The First Stories

The moviemakers have been creating their stories using the Stop Motion app. Eunbyul was the first to finish his first movie.

We noticed that Eunbyul had taken over 400 photographs to create his 30-second movie. We wondered about the sequence of the story and the positioning of the objects in the photographs. We decided to invite him to present his written story plan and his first movie to the class, hoping that Eunbyul’s peers would be able to give him feedback that could improve his creation.

  • What did they notice in the images?
  • What elements would Eunbuyl need to work on to improve his movie?

The audience was captivated by Eunbyul’s movie. They loved his Pikachoo characters and were excited to see how he brought his characters to life.

Eunbyul explained that he was still unsure of how to show a snowfall. The audience gave him specific feedback to improve his story.

  • Follow the story plan.
  • Make sure pictures don’t include parts of the moviemaker’s body.
  • Take multiple photographs to show the slow movement of the objects

The teachers decided to use two objects to demonstrate what the audience meant by slow intentional movements.

Eunbyul thought about the feedback and went on to make his second movie. This time, he followed his story plan, mindful of the sequence of events that the photographs needed to show.

Excitement about the movies rippled across the class, with Oxford, Oliver and Eli deciding to create their own stories using the app. The team sat with paper and writing tools to create a story plan.

Oxford picked up an iPad and reached out to his friends to learn how to use the app Stop Motion.

  • Oxford “Eunbyul taught me a little bit how to use the Stop Motion app. He showed me where to touch and not touch and he explained how to do it. I go and make it. I first touched the Stop Motion movie app, then I took photos. I took 76 photos for the movie.”

The Language of Lego

The Lego table is a popular space in the classroom. The children gather to use Lego to recreate familiar structures and objects from their experiences. Often they use these objects to engaging storytelling.

A group of three children enjoy creating swords and other objects to tell stories about superheroes. Noticing their continued interest in storytelling and Lego, the teachers wondered how they might stretch the children’s ideas to help them explore a range of tools and materials that they could use to tell their stories.

The team began to put their ideas down on paper, drawing favourite characters and sharing stories that they might want to create.

After a few suggestions, the team were stuck for ideas. We decided to ask the rest of the class if they had suggestions for building with Lego.

  • Jeongyoon – boat, a bike and a house
  • Oliver – a big box to put the Lego

The team had more ideas to work with. They drew their ideas on paper. Then, they used Lego to make the different objects and characters.

How might we use Lego to tell our stories?

The team watched a short animated Lego movie. The creator used a stop-motion app to create it. The team wondered if they could use the same tools to tell their own stories.

What more do we need to tell a story?

We read a familiar story and revisited the elements that help us create and tell stories. Characters, a setting, problems, solutions and events in a story can make it more interesting.

How might we use what we know about storytelling to create new stories?

The children used a story planner to think about the different events that will take place in their Lego stories. They discussed their ideas with each other, adding more details as they received feedback from their friends.

One child tapped into his prior knowledge, connecting with the different craft moves authors and illustrators use to tell their stories. He decided to include speech bubbles (voice) and movement (short strokes to show actions) in his drawings.

NOT A BOX!

We read the story ‘Not A Box‘ by Antoinette Portis.

The little rabbit is playing with a box, and an unseen adult asks why they are doing different things with it. The rabbit continues to say it’s not a box. It’s a… rocket, burning building, race car, etc…

Inspired by this story the children used their imagination to turn this simple box into anything!

  • Eli “It’s a transformer.”
  • Eunybul “It’s a rocket.”
  • Motong “It’s a boat.”
  • Oxford “It’s a house.”
  • Oliver “It’s a truck.”
  • Wyatt “It’s a race car.”
  • Howie “It’s a shelf.”
  • Liz“I think it’s a bird nest.”
  • Lydia “It’s a hotel.”
  • Morning “It’s a submarine.”

What can these boxes become?

Sharing Information through Non-Fiction Texts

What more could we learn about birds and nests?

We decided to read some nonfiction books about birds. As we read the books, we noticed pictures, photographs, labels, words and sentences, key features of nonfiction texts.

During ‘Writing Workshop’, the children were invited to create their own nonfiction stories or books.

Some children chose to create books about birds, drawing and writing to share their ideas and information. 

We chose one piece of writing to share with the class, helping the children notice key strategies and features that were included in the story.

 

There was a clear idea of a topic. The pages included words and sentences that talked about the pictures. We know that good writers think about questions readers might have about a topic and then find ways to include this information through drawing and writing.

While writing words and sentences, the children were encouraged to say the word out loud, stretch out the word to hear the sounds and then write all the sounds that they heard.

The children began to show an interest in sharing and reading their stories to their friends and teachers.

They understood that bookmaking is a way to share important messages and information with others and began to look for ways to celebrate their work with the community.

We look forward to exploring all the different opportunities that allow us to share the work we do as readers and writers.

Storytelling Through  Story Workshop

We have noticed the children building and creating elaborate stories throughout their day in school. Therefore, we decided to introduce the children to Story Workshop.

What is Story Workshop?

Story Workshop is a classroom structure that is used to support language and literacy. The adults consider the space, environment, story materials, writing tools, books and props that invite storytelling.

Story Workshop is a hands-on approach that allows the children to create, talk about and use drawing and writing to share their stories.

We know that children enjoy creating with a range of materials and loose parts. It’s much easier to start thinking of a storyline when you have physical pieces in front of you.  

As the children manipulate, make, build and design their structures and objects, they begin to create the base of a story. Soon they are ready to add more details, a setting and characters which result in a storytelling experience.

The hands-on experience encourages creativity and imagination. It also helps the children revisit past events that are important to them.

Dedicated quiet times to observe and draw allow the children opportunities to carefully observe and document what they see. The adults in the space listen to the children’s ideas, offering suggestions and supporting key literacy skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing.

We wonder what stories live in these materials and how the children might use them to tell their own stories. 

Watch this space! 

Telling Stories with Pictures and Words

Over the last few weeks, we have focused on sharing messages and telling stories during ‘Writing Workshop’. We have observed the children building their stamina for writing and telling stories across pages.

In K2, ‘Writing Workshop’ is a dedicated time for Literacy, where we explore books and texts, learning more about the different ways we communicate messages, information, and stories with others. We explore mentor texts, created by authors and illustrators, to look at how they have used tools, strategies, and techniques to share their ideas and stories with their readers.

During ‘Writing Workshop’, we often confer (discuss) with the children, to help them express the ideas they share orally, through details in their drawings. We decided to look at the different techniques we could use to make our stories more interesting. We know that authors and illustrators spend a lot of time thinking about the books they make, planning their ideas and developing their craft over time. We decided to focus on looking closely at how adding more details to drawings helps the story come alive.

We invited the children to think about how they might communicate information about their story through their writing (letters and words).

We modelled a short story, providing details in the picture and thinking about what needed to be included in the drawing to help readers know all about the experience.

While creating drawings for a story, we noticed that the children often draw over their pictures to show what happened over time (sequence).

We decided to use a mentor text to look at how authors and illustrators use the technique ‘Background Perspective’ to spotlight a central image in an illustration or to show a sequence of events. In his book ‘How to Heal a Broken Wing’, we notice how Bob Graham considers where to position his drawings and how to tell his story using a sequence of pictures that show action, time, feelings and movement.

The children were invited to think about how they might use the technique in their own writing and storytelling.

We noticed the children talking more about their pictures and considering the position of elements in their drawings and the colours and words they might use to share their stories with others.

We are learning how to:

  • use mark-marking to convey meaning.
  • create narratives to share real or imagined experiences or events using techniques, details, and event sequences.

Engagement and Storytelling with Wooden Blocks

Focus: Engagement and storytelling in small group play situations.

Interesting aspects of the learners’ thinking or learning that the adults noticed.

The children were presented with two tubs of blocks. Each child began to look through the tubs to pick out the blocks. They appeared to be matching pieces, looking for connections between them. They created individual structures. They spoke in Mandarin to each other.  

  • Shapes of animals captured one child’s attention.
  • Others with interested in the trees and nature blocks.
  • Some were interested in the vehicles and wooden moving blocks.
  • The children paused to let others know about their blocks. They did not speak to each other for a period of time and one child listened but did not engage in the conversation.

