Ten uses for Rory’s story cubes!

Ten uses for Rory’s story cubes!

Rory’s story cubes have to be one of my favourite resources to use in English. I have the deluxe set which includes the standard 9 story cubes, plus 6 expansion packs. Each pack has a different theme: medic, fright, clues, prehistoria and mythic. The pupils absolutely love these and always get excited when I use them for warm ups! I also use these in my online group lessons. I simply roll the dice and include a photograph of the images in the lesson.

This blog outlines ten ways I have successfully used these story cubes. Comment below if you find it useful, and let me know if you can think of any other ways to use them!

1. Writing stories

This is of course the most obvious way of using the story cubes. You can either choose one of the sets – for instance, if you wanted to write a horror-themed story, you might like to use the Fright dice. You can roll them all, or roll one die multiple times, decide on an order and then get creative!

You can either get pupils to write the entire story with a beginning, middle and end, just a synopsis or even the blurb for the story.

I sometimes set this as an independent activity, but it’s also effective for shared writing. You can also do this in a group where each person takes in turns to say a bit of the story using an image per person.

You can also stack the cubes to make a story if you want to add a further element of craziness haha.

2. Inventions

Another way I have used these dice is as a stimulus for explanation texts and/or persuasive writing.

Simply roll the dice, come up with an invention using the images and either explain how it works or persuade someone to buy it.

An example that one of my pupils came up with when they rolled a volcano, lobster and a shack, was a restaurant with a USP in that it only served lobster cooked in the lava of a volcano.

A totally random one that I’m making up on the spot as we speak (having rolled a torch, tipee and pyramid) is an invention I have named the Imaginator Torch. Shine the device on something and watch as it becomes a more epic version of that thing! For example, when shined at a cloth tipee, the tipee will miraculously turn into a stone pyrmaid.

3. Instructions 

You can use these dice as a warm up to instructional writing. The easiest way to do this is to write instructions for going to a magical place – roll the dice and then put the images into instructional writing.

Here’s an example:

Instructions for how to get to the Mystical Post Office

Do you want to send mail to faraway and enchanted lands? Then you need to head to your nearest Mystical Post Office. Follow these instructions and you’ll be communicating with wondrous, mystifying creatures in no time.

You will need:

A walkie talkie

A magic wand

Enchanted postcards

Method:

1. Holding your magic wand steadily in front of you, head towards your nearest library.
2. Once inside, locate a locked door.
3. Insert your magic wand into the keyhole, and watch as it opens.
4. Step through the door.
5. Use your walkie talkie to alert the postal worker of your arrival. They will respond with their walkie talkie and buzz you in.
6. You will walk through a door disguised as a book shelf, into the Mystical Post Office. Shooting stars will be sparkling above you.
7. Then you can send your enchanted postcards to the mystical lands and await a response.

As you can see, this is a totally random set of instructions but just shows you really don’t know the direction (pardon the pun) that these dice are going to take you! Give it a go yourself!

4. Mesostic poems

Roll the dice and create a mesostic poem about one of the images that draws your attention the most! I absolutely love mesostic poems. Check out the example below.

Notice how the word TIME appears down the middle, and it makes the poem into a rather interesting shape.

You could also do acrostic poems using this same idea, but I find these less exciting and creative (and also harder!). Acrostic poems are when you start the line with each letter in the word.

5. Limericks

Roll the dice and make a Limerick using the images – challenging yet fun!

These are the dice I rolled, and you can read the outcome below:

There was a young skydiver from Spain

Who went on holiday in a plane

They arrived at a house

Where they met up with their spouse

And sipped on delicious champagne

6. Newspaper reports

Roll the dice and create a newspaper headline! You can extend this idea and get the children to write an introduction to the report using the 5 ws – who, what, where, when, why. They might like to go for it and write the entire report, complete with quotations and reported speech.

I chose to use the ‘mythic’ set for this activity to come up with something truly wacky.

Mind Altering Minotaur on the Loose

Last Wednesday, people of Bideford were fearing for their sanity when a minotaur escaped from the local Mythical Beast Sanctuary. The Mind-Altering Minotaur, so called because it can hypnotise his victims and force them into his castle, has so far evaded police. Everyone has been advised to stay indoors.

7. Diary writing

These dice are great as a warm up to diary writing. Simply get children to roll three dice and make up a first person account using them.

I’ve used this a lot recently as I have been teaching diary writing to my homeschool group, in my online LKS2 group, and also in my 1:1s.

One of my pupils (on the right) rolled a sheep, lightbulb and a pyramid! They came up with a diary entry all about their crazy day, and it went something like this:

Dear Diary

You wouldn’t believe what happened to me today. I am actually writing this from inside a pyramid.

It all started when a sheep led me up an ancient pyramid. I walked until I reached a lightbulb which was poking out of the ground. At that moment, I fell through a hole that seemed to appear out of nowhere! It must have been a booby-trap! Now I am stuck, with no way out. I bet no one will ever see this diary entry.

Quite disturbing, hey!! Haha.

8. Fronted adverbials

As well as using these dice for specific genres, you can also use them for teaching grammar conventions. Children can roll one die and then make an opener based on what they roll. You could ask them to identify whether they have created a time, manner or place fronted adverbial, or ask them to write a specific one.

For example, your child might roll a picture of some goggles. Here are some examples of fronted adverbials they might write:

Time: Before she jumped in the pool, she put her goggles on.

Manner: Feeling nervous yet excited, he clutched his goggles and looked at the pool.

Place: On the edge of the pool, the girl put her goggles on.

9. Complex sentences

Similar to the fronted adverbials activity, you can roll the dice and create a complex sentence with a subordinate clause. You could challenge your child to write sentences using despite, even though and because. They can then manipulate the sentence structure.

For example, if you rolled an image with lightning bolt you could write:

Despite the terrible storm, he still went for a run.

or He still went for a run, despite the terrible storm.

Even though there were lightning forks crashing through the sky, she went for a swim.

or She went for a swim, even though there were lightning forks crashing through the sky.

The children stayed inside because there was a lightning storm.

or Because there was a lightning storm, the children stayed inside.

10. Relative clauses

Also known as Jam Sandwiches, or embedded clauses, you can create them using these dice.

I think the easiest way of doing this is to roll two dice:

One of the dice can be used to write the main clause, and the other for the relative clause.

For instance:

Main clause – the boy rowed frantically away in his boat

Relative clause – who was being chased by a vicious horse

Then put them together: The boy, who was being chased by a vicious horse, rowed frantically away in his boat.

So there we have it – ten ways you can use Roly’s story cubes to promote creative writing, warm ups for specific genres, and to aid understanding of grammar conventions.

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