You is Kind. You is Smart. You is Important.
So simple, these powerful statements taken from The Help (Stockett, 2009) really impacted me and the way I think about my students. Aibileen gave unconditional love and hoped that Mae Mobley would listen and believe the truth that she was kind, smart and important. Even through the injustices that Aibileen endured, she knew that lasting change for the future would have to start with the children.
Before the rigor of academics, kindergartners need to understand what a learner is and how they can be an effective member of a learning community. The past few years have brought more and more difficult social, emotional and behavior issues to the classroom. If these needs are not addressed and a positive, safe and accountable learning environment is not established, learning will not occur. My goal is to support kindergartners’ prosocial development with the support of literature, storytelling and puppetry.
* In this photo CS is encouraging AC to turn
his day around and make good choices.
This is phenomenal because CS usually
has difficult days himself.
Before the rigor of academics, kindergartners need to understand what a learner is and how they can be an effective member of a learning community. The past few years have brought more and more difficult social, emotional and behavior issues to the classroom. If these needs are not addressed and a positive, safe and accountable learning environment is not established, learning will not occur. My goal is to support kindergartners’ prosocial development with the support of literature, storytelling and puppetry.
* In this photo CS is encouraging AC to turn
his day around and make good choices.
This is phenomenal because CS usually
has difficult days himself.
You is Kind
First and foremost, my intention was to find stories that promote kindness and caring for others. I wanted the children to be able to contrast kindness and manners with negatives and rudeness. Understanding our attitude and how we treat others is an important part of our six habits to success. Habit 2 and Habit 5 may be two of the most crucial to our school's mission and to society in general. Bobby and Sherry Norfolk explain that, "If we want children to hear and understand and practice the truth about the moral way to behave, then we need to tell stories, not preach truth" (2006, p. 14)! I wondered if this were possible. Could I grip the students through stories? All those little bodies that sit in front of televisions and x-boxes all night, could they be engaged through stories? Bobby and Sherry Norfolk further explain that the power of storytelling, "...hasn't diminished in contemporary culture. When our stories show over and over that positive character traits of perseverance, integrity, kindness, ingenuity, and humor are rewarded, we are encouraging children to embrace these qualities. And the power of the story to teach is most fully realized when a tale is told, because the teller reveals in a hundred subtle ways his own approval or disapproval of the actions and events he is narrating" (2006, p.15).
Diamonds & Toads This story, retold by Charles Perrault, gave the children an opportunity to evaluate how a person speaks can affect certain outcomes in their life. There are two sisters that meet a fairy in the woods. One sister speaks kindly to the fairy and the other is rude and callous. Each sister receives a gift from the fairy according to their manners and treatment of the fairy.
This was my first attempt EVER as a storyteller. I am very comfortable reading aloud and gripping children through picture books, but I was very nervous remembering and telling a story from memory. My fear was that I wouldn't relay the story in a well-structured manner while trying to grip my young listeners. I found "The Hush", suggested by Hamilton and Weiss that suggests that, "The quality of listening on the part of you students is markedly different when you tell a story directly to them. Stillness descends over the listeners. Technology has not replaced the power of one person telling a story to another. Listeners are of are often described as "mesmerized," "totally enthralled," or "captivated" (2005, p. 4). From my observations as the teller in front of the children and after reviewing the video, I was surprised by the quiet and focus that my students exhibited. Was it real? I say yes, because the discussion throughout and what followed the story surprised me. The students made connections by showing thumbs up or thumbs down when they heard bucket filling/dipping. The children created illustrations and speech bubbles about diamond and pearl things that they could say. They came up with their ideas independently so was a true reflection of their understanding of diamond and pearl words. Most importantly, during the weeks following this story, the children used the terms 'diamonds and pearl' words or 'snake and toad' words to describe texts or their peers' behavior. Diamonds and Toads, according to Jane Yolen, is a touchstone story. It is a story that leads the children to the realization of justice, accountability, for their actions. Yolen (2000) writes, "..to round off the world, there is the traditional fairy tale closing where folk live happily ever after. But not, we must remind ourselves, without careful attention to that first grim taste of hard justice. The wicked queen must dance in red hot shoes until she drops down dead. The bad sister must forever speak mouthfuls of toads. The troll under the bride must die a horrible death of the great goat's horns. Until these little pieces of frontier justice are meted out, we cannot leave the timeless world, for it is a place where justice is not capricious" (p. 89). |
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Manners
Please Story
This story by Alicia Aspinwall strives to teach children about the importance of using good manners and the magic of the word please. The first video shows me telling the story, while the second demonstrates the children's reaction to the abrasive bucket dipping puppet named Eunice. The students transfer the lesson learned from the Please story to help Eunice use good manners. The students feel safe directing and teaching the puppet appropriate manners because they know that using appropriate manners is the right thing to do. My hope is to help my students develop the confidence to transfer their moral literacy experiences when working with peers (and all people). Bennett feels strongly that, "Children must have at their disposal a stock of examples illustrating what we see to be right and wrong, good and bad -- examples illustrating that, in many instances, what is morally right and wrong can indeed be known and promoted" (1993, p. 12). This is the intention of my telling this story and all the stories on this site, to allow the children to experience examples of what is morally right and wrong and to act appropriately on their knowledge. In the second video, Eunice the bucket dipper learns to use an appropriate voice level and to say please when she wants something. The students teach Eunice how to use her manners and be a bucket filler. Pay attention to the boy continuously supporting Eunice. He is transferring his understanding of the story and teaching the good that he learned to another, Eunice.
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