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Seventh grade English/language arts students at Coal City Middle School recently completed a project focused on narrative continuations. The assignment was based on the children's book “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” by Laura Numeroff. Students worked in small groups to write their own extensions of the story, following its circular and cause-and-effect structure.
Each group created a continuation that kept the format and humor of the original book. The students considered character motivation, plot development, and the sequence of events that define Numeroff's style.
After writing their stories, students presented them to the class. Their classmates evaluated each presentation using guidelines developed together with teachers.
The project aimed to help students understand story structure, character development, creative writing, presentation skills, teamwork, and peer assessment.
According to the seventh grade ELA teachers, "The seventh grade ELA teachers were impressed by the creativity, effort, and enthusiasm our students demonstrated throughout this unit. Their narratives were imaginative, well-structured, and genuinely entertaining!"
