All-stars James Froemel, Doug Van Gundy, and Jason Young will return to lead the camp instruction. Space is available for up to 24 students, who will perform their stories on the Main Stage at the conclusion of camp. The weeklong day-camp will focus on the traditional Appalachian art of storytelling. Please tell us a story about student storytelling in your school.ART26201, with Upshur County Schools, will host the 2nd Annual YOUNG STORYTELLERS CAMP, open to high school ages, at the Colonial Arts Center in Buckhannon, West Virginia. I hope your students are the ones telling it. There is always tomorrow - a new day and a new story. For now, I am pleased and proud to have made a start at giving students a brand new opportunity and sharing the passion and power of storytelling with peers and colleagues. I picture a school whereby all my colleagues want to be storytellers, and the entire student body is inflamed with creativity, igniting literacy and wider curriculum. This will link to the wider curriculum and introduce the idea of plagiarism. It is important for Grade 4 students to acknowledge the origins of their stories, especially if inspired by books, films, folk tales, etc. On occasion, some students get over-excited with the acting and require coaching or some time to develop more maturity before revisiting another classroom. Some may feel this is a problem, but I feel that any student willing to tell stories, regardless of gender, benefits her- or himself and others. The boys actively volunteer as actors, but this current cohort has many outgoing, ambitious girls. Out of the seven young storytellers, six are girls. I am lucky to have a wide enough range of colleagues willing to share in the creative risk. Without at least one, the initiative will never start. You need the support of colleagues in opening their classrooms. Managing their enthusiasm can be hard, especially for a busy teacher with an already overprescribed workload and curriculum to manage. The best problem is the students' desire to visit other classes. The truth is that, aside from effort and persistence, there are some teething problems with an initiative like this, such as: 1. The rare exception is