Creating Stories

STUDENT STORIES

The students in classroom 4 have become very comfortable with acting out plays with puppets in the classroom's puppet theater. As a way to scaffold their thinking, a panel was put up in the dramatic play area. The panel was a pictorial representation of a story that was created with puppets and made into a play by the students themselves. The panel allowed students to view the characters, and follow what happened in the story. From this panel, picture cards with various characters were made to encourage the students to manipulate the characters and thus, create their own stories. As the students used these character cards to represent and tell their stories, three important developments occurred.

The first development was the cooperation that took place as students worked together to create their own stories. They began to share their ideas and put them together to tell a story. It was wonderful to see them become comfortable with expressing their ideas and accepting others as well. They were excited to hear their peers' ideas. This cooperative play is seen when Stefan, Liam, and Cisco decided to create a story about a turtle, a ladybug, a butterfly, and a dragon. Each child played a part; Stefan took on two characters. This is story #1 below.

A second development was the children's concept of a story. After they became comfortable with the stories modeled by the teachers, some students were able to create their won stories. Their stories had new themes and new plots. This was an important development because, before this time, the students were only telling stories that followed a plot and theme like the ones modeled by the teachers. This not only shows their creativity but also their knowledge of sequencing that occurs in a story. They are also aware that stories need characters and each character must have a role. Being able to create their own stories and having them documented gives students a sense of pride and importance. The first story below is a good example of how Cisco, Liam, and Stefan developed the concept of creating stories. Not only did they make a story about a rescue (a unique plot), but they also included new characters that weren't included in the stories modeled by the teachers.

The third development that occurred during the story telling was the students' ability to create various stories. By using their imaginations, some students created a couple of stories with changing the plot and characters. Their ability to create whole new stories shows their understanding of stories. Story #2 below is included to show the comparison between the two stories. It is exciting to hear them change their own ideas to make new story lines and new characters.

As the students remain interested in creating stories, the teachers continue to provide the students with various opportunities for story development. Not only are the children using character cards to tell their stories, but they are also using puppets, acting out plays, and creating books. Through these activities, the students continue to build their knowledge of story development, build on their creativity, and work cooperatively with peers.

Dialogue while creating Story 1 (Liam, Cisco, and Stefan)

Teacher: "What are the mean turtle and the mean ladybug doing in the story?"

Stefan: "They are turning into dinosaurs".

Teacher: "Then what happens? What did you say was going to happen next Stefan?"

Stefan: "The ladybug is going to trap the butterfly".

Liam: "Yeah, the mean ladybug traps me".

Teacher: "Now Cisco, what are you going to do?"

Cisco: "I am going to rescue him. Wooooo (as he flies the dragon over the ladybug).

Teacher: "Is something else going to happen or is that the end?"

Cisco: "Yeah, we are going to fly to New York" (holding the dragon and ladybug character cards). We have to fly up with our wings and be friends. Now you need to tell the story" (asking a teacher to relate the story back to the students).

Dialogue while creating Story 2 (Cisco and Stefan)

Teacher: "What could your dragons be going?"

Cisco: "Blow fire".

Teacher: "What else to dragons do? Cisco, what did you say earlier that dragons have on their backs?"

Cisco and Stefan: "Wings".

Teacher: "What do they do with those?"

Cisco and Stefan: "They fly".

Teacher: "Where could your dragons be flying to?"

Cisco: "To . . . Spain".

Teacher: "Do you think a dragon could fly that far?"

Cisco: "Yeah".

Teacher: "How far do you think it would be?"