One child made connections with the blocks and what he knew about the world around him. When he made a connection, he enjoyed sharing this with an adult.

A second child demonstrated the ability to play and engage in collaborative play for extended periods of time, using language and storytelling to make connections with others.

  • OL helped me. She turned my house to a hotel. She got lots of parts and turned it into a hotel. It’s because I like hotels.”
  • L “I helped O, O and me built house. Me worked together.

One child was an observer, often pausing to listen and watch others as she created her story. She intentionally placed her blocks, appearing to create her story in her mind while she moved the blocks into her creation. She was welcoming of others even though they changed the structure of her play space.

  • M1 “I was making a house for bunny. Bunny needs carrots. The horse was playing with bunny.”

  • O2 M1 looked at me building. She said yes, I can play here. Building a house because I want building house. O2 lives here. M2 said I can build there, I was happy.”   

Language was used to request entry into play stories with others. When a request was denied, the child moved on to find other play experiences. The children were able to demonstrate the ability to play and engage collaboratively with others and to acknowledge when they have done something to upset their peers.

  • E “I was playing racing cars. I was building a house and the house have a bed and for parking. I made the roof. I put a chair behind the house because when we go outside we can sit on it. I was playing, putting cars in it.

  • E “That is the cars are driving up. That is fun.”

  • E “We are planning to play together (outside). I was faster a little bit. And yesterday I was fast. And today we were the same fast.”  
  • H “Outside playing together. Running race.” 
  • L (in Mandarin) “I said No to O1 because I thought he might put too many things in the space and I won’t have enough space to build. O1 says No putting then I don’t put it in the tub.”

  • M2 “This is a road. You can go to the house. This is the park.”

One child was non-verbal during play and seemed to prefer playing alongside others, observing and listening to play around him. He was thoughtful and intentional with his creation, choosing objects carefully to meet a purpose.

A the end of play, we reflected on the block play experiences. We asked the children what they they needed to do or think about when playing with blocks.

We need to remember:

  • Not to break it if there is a name. (Eli)
  • If you want some pieces, you can ask ‘who built it’. (Eli)
  • If we see no name on it, we look around it to see if there is a name. (Eli)
  • Keep the bocks clean. (Jeongyoon)
  • We can ‘be friends’ with blocks. We can build a city. (Oliver)
  • Put the blocks nicely on the floor. Use the blocks safely. (Eunbyul)
  • Build with the blocks. Gently touch the blocks so we don’t break them. (Howie)
  • Ask if you can join the play using kind words. (Oxford)

Block Play with Howie and Eli

A group of children worked on their block structures over a sustained period of time, creating plans, solving problems and making changes to the initial design to suit their story. The adults observed the interactions and documented their play over time. When the children saw the video, they reflected on their play, discussing their initial plans and process.

Howie “This is we building blocks. And Mo Mo is helping us to build. And I put my name on the house and I was playing with my house. And we is building and we use which car to drive on the tracks.”

Eli “The pictures help me of looking     how to build the hospital and the hotel and that is how I know which pieces is which pieces. I like the hospital and the hotel so I will build it the same as the picture. The building blocks and then putting racing car and then driving them around and then building the T Rex into the hospital and the T Rex mommy into the hospital and we build the all of the race cars and the race road and Mo Mo was helping.”

Howie “I was drawing because I want show us I build and someone comes and he sees my picture and then he can’t touch it. It’s the same make as my blocks because it’s hard to build but it has lots of blocks we can build.”

Eli “I have to remember to build the right pieces we have to write hospital and we have to write hotel. Writing help me learn how to write words. But they all look different (blocks). I think which block I need and then I know which blog I used.”

  • How do we make choices about the materials we use to create?
  • What skills do we need to create a story?
  • What skills do we need to work together?
  • How do we record our planning and thinking (making thinking visible)?
  • How can we share our creations and stories with others?

Colours and Feelings

Ms. Sue has been talking to the children about feelings and emotions, and the appropriate ways we can express these emotions to show how we feel. We read the story ‘The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions’ by Anna Llenas, to explore the connection between colour and emotions.

 

In this delightful story, a Color Monster wakes up feeling very confused. His emotions are all over the place; he feels angry, happy, calm, sad, and scared all at once! A little girl helps him sort through his feelings to help him define his mixed-up emotions. The images throughout the story helped us think about the different situations that lead to the way we feel. It led to a conversation about the different ways we can express our feelings and emotions through colour and storytelling.

The adults in the space captured the artists’ ideas and stories as they documented their feelings, emotions and stories through their artwork.

Yellow is Happy
From the artist…
Liz “This is yellow, it is happy. This is baby bird and mummy. They are eating fruit. This is small, small bird. Daddy bird is eat worms. Daddy is happy. This is tree. The bird house is in the tree. I am happy because I see the birds. I chose yellow because it is happy. I am happy when I play rabbit with Morning. Morning is the rabbit and I am rabbit mommy. Rabbit mummy plays with the rabbit. At home I am happy when I play with brother George. We play with toy mouse.”

Golden is Surprised

Green is Calm

From the artist…

 Oliver “When I see green, I feel calm down. I think about playing games. My heart feels better. I chose green because it is calm. Bunny is calm because he wants to eat all the carrots. The carrots make him feel calm. The carrots are from the garden. Mr. Seth grows the carrots. There are clouds, they are calm clouds because the sun made them calm. And the sun is also calm because the moon makes him calm. It’s because he is strong, he can also make the sun calm. The dots are calm butterflies. It’s because the ants made them calm. Because they used leaves to make the butterflies calm. There is a farm where the cows live. And its also where you get milk. And the bunny wants to eat the carrots from the growing farm. And there is a rainbow because the day is calm down. Everything is calm down. It is good to calm down because its quiet. Others are learning so quiet is good. And the rabbit is a girl because she has long ears. And the sun are also calm down. The moon makes the sun calm down and the rainbow makes the clouds calm down.”

Pink is Love

From the artist…

Morning “I think pink is love. Love is love her mummy. I used pink and pink. It is love. Because he loves bunny’s mommy. Bunny’s mummy gives Bunny one watermelon. Bunny wants to eat so mummy gives it to him. Bunny and mummy love to eat together. Bunny is in a nest, mummy made a nest for baby bunny and it sleeps in a nest. Mummy closed the doors when bunny is sleeping. Bunny is very small and mum will put the light off and close the nest door. The bunny will cry if she doesn’t close the door because it thinks there will be a monster outside. Mummy keeps Bunny safe. Mummy sleeps in the big nest. If bunny is scared he can open the little window to see mummy. Grandma loves me. I sleep in a little small nest too. My mummy sleeps in the big bed. The bunny is me. The bunny mummy is my mommy.”

We observed how the children used their experiences, imagination and theories creatively. Each stroke on their paper was intentional, showing the actions feelings and personalities of different characters in their stories.

Showing Actions and Feelings

How might we show the actions and feelings of a character? 

Picture books communicate with both words and with pictures. One key way to enhance illustration is to dramatise the artwork. A good character, first and foremost, must evoke a reaction from the reader. It’s the illustrator’s job to capture that spark, that energy, that grabs the reader’s attention.

To explore this further, we decided to read yet another picture book by Mo Williems, ‘Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!’. As we read the story, the children demonstrated the actions and feelings of the characters in the story.

We began to see how the pigeon shared his disappointment, anger, surprise, joy and thoughtfulness. We also noticed how Pigeon moved to show what he was doing or feeling.

During quiet writing time, the children sit with writing tools to express their ideas and stories through pictures and words.

We used Oxford’s drawing to talk about the character’s feelings and actions. Oxford’s story was about a thief who stole money from a shopping mall. A person close to the mall was surprised by what he observed and showed his emotion through facial expressions. Spiderman was around to save the day, making a plan to catch the thief with the stolen money.

Oxford thought about his drawing and wondered what more he could do to show feelings, emotions and action through his artwork. 

Next, we chose a character from our stories and then drew to show all the different ways a character was feeling.  

The children were invited to share why the character was feeling that way. They were excited to share their drawings, using their imagination to extend their initial thoughts.

We were ready to add our new ideas on the chart paper.

We wonder how the children would use these different craft moves in their own writing and storytelling. 

