and take responsibility for that role is an essential aspect of many different activities. Educators can have students choose roles and set up a mini-society in their classroom. Class ‘chores’, such as being line leader or being the student who goes to get the milk for snack, can also be given through this method. Assigning roles can not only help students take responsibility for their part of a project, but it can also keep the classroom more organized.
The link below can direct you to the Different Sources page that has a couple different domains and programs that can be used to create multimedia stories instead of Hyperstudio Author or MediaBlender.
