Final Narrative Portfolio

As teachers are encouraging kindergartners to finish final portfolio pieces, Debbie Harbour and Beth Stessen-Reuter shared a set of narrative papers that their class just finished. To jump start the class' imagination the teachers encouraged the children to choose foam cut-outs of princes, princesses, castles and dragons to use as their characters and setting and on their cover. The students named these their "sticker stories." I wish I could share the entire set of papers, but I have chosen one as a sample of the best five. Julia's story certainly exceeds the kindergarten standard! It includes characters and setting, a story with problem and solution, a sequence of events that makes sense and even includes dialogue! It certainly shows stamina and fluency with so many conventions mastered at such an early age. Julia even uses three of the vocabulary words that the class has studied, which are underlined. It is amazing what kindergartners can do when instruction is developmentally appropriate and provides for differentiation!

Once upon a time far, far away, there

lived a princess. Her name was Rose. She

was beautiful. Her dream was to

have a prince of her own - not to

share - just for protection and for

love! Her father, the King, said he

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would get her one. So... one day

he did get her a prince! but her

father said, "It will take two weeks

for him to travel." Two weeks!" she

yelled, but then she got sidetracked.

There was a witch outside. "Daddy!"

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yelling frightened. "Not right now

Pretty Pumpkin." "But...but Daddy, there's a

witch outside!" "A witch!" yelled

the King. Running over he hugged

the frightened Princess. "No!" The

witch was putting a spell on them.

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Suddenly they were rocks. And

there was a knock on the castle door. It was

the Prince! The King Rock said, "I

thought he'd come in two weeks!"

"I hope he doesn't see us like this!"

said the Princess (and guess what he saw?

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Them!) "What strange rocks are these?"

Then he saw the witch laughing. "So

you turned them into rocks," said

the Prince. The witch replied, "Yes." Then

she swooshed away on her broomstick.

"How will I turn them back?"

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he wondered. "And anyway how

can I marry a rock?" Suddenly a

dragon swooshed and took the two rocks.

"Hey man those are my rocks!" The

Prince grabbed the dragon's leg.

The dragon flew out of the

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window. The Prince was still holding

on (as) the dragon blew fire at the Prince,

but the Prince blocked with his sword. The

dragon flew around mountains and finally

the dragon found his laboratory. He

locked the Prince up...with rope.

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The prince took his sword and cut

the rope and stabbed the dragon, got

one rock and kissed it. It turned back

into the Princess. He hugged the other.

It turned into the King! Then the

Prince and the Princess went

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back to the castle and married. And

lived happily...ever...after.