An Experiment in Cut Paper Narratives

by Nadine Marx
4th Grade, Auke Bay Elementary

Too often I see a blank stare on my students’ faces when they are tasked with writing. The pressure of an assignment empties their brains of ideas and they don’t know how to start.
After participating in Jamin Carter’s workshop, Cut Paper: A Pathway to Creative Writing, I was excited to try his way of warming up students by integrating art into the writing process. Students would learn about art elements (shape, size, color, space) and create a piece of art using construction paper, scissors, and glue, and in doing so, would plan the setting, characters, and problem in a story before being asked to write a well-developed narrative.
Before teaching Jamin’s lesson, I led students through mini-lessons on story structure, problem and solution, figurative language, and how to write and punctuate dialogue. Then, over two days, I taught Jamin’s lessons as scripted in the materials provided at the workshop. Students enjoyed learning the gestures that went along with the art elements. They loved playing Pass the Setting, and were excited that they would create their own picture of a problem that they would write about.
On Day 3, I was surprised (and delighted) that most students had no problem thinking of a problem to illustrate, and were able to get right to creating a picture. One student needed some time to think of a problem, but then easily finished his picture within the time given. Students were asked to create a paper scene of the problem, or the middle of their story, showing setting, time of day, characters, and lastly, give a hint as to how the problem might be solved.

On Day 4, students got started with their narrative writing. I was clear about my expectations, showing them a scoring guide I would use to evaluate their writing (thinkSRSD.com). Because of increasing expectations for 4th graders to type responses on assessments, I provided a google doc for students’ writing. Three of 23 students opted to write their story in their journals, while the others typed.

When students had their first draft of their story done, I asked them to complete an “Exit Ticket”  on Google Forms about the project. I asked if they finished their art, if the art helped them plan their story, if the art helped them write their story, and if they would like to do this again. Questions 2-4 were answerable on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being on the No end, and 5 meaning Yes. Offering these choices may have been a mistake, since students gave a lot of 3s, making data less telling. After reviewing answers, I printed the individual forms, allowing space at the bottom for a written explanation of their answer. This was more helpful. But because I was asking students for multiple edits and rewrites, most written comments were harping on the amount of work this project was. Apparently they did not like to edit. A few written comments expressed the students’ enjoyment of the project.

My own observational data led me to believe that creating the picture of the problem before writing the story was highly effective. Students had created the setting, characters, and problem and had thought about the solution before starting to write. I thought that students seemed to be writing their stories more quickly, and just as I had felt that the story flowed out of my pen after having done most of the thinking and planning beforehand during the workshop, I thought that students’ writing seemed to be an easier process for them. I did not see students staring blankly at the screen or page, and if they were, it was because they were trying to think about how to satisfy the expectations of the scoring guide.
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Would I do this again? Absolutely! It did take a good bit of class time to teach the art concepts and go through practice to get them ready for their part. My class worked on this during the last week of March, and had we done this earlier in the school year, we could have had more opportunities to create additional cut paper stories and write them. At this late date, we had to finish assessments and complete the last of our 4th grade tasks. Next year, I would teach this in August or September, and use the strategy several times throughout the year, making the time invested in the background knowledge more useful.

Trapped!
By L.T.
4th Grade Auke Bay student

One regular school day at Harborview Elementary, a girl named Amber was going to the restroom. It was her way of dealing with Merie, (the bullie). Amber didn’t have very much confidence. When anybody bullied her she would walk away and cry. Amber’s mom died when she was three from a heart attack. Which made Amber cry she only saw her mother in pictures,and even then it wasn’t enough. Her sadness grew and grew and led to her being unable to study at school, so she always got terrible grades,that the other girls teased her for.  Today, Merie said to Amber, “Did you know that those shoes you are wearing are for failures?” Amber started shaking. “Oh, my bad you are a failure!” corrected Merie. A tear came drizzling down her cheek. She couldn’t take it anymore! So, she ran to the bathroom, (the only place in Harborview that was safe). “What a baby,” Merie said. Amber ran until she got to the Girl’s restroom and slammed the stall door. She was safe, at least for now. She felt comforted when she touched the stalls lock because the lock was like her mom shielding her and protecting her from all things bad.

