Story Rope

I have meant to post about this project for some time now. This story rope is something I made at the very end of last year. The images (except for the cabbage patch kids picture) are all hand-drawn by yours truly. I based it off of something I saw on pinterest from a teacher's blog. It was a great idea to use for reading comprehension and has grown into so much more in my room. 

The colors of my story rope are somewhat aligned to the colorful semantics system. The kids learn about orange words for people and my "orange"/peach question word is who? Blue for place is also blue for where? The sequence pattern is like a stop light. The kids can refer to the rope that hangs against my blackboard or the flip book that I toss on the table during sessions. I don't really mind which one they use as long as they start making that connection. The kids love having a choice. 

We use the story rope for answering comprehension questions, sequencing events, and developing our own sentences. I usually try to point to the associated item as I ask the question with the younger crowd. The older ones don't always need the reminder. 

Here is a computerized version using Microsoft Word clip art that I made. I'm not good at making stuff on the computer and don't have access to a scanner. There are much better versions such as this Wizard of Oz one and this basic one. Just search for "retelling rope" on google. (P.S. just saw this on Ms. Jocelyn's Speech page minutes after I made this post. I always seem to do this...lol)

Inside the flip book

Retell gloves are another great method to teach this skill. Here is one example. You can even make them with real gloves like this one or this one (which also explains how they align with Common Core). I am in the process of gathering supplies to make my own using felt and dollar store gloves. It's a cheap way to bring stories to life.