Branching Story

Mission

Create a "branching" story with eight different endings for a 4th grader (no violence, short sentences).

ALERT

• READ ALL OF THE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY. GO ONE STEP AT A TIME, DON'T SKIP STEPS.

Setup

1. Read The Park for a quick example. (Structure or map: basic & detailed.)
2. Get a worksheet from your teacher showing the map of the story.
   • Figure out your secret code number: [class hour][trimester][your computer number].
   • Write your secret code in every blank spot in the diagram.
   • Notice, there will be at eight different endings.
3. You will write your story will be written in second person.
   • The word "you" will be used in almost every sentence: ex., "You are eating.  You are walking.  You are looking."
   • This makes the reader feel like they are in the story, and that they are making the choices for themselves.
   • Never write the word "I", about yourself, or about anyone real.
4. Decide on a lesson or moral for your story; for example, "honesty pays" or "look before you leap".
5. Create a folder to hold all the pages of your project.
   • Create this new folder inside your class folder.
   • Name the new folder like this: story[class hour][trimester][your computer number][your last initial][your first initial -- ex. story7231wa
6. Open your web page editing program, ex. Dreamweaver.
7. Save a blank web page into your project folder. Save it with the word "index", ex. index
8. Write the first page of the story.
   • Describe where the reader is, what they see, what they hear, what they are doing, etc.
   • Describe anything special about the reader.
   • Describe the first decision for the reader to make.
9. In a seperate sentence at the bottom of the page, write the choice.
   • The reader must choose between TWO choices.
   • The page numbers must be in the sentence, right in front of each choice.
   • Example: Do you (73201) run or (73208) stop?
10. Write the name of each choice on the diagram.

Writing

Before starting, choose your setting or theme and details of the main character.  Here are some ideas:

• alternate universe - ex. super heroes, animals talk, kids rule
• real world - just like today - ex. story about a mystery or a puzzle
• future or sci fi - ex. space travel & advanced technology
• fantasy world - ex. monsters, dragons & magic
• examples - what to do in a hurricane, finding the stolen bike, making up with a friend, visiting a family member

Hints for writing an interesting story.

• Make sure there are no references to you or anything about you.
• Write the story so a fourth grade student could read and understand it.
• Make sure there is no violence in the story.
• It must be possible for the reader to decide the better choice using logic, common sense, or from a clue.
• The reader should also be able to figure out which choices are poor.
• Clues that help the reader find the best endings should be given early.
• The story and the choices can be funny and entertaining.

Each Page

Create a page so it has the following things:

1. Heading -- Type the page code (ex. 723105) then a one to three word heading.
2. Title Bar -- Copy and paste this heading into the title bar.
3. Filename -- Save the page with the same name as the heading, except take out the spaces and no caps.
4. Length -- Write at least one full line and at least starting on the second line (all the way from left to right, in normal font).
5. Choices -- Every page (except for the endings) needs two choices, at the bottom, with the code numbers.

Expectations:

• Keep the font as it is (default font, normal size, black).
• Keep the sentences very short, no more than 10 words each.
• Include lots of detail to make your story interesting to read.

When done with all the writing and linking, go to your "index" page, open it in your web browser (F12), and check that you can click to all of your pages, just like it shows in your diagram.

Day 2 Reminders

Do things in this order:

1. Write the choices at the bottom of the page.
2. Include the numbers of the pages to which these choices will lead.
3. On the diagram, write the names of the next pages (the same words as you wrote in your choices).
4. Create the page on the left (the next one numbered).
5. Write the page number at the top along with the name of that page.
6. Save it using that page number and a couple words (lower case, no spaces).
7. Now, write the page.
8. Go back to 1.

Fancy Them Up

After writing, fancy the pages up as follows:

1. Correct all spelling, grammar and other errors.
2. The word "I" must be capitalized.
3. There must be end marks for ever sentence, and a capital letter at the beginning of every sentence.
4. Insert a horizontal line under the heading.
5. Set the heading to center alignment and heading style 1.
6. Add a background and text color for each page.
7. Color at least three IMPORTANT words on each page.
8. Add one images on each page from Google Images. Make each image 200 pixels wide. Place it to the right of your paragraph.

Done?

1. When done with all the "fancying", go to your "index" page, open it in your web browser (F12).
2. Check that you can click to all of your pages, just like it shows in your diagram.
3. Once you have finished all 15 pages, if everything is perfect, you will have earned a "B".
4. Raise your hand. Politely ask your teacher to look over your story.
5. Ask your teacher what you can do to earn an "A".

Notes

• Skills: Keyboarding/typing, basic windows/office, web page editor/creator program.
• Students will easily get confused if they are not saving with the correct file name, numbering their pages and choices correctly, and using their diagram.
• Here is the diagram and assignments for day 1, day 2, day 3 and day 4.
• A student written example is here.
  

This work by Aaron Wissner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.