Launching ‘Writing Workshop’

The children were introduced to ‘time for writing’ through ‘Writing Workshop’. This is a dedicated time when we explore, notice and practice different writing behaviours and skills that help us as readers and writers.

The children prepared their Writing Workshop Folder, using labels, words and pictures to share information. They drew a ‘happy face’ on one side to save the ‘completed’ pieces of writing, and a ‘pencil’ on the other to save their ‘work in progress’.

Then, we offered the children paper to start their K2 writing journey. This was an opportunity for the teachers to explore the children’s interests and passions. Listening to the children’s stories helped us know more about their topics and ideas for writing.

During ‘time for sharing’, the children were encouraged to talk about who, where and what their stories were about. This is an opportunity for the children to learn from each other, grow their craft and learn different techniques and strategies that make their stories interesting to their readers.

As we move forward, the children will revisit their work to either continue their writing or create new pieces of work during the ‘Writing Workshop’ time.

Thorough ‘Writing Workshop‘, the children:

  • use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, or to tell a story.
  • with guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed.

Literacy through Story Workshop

Story Workshop is a hands-on approach that that allows children to create, talk about and use drawing and writing to share their stories. The children are invited to use loose parts at different centers in the classroom to develop their story ideas before moving to write their ideas down.

It’s much easier to start thinking of a story line when you have physical pieces in front of you. Children start manipulating them, making shapes, building structures, adding characters and soon they’ve created the base of a story. The hands-on experience encourages creativity and imagination.

The adults in the space listen to the children’s ideas, offering suggestions and supporting key literacy skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Props for the Showcase

The storytelling groups have brainstormed ideas for their props. They have made a list of what they will need to tell their stories to an audience. One group went with Ms. Jo to begin the process of making the props. They gathered to talk about their ideas. Decisions needed to be made.

Ms. Jo asked the storytellers to consider the stage, and then think about the size of the props. How big or small do the props need to be?

What materials would you need to use?

K2 designers know the value of collaboration and voice. The group discussed each prop to gather as many ideas as possible.

Sword:

  • Patrick suggested they use plastic and Dylan thought metal was a better choice.

Stop Sign: Patrick “Cut a paper and write “stop” on it and glue it on.”

  • Jessie “We need to cut it smaller.”

Rocket Bomb:

  • Patrick “A bomb.”
  • Dylan Jessie & Patrick “A water bottle.”
  • Soohyeon “A big water bottle.”

Treasure Box:

  • Patrick “We can draw a key on the box.”
  • Soohyeon and Dylan “Not open the box.”

Rope: How can we make the rope a magic rope?

  • Soohyeon “With paint.”
  • Patrick “Glue some gems.”
  • Georgia “Use pipe cleaners.”

Cars:

  • Soohyeon “Lego car.”
  • Jessie “The cardboard car which Dylan make in class.”

Over the next few weeks, each group of storytellers will collaborate with different experts to create the props they need for the Showcase. They will need to consider their presentation, technique, and audience. They will need to conduct research, to explore and make choices about spaces, materials and technology tools that will showcase their creativity. They will need to listen to each other’s ideas, work collaboratively to accomplish their goal ‘to make an assembly with stories for the whole school and our families.

The Art of Storytelling

The storytellers drew their ideas for what the stage might look like. Ms. Heidi came in to show us one way to present using sound, props, musical instruments, costumes and a setting.

She invited the K2 storytellers to think about her performance piece and how some of the ideas she presented could be used in the K2 Showcase.

– What ideas could we use?

– What NEW ideas do we have?

We could:

  • make our own sound effects
  • make the sounds of the animals
  • use our own voices to make sound effects
  • be the animal characters
  • 3 people can make the sounds and one person can show the puppets
  • divide the jobs
  • make puppets in our group and have a group sing a song
  • make our own props
  • make our own backdrops or settings
  • make the stage look like the setting
  • use props and fabric to tell the story
  • use puppets and plastic animals

Two groups presented their storyboard 2 ideas to Ms. Heidi. She gave them feedback and made some suggestions.

Together, they brainstormed ideas for the:

  • cast
  • props
  • sound effects
  • backdrop
  • and decided how they wanted to narrate or ‘tell’ the story.

We are excited to see the different ideas the storytellers have thought about as they use the Performing Arts Creative Cycle of planning, practicing, polishing and performing to help them create and present their K2 Showcase.

The Stage Plan

The Showcase groups have been using the feedback they received from their peers and teachers to make their stories more interesting and exciting. Some groups have focused more on the characters, others on the sequence and events in their stories. They have noted these changes on a Draft 2 Storyboard.

We gathered to review our plans so far, reflecting on our goal: ‘to make an assembly with stories for the whole school and our families’.

We wondered what the stage might look like. The children said:

  • “They will see us on stage.”
  • “We might be singing.”
  • “We might be playing the guitar or ukulele.”

We knew we had to do some ‘imagining’.

Mr. Seth said, “When the curtains open, what is the audience going to see?”

The storytellers were invited to ‘imagine’ the stage. They could create their stage plans with a friend or work alone. The storytellers used pictures and explanations to share what the stage might look like during the Showcase.  

 Our next step is to present these individual or group ideas to Ms. Heidi, to receive her feedback. Then, we can collectively decide on how the stories are presented on the stage.

Showcase Storyboard Presentations

The storytellers have been discussing ideas and creating storyboards to plan the sequence of their performance. Over the planning sessions, we noticed how the storytellers collaborated with each other, making suggestions, taking turns and including everyone in the task.

Some of the groups were ready to present their initial storyboards with the intention of seeking feedback and suggestions for improvement. We used the T.A.G. feedback protocol to help the storytellers with this process.

 

The Story Presentation by Dylan, Patrick, Soohyeon, Jessie and Tae Woo​

The Story: The ghost goes to the king’s castle. King goes to the ghost’s house. The monsters see the dragon.​The good monsters and germs go to the king’s house for a party. They make the king feel better. ​​

  • Tracey “Why are the monsters going to the party?” ​
  • Suggestions from Mr. Seth “Let the audience the know which monsters are good and which are bad.” ​

Story Presentation by Yilun, Mason, Kyle and Ethan​

The Story: The snowman melts and the ambulance comes. The snowman melts in the ambulance. The monster comes and gives the ambulance driver a red packet. The driver makes a new snowman​.

  • Soohyeon “I like the melting.” ​
  • Patrick “I like the drawing​.”
  • Tracy “I like the snowman because the snowman is cute.”​
  • Luca “I like the happy ending​.”
  • Yeonwoo “I like the snowman’s head.​”
  • Dylan “Why have a snowman?” ​
  • Patrick “Why does the monster go to give the driver the red pocket?” ​
  • Luca “Why did the snowman melt?”​

 

Story Presentation by Yeonwoo, Doho, Eujin and Jiu​

The Story: Rainbow looks at the rainbow house. Rainbow finds a rainbow ghost in the house. Rainbow ghost goes to the roller coaster. A punching robot breaks the roller coaster. Another robot fixes it. Rainbow ghost finished the roller coaster and went home. Another robot goes to the rainbow ghost’s house. The end. ​

  • ​Luca “I like the rainbow ghost because it goes on the roller coaster.” ​
  • Soohyeon “I like the rainbow house, because it is the same as the rainbow.” ​
  • Kenan “I like the roller coaster.”​
  • Soohyeon “Where is the roller coaster?” ​
  • Heidi “Why does rainbow find a ghost?”​
  • Seth “Is rainbow a character?” ​
  • Luca “If rainbow ghost has a telescope, he can look at the rainbow.” ​
  • Soohyeon “Put a camera on the roller coaster so we can see.” ​
  • Patrick “The rainbow can be a roller coaster​.”

 

Story Presentation by Junot, Luca, Noah, Kenan, Allen and Tracey​

The Story: The girl goes to the house and she sees a snowman.  She sees a tree. She goes to the tree and sees a roller coaster. A princess is on the roller coaster and the unicorn is flying above.  A dragon comes from the sea, and fights with the princess and unicorn. Then the dragon flies back over the sea. Then they have a party and then they see a rainbow. The dragon goes back under water. ​

  • Soohyeon “I like the sea, because of the water.​”
  • Yeonwoo “I like the rainbow, because it is colorful.” ​
  • Jessie “I like the rainbow, because it is colourful​.”
  • Jiu “Why did the dragon come?”​
  • Soohyeon “What kind of dragon is it? Why is a fire dragon in the sea?” ​
  • Kyle “Why did the princess and dragon fight?​”
  • Heidi “Why the dragon come back again and then go back to his home again?” ​
  • Yeonwoo “Why is there a rainbow?” ​
  • Shemo “What happened to the snowman?​”
  • Heidi “Explain why the dragon comes and what it wants.”
  • Soohyeon “Give the dragon two homes.”

