How do I start my story? Leads?

[cat4554]

Are there any websites that suggest great sentence starters / leads for writing instead of the typical " Once Upon a Time " or " One Day"?

Thanks. I teach In Class Support for 3rd & 4th grade.

[Boxcar]

I don't know of a particular site, but you could mix it up by using more specific things such as the following: It was one of those Wednesdays when..., The arrival of the snow meant..., There was a time when... You get the idea.

[cat4554]

I was at a workshop yesterday and the presenter was good but said " you can get these ideas from the internet" but she wasn't specific about any sites. I googled and couldn't find anything. Someone from another teacher's forum had a great idea,
had the kids last year do a lesson where they read the openings to several books (just the first sentence or two) and then we categorized the different ways to begin a story:

with dialogue
with action
with the setting
etc.

I think ONE book began w/ once upon a time, but the others all began in different ways. I had each group grab one basket off the bookshelf and they each went through like 10 books. We graphed the results as well.

[wig]

There are quite a few on line, but here are some (IMO) good ones...

http://library.thinkquest.org/J001156/writing%20process/sl_storystarters.htm
http://www.storyit.com/
http://www.meddybemps.com/9.700.html

[Brit]

how many do you need? This is like play for me...

Maddy was not the right person for the job.......

When I got to school today,.....

Never, ever......

I always thought it would be a good idea to....

Look out! You're going to.....

there's something different about Sam. he has....

When I was five,.....

grade one's just don't know anything. I remember....

If the sun just never came up....

The bells weren't working today. You wouldn't think that would be a big problem, but.....

My chair has one leg shorter than the others. you wouldn't think that would be a big problem, but....

I always wondered what was behind the door in the classroom that we never open. so one day...

[Boxcar]

I love the idea of combining book starting sentances with math!!! Totally awesome.

[Just ducky]

Recently I found one of Indiana's best kept secrets. (At least it WAS a secret in my school.) The site is funded by the Indiana General Assembly through the Indiana Department of Education. I can't imagine that this isn't plastered everywhere. They do something really good and don't tell us about it!! (Sorry for the little side trip there.)

It has prompts for many subjects as well as LOTS of other really neat things about writing. It gives many samples of writing that are modeled for our state test, but there is some great information.

www.thewritingsite.org

[hweber]

Wow, these are great ideas. I thought of one last year that the kids had a great time with..

It is December 19th, the first day of Christmas vacation. During the vacation my teacher...

It was hilarious what my fourth graders thought I did during vacation.
I can't wait to check out the indiana site.

[JennA]

I have taught my students to begin their stories with onomatopoeia (we referred to this as using sound words), questions, and settings. The kids seem to enjoy using sound words and questions the most. They had a difficult time with setting.