Are you looking for an engaging and fun way to get your kids writing this holiday season? Look no further than this post. These FREE Christmas story cubes are sure to be a smashing hit for elementary students of all ages and levels of abilities. This free downloadable activity contains four pages in total.
When you print this set out, students will be able to cut and assemble the three Christmas cubes, each containing either a character, an action, or a location. Also included is a worksheet for students to use alongside the cubes. As soon as you have a pencil and the worksheet and the cubes have been put together, you are ready to begin! For the most creative Christmas story you have ever come up with, just roll the cubes and select a character, an action, and a location for your story. Then, feel free to go wild with it!
The only rules are that your story must contain a logical sequence (i.e. a beginning, a middle, and an end) and it must also incorporate the three items that were face up on the cubes when you rolled them (one character, one action, and one location). Connect the three elements in whichever way you choose, and when you are finished writing your Christmas masterpiece, simply print another copy of the beginning, middle, end sheet and roll again.
This activity is endlessly reusable with so many different possible variations possible. After having students write, encourage them to read their stories aloud to you or to the group, if applicable. Sharing personal writing increases confidence and self-efficacy, is a great way to practice speaking in front of a group of people, and also ensures the Christmas hilarity gets to be shared with everyone. If you are teaching the parts of a story for the first time, this activity would also be a wonderful way to help students understand what happens in each section of a story.
Having the worksheet laid out in this simple format helps students to more fully wrap their minds around the fact that all stories are laid out in a similar manner, even though the subject matter can vary greatly. All stories begin with an introduction, then comes the problem, and finally the resolution. This activity can lend itself greatly to teaching these components of storytelling as well as other essential parts of a story like characters and setting (location).
It could also be a practice in identifying parts of speech like nouns (characters) and verbs (actions). There is no end to the creativity you can have with this freebie, so download today and enjoy watching your students learn to love writing time again.