Suddenly she heard a squeak. Someone was turning the doorknob! “Who’s there?” stuttered Amber. Then she heard a bang and a loud thud. She rushed out of her stall and saw a boy. He was holding the doorknob to the bathroom. He waved it around like a medal. Suddenly it hit her. That boy was Gordon! He was one of Merie’s followers. Amber suddenly understood that she somehow did something that ticked Merie off, so Merie hatched a plan for revenge! Amber panicked. She tried and tried to open the door, and miserably failed. She was doomed! Maybe there was an exit she didn't know about, thought Amber. No, Mrs.Tammy, the principal would have told her. Then, she realized there was a white hole in the floor with a ladder inside it and it looked brand new, but felt sticky. The workers must have left it in there after they fixed the air vent, and spilled paste on it. she thought. “How come I had never seen that before? Is this a dream?” she slapped herself on her head. “Oooww!!! Definitely NOT a  dream,” said Amber to herself. It was her escape! She quickly climbed down the ladder which led right to an air vent which in every blue moon was opened. Luckily, it was a bluemoon, so she crawled into the vent and then she slid down and landed in the office. It felt like she slid down a rainbow and landed in Candyland! She was free! She was finally ready to celebrate, when she gasped in horror. It was Merie! ¨I am sooooo happy to see you darling,¨ said Merie sarcastically. ¨ Too bad it’s revenge time!¨ she snarled. “Merie, what did I ever do to you?¨ Amber whimpered. ¨You stole my spotlight dear, and I want REVENGE!!!¨ Merie cackled. “What do you mean?” asked Amber. “How did I steal you spotlight?” questioned Amber. “I did nothing wrong!” She was so confused she was like a dog chasing its tail. She felt boggled! Merie said, “Remember once every thousand years we have a talent show? Amber nodded. Well, last year you were called best diva by the yearbook! I kept that title for about four years!”  “I was the best and you stole it from me!” roared Merie while she raised her fist up in rage. Amber tilted her head trying to figure what was the right thing to say. “Merie I don’t understand, there must be someway to settle this. Amber said calmly. Then Amber asked,“I think you overreacted a bit don’t you?” asked Amber.

Before Merie could answer, Mrs.Tammy came darting into the room yelling, “Merie! Is that any way to behave?!” You should know that it is NOT okay to have Gorden lock Amber in the bathroom,” shouted Mrs. Tammy. “Thank goodness she is alive! She could have died! She shrieked.  “I'm calling your and Gordon’s folks, and giving you and Gordon detention for a week!” yelled Mrs. Tammy her face was flaming red, her eyes were pink, and steam came out of her ears. “How did you know?” Merie whimpered. “Gordon told me he said he felt so bad about it and that I should punish him,” replied Mrs.Tammy, who had finally calmed down. “Now go to your class Merie, I would like to have a brief conversation with Amber.” said Mrs. Tammy. “Yes ma'am,” Merie mumbled.  “Amber deserved it, she is the one who should be going to detention not me,” Merie muttered under her breath. “What was that, missy?!” asked Mrs. Tammy. But she was too late, Merie had already dashed out of the room like a dog who was about to be taken to the pound! Mrs. Tammy told Amber, “I am as happy as a clam you are all right!” said Mrs.Tammy. Then Mrs.Tammy did something that surprised Amber, Mrs.Tammy was smiling! “Are you okay?” asked Amber. “Am I ever!” shouted Mrs.Tammy “I’ve never smiled this big since I was a little girl, you my dear, have a talent!” Amber beamed with pride. Ever since then, Amber was the most smartest,joyful, polite, generous, helpful, confident, and honest student Harborview ever had!
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By creating art, and thinking about art elements of shape, size, space, and color, students planned the setting, characters, problem and solution for their narrative stories while engaged in creating with paper, scissors, and glue. They planned setting while choosing a background color to represent day or night, or interior lighting. They cut out trees or furniture or buildings and further developed their setting. They thought about character development while shaping their characters, choosing colors and shapes that would represent who their characters where and how they would interact. They added shapes to represent the problem of a broken vase, a cookie jar that was out of reach, a train that crashed or stolen jewels. Then they developed a visual clue of how their problem could be solved. While working on their art, students talked with their table groups about the process, and got more ideas, and explained to each other what each part meant. When it was time to write, their stories were written in their minds, and they only needed to get them out in words. Often teachers ask students to write and then give them time to create visual art as a reward for getting their work done. This now seems backward to me. Having intentionally created art with a meaningful setting, characters, and plot, students were more than ready to write.