Activity

1. Read some of the short story You’re The Boss by E.L. Norry out loud to the class in the anthology Happy Here: 10 Stories from Black British Authors – making sure the class get to vote when given options.

2. Discuss how this story is a little bit different to other fiction – why? Answer: It is in a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ format where the reader gets given options to decide what the character does next and is in the second-person present tense.

3. In pairs or groups of three, challenge students to create their own mini-story in this format. Give them 2 minutes to agree on an opening setting and a premise. For example:

  • You get to school and discover nobody else is there, it is totally deserted.
  • You find a bag of lots of money hidden in a cupboard of your house.
  • On the way home from school, you see what looks like a spaceship, fall from the sky.

4. One person becomes ‘The Boss’, verbally telling a story to the group in just 5 minutes but at intervals, giving the other(s) in the group/pair a choice (between 3 and 5 choices is a good number to aim for). Based on the choices, The Boss comes up with the next part of the story. They can include some interesting description but the emphasis here is on plot and action.

5. They could do this just verbally, or if you want them to write up the story later, provide them with a large sheet of paper and a pen to write down a ‘flow-chart’ (which may help if working in groups of 3 and allows them to make different choices!).

Reflection

  • How did it feel not knowing where the story was going? Did the turns the story took surprise you? How?

Go Further

Allow the members of the group/pair to swap over so someone else is The Boss and challenge them to try and finish the story. Have them write up the story so someone can read and play along - creating a flow chart with the choices first will help with this.

Imaginative: Using Intuition

Working collaboratively, students are challenged to think on their feet coming up with ideas / making choices without knowing the outcome of where they are going in advance.

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A New Direction
Teaching for Creativity

Make Your Own Adventure

Activity

1. Read some of the short story You’re The Boss by E.L. Norry out loud to the class in the anthology Happy Here: 10 Stories from Black British Authors – making sure the class get to vote when given options.

2. Discuss how this story is a little bit different to other fiction – why? Answer: It is in a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ format where the reader gets given options to decide what the character does next and is in the second-person present tense.

3. In pairs or groups of three, challenge students to create their own mini-story in this format. Give them 2 minutes to agree on an opening setting and a premise. For example:

  • You get to school and discover nobody else is there, it is totally deserted.
  • You find a bag of lots of money hidden in a cupboard of your house.
  • On the way home from school, you see what looks like a spaceship, fall from the sky.

4. One person becomes ‘The Boss’, verbally telling a story to the group in just 5 minutes but at intervals, giving the other(s) in the group/pair a choice (between 3 and 5 choices is a good number to aim for). Based on the choices, The Boss comes up with the next part of the story. They can include some interesting description but the emphasis here is on plot and action.

5. They could do this just verbally, or if you want them to write up the story later, provide them with a large sheet of paper and a pen to write down a ‘flow-chart’ (which may help if working in groups of 3 and allows them to make different choices!).

Reflection

  • How did it feel not knowing where the story was going? Did the turns the story took surprise you? How?

Go Further

Allow the members of the group/pair to swap over so someone else is The Boss and challenge them to try and finish the story. Have them write up the story so someone can read and play along - creating a flow chart with the choices first will help with this.

Imaginative: Using Intuition

Working collaboratively, students are challenged to think on their feet coming up with ideas / making choices without knowing the outcome of where they are going in advance.

Key Stage 2
https://anewdirection.org.uk/teaching-for-creativity-taster-cards