The availability of technological resources for designing animations opens new possibilities for teacher education. However, there are limited examples illustrating the process of designing and writing stories that can be shown with animations or staged video in relation to specific teacher education goals. We use the case of a professional development that intended to increase teacher noticing of students' prior knowledge to illustrate a three-stage process for creating stories of classroom instruction that were shown as animations. We explain the design principles guiding our decisions. The stories drew upon a theoretical framework to model students' conceptions to make student thinking visible for teachers' discussion. Excerpts from a study group session with geometry teachers illustrate how the discussion of the stories promoted teacher noticing of students' prior knowledge. Overall, stories of instruction are useful representations of teaching that can promote opportunities for teachers to notice student thinking and promote their ability to make in-the-moment decisions considering students' ideas.