Telling a Story in Conversation Lesson: Teaching ‘The Background Brief’
Do you find that your elementary school students often leave out important information when they narrate stories in a conversation? As a speech-language pathologist, this can be challenging to rectify. We’re here to help you address this with a unique skill known as ‘The Background Brief’. The Background Brief is all of the information listeners need in order to understand a story. This includes telling when, who, what, and where. In this ‘Telling a Story in Conversation Lesson’, you will find no-prep activities and a lesson plan that can help your students share their narratives more effectively.
Understanding the Importance of ‘The Background Brief’
‘The Background Brief’ is a narrative skill that enables individuals to provide necessary context and information during storytelling. This is vital for creating a comprehensive and engaging conversation. A lack of sufficient context can lead to misunderstandings or the listener losing interest. By teaching this skill to students, we can enhance their conversational abilities and develop their overall language skills.
Telling a Story in Conversation: The Lesson Plan
Now that we have understood the importance of ‘The Background Brief’, let’s dive into our simple, no-prep lesson plan.
Activity 1: The Story Cubes Game
You will need a set of story cubes for this activity. These are paper or real dice with pictures printed out on them. You can use simple images of common or fictional people, places, and objects. The idea is to roll the dice and let the images on the cubes inspire the story. Encourage the child to provide a background brief about the characters and settings inspired by the images before they delve into the story. This will ensure they don’t skip essential details.
Activity 2: Picture Analysis
Similarly, print out a detailed picture of a scene or a comic strip for the students. Ask them to tell a story based on what they see. Remind them to give a brief background about the scenario, the characters, and their possible motives. It’s important that they lay out this information before getting into the main action to ensure clarity and maintain interest.
Activity 3: Everyday Speech Printable Background Brief Game
Use the attached printable to have students play our Background Brief Game. Students will spin the spinner and land on either “Who, what, where, when, how” and use the included sentence starters to tell their story. This activity is tons of fun for a small group or even individual sessions.
Tips to Teach ‘The Background Brief’ Effectively
Effective teaching of ‘The Background Brief’ requires patience and practice. Here are a few tips:
Encourage the 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Where, and Why)
Encourage students to answer these questions before launching into the story. This will help them organize their thoughts and provide enough context for the listener.
Use Visual Aids
Visual aids can be great tools to explain the concept of providing background information. You can use charts, diagrams, or simple drawings to demonstrate this. Our platform includes many visual aids to print and accompany each lesson, including this goal poster.
Provide Feedback
Giving constructive feedback is crucial. Praise the student when they provide enough context, and gently point out when they skip vital information.
Reinforcing ‘The Background Brief’ in Daily Conversations
Once students start learning ‘The Background Brief’, encourage them to incorporate this skill in their day-to-day conversations. Whether they are telling you about their day, narrating an incident, or explaining a game, remind them to provide necessary background details first.
Our ‘Telling a Story in Conversation Lesson’ provides an effective and simple way to teach the ‘Background Brief’. With regular practice and reinforcement, your students will become adept at providing the right amount of context in their narratives, thereby enhancing their conversation skills.
The perfect balance of storytelling, context, and important information, our ‘Telling a Story in Conversation Lesson’ enhances conversational skills in elementary school students. Dive into our no-prep lesson plan and activities to teach ‘The Background Brief’ today!
Sample Video
Our video-modeling lessons are the perfect complement to any social skills lesson! Check out this sample below or click here to access our free 30-day trial!
