Unit Plan 8 (Grade K ELA): Oral Storytelling with Pictures
Kindergarten writing unit: students create small-moment oral stories by drawing and dictating real-life events, describing who, where, and what happened in order, and expressing feelings with complete sentences.
Focus: Small-moment oral tales; draw + dictate events
Grade Level: Kindergarten
Subject Area: English Language Arts (Writing • Speaking/Listening • Language)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
This week children become oral storytellers. They’ll “zoom in” on a small moment from real life (one trip down the slide, one fall-and-help, one birthday candle wish), then draw to plan and dictate/tell what happened. We’ll model beginning → middle → end talk with clear who/where/what and a simple reaction, using sentence frames to support complete sentences.
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to…
- Narrate a single event (small moment) using drawing and dictating/oral storytelling with a sense of order and a simple reaction (W.K.3).
- Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details in a short oral share; add detail with prompting (SL.K.4).
- Produce and expand complete sentences when speaking about their pictures, using frames (L.K.1f).
Standards Alignment — CCSS Kindergarten
- W.K.3 Use drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events; tell about the events in order and provide a reaction.
- SL.K.4 Describe familiar people, places, things, and events with detail; provide additional detail with prompting.
- L.K.1f Produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities.
Success Criteria — student language
- I can tell who and where my story happens.
- I can tell what happened in order (first/then/finally).
- I can say one feeling or reaction (e.g., “I felt proud.”).
- I can speak in a complete sentence using a frame.