Episodic Structure Scaffolding
Scaffold production of complete 7-element episodes with fading visual support.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Work through the cards in order for the first episode and let the student hold them. Physical cards in a row make an abstract structure concrete, and a student can see which one they skipped. Then run the three topic prompts with the cards visible but unhandled, and finally the no-cards task. Internal response and plan are the two that get skipped — a student who goes straight from the problem to what they did has left out why. Fifteen minutes covers one full episode.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- Question promptAsk a story-grammar question: who, where, what was the problem, what happened next?Log as cued
- Two choicesOffer two possible next parts of the story and let the student pick and say it.Log as cued
- ModelTell that part yourself; the student tells it back in their own words.Log as cued
Adjust it
Use fewer parts, and keep a first-next-last visual on the table.
Ask for the retell without the pictures, with a feeling or a reason added to each part.
Matching IEP goal
Given a picture or story prompt, Student will tell a story that includes a character, setting, problem and ending in 4 of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than one question prompt.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Seven story grammar elements as cards, then five tasks that use them: setting, initiating event, internal response, plan, attempt, consequence, resolution — then tell the whole episode with the cards, tell one about losing something important, about a big game, about a first day somewhere new, and finally tell an episode with no cards at all. The fading is the design: the last card is the goal and the first seven are the scaffold.
What to listen for
Count elements rather than judging quality. Seven elements is a measurable target and the count moves across weeks in a way that a general impression does not. Watch which element is missing consistently: internal response is the usual one, and it is also the one that makes a story feel like a story rather than a report.
Carrying it home
Ask for stories with a problem in them. What went wrong today is a better prompt than what did you do today, because it produces an initiating event and gives the rest of the structure something to hang on.
What's in this activity
- Setting: Where and when does the story happen?
- Initiating Event: What starts the problem?
- Internal Response: How does the character feel about it?
- Plan: What does the character decide to do?
- Attempt: What does the character actually do?
- Consequence: What happens as a result?
- Resolution: How does it all end?
- Now tell the whole episode with all 7 parts, using the cards.
- Tell an episode about losing something important.
- Tell an episode about a big game or contest.
- Tell an episode about a first day somewhere new.
- Tell an episode with no cards — all 7 parts from memory.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Third through sixth, where complete episode structure is expected in both speech and writing.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all twelve cards play with no account.
- Which element should I target first?
- Internal response, usually. It is the one most often missing, and adding it changes a sequence of events into a narrative — which is what most story grammar goals are actually asking for.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.