Haws, Toni

Reading or Writing Strategy

Name of Strategy: Story Map
Common Core Standard: RL.1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a
story, using key details.
Description of Strategy: This strategy allows students to organize the characters, the
setting, plot, and any major events in a story. It provides a clear visual to help students
better understand what happened during a story, especially important events.
How strategy is taught: This strategy is usually given as a blank template to the student.
The student is asked to list characters in one bubble, the setting in another, and major
events in the last bubble. Additional bubbles may be added to give a better understanding
on beginning, middle, and end as well as any other details the teacher may want the
student to recognize.
How strategy addresses students needs: It is a great help for students to be given
something visual to better understand something especially a story. Many struggle with
comprehension after reading a story, but using a story map allows the student to
graphically organize the details from the story and recall important information.