Lessons using Stories of Big Sister Dog

M does two things on a near non-stop basis: (1) tell stories and (2) talk about Big Sister Dog. Big Sister Dog has been her imaginary friend for well nigh a year now. Big Sister Dog is blue with rainbow eyes. She has a long neck so that she can eat the clouds, and she is a super hero dog that rescues baby dogs and children.

So after learning how to read using the book Teach Your Child How to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, M started writing stories, sounding out the words and writing the sounds she heard. I wanted to coach her to write evenly across the page, and I wanted to improve her spelling without getting her bogged down with spelling lessons. She is only 5, and I think that can wait until 1st grade.

So using special writing paper designed for preschoolers, I wrote several stories using the imaginary character Big Sister Dog. I put a title on the first page so that it would seem like a real book, and I wrote every other line so that she could have space to copy my words. Then, I left the backs of every page blank so that she could add pictures.

This accomplishes several things without me hovering because that seems to squelch her desire to write:

(1) drawing letters legibly
(2) learning word order, spacing, sizing, and keeping everything on a straight line
(3) writing the words of the story with proper spelling
(4) developing language skills with a fresh story that interests her
(5) using creativity by illustrating the stories herself

Here are two of my stories. You can replace Big Sister Dog with a character of your own.

Big Sister Dog and the Tornado
One day there was a tornado. The fire chief called Big Sister Dog to rescue some baby dogs from the tornado. When Big Sister Dog arrived, the tornado was coming close. Big Sister Dog was not scared. She just opened her mouth and swallowed it. The tornado did not hurt her. It just made her grow taller and stronger. The End.


Big Sister Dog and the Missing Bone
One day, Big Sister Dog lost her bone in the forest. She sniffed all over until she caught its scent. The trail led up the mountain to a dragon lair. The dragon was chewing the bone. Oh no! Big Sister Dog tried to back up, but she tripped and made a loud noise. The Dragon said, "Please share my bone with me." So Big Sister Dog and the Dragon were friends forever. The End.