 

Story Presentation by Yuha, Eunice, Sean and Chloe

The Story: This is water like a fountain. There is a unicorn heart and unicorn rabbit. This is the castle at Disneyland. This is me, this is my rabbit and heart unicorn. They go to the castle. The ghosts made the music. They ghosts are wiggly, wiggle and say “Oooooh”. The ghost is coming. They see a toy rabbit and it has red all over it and think it is blood. He goes “ah”, but it is jam. They lick it off. Then they go to see the fireworks. And then go into the house.

  • Soohyeon “I like the fireworks and the unicorn.” ​
  • Yeonwoo “I like the strawberry jam, because it’s yummy.​”
  • Patrick “I like the strawberry jam, because it is sticky and yummy.​”
  • Luca “I like the unicorn, because it’s so cute. You can put the jam on the ghost.” ​
  • Jessie “I like the drawings.” ​
  • Yilun “I like the fireworks, because of the colours.​”
  • Junot “I like the fireworks ​
  • Kyle “I like the rabbit, because it is cute.” 
  • Yeonwoo “Why did the ghost come?​”
  • Patrick “In the end, where did the ghosts go?​”
  • Soohyeon “Why are there only two colors?”  ​
  • Luca “Who are the characters in the shop?” ​
  • Kyle “Why did they go to the castle?”  ​
  • Soohyeon “More colours.” ​
  • Yeonwoo “More lines on the story.​”
  • Patrick “More details​.”
  • Dylan “More details.” ​
  • Jessie “Add more colours.” ​
  • Kyle “I think you need more colours.” ​
  • Patrick “Let people know what the music is.”

All the groups have presented their storyboards. The audience have shared what they liked, asked questions to learn more about the story and offered suggestions for improvement. We noticed that the children became more familiar with using the T.A.G. feedback protocol with each presentation. They were becoming more aware of how questions, suggestions and feedback can help the storytellers improve their story, setting, characters and plots.

When we return from our holiday, we will begin to think about the different ways we can present stories.

Group Story Plan and Storyboard

Group Story Plan

The groups convened with clipboards in hand to talk about their ideas and put them down on paper. They sat around chart paper, using pictures and words to share their ideas.

Many of the groups discussed characters and settings. We noticed the children collaborating, looking for ways to include and weave in ideas suggested by others.

We noticed the children being open-minded and inclusive, using a common language and gestures to share their ideas.

The chart papers were overflowing with suggestions. Scary, funny stories began to emerge.

At the end of the session, the children gathered to talk about their next steps. A challenge was to identify the ‘plot’ in the story.

  • What was going to happen in the story?
  • How do we know what happens first, then, next and finally?

 

 

The Storyboard

The next day, Ms. Heidi joined our planning. We revisited what we did the previous day.

  • Jessie “We went into groups and drew different things and shared ideas.”

Then, A few groups shared their ideas for stories.

Group “Snowman, people and bugs that bite people. It is on a mountain.”

  • Ms. Heidi “Think about how many characters you need to have in your story. If we have 5 people in our group, we might want to have 5 characters. The narrator might be there to tell the story.”

Group “It’s in a castle. We have ghosts and germs.”

Group “Our story is in the rainbow and a roller coaster. We have rainbow ghosts. Rainbow ghosts and A robots.”

  • Mr. Seth “You have lots of characters and lots of settings. We have a beginning, the middle and an end.”

Created by Mr. Seth

Mr. Seth introduced a ‘storyboard’, a way to plan a story.

The children went off into their groups to create their storyboards. The teachers checked-in with the groups to listen, suggest, brainstorm and provide feedback.

The children worked hard to include different ideas while thinking of the flow of the story.

We continue to talk about the sequence of a story, the plot and end.

How can we make our stories more interesting? Our collaborative storytelling continues…

The K2 Showcase

The Brainstorm

The K2 children gathered to brainstorm ideas for their showcase.

Mr. Seth “Every class share at an assembly and soon it will be our turn to present at our K2 showcase. We have been doing a lot of storytelling this year. What are some of the ways we have told stories?”

  • Patrick “I told a story about scary germs. I told it with Mason and Andy.”
  • Tracey “I told a funny story.”

Teacher “What would you like to share? What will that look like?”

The children put their ideas down on paper and discussed their thinking and suggestions with others in their group. At the end of the brainstorm, the children’s ideas included:

  • Where: On the stage, sitting on cushions​
  • Who: Small groups​
  • How: Booksvideo, puppets, music​
  • What: Stories about nature, scary, funny

Details

  • Characters:monsters, germs​
  • Puppets:Giant​
  • Music:instruments​
  • Decorations
  • Sets: colorful, rainbow city, castle,  ​
  • Props: hot air balloon, roller coaster

We look forward to our next planning meeting as the children decide on more specific information.

 

The PLAN 

What ideas do you have for your story?

We gathered to think about our next steps in planning the showcase. 

After a brief discussion about the different stages; initiating, planning, delivering and closing, the children were invited to think about all the different ideas they had, to create an initial plan.

 

The children began to discuss their ideas and put them down on paper. Favourite characters and settings began to emerge through their drawings.

Then, we went to the next stage, to share ideas with others and decide if we want to create groups to tell our stories.

At this stage, the children needed to decide if they wanted to join others based on the characters and stories.

Splat!

What is SPLAT?

The ‘SPLAT’ math activity is a great way to talk about number. Essentially, a set of dots are shown using manipulatives or a screen. A “splat” or blob covers some of the dots. Then question is:

“How many dots have been covered by the splat?”

The mathematicians used what they know about number relationships to solve the problem. Exploring some of the thinking and reasoning led to creating equations. Finally, the children created their own class ‘SPLAT’ book.

Story Workshop

We Are Writers!

We gathered to brainstorm what makes us writers.

  • What do writers do?
  • How are WE writers?

The children shared their ideas, and we documented their thinking on chart paper.

When we write we can:

  • talk about writing
  • write in different languages
  • tell people ‘how to’ do things
  • make books to tell people about ‘real’ things (what is inside a fish)
  • tell true or imaginary stories
  • make books
  • use
    • finger spaces
    • punctuation
    • capital letters for names and at the beginning of a sentence
    • quotation makes
    • speech bubbles
  • tell about things that happened a long time ago (dinosaurs)
  • use words and pictures
  • use paper, notepads, paper and books
  • write with pens, markers and pencils

 

What is Story Workshop?

The writers were introduced to Story Workshop. Story Workshop is a classroom structure that is used to support language and literacy. The adults consider the space, environment, story materials, writing tools, books and props that invite storytelling.

The arrangements of materials inspire storytelling, conversation, imagination concentration, negotiation and investigation. The ‘play’ with materials helps the writers use writing tools to share their ideas using marks, pictures, symbols, words and sentences. The active engagement encourages the writers to write and create complex stories.

The writers may have individual or group workspaces to help them explore a range of materials. A workspace or placemat helps anchor the writer’s workspace so that they can manage and co create stories alongside or with others. Writers are encouraged to record stories using pencil and paper, which can be collated into books.

Writing tools and materials that support writing were discussed.

Writers in K2 have access to these materials throughout the day to help them explore writing for different purposes.

Planning, Practicing, Polishing and Performing

In Performing Arts, the children worked on the second half of the Performing Arts Creative Cycle of planning, practicing, polishing and performing. They polished and performed their stick puppet shows​ based on their ‘own’ stories inspired by the story ‘Rosie’s Walk‘.

 

The children completed the sound recordings of the sound effects. Then, they made the second sound effects by selecting percussion instruments related to what happened in the stories.

They also recorded their ‘narration‘ of the journey that our stick puppet animals went on. Finally, the children used these sound recordings to perform the puppet shows. 

