Circular Story Mapping

By: Lora Hammon & Lily Serrano

What is circular story mapping?

• Circular story- Is a story that begins and ends in the same place. (i.e. If You Gave a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff)

• Mapping- A story map is a visual depiction of the settings or the sequence of major events and actions of story characters.

How does this strategy aid reading comprehension?

• to enhance students' interpretative abilities by enabling them to visualize story characters, events and settings

• to increase students' comprehension of selections by organizing and sequencing main story events

• to develop students' sense of story which will assist storytelling, retelling and writing

• to increase students' awareness that story characters and events are interrelated

Story Map Legend

Resolution

Plot Problem

Characters

Setting

Story

How to teach it:• Introduce story mapping as a collaborative activity. • Introduce this strategy using a story with an

uncomplicated plot. • Read the selection to students. • Encourage students to visualize the characters, settings

and events as they listen. • Discuss and chart the main characters and story events. • Review the chart, focusing students' attention on the

sequence of main events. • Emphasize what happened first, next, and then . . . . • As students agree upon the order of listed events,

number these in sequence.

How to teach it: (cont’d)• Individuals or groups could each illustrate one story

event. • Display completed illustrations in sequence. • This pattern or framework can be used for retelling the

story. • Students can retell the story for their own enjoyment, to

a partner, to a small group or to the class. • Story illustrations can be displayed in a vertical or a

horizontal sequence, in a circular pattern or as a winding trail that traces the movements of the characters.

• Once students become familiar with this procedure, they can create a sequence of illustrations that will provide an outline for storytelling or for writing original stories.

Circular Story Mapping example of Where The Wild Things Are

By Maurice Sendak

Circular Story Mapping

Max is sent to his roomwith no supper for misbehaving.

They have an eye staring contest which Max wins and is named king

of all Wild Things. But Max feelslonely and travels back home.

Max is back in his room andwaiting for him on the table is his dinner that was still warm.

His room turns into a jungle and he travels on a boat to were the Wild Things are.

Grade Levels • Can be adaptive to grades K-6th

• Children are at varying levels of cognitive development (Piaget).

• Kindergarten through Second grade

– Preoperational: Begin the use of primitive and concrete reasoning. (symbols and images)

• Third & Fourth grade

– Concrete Operational & Inductive Reasoning: begin thinking logically about concrete events.

• Fifth & Sixth grade

– Formal operations & Deductive Reasoning: Ability to hypothesize and mentally manipulate information (abstract thought).

• Focus on the basic elements.– Beginning, Middle and End– Main Characters can be added

Rainbow Fish Finds His Way

By: Marcus Pfister

Rainbow Fish is back homeRainbow Fish

is Lost

Gathering Pebbles Near

His Home

Kindergarten through 2nd Grade

3rd & 4th Grades

• Focus on the series of major events and actions. – First event, next event, next event, next event

Add setting, main characters, problem and solution

An Example of a 3rd Graders Circular Story Map

5th and 6th Grades

• Focus on the elements of a story and how they are interrelated. – Plot, Setting, Main Character, Supporting

Characters, Problem and Solution

References

• About.Com Retrieved on May 21, 2011. From:http://psychology.about.com/od/piagetstheory/p/preoperational.htm

• Primary School by Suite 101

http://www.suite101.com/content/teach-elementary-kids-about-circular-stories-a212382

• Saskatoon Public Schools http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/de/pd/instr/strats/storymapping/index.html

• Vecca et all. (2009). Reading and Learning to Read. Pearson Education In. Seventh edition