Reading and Writing Stories
Primary 3 · English
Reading and Writing Stories
Lesson 3 of 3
14 min
Umutoni has a pencil, a clean page and one big problem: she does not know how to begin.
"I have nothing to write about," she says.
That is not true — and it is not true for you either. Something happened to you this week. Something small. That is your story, and today you learn how to get it onto the page.
Never start with a sentence. Start with four little answers. Write them on the back of your book, or just think them.
| The question | Umutoni's answer |
|---|---|
| Who? | Me and my friend Uwase |
| Where and when? | At school, on Monday |
| What went wrong? | Uwase lost her pen |
| How did it end? | Mugisha found it in her bag |
That is the whole plan. It took her one minute, and the page is not empty any more.
Now she writes. One answer, one sentence. She is telling what already happened, so her verbs take the -ed tail.
On Monday, my friend Uwase lost her pen. First, we looked under every desk. Then we asked Mugisha to help us. He opened her bag, and the pen was inside! Finally, Uwase laughed and thanked us.
Five sentences. A beginning, a middle and an end — and she wrote every word of it herself.
Look at how the sentences hold hands: On Monday, First, Then, Finally. Those words are the string that ties her story together.
And look at the verbs: looked, asked, opened, laughed, thanked. Every one took the tail. Only lost and found are wild verbs (lose → lost, find → found).
Here is how Umutoni's story really looked the first time, when she wrote in a hurry:
on monday my friend uwase lost her pen we looked under every desk
You can read it, but it is hard work. Some things are missing. Let us put them back, one at a time.
A full stop is a tiny dot that says "this idea is finished — take a breath". Read the words out loud. Where does your voice naturally stop? Put the dot there.
on monday my friend uwase lost her pen. we looked under every desk.
Every sentence stands up straight at the beginning, with a capital letter.
On monday my friend uwase lost her pen. We looked under every desk.
Some words wear a capital letter everywhere, even in the middle of a sentence:
On Monday my friend Uwase lost her pen. We looked under every desk.
If you write myfriend, the two words fall on top of each other. Leave a small space between one word and the next — about the width of your little finger. Not a huge gap. Just one finger.
Now read the fixed lines. They stand up straight, they breathe, and anybody in Rwanda can read them.
Tip
Read it out loud, slowly
Every place where your voice stops and you take a breath — that is where a full stop goes. And the very next word needs a capital letter.
So the number of full stops and the number of starting capitals should always be the same. If they are not, something is missing.
Copy this out correctly: uwase and i walked to the market on saturday
How many full stops does this need, and where? Gatete found the goat she was eating the beans
Which words here need a capital letter? on friday mugisha and i played football in kigali.
Make a plan for your own story. Answer the four questions: Who? Where and when? What went wrong? How did it end?
Now write your story: four or five sentences, using First, Then and Finally.
Uwase and I walked to the market on Saturday. Four fixes: a capital U to start the sentence, a capital I for yourself, a capital S for Saturday, and a full stop at the end.
Two full stops. Gatete found the goat. She was eating the beans. There are two ideas, so there are two sentences — and the s of she now grows into a capital S, because it starts a sentence.
Five words: On (it starts the sentence), Friday (a day), Mugisha (a name), I (yourself) and Kigali (a place). So: On Friday Mugisha and I played football in Kigali.
Here is one plan, so you can see the shape of it. Yours will be about your own life. Who? Me and my brother. Where and when? At the water tap, on Sunday. What went wrong? I dropped the jerrycan and the water spilled. How did it end? My brother helped me fill it again.
And here is that same plan turned into a story: On Sunday, I went to fetch water with my brother. First, I filled the jerrycan at the tap. Then I dropped it, and the water spilled on my feet. My brother laughed, but he helped me. Finally, we carried the water home together. Now check your own story: a capital letter at the start of every sentence, a full stop at the end of every sentence, and a finger space between the words.
What you learned today
Quick check
Which word always needs a capital letter, even in the middle of a sentence?
