Now that the first weeks of school are complete, many students are beginning to move into Unit 3, Retelling Narrative Stories. After Units 1 and 2 where students created key word outlines from every sentence in a paragraph, Unit 3 presents a new way of creating the outline—through asking questions that are supplied by a Story Sequence Chart. 
The change in note-taking can sometimes present a challenge for the student. In Podcast 158, Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker take some time to discuss Unit 3 and provide strategies for teaching students so that they are successful in the endeavor.
Unit 3 teaches students to take a narrative source of any length and write a 3-paragraph composition based upon it. The source could be one paragraph, such as an Aesop fable, a narrative poem, such as “Casey at the Bat,” or a longer work, such as a novel or even a movie. In the beginning, students craft their compositions using shorter models, but as their skills expand, they can explore writing their compositions using longer models.
If you are teaching this model or are about to, listen to this podcast to gain some helpful strategies for teaching this fun and creative unit. It will be sure to encourage and equip you!
