Reading motivator

As you know, I love making personalized books for my students. During our fairy tale unit, I wanted my students to create their own version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. However, they had a difficult time seeing the story with different characters. Luckily, I found a fun website. At www.english-zone.com/writing/goldi.html, there is a fill-in-the-blank version of the story. All the students needed to do was to input an animal, a name (their own?), a location, a food item, and another location. My students were tickled pink with the results! Here is an example of a story that can be created from the site:

Andrea and the Three Kittens

Once upon a time, there were three kittens - the mother kitten, the father kitten, and the baby kitten, who lived in a house in Wisconsin. One morning, the mother kitten made strawberry cake for breakfast. When the three kittens sat at the table to eat, they found that the strawberry cake was too hot. "Let's go for a walk to Chuck E. Cheese," the mother kitten said. "The strawberry cake will be cool enough to eat when we return." So off they went.

Nearby, Andrea was walking in Wisconsin. "I've been walking such a long time, and I'm tired and hungry," Andrea said. Just then, Andrea saw the three kittens’ house. "Maybe there is something to eat in there," Andrea said, and she went inside.

Andrea saw the food on the table, and decided to try it. First, Andrea tried the father kitten's strawberry cake, but it was too hot. Then, Andrea tried the mother kitten's strawberry cake, but it was too cold. But the baby kitten's strawberry cake was just right, and Andrea ate it all up.

"My goodness! I'm sleepy," Andrea said entering the bedroom. Andrea sat on the father kitten's bed, but it was too hard. Andrea then sat on the mother kitten's bed, but it was too soft. The baby kitten's bed was just right, and Andrea fell asleep there.

A little while later, the three kittens returned from Chuck E. Cheese. "Someone's been eating my strawberry cake!" said the father kitten. "Someone's been eating my strawberry cake, too!" said the mother kitten."  “Someone's been eating my strawberry cake, and they ate it all up!" cried the baby kitten. They looked around the house to find who had done this. When they looked in the bedroom, they saw Andrea asleep on baby kitten's bed. Just then Andrea woke up, saw the three kittens, and screamed. The three kittens tried to catch Andrea, but Andrea ran out of Wisconsin and all the way home. 
___ _________ __________ __________ ___________ ______ _______

The end result was having my students laugh and laugh for about 30 minutes...as they were reading their stories to each other.  Say what?  They were reading!  Ok, so maybe we have to work on their creative writing skills...baby steps, eh?

To do this activity with your students, go to: http://www.english-zone.com/writing/goldi.html
(Warning - there are a few grammar mistakes in the story.  You may need to proofread the stories before giving them to the students.)