The Storytellers

We have been exploring how we can enjoy, learn and express ourselves through the arts. The K2 storytellers have been working in groups, creating maps and characters to tell their own stories. While creating art, the children made choices to construct meaning about the world around them. We observed this as they used positional language and familiar places in the environment to decide how their characters will travel as they tell the story. Some of the maps included the school, their homes, bridges, and waterways. We noticed that the stories were inspired by their experiences and imagination.

It was time to ‘tell’ the story. Ms. Heidi came in to help the storytellers explore different ways to tell stories. First, they revisited the story ‘Rosie’s Walk’ and watched the video where they retold the story in the Performing Arts room. 

Then, the storytellers showed Ms. Heidi their maps and characters. Ms. Heidi invited the storytellers to explore different ways to tell stories.

The options included using the overhead projector and the white curtain, using the light-box or the class projector and screen.

The storytellers discussed their options, and then went off the practice their storytelling. Ms. Heidi reminded the storytellers that feelings, moods and ideas can be expressed creatively using vocal sounds and dramatic expression.

Through this experience they engaged in a creative process that involves joining in, exploring and taking risks.

In the next few days, the storytellers will practice and refine their stories, and decide who they would like to have as an audience.

Maps and Storytelling

We noticed the interest the children showed in acting out, creating and sharing different versions of ‘Rosie’s Walk’. They worked with Ms. Heidi to retell the story, using what they know about maps and positional language to show movement. Back in the classroom, some students even created their own maps!

The teachers decided to invite the children to create their own stories and maps. Four groups were created, offering children an opportunity to work with mixed groups. First, the groups discussed their ideas. Then, the children had to decide on the characters. This step was a challenge as each child had their own ideas. Through negotiation and conversation, they were able to decide which 2 characters will be part of the story.

Next, the children considered the different places (setting) the story will happen. They had to look for ways to connect different ideas to make one story. We observed the children listening and considering ideas put forward by the group. After discussing their ideas, the children began to draw on a large piece of paper.   During this step of the process, we noticed how some groups needed to pause, and take time to speak to others about the way they documented their ideas on paper. We noticed how the children managed their frustrations as they worked together on one paper. This can be a challenge as once something has been drawn, it could not be removed. Throughout the task, the children practiced their social skills, listening, considering, sharing, and working towards a shared idea.

The storytellers decided on the sequence of the story, making choices about the way the story will flow. They revisited the vocabulary that could help them show ‘how’ the characters move and act throughout the story. They used a chart to record this information.

As the children worked together, we noticed how they used the vocabulary to decide direction, position and moment.

Next, each group will decide how the story could be shared with the other groups, or the community.

Rosie’s Walk

Distance Learning Provocations

Focus: Communication Skills, Literacy and Mathematics

Rosie lives in a farmyard. Each morning, Rosie sets off on a walk across the farm. She is unaware that a sly fox is following her.

You can click the link to listen to the story ‘Rosie’s Walk’ by Pat Hutchins. Notice how the pictures are illustrated. There are lines, patterns and shapes on the different characters and the environment.

 

You might want to act out the story using your own animals or props. You can even use boxes, cushions and blankets and any other suitable props to create a farmyard to go on your own walk. You can go across, around, over, past, through, and under.

Your own story can be in a different place such as a forest, an island or even a city. You might want to act out your story in the park or on the playground!

If you create a story, share it with us!

Storytelling with Paper Crafts

Distance Learning Provocations

Focus: Literacy, Creativity and Communication Skills

Let’s explore how we might tell stories with paper and card. Meet Esther, a wonderful story character created with card. You can learn how to make Esther here:

You can watch the video ‘Esther’s Transformations’ for more ideas here:

Use card or paper to create your own characters.

Find a setting or a place to tell your story. It can be indoors or out in nature!

Share your characters and story with us!

Mouse Count

We read the picture book 🐁  Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh. This is a wonderful picture book that encourages conversations about number, quantity and addition.

After reading the story, we watched a short video that encouraged the children to think about the multiple combinations that make 10.

 

We wonder how many different ways 10 mice can be arranged with some in the jar and some in the grass.

Through play and dialogue, we looked a few different combinations using stones to represent mice. 

Then, the children were invited to make their own number book.

One student decided to tell his own number story using the different loose parts in the campfire.

We are learning to create number stories by modelling joining and separating concrete objects. We can use language to describe changes to a collection as objects are added or taken away.

The children documented their thinking on paper using pictures, numbers and symbols. These pages will be collated to create a number book.

As authors and illustrators, their next task was to decide what the cover of the book should look like.

They had to think of a ‘title’ that gives the reader an idea of what the book might be about.  

Finally, the children included a picture on the front cover along with the authors name.

 

The Present

We watched the beautifully animated story ‘Penguin‘ by Polly Dunbar. This is a story about a silent penguin who has a very special way of expressing himself.  

For the story read by the author Polly Dunbar click HERE!

Writing Task:

Imagine that you rip open a present just like Ben does. Which animal would you like to find inside and why? What adventures would you have?

This writing task encouraged students to:

  • write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences
  • develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach
  • use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others

Literature Circle Roles – Passage Picker

We read the story ‘A New Home for Beaverby Henna Goudzand Nahar, illustrated by Jeska Verstegen. This is a wonderful story about 3 friends (Elephant, Pig and Beaver) who learn about the importance of kindness and inclusion. 

After reading the text, the students were invited to pick out their favourite part of the book and explain why they chose it. This could be…

  • an interesting part
  • an exciting part
  • an happy part
  • an sad part
  • an scary part

The Memory Book – Final Steps

Our next step in creating the Memory Book was to decide on the layout of the stories. The students suggested that the stories should be presented in ‘alphabetical order’ (student names).

They shuffled their bodies, standing one behind the other, organising themselves into the correct space.

When the students checked their list, they realised that they had not included the 3 students that had left NIS at the end of the last semester. The adjustments were made.

Then, we included the final page with the ‘Author Interviews. Each student decided what they wanted their readers to know about them and their stories. The interviews were included with photographs of the authors, as suggested on the plan.

Next, the students dictated the information that would be included in the blurb, on the cover at the back of the book. They discussed their ideas, deciding on the most relevant information that would hook the readers. A photograph of the mural was included on the back cover.   

Then, the page numbers were included, and the contents page was created.

The Draft Memory Book has been completed. We were ready to send it off to the printer!

The Memory Book and Mural Project encouraged the students to see themselves as authors, illustrators, readers, and decision makers. Through this journey, the students developed an awareness, and an appreciation for different forms of expression. They have worked collaboratively to create artefacts that celebrate the culture, values, and community of Second Grade.

Memory Book (Click to read)

Theme:

How We Express Ourselves 2020-21

Central Idea:

Communities come together through expressions of culture.

Lines of Inquiry:

  • Ways cultures are expressed (Form)
  • Similarities and differences of expression (Connection)
  • Why we communicate cultural stories (Perspective)

Key Concepts: form, connection, perspective

Related Concepts: Expression, communication

The Memory Book (Continued)

We gathered to reflect and update our plan for the Memory Book. We went through the process we have followed and thought about our next steps. 

The students have all created their individual stories for the Memory Book. 

Out next step was to discuss and come to an agreement on the look and feel of the book, starting with the front and back cover. The students decided that they wanted to create both a hard copy and an electronic version of the book. 

The students decided to vote on the colour of the front and back cover. They suggested a table would be a useful tool to document our data. Two popular choices emerged. Green and Purple. 

Yet another table was created to help us decide which colour would be used for the front and back cover. 

Next, we voted on the different titles the students had suggested. A clear winner emerged. The book would be titled ‘2A Memory Book‘.

The process documented

Watch this space to learn more about our next steps…

The Memory Book

The students have been working on their short stories, which will be included in the final Memory Book. They have followed the writing process, moving from their draft to their edited and published versions.

These books are now displayed in the G1 and 2 corridors along with our learning stories.

We took some time to share these stories with each other.

We have followed our initial plan, created our stories and are in the process of creating our class mural. We gathered to discuss our ideas for the Memory Book.

  • What about a title for the book? How will we decide which one to choose?
  • How would we organize the different stories?
  • Where will this book be displayed?

