Cycle Stories

Ask students to combine informational and narrative writing to tell a story about the adventures of the "main character" in a scientific cycle.

Engage

Read a story like Iggy Boulder and the Rock Cycle or share a cycle story video to show students how information about a scientific cycle might be shared through a narrative story.

If you teach in primary grades, have students create a digital story on insect life cycles. For elementary students, focus on moon phases, planetary orbits, or the water cycle. Intermediate to middle-grade students can explore topics like the rock cycle, carbon cycle, plate tectonics, or cell division.

Create

Allow students to form teams around a cycle they are most interested in and use a mind map or cycle organizer to demonstrate their understanding of each stages in the cycle.

5 Stage Cycle Organizer

To help students adopt a first-person perspective for the cycle's main character, have them use an empathy map to explore what the character thinks, hears, thinks, and feels.

Empathy Map

Students can organize their writing by stages, using a storyboard to help them divide events into different pages or scenes.

Storyboard Template

Have students start a new blank file and add text to tell the story. They can use the paint and drawing tools to support their writing and the microphone to record narration on each page.

Share

Sharing student work will motivate students to research accurately and write creatively. Organize an event or two where students have an opportunity to show off their work.

If students have published comics, print and display them around your classroom and school. If they have created animations or videos, show them at an assembly or during morning video announcements.

Assessment

This project is an ideal performance task and summative assessment for evaluating students' comprehension. You can check for misunderstandings immediately with the cycle organizer and review storyboards and stories to track their progress.

Resources

Michael Ross. Earth Cycles ISBN: 0761319778

Veronica Lopez. Iggy Boulder: And The Rock Cycle. ISBN: 147920773X

Standards

Common Core Standards for English Language Arts

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CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.2
Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.2a
Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories as appropriate to achieving purpose; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

Next Generation Science Standards

5-LS2-1
Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.

MS-LS2-3
Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

MS-ESS2-4
Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.