Here is a storyboard format that has really worked well with our twelve (12) year old daughter.
We have settled down over time to this short list of questions that has really worked for her. Other types of writing prompts simply did not work. She loves to draw, loves animal stories, and is far more visually oriented than her brothers. But this list of questions she uses has really gotten her to daily and consistently write her own short stories.
So if you have a child who is not the verbal chatty type, but with more arts-oriented skills, you might find this format very refreshing. Please feel free to share and print this list with others:
- What type of animal is your character?
- What is your character’s name? Explain and draw a picture of him.
- What does the character want to have happen? Explain and draw a picture.
- What’s a difficult thing that happened before the character got what he or she wanted? Explain and draw a picture.
- How did the character overcome the problem? Explain and draw a picture.
- How does the story end differently, but in a better way than what the character wanted to first happen? Explain and draw a picture.
