Hello, 5B families!
Report cards are coming—but they can’t capture the whole story of your child’s growth this year! Every learner is on his or her own “hero’s journey”—and I have been astounded with the progress I have seen each make in term one.
Here is a window into what and how your children have been learning the art of storytelling. I hope this background empowers families to continue fostering these skills and deepen discussion around literacy learning at home.
This term, students have learned concepts and practiced skills to grow as oral storytellers while crafting their own original narratives to share and inspire others in our school community. This valuable life skill builds confidence and creativity, and lays a stronger foundation for core literacy skills. Emphasis on the development of quality ideas over worrying about the mechanics of recording them with a pencil or keyboard removes barriers and fosters inclusion, while at the same time providing a motivation for students to capture their great work by developing those writing skills alongside. Even with the permission that, “you don’t have to write this story down,” many pages were written voluntarily as students took ownership and wanted to fine-tune their tales at the word-by-word written level.
Learning About Storytelling…
Through direct teaching with modelling and examples, students learned strategies for how to grow their storytelling skills. For examples, students (a.) worked through the “story mapping” process, (b.) built ideas off of creativity prompts, and (c.) learned to use existing stories as templates.
Jumping Off Point:
I read aloud the story, “The Tiger Who Came to Tea,” and encouraged students to use that tale of an unexpected visitor as a framework for their own: “The __(character)___ Who Came to ____(activity or place)_____”.
Developing Ideas & Practicing…
Showcasing Learning: The Story Fair for the Gr. 2 Little Buddies
Each student had the joy and responsibility of creating a 4-minute original story to tell at his or her “story station”, and the grade 2 buddies cycled through and were delighted. It looked like this…
We heard so many wonderful stories this term. For example…
Marko: “The Juggling Seal” – A talented seal enjoys a game of dodgeball and makes some escalating mischief around town.
Andrew: “A Magic Pencil” – A magical pencil embarks on a quest to reunite with its owner.
Kailee: “The Elephant Who Came to Play” – An elephant and a little girl named Rose engage in dress-up adventures.
Elliott: “The Bird Who Came to Dinner” – A clever, persistent hippo attempts various methods to enter a little girl’s home.
Jayden: “Dark Soul” – A detailed narrative set in his favorite fictional video-game world, presented during a spontaneous storytelling challenge on Halloween.
Joaquina: “The Panda Who Came for Dinner” – A panda joins a family for dinner and humorously takes over with its huge appetite.
Lucas: “The Journey to the MLB” – Two professional baseball players who, after accidentally breaking a young boy’s window, inspire and coach him to succeed in the major leagues.
Pascal: “The Dodo Bird Who Came for a Midnight Snack” – A dodo bird embarks on a nocturnal adventure in search of a snack.
Sergio: “The Great Music Mystery” – A child named David solves a problem in Pianoland.
Lochlan: “The Milk” – A man named Jeeuff returns home to bring his wife some milk.
Daniel: “The Boy Who Looked Into the Future” – A young mathematician named John uses a magical potion to step into the future, discovers robbers are coming, and sets clever traps to have them put in jail.
Jun: “Anta Who Came to Help” – Santa catches a cold and calls on his brother, Anta, for help.
Ethan: “The Prince” – A royal protagonist adopts a fish, goes missing, and is eventually found.
Evelynn: “The Giraffe Who Came to Dance Class” – Gia the giraffe aspires to become a dancer and, with the support of Zadie the zebra, overcomes the mean criticism of other animals to deliver a wonderful performance.
Raina: “The Big Bossy Red Book” – A girl named Chloe loves doing schoolwork but is continually distracted by the antics of a magical book.
Sara: “The Orca Who Came to Swimming Lessons” – An orca attends swimming lessons, leading to humorous and unexpected events.
Luke: “The Pig That Went to School” – A clever pig escapes from the farm and tries to enroll in school to prove his high intellect.
Lily: “The Young Little Fox” – A young fox ventures into the forest and must save himself from a wolf.
Cristobal: “The Soccer Jack” – Two friends learn to play soccer together.
Sofia: “Amanda the Panda” – A panda gets her ears pierced and discovers her love of earrings.
Polina: “The Lizard Who Came for Dinner” – Emily, a girl, receives an unexpected dinner guest—a lizard that causes such a commotion in the house that the family decides to move into a larger home to accommodate their new friend.
Rebecca: “The Brave Owl” – A young raptor who loves to explore falls into a hole and is rescued by a kind tiger who becomes his friend.
Andrei: “The Man Who Tamed a Village” – Set in medieval times, a farmer and his two sons learn the virtues of using a kind, calm voice. When a famine strikes, those who refrain from yelling receive food, express gratitude, and help the farmer replant his crops, ultimately ending the famine.
Spontaneous Halloween Storytelling Bonus Challenge:
On Halloween, we made the most of the fact that students were wearing their costumes by inviting kids to come to the front of the room and make up a story on the spot. Here are some of those wonderful spontaneous tales…
The Feedback & Assessment Process…
Students were supported in learning to give helpful feedback to one another, self-assess their own stories, and take action on teacher recommendations.
Tiffany Poirier 
What a fantastic unit! Brilliant 👏
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Thank you!
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