Beginning, Middle & End

A child develops language skills long before being able to speak.  In the same way, children develop literacy skills long before they are able to read.  Reading to your child creates a lasting impact on your child’s pre-reading and literacy skills.  This month we are learning to recognize a story’s beginning, middle, and end.  The beginning of a story is often where we meet the main characters.  The main character usually comes across a problem in the middle of the story.  At the end of the story, the main character has figured out a solution to the problem.  Sometimes, the main character has changed from the beginning to the end of the story in some way. Support these literacy skills by adding on to your storytime experience.

 

Age-appropriate Adaptations:

  • Two-year-olds—After reading a book to your child, use the illustrations to review the beginning and end of the story. What has changed from the beginning to the end?
  • Three-year-olds—After storytime, see if your child can point to a picture from the beginning of the story (near the front of the book). Ask him to describe what happened next.  What problem did the main character face?  How did she overcome it?  How did she change in the end?
  • Four-/Five-year-olds—After reading with your child, encourage him to draw three pictures—one for each part of the story. See if your child can put the pictures in order. Then, you can attach the three pictures together to create a storyboard.

 

Skills Supported: story knowledge (plot, main characters), sequencing, fine motor skills (drawing)