The students continued to share what they thought our next steps would be. Some suggestions included:

  • author interviews
  • page numbers
  • a blurb
  • a contents page
  • photographs of the authors
  • headers
  • images and diagrams of planners and the mural painting

We know that these decisions need to be made as a group, as this is what we ‘value’ in 2A. Watch this space to learn more about our next steps…

Folktales

An inquiry into Folktales:

Passed down from generation to generation, folktales provide a glimpse into a culture’s beliefs, and also insight into people’s motivations, feelings and values.

We read the folktale Stone Soup by Jon J Muth. In this story, three monks convince the people of a village to share a small amount of their food in order to make a meal that everyone enjoys.

After listening to the story, the students identified the characters, setting, problem, solution and moral of the story. We also noticed the details in the illustrations and how they give us clues about the text.

(Communication Skills: Exchanging information: Listening, interpreting and speaking)

The next day, one student reread the folktale while a story map was created. We used labels to help us remember important vocabulary and key information from the story.

(Communication Skills: LiteracyReading, writing and using language to gather and communicate information)

The students completed a graphic organizer to document the discussion points.

The moral of the story Stone Soup by Jon J Muth, is that ‘sharing benefits everyone who contributes’.

Next, we read Stone Soup by Marcia Brown. In this version, the travellers are 3 soldiers.

(Communication Skills: Exchanging information: Listening, interpreting and speaking)

Communication Skills: LiteracyReading, writing and using language to gather and communicate information)

The students helped create a story map of this version by Marcia Brown, including the important elements and key vocabulary. We compared the two versions of Stone Soup and thought about the similarities and differences between them. 

Next, we documented our thinking on a graphic Venn Diagram.

(Communication Skills: LiteracyReading, writing and using language to gather and communicate information)

(Research Skills: Information literacy: Formulating and planning, data gathering and recording, synthesizing and interpreting, evaluating and communicating)

One student brought in yet another version of Stone Soup, this time it was written in Korean. He worked with a partner to read and translate the story for the others. As they read the story, we thought about similarities and differences between all three versions. 

(Communication Skills: LiteracyReading, writing and using language to gather and communicate information)

We continued to add our thoughts and ideas on our mind map, discussing what we know and think these important words might be.

(Thinking Skills: Creative thinking: Generating novel ideas and considering new perspectives)

We continue to wonder about the concepts ‘community’ and ‘culture’, what do these words mean to us? How do communities ‘express’ their culture?

We wonder…

Storytellers

Two groups of students read interesting fictional stories that included animal characters. We decided to share these stories with the rest of the class.

The students had to decide who would be involved and what role they would play. Some decided that they would be part of the props team, helping to create the setting and the props for the story. The students had to cooperate, find ways to work together and listen to each other’s ideas.

The Setting

The Characters and Props

We reminded ourselves of what a good audience might look like. We had to plan, prepare the props, run through a practice and then perform for others in just 50 minutes!

Crafting Powerful Small Moments

We are working on crafting powerful small moments.

We know that authors tell meaningful stories. We began by reading ‘Owl Moon; by Jane Yolen, a mentor text that focuses on ‘small moments’.

Session 1: Generate meaningful ideas for small moment writing.

Owl Moon is a story about Heidi, the author’s daughter, who went looking for owls with her dad. It’s a beautiful ‘small moment’ story that captures and shares details about the winter night, the trees, the snow and mysterious nighttime bird. As we read the story, we thought about meaningful moments that WE wanted to write about. 

Session 2: Capture ideas.

We have been jotting down ideas for writing in our planning sheet, which is in our Writer’s Workshop folder.  

We looked at a few writing samples and discussed the strategies good writers use. The students explained that in this piece of writing, the writer remembered to:

  • use a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence
  • keep spaces between words
  • use different types of punctuation
  • match the writing with the pictures
  • print words neatly on the line
  • use capital letters to show that some words were important
  • stretch the writing across 3 pages
  • use interesting words

We also discussed how the writer wanted story to be read! 

We revisited the Anchor Chart ‘How to Write a Story’. 

We discussed how we might add details to stretch the beginning.

We talked about the different ways we can bring our stories to life. We know that talking about our story and creating a sketch before writing is a great way to plan. 

We talked about planning our story. What strategies and tools might we use to do this?

We discussed a strategy ‘Telling Across Fingers’. We know that when we have opportunities to first talk about our stories, we can then think more about adding details to stretch our writing across pages. 

Session 3: Stretch out small moments.

Then, we looked at some pieces of writing. We noticed that some writers jot down key words at the top of the  page to help them stretch out the small moment. 

We continue to practice the strategies and tools we have been discussing that will help us grow as writers.

 

Choices and Interactions

We have been exploring ‘how our choices affect our interactions‘. We decided to read ‘When Sophie Gets Angry – Really, Really Angry…‘ by Molly Bang.’

We first read the Title and the Back Blurb. 

How does THIS book want to be read? What does the author want us to feel? How might the author want us to connect with the story? We reflected on a few different feelings/emotions. 

We used paper and markers to document our thoughts and ideas as we read the story. What do the characters feel? What choices do they make? How do their choices affect their interactions? Were they choices that help people feel/stay safe?  

Then, we cut up our sketched emotions and assembled them on a Story Mountain/Story Arc. We talked about the Beginning, middle, problem, resolution and end. The students talked about the different zones (Zones of Regulation) the character may be in. The students connected with the story, sharing personal experiences of when they felt like Sophie. 

Next, we retold the story in our own words, using the story planner. We reflected on the Choices and Interactions the characters experienced in the story. 

How do YOUR ‘CHOICES’ affect your INTERACTIONS? We wonder…

100 Hungry Ants…

We have been using Place Value Blocks to model numbers, solve problems and express our thinking. 

We have been using manipulatives and drawings to explain our strategies for decomposing and regrouping.

We wondered how we might express our ideas, create and share stories about number. 

We read the story ‘One Hundred Ants‘ by Elinor J. Pinczes, illustrated by Bonnie Mackain. 

The story begins with a group of hungry ants that decide to march off single file to a picnic. However, along the way, they realise they are moving too slow and begin to divide themselves in different ways to help them get to the picnic site quickly.

As we read the story, we documented our thinking using Base 10 Blocks, pictures, words and numbers.

Next, the students retold the story in their own words, using the images they created to document their thinking.  

Here are a few stories… 

Empathy

What IS EMPATHY?

How do we develop empathy?

We read the story ‘Cleversticks’ by Bernard Ashley, illustrated by Derek Brazell.

This is a story about a little boy, Ling Sung, who hates going to school. There are too many things the other kids can do that he can’t. When he discovers everyone admires his ability to use chopsticks, Ling Sung is empowered.
The illustrations and story encourage the reader to reflect on feelings of helplessness, pride, discouragement and joy. The students retold the story using picture clues. We made a list of the characters in the story and discussed the setting (where the story takes place).
We talked about the beginning, middle and end of the story as well as the problem and the resolution (how the problem was solved). We created a ‘Story Mountain‘ to help us visualise and document our thinking.  
We used a graphic organiser to document key details from the text. 
This story encourages us to think about about how ‘Our choices affect our interactions with others.’ 
To explore this further, we discussed the different characters in the story. We wondered what message the author wanted to convey through this story.

I think the authors message is…

  • … we know that some people know some things and some people know other things. – Kavel
  • … everybody needs to be united. Friendship. Help each other. Learn from other’s strengths. – Sam
  • … do not laugh when someone can’t do something. Be kind. Be caring. – Sky
  • … letting us try things.- Hannah
  • … be helpful. – Miranda
  • … play kindly with friends. – Eunseong
  • … know different feelings and learn things. – Carlotta
  • … if you don’t know something you can keep on practicing and you will get better at it. – Elena
  • … nobody can do everything. – Ryder
  • … some people are good at writing and anyone can help to do writing. – Dohoon
  • … we also need friends. – Stella
  • … work at whatever you want. – Chanwoong

Next, the students used a thinking routine ‘I Used to Think… Now I Think…’ to document their initial ideas about the word ‘EMPATHY’.

What do you do when you feel sad or when something terrible happens? What would you do if you notice someone else feeling sad?

