An apartment building for bears, made from clementine boxes.
23 June 2011
11 June 2011
More stories
I love this story because it is about the whole world of stories. E adds these little pieces from stories she has heard, like the line "Every day, she did". The picture is a big inspiration for the words, and she incorporates so many aspects of it into the story. (Side note: scrap paper from the bin in the copy room is more inspirational to the kids than regular paper.) In the end it doesn't matter if the events in her story are connected or not; it matters that she is a storyteller. And that ending, "He crept into his house, and set off" - someone is hearing all kinds of stories. I love it.
With just two weeks left in the school year, the stories are pouring out and it is unstoppable. Someone cried on Thursday because I said we had to go home and all of the Moms were waiting and he couldn't read his story - and the children agreed that it was more important for M to read his story than for us to be on time. Amazing. And it was an excellent, dinosaur filled end to our Thursday.
I hope that this trend means more stories to share here - I'm finding that it is one of my absolute favorite parts of preschool. Besides the spontaneous break dancing session that P showed us on Friday. And I got all excited about the possibility of a dance project and exploring the different kinds of dance with our bodies, clay, painting, stories, music - whew! That has to happen somewhere, someday.
08 June 2011
Storytelling Inspiration
I just came across this blog post about Hoxton Street Monster Supplies in London. This really seems like a wonderful way to promote the young writer's imagination.
Inspired by 826 Valencia and founded by Nick Hornby, the Ministry of Stories runs the monster supply shop as an inspiration for writers. Volunteer teachers and writers mentor young writers at the Ministry of Stories. A lovely quote from their website: "The best results are achieved by making writing seriously playful".
I love storytelling in the classroom and the way that young children's imaginations create stories, combining their experiences in real life with stories they have heard and their own fantastic ideas and word explorations. It makes me wonder - why does 826 only start working with children from the age of six, and why does the Ministry of Stories only start working with children from eight?
Teachers of young children promote writing in different ways, trying to spark creativity. Some take down children's dictation in the form of oral stories and then read them aloud again to the children. Some write the children's words down on a picture that the child has drawn and then talks about. In the past few years, I have been providing pre-made books that the children write and draw their stories in, and then they read their books at the end of the day to the class (if they want). I try to pull children aside to read them to me, also, so I can get a preview. I'm also really interested in the way that some children keep the same story - sometimes verbatim - every time they read. Other children make a story up as they go along and change it each time. I find that is most common when the children make marks or shapes on the pages that are not meant to be "something" - they often write stories for the pleasure of getting up in front of the class and sharing. I obviously can't make these generalizations about all children - this is how writing works with the children I work with right now.
Below is a story from today - this is the very youngest student in the class, 4 years and 2 months old. She read the story again later, to a friend, and she told it just the same. Tomorrow she'll be sharing it with the class, and I'm interested to find out if it stays the same or changes.
Inspired by 826 Valencia and founded by Nick Hornby, the Ministry of Stories runs the monster supply shop as an inspiration for writers. Volunteer teachers and writers mentor young writers at the Ministry of Stories. A lovely quote from their website: "The best results are achieved by making writing seriously playful".
I love storytelling in the classroom and the way that young children's imaginations create stories, combining their experiences in real life with stories they have heard and their own fantastic ideas and word explorations. It makes me wonder - why does 826 only start working with children from the age of six, and why does the Ministry of Stories only start working with children from eight?
Teachers of young children promote writing in different ways, trying to spark creativity. Some take down children's dictation in the form of oral stories and then read them aloud again to the children. Some write the children's words down on a picture that the child has drawn and then talks about. In the past few years, I have been providing pre-made books that the children write and draw their stories in, and then they read their books at the end of the day to the class (if they want). I try to pull children aside to read them to me, also, so I can get a preview. I'm also really interested in the way that some children keep the same story - sometimes verbatim - every time they read. Other children make a story up as they go along and change it each time. I find that is most common when the children make marks or shapes on the pages that are not meant to be "something" - they often write stories for the pleasure of getting up in front of the class and sharing. I obviously can't make these generalizations about all children - this is how writing works with the children I work with right now.
Below is a story from today - this is the very youngest student in the class, 4 years and 2 months old. She read the story again later, to a friend, and she told it just the same. Tomorrow she'll be sharing it with the class, and I'm interested to find out if it stays the same or changes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
