SING AND WRITE: Sing a song and then write a story about it

A few weeks ago, I taught the expression of complimenting to my ten graders and I played James Blunts' You're beautiful to start the lesson. I asked them  to sing the song together and then guessed the topic of the lesson. That was so much fun that my students really enjoyed the lesson.
The next meeting, I taught Narrative but I had no song in my lesson plan. The students kept asking me to play a song. I was so confused that I started thinking to let them sing. But I remembered that I had no song related to the topic. So, I ignored their request.

And then, I kept thinking about it at home. I felt so wrong when I realized that it was a very briliant idea. I should have played them a song and asked them to write a story about the song.

STORY MAP: CHECKING STUDENTS' COMPREHENSION ON STORY DETAILS

How do you commonly check your students'comprehension after they read or listen to or watch a story? I used to give tests either objective tests (multiple choice, true-false, matching, completion) or subjective tests (essay). My students seemed bored so I've recently started to figure out other types of instrument. Therefore, I browsed on the internet, and I found this.

This idea of using story map is not really new. You might have known way earlier than me. However, in this nice occasion, I want to share with you two story maps I have designed and also used in my classroom.