We listened to a story ‘The Rabbit Listened’ by Cori Doerrfeld

In this story, something terrible happens to Taylor. While he is trying to manage his feelings, his friends try to give him some solutions. One by one, the animals try to tell Taylor how to work out his feelings, and one by one they fail. Then the rabbit arrives and something wonderful happens… 

After listening to the story, the students documented their thinking, reflecting on how and why their thinking changed.

I used to think ‘EMPATHY’ was…NOW I think ‘EMPATHY’ is…

What does empathy mean to you?

Writing – The Fire Alarm!

We can write our own stories!

What tools can we use to make our writing better? 

The ‘Writer’s Tool Box’ resources are available through teacher’s pet.

We needed to decide if we wanted to write about a watermelon, slice or seed idea

The students provided suggestions. Edits were made along the way, as we included and excluded ideas that improved our piece of writing. 

We put our ideas down on chart paper. 

We know that every great story starts with a good idea. To help us stay focused, we made sketches and labeled our quick ideas. We numbered our pictures, to help us as we write about events as they happened.

We discussed the setting, characters and important events. We included details by discussing and sharing what we remembered about the event.

The students decided on how they wanted to start each sentence.

We made changes as we discussed the story.

We tried different and interesting words. Using our senses helped us recall important details that we wanted to share with our readers.

We were mindful of our punctuation. Where do we need to include speech marks, exclamation marks and periods (full stops)?

The discussions helped us improve our writing.

While writing the story, we made many changes. We crossed out words we did not want, and inserted words we thought made our sentences flow. As the whole class was involved in the writing process, we had to listen to others and build on each others suggestions. When we were done, we could see a clear beginning, middle and end to our story. We thought it sounded interesting and hope our readers will enjoy it!

 

Writer’s Workshop – Small Moments

The students were introduced to their ‘Writer’s Workshop‘ folder. The folder will be used to store pieces of writing at different stages of the writing process. The folder includes a laminated copy of the Word Wall Words and letter sounds we use when writing.  

What shall we write about?

We began by generating and collecting ideas to write about.

  • what are we passionate about? 
  • what do we know a lot about?
  • What events and memories can we capture in our writing?

The students documented their ideas. 

We wonder how authors and illustrators hook their readers. What are some of the strategies and techniques they use to capture the attention of their readers? 

We used a mentor text to see what we could learn. We read ‘Shortcut’ by Donald Crews. This is a story about 7 children who decide to take the shortcut home, along the train tracks. They know they should always take the road. It is an exciting story that keeps the children at the edge of their seats. The author uses multiple strategies to hook the reader and keep them in suspense.

First, we talked about the cover, title, picture/illustration on the cover, authors name and spine of the book. We read the blurb at the back of the book, which helps us learn more about the story. We noted the author’s dedication. 

As we read the book, we noticed and discussed strategies the author/illustrator used to make this story more interesting to the reader. We wondered how we might use these techniques (that Donald Crews uses) when creating our own stories. 

We created an Anchor Chart to help us document what we have noticed. How might WE craft powerful small moments

We will continue to explore different techniques authors and illustrators use, to make our own stories more interesting to our readers. 

……………….

The students wanted to write their own stories about personal experiences that were significant or memorable to them. To learn more about how authors create these stories, we read ‘The Roller Coaster’.


Have You ever been on a roller coaster? What did it feel like?

Get ready to experience the thrill of riding a roller coaster for the very first time in this vibrant new adventure from acclaimed picture book by Marla Frazee.

We wonder how this story might inspire us to create our own small moment story…

Social Emotional Learning Resources

Below is a collection of picture books to support Social and Emotional Learning. 

‘Ruby Finds a Worry’ by By Tom Percival. Ruby loves playing and exploring the world around her. But one day, she notices a Worry hanging around. At first, she decides to ignore it, but it just grows bigger and bigger, and before long, it’s so huge that it’s all she can think about. An excellent teaching book about managing worry, which everyone has and which may come back sometimes but can get better if you share it with someone who can help you through it.

Here is yet another story about friendship Little Elliot, Big City’ by Mike Curato. In this story, Elliot, a little elephant, lives in a big, busy city. The big crowded streets and tall buildings make him feel rather small. Little Elliot is good at finding solutions to problems when doing his chores at home. Elliot finds many wonderful things to enjoy and discovers something that is even better than cupcakes! What might that be? We wonder… what do you like to do with your friends? How do you have fun with your friends? How do you help and take care of your friends? 

What do you do when you feel sad or when something terrible happens? What would you do if you notice someone else feeling sad? In this story, something terrible happens to Taylor. While he is trying to manage his feelings, his friends try to give him some solutions. One by one, the animals try to tell Taylor how to work out his feelings, and one by one they fail. Then the rabbit arrives and something wonderful happens… Let’s read ‘The Rabbit Listened’ by Cori Doerrfeld

What does it mean to be kind? How might acts of kindness bring us together as a community? Author Todd Parr explores this concept through his picture book The Kindness Book’.

-Approaches to Learning (ATL’s)

  • express oneself using words and sentences
  • practise empathy and care for others
  • be respectful to others
  • be aware of own and others’ feelings
  • use strategies to problem-solve

Rosie’s Walk

Online Learning

Focus: Communication Skills, Thinking Skills

Rosie lives in a farmyard. Each morning, Rosie sets off on a walk across the farm. She is unaware that a sly fox is following her.  

Let’s Read ‘Rosie’s Walk’ by Pat Hutchins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3kNUTwJhf8

Notice how the pictures are illustrated. There are lines, patterns and shapes on the different characters and the environment.

Inquiry Invitation #1

  • You might want to act out the story using your own animals or props. You can even use boxes, cushions and blankets and any other suitable props to create a farmyard to go on your own walk. You can go across, around, over, past, through, and under. Your own story can be in a different place such as a forest, an island or even a city. You might want to act out your story in the park or on the playground!  

Inquiry Invitation #2

Rosie loves to go for a walk across the farmyard. Here is a map to help her on her way.

If you were to create your own maps, what would you include?

We would love to hear about your adventures, see your maps and creations!

Approaches to Learning (ATL’s)

  • record observations and ideas through drawings and maps
  • use mark-marking to convey meaning
  • use words and sentences to express ideas
  • take on pretend roles and situations
  • use imagination and original ideas to explore familiar roles, themes and stories musically and dramatically
  • engage with, and enjoy a variety of visual arts experiences
  • use their imagination and experiences to inform their art making
  • use everyday language to describe position, direction and movement of self and objects in relation to others

You WILL Be My Friend!

Online Learning

Focus: Communication Skills

Peter Brown is an author and illustrator. He enjoys creating stories by drawing whimsical characters and scenes from his imagination. A few years ago, Peter Brown visited NIS. He read stories and showed the children how important drawing and creativity is to an author and illustrator. Peter Brown has earned many awards for his work. His wonderful picture books are some of our favourites at NIS.

The following stories, read by the teacher are available on Seesaw. Please refer as needed.  

Here are two of our favourite stories! 

‘Mr. Tiger Goes Wild’ by Peter Brown.

Mr. Tiger was bored with being so proper. Do you get bored of being proper, always doing the right thing?

Mr Tiger knows exactly how you feel. In this story, Mr. Tiger decides to go wild, but does he go too far? There is a time and place for everything…even going wild! 

  • Why is it important to have friends? 
  • How do we make new friends?
  • How might we show our friends we care about them?

You can also share your thinking through your drawings, just like Peter Brown does!

Approaches to Learning (ATL’s)

Communication Skills

Speaking

  • Express oneself using words and sentences.

Interpreting

  • Interpret visual, audio and oral communication: recognizing and creating signs, interpreting and using symbols and sounds.
  • Understand the ways in which images and language interact to convey ideas.

Reading, writing and mathematics

  • Understand symbols.
  • Understand that mark-making carries meaning.
  • Use mark-marking to convey meaning.
  • Document information and observations in a variety of ways.

Lines in Picture Books

Online Learning

Focus: Communication Skills 

Mo Willems is one of our favourite authors. We have read his books over and over again. Some of our favourite stories are: 

‘Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the BUS!’

and 

‘Should I Share My Ice-cream?” 

How do authors and illustrators use lines, shapes and patterns in their picture books? Notice how Mo Willems  uses lines and shapes to create his drawing.

You might want to try drawing Piggie with Mo Willems.

You might want to try drawing Pigeon.

