{story planning map}

Mrs. Wills (http://www.mrswillskindergarten.com/) had an idea similar to this on her blog, geared specifically for kindergarten.

My firsties were ready for something a little more when prepping their stories, so thanks to Erika and her super awesome Pirates Not Allowed kit, I was able to create this:

Throw in a little treasure hunt (complete with a map of course, so you don't get lost!) at the start of your writing lesson, and your kiddos will begin to understand the importance of using a map to guide their writing.

We spent a few extra minutes talking about WHY pirates need a treasure map, and WHY we need a map when we start to write a story.  I used a couple of examples from previous years where students had started a story and within that story told other stories and never finished the first story.  The kids were laughing and thought it was pretty funny.  And then they read some of their own writing. . .ha, ha!  Point for me!  :)

The only downside is that a very few of my firsties were then fixated on the pirate theme and ONLY wanted to write pirate stories.  Of course, they were writing, so really, is it a downside?  ;)

Image is linked to the pdf download.

Enjoy!