We have been expanding our story centre, where the students can use props to re-tell stories we have read. Here is what it looked like to start:
We arranged the materials so they were more visible to the students,
and made new storyteller cards.
Favourite books were presented for consideration. We read them together, and the children offered reasons why they would or wouldn't work as a re-tell.
Barny the Dinosaur, Franklin's Class Trip, and our Little Monster's book all take place in a museum. So when we evaluated Baby Einstein - Places to Play, it was not a good choice because:
"It's not about a museum!"
"A piece of it is missing." (part of the book is gone)
and "Not so much is happening"
The teachers suggested Over in the Meadow. Our evaluation was sidetracked by one of the illustrations, and our discussion time was spent deciding if it was an eagle or an owl. The observation that, "It must be an owl because it's night time" was impressive!
Finally, we read The Three Little Pigs. The children thought of reasons both for and against using it for storytelling:
"I think it's good because they have a lot of characters." (exciting - spontaneous use of new vocabulary learned through our discussions)
"I think it's good because we can use our house (we have a playhouse in the classroom) for the brick one."
"We can use playdough to make rocks."
"The pigs make music!"
And from the dissenters:
"I don't love it."
"I like Cinderella better."
The different stories are much easier to see and access now!
There's a lot of huffing and puffing going on in here lately...