You might want to try drawing Elephant Gerald.

We can explore drawing, creating and designing through our exploration of lines, patterns and shapes. Invite the children to make their own drawings or create stories using familiar characters or their own imaginative characters. The children may want to add their own details, speech bubbles and thinking clouds to add dialogue and thought.

Friendship

Online Learning

Social and Emotional Learning in the Early Years.

Many of the children explained that they miss their friends at school. Friendship plays an important role in learning. As children play with each other, they take turns, listen respectfully, share resources and develop a deeper appreciation for their own and others feelings. 

This reminds us of a wonderful story about good friends. Let’s read ‘Big Bear, Small Mouse‘ by Karma Wilson & Jane Chapman.

Here is yet another story about friendship Little Elliot, Big City‘ by Mike Curato. In this story, Elliot, a little elephant, lives in a big, busy city. The big crowded streets and tall buildings make him feel rather small. Little Elliot is good at finding solutions to problems when doing his chores at home. Elliot finds many wonderful things to enjoy and discovers something that is even better than cupcakes!

What might that be?

We wonder… what do you like to do with your friends? How do you have fun with your friends? How do you help and take care of your friends?

  • Jiwon “I can play ball and role play with my friends and have fun. If you don’t make fun of each other for being small and don’t fight each other’s toys, we can all be happy together.”

Approaches to Learning (ATL’s)

Social Skills: Interpersonal relationships

• Practise empathy and care for others

• Be respectful to others

• Help others

Pancakes, Pancakes!

Online Learning

Focus: Self-management Skills, Communication Skills

Children enjoy and have fun when cooking. Cooking also develops many mathematical concepts such as measurement and volume, while instilling healthy eating habits.

Other benefits include:

  • strengthening their fine motor skills through cutting, pouring and scooping
  • learning the concept of sequencing through reading recipes and discussing what comes first, second, and third in the cooking process
  • expanding their vocabulary as they are exposed to new words and terms
  • developing a greater sense of discovery with new foods
  • developing independence and self-management skills
  • learning about and developing an appreciation for the different resources and produce that are used when cooking

Do you like pancakes? This book is about all the steps needed to make them. Let’s listen to Ms. Anna Mila read ‘Pancake, Pancake!‘ by Eric Carle. Then, let’s make our own pancakes. 

Don’t forget to wash your hands!!

‘Wash Your Hands’ Click HERE to read it.

Let’s make PANCAKES with Ms. Anna Mila!!! 

Ms. Heidi and her son decide to show their creativity in different ways through Performing Arts.

You can make up your own call and response song linked to cooking. It could be making scrambled eggs, making egg fried rice, baking cookies…. Choose objects to act out and perform your song with. Post a video on Seesaw of yourself singing your own call and response song’ with your chosen objects based on the ‘Pancakes call and response song’. 

Curious George loves to cook. This is when he made pancakes! 

You can follow along to make your own pancakes. Here is George showing us how to do it! 

If you make your own pancakes or other delicious foods, don’t forget to let us know about your experience!  

We have had a lot of excitement in the kitchen. We have had opportunities to watch others help out in the kitchen as they cook, clean and prepare healthy meals. Ms. Anna Mila and her daughter worked together to make pancakes. Ms. Heidi and her son were also busy in the kitchen! Here is yet another family preparing a meal together.

Stir, Sift, Slice’ Click HERE to read!

  • I wonder how you help your family prepare for meal time.
  • Maybe you would like to share your experiences with us!

Flashlight

Online Learning

Focus: Communication Skills (Reading, Listening and Speaking) 

  • What do you hear at nighttime?
  • What do the creatures and animals do when it is dark?

Let’s read this wordless picture book together. I will start reading and you can continue the story. You will need to read the ‘pictures’ to tell your own story as there are no words in this special book. 

‘Flashlight’ by Lizi Boyd

Note: Encouraging children to notice and talk about details strengthens a child’s vocabulary. These experiences help children pay attention to detail and develop their creativity.

You might want to draw a picture of what you think the creatures and animals do at night.

Where’s the Bear?

Online Learning

Focus: Communication Skills

Mathematical Concepts: Position and Direction

Objects in our immediate environment have a position in space that can be described. We can use words such as behind, under, between, in, outside, on top of etc. to describe position and direction in our immediate environment.

The following video story explores the concepts of position and direction.

Where’s the Bear‘ by Allyn Fisher

I wonder how you might describe position and direction

You can choose a soft toy, a Lego person or any other object you have around you to describe position.

Don’t forget to share your learning with us!

Colour Zoo – Shape and Space

Online Leaning

Focus: Communication Skills (Mathematics – Shape and Space) 

Listen to the video story ‘Colour Zoo‘ by Lois Ehlert.

This wonderful story explores shapes and colours, with illustrations of shapes on die-cut pages that form animal faces when placed on top of one another.

  • How might you explore your creativity through shape and colour?
  • What animals or objects could you create using shape and colour?

Share your shape pictures with your friends.

Note: Encourage the children to describe the shape by number of sides and corners. Compare shapes by asking what similarities and differences they see. Describing shapes helps children learn about the properties of shapes which eventually leads to a deeper understanding about shape and space.

Approaches to Learning (ATL’s) 

  • observe carefully
  • notice relationships
  • record observations using drawing or emergent writing
  • draw expressively, experimenting with various ways to move and produce marks
  • draw recognizable shapes, person and simple pictures
  • add personal elements to shapes of pictures

Bean Sprouts

Online Learning

Focus: Communication Skills (Literacy), Self-management Skills, Research Skills   

Mung bean sprouts are a vegetable grown by sprouting mung beans. We can add them in our soups, stir fries and salads.

Here is a story about a little boy named Jack. Jack has some magic beans! What will happen when they start to grow in his garden? Watch and find out!

Let’s try to grow our own mung bean sprouts!

Follow the instructions in the video to make your own.

Remember that they need plenty of water to grow!

Here are some other suggestions:

@M the Scientist explains and demonstrates the process!

“I want to make the mung bean sprout. I use these materials: mung、gauze、plastic case and water. I need to wait.”

@M the Update…

I have  been documenting the growth my ‘Mung Bean Sprouts’. I kept a journal to record my observations. Note the calendar in the background to see the daily updates!!

@B the Gardener:

Listen to the instructions and then follow them carefully to grow your own bean sprouts. Remember to make sure your mung beans have plenty of water!

@B DAY 7:

@Ms. Shemo Day 3:

@Ms. Shemo Day 7:

Day 7

Sarah:  Day 7:

Sarah has been taking care of her bean sprouts over the past week.

Approaches to Learning (ATL’s)

 

  • observe carefully.
  • give and follow instructions
  • test generalizations, strategies or ideas
  • express oneself using words and sentences
  • choose and complete tasks independently

Opposite

We read the book ‘Exactly the Opposite’ by Tana Hoban. This special picture book is a wordless book. We gathered together to read it, creating our own story as we turned the pages.  

We looked at the cover. Sebastian explained that it looks like his shoes. We compared our shoes. Ms. Shemo and Ms. Tina wore shoes with laces. Their laces were tied up neatly. Sebastian explained that he had ‘broken’ laces (untied).

Sebastian “Open and closed”

Sewon showed us how the gate was ‘open and closed’ using her hands.

Yoochan “No leaves and have leaves.”

Bruce “Broken and not broken (eggs).” [in Mandarin] Tyson and Leming agreed.

Sewon used her hands to explain ‘Fallen down and standing upright’.

Yoochan “Not out and out.”

Sebastian “No tails and have tails.”

Yoochan “Small and big.”

Sewon used her hands to show ‘front and back’.

Sarah “Pushing and pulling.”

Leming “Smoking and Ice.” [in Mandarin]

Sarah “It feels hot and cold.”

Jiwon “Swimming and no swimming.”

Yoochan “No fish and fish.”

We wondered if the book was non-fiction (about real things) or fictional. Sarah explained that it is a book about real things because it has used real pictures. Jiwon, Tyson and Bruce agreed.

What other opposites can you think of?

Through this experience we noticed how the children were able to:

  • listen to gain and share information
  • use new words linked to context being taught
  • ask and respond to simple questions
  • use manners in conversation
  • communicate thoughts with words
  • use words to describe an object
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