STUDENT ENGAGEMENT:

Stories are so important to people that the basic structure is part of our social DNA. People have certain expectations for stories that they hear and when those expectations are not met, it can cause an audience to lose interest. It may seem silly to say, but at the most basic level, effective stories must have a beginning, a middle and an end. Without any one of these specific parts, it makes it difficult for an audience to identify that a story is even being attempted. This is as true for classic tales as it is for stories about what happened to you over the weekend.

 

Ask students to think about streaming services and the descriptions that they provide for movies. They can’t tell you the whole story, and provide just the parts that they think are important enough to grab your attention. These are called “movie blurbs.”

Sometimes they’re great. Sometimes, not so much.

 

Explain that today, they are going to be creating movie blurbs for movies, but trying to find a balance between providing an adequate amount of information about a movie or story, while also making it a challenge for the class to identify the movie or story they are describing. Give the examples from the “Movie Blurbs - Examples” sheet and see if the class can identify the stories.

 

Give the class five minutes to write their own movie blurb and ask them to share. As the class is working, explain that sometimes leaving out one of those key parts of a story – the beginning, middle or end – can make it more challenging to identify.

 

DIGGING IN:

Explain to the students that their favorite stories probably have a main character that ends up at a very different place at the end than at the beginning. Ask students to think about where they were when they were very young. Then, think about the person they are today. Of course, they are very different. The things that got them from that place to this? That’s their story. These are the things that change a person. It’s what defines a person. It’s a testament to the students’ abilities, accomplishments, and capacity to change and grow.

 

The ability to tell your own story is an essential skill in building the connections that will lead to success in pursuing a career. The class will work through the process of building a framework for telling their story together.

 

Pass out copies of the “Your Story Planner” and ask the students to think back to the person they were many years ago. In the “hook” section at the top of the sheet, students should write a few sentences that describe where they started and an important life event that changed them. These should emphasize description and grabbing the audience’s attention.

 

Next, ask students to take a moment to think about that life-changing event described in the hook. If they had to describe the one major lesson they learned from this event, what would it be? Have the students take a moment to write one sentence that describes this lesson and explains how it has been a driving force in their development over the years. This sentence is their thesis.

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Again, all stories must have a beginning, middle and an end. For the purposes of their own story, students might be wise to tweak this just a bit: a past, a present and a future.

 

On the second page of the planner, students will find a template for the three body paragraphs to build their story. Filling them in should be easy, because they are all about the student! For the first paragraph, students should think about the person they were when they started, and the challenges faced along the way. For the second paragraph, they should think about the person they are now, and how they have incorporated the knowledge they’ve gained from those experiences into everyday life. Finally, in the third paragraph, students should think about how this knowledge will continue to guide them into the future as a college student and into their careers.

 

At this point students should have a good idea of the story they want to tell and the message that they want to convey to the audience. As they work on tying all of these details together in their story, remind them to use descriptive, active language. Students should steer away from simply telling what happened. Encourage the use of sense words such as sights, smells, and textures to engage readers.

 

Even with all of the work students have put into the planning, if they ended their story here, it would leave the audience hanging. Students need to include an ending to bring everything to a close. The purpose of this closing is to offer a personal reflection on students’ experiences and to share why they have been meaningful.

 

On the last page of the planner, students will see a simple template to help them get started on a closing. Students should not feel that they have to use the sentence that they create exactly as it is. It is a tool to help get the juices flowing and to start solidifying thoughts.

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INTO ACTION:

The introduction and planner activity will probably take at least a full class period, maybe a bit more. Once the planner is completed, students can work on pulling their story together into a formatted, personal essay. Including time for independent and peer editing, the process will probably take up to three full class periods.

 

Allowing students time to share their stories with one another or presenting them in class will give students a chance to begin internalizing these stories. This may a be a good time to explain to students that they are in the process of building a box of tools that they will soon be using to engage with adult professionals in an in-person interview setting. Their resume and their personal story will build the basis for their interactions in this setting. Making sure that their story is exactly how they want to tell it and that it is engaging soo it will position them well for a successful interview process.