STORYTELLING IN THE SECOND GRADE CLASSROOM

Storytelling in the Classroom

     

     Second grade students learned to tell stories to their classmates.  There are few teaching activities that provide more valuable learning opportunities than storytelling.  Speaking, listening, and retelling are important forms of communication.  Because the storyteller can use only his words and body movements to communicate his story, he must improvise and be creative. 
   

Story from: 2005 Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, Children Tell Stories:Teaching and Using Storytelling in the Classroom, Richard C. Owen Publishers, www.rcowen.com.  All rights reserved.

Wilbur, the pig, writes a message for Charlotte, his friend.

Authentic Problem Solving

In the book Charlotte’s Web, Charlotte (the spider) writes words that describe Wilbur (the pig) in her web. These words or phrases describe him and help to save his life.  Now, Wilbur wants to find a word or phrase to describe his best friend, Charlotte.  
Assignment:
First, each student brainstormed good ideas for this message.  Then, he selected the best idea.  Finally, he found a way for Wilbur to present this word or phrase to Charlotte, using resources/materials found in the barn.  
Below are examples of student illustrations:

Mock Interview - Charlotte's Web

MOCK INTERVIEW

Charlotte’s Web

In the novel Charlotte’s Web, Avery Arable tries to knock Charlotte, the spider, into a box with a stick.  Just as he reaches up toward her web, he loses his balance, falls over Wilbur’s (the pig) trough.   A rotten goose egg, which has been placed under the trough by Templeton, the rat, explodes and emits a horrible smell.  The smell drives Avery out of the barn, and Charlotte is spared.  Since she is working on saving Wilbur’s

life, he might also be spared.

Each student was asked to pose as a reporter from a local television station and interview Wilbur, the pig, in the Zuckerman’s barn following the “explosion” of a rotten goose egg.  Students brainstormed and generated as many “fat” questions as possible and selected the one BEST question for the interview. 

In our mock interview session, students: 1) played the role of an “on the scene” television reporter; 2) generated one important question that would be asked during the interview; 3) interviewed another student.

Sample videos are posted below.

Inventing Ice Cream Flavors

Inventing Ice Cream Flavors

Recently, my second graders read a book entitled Who Invented Ice Cream? by Amelia Shanks.  To encourage innovation and creativity, each student created a new and different ice cream flavor.  Everyone began the inventive process with the vanilla flavor. Next, we brainstormed possible ingredients to add using the following divergent thinking tools:

·      Fluency – Thinking of as many possibilities and ideas as we could

·      Flexibility – Thinking of as many categories as possible e.g., fruit, candies, etc.

·      Originality – Thinking of unusual and new ideas

We thoughtfully chose the ingredients that would comprise our new flavor keeping in mind that the ingredients would need to be combined to make one very good ice cream flavor.   Thinking about how it would look, taste, etc. , we then gave our new the flavor a name.  This name would describe the ice cream in a “catchy” and appealing way.

Creating an attractive, informative, and attention-getting package was the next step.  We thought about what information should be included on the package.  Each boy drew and created his package, trying to include all information that a potential buyer would need to know before buying it. 

·      Elaboration – Adding interesting details to these ideas to make them better. (Thinking of everything)

Below is a sampling of the students as they described their “invented flavors”.