We hope you have seen or heard about some of the wonderful stories children have been creating in Group B! We decided to offer children this provocation to: entice these warm, imaginative, social beings to the writing table, enhance their literacy learning, and enrich their dramatic play themes and scripts.
The children’s work is as varied and individual as they are. Their stories offer us a precious document of each child’s internal world – their cherished interests and delights, their processing of worries and concerns, their wonder about the wider world, and their sense of whimsy and humor. It also provides teachers with a window into their understanding of “story” and all of the inherent literacy concepts, for example:
Through participation in storytelling experiences, students learn to build a sense of story…including how a story may begin and end (Craig et al, 2001; Washburn, 1983). The development of a sense of story allows students to make better predictions, to anticipate what is next, to increase awareness of cause and effect, sequence events, and develop other skills that aid comprehension (Aiex, 1988). Storytelling further assists in the development of a sense of story by incorporating the use of essential story elements…includ[ing] point of view, plot, style, characters, setting, and theme (Haven & Ducey, 2007). Comprehension, critical listening, and thinking skills are also developed by combining storytelling with questioning, imagery, inferencing, and retelling (Craig et al., 2001; Washburn, 1983). “The Power of Story: Using Storytelling to Improve Literacy Learning,” Sara Miller and Lisa Pennycuff , Journal of Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives in Education
In preschool, we are in the very first stages of developing these literacy concepts and, in scaffolding this writing work, teachers take great care to honor each child’s ideas and intentions while moving towards a cohesive narrative sequence capable of being appreciated by a respectful audience of peers.
Although each child’s stories are abundantly unique, we recognize certain universal themes emerging which reflect this juncture in their development. Here are a selection from our story writing work so far.
The Wider World – Confronting and Conquering Fear
Probing the Eternal Mysteries: Birth and Death
Friendship and Emotion
Home and Family – The Sacred Space
A Little Whimsy and a Dash of Humor
We would love to know your thoughts about this curriculum and if your children are interested in writing stories or making books at home. Here are some of our questions at this point in our work:
- Is the 6-part structure too restrictive?
- Is the box size too small for some?
- Are children’s creativity and narrative complexity limited by their ability to represent their ideas visually?
- Now that the children have experienced working with a sequencing template (the numbered boxes), how would their narratives change if we invited children to dictate their stories first and then illustrate on blank pages if desired?
- How could we incorporate letter and word writing into this work?
- Would children be interested in performing their stories, or making them into books?