A common use for Storyboard That is to help students create a plot diagram of the events from a story. Not only is this a great way to teach the parts of the plot, but it reinforces major events and help students develop greater understanding of literary structures.
Students can create a storyboard capturing the narrative arc in a work with a six-cell storyboard containing the major parts of the plot diagram. For each cell, have students create a scene that follows the story in sequence using: Exposition, Conflict, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution.
Milo is uninterested with both school and home life. He is in his room complaining about boredom, when he notices a package in the corner of the room.
Rhyme and Reason have been locked away because of the two dueling brothers, King Azaz and Mathemagician.
Milo experiences The Lands Beyond, and all of its mysterious and peculiar characters, laws, and discourse, including the boy who grows down instead of up.
Milo, Tock, and Humbug are chased by demons attempting to stop them from rescuing the princesses.
The princesses are rescued. Milo, Tock, and Humbug are congratulated by the kings and all of the people on their brave victory.
Milo finally realizes he could experience adventure in his life, even in his own bedroom.
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Create a visual plot diagram of The Phantom Tollbooth.
Make sure students have a solid grasp of the fundamental components of a storyline before assigning them to use StoryboardThat. Talk about ideas like resolution, falling action, climax, rising action, and exposition. Use another story as an example and help students distinguish between each plot element and tell them how to identify these elements in a narrative.
Before students start creating their own storyboards, teachers can provide a demonstration of all the basic steps such as how to access a template or how to insert images and text so all the students become familiar with the basic process. Teachers can also provide students with a sample storyboard of some other story so students can use it as an example and seek guidance from it.
Students should be encouraged to read or reread "The Phantom Tollbooth" in order to recognize important plot points. Talk about the main plot points and how the story is told as a whole. Students can divide the sections of the story into plot elements beforehand and even summarize the main sections so they only have to put in the text later on.
In case your educational institution or class does not already have accounts, ask your students to register for StoryboardThat. Help the students select a layout that is appropriate for a plot diagram. Generally, a three- or six-cell arrangement will function effectively. Once the students are done with this, they can enter their text and any images they think best suit their text.
Once the students are done with their storyboards, teachers can help them save their work. Students can share their storyboards with the rest of the class for a discussion in an online format or print them out to display in class. Guide the students throughout the saving and printing process so they can also use it as a reference later.
The setting (the real world and the magical kingdoms beyond the tollbooth), the primary characters (like Milo), and the initial circumstance (Milo's boredom and lack of interest in anything) are all introduced in the exposition.
The storyboard depicts symbolism in a visual manner. Students can use language and graphics to explain the symbolic meaning of the tollbooth, for example, in the relevant plot diagram parts. It could also represent Milo's journey toward self-discovery.