Name: Roll A Story Printable – Creative Writing Activity
SKU: 6363ded5d2489504d0290d94
Price: 39.99 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)

About this resource

What's inside this resource

Eight dice-based story-starter grids each present six character options, six setting options, and six story-line/conflict options; after rolling dice three times, students combine whichever character, setting, and story line they land on into an original story. Three of the eight grids are general-purpose while five are seasonally themed -- Fall, Halloween, Winter, Spring, and Summer -- each swapping in season-appropriate characters and settings, such as a scarecrow in a corn maze or a mermaid caught in a storm. Following the roll grids, the resource provides several blank writing pages with a 'Title' line and ruled lines for drafting the story, plus a final page for drawing an illustration to accompany it. The product functions as a low-prep creative-writing warm-up rather than a worksheet with right or wrong answers. Once a story's character, setting, and conflict are set by the roll, the sizzling starts story-opening techniques handout shows fifteen ways to craft an engaging first line before students begin drafting.

Product description

From the author

This is a Roll A Story Printable that your learners will love!

Students will roll the dice 3 times and mark the character, setting, and story line that they rolled.

There are many different mats to choose from for each season. So, these are perfect to place in your writing centers.

There are blank writing pages included.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Combine a randomly generated character, setting, and story-line prompt into a coherent story idea.
Draft an original short story with a title, using the rolled elements as a starting point.
Illustrate a scene from the student's own story.

Teaching tips

Use the three general-purpose grids for regular writing workshop and save the seasonal grids for the matching time of year.
Have students roll as a whole-class warm-up on chart paper before individual writing, to model how mismatched elements (e.g., a fish as a pilot) can still form a fun story.
Pair the roll grid with the included illustration page so writing and drawing are assigned together rather than as separate tasks.

Skills covered

Random story-element combination -- students roll dice three times to select a character, setting, and story-line prompt from a 6x6 grid, then plan how the three elements fit together.
Narrative drafting -- students use the ruled 'Title' writing pages to compose an original short story built from their rolled combination.
Illustration to support narrative -- students draw a picture depicting a scene from the story they wrote.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

Since dice can land on any combination, what happens when the character and setting seem mismatched, like a fish as a pilot?

The product treats mismatches as the creative hook rather than an error -- the fish/pilot/airport combination shown in one of the general grids is intentional, encouraging students to invent a story that makes an unlikely combination work.

1 review

Liyana Azman | March 9th 2025

fun, engaging writing activity

Curriculum

Standards, concepts & topics

Standards

CCSS.W.K.3 — Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.

Core concepts

creative writing
story elements
narrative structure

Topics

roll a story creative writing story writing story elements story

Explore related searches

More to explore

Roll A Story Printable – Creative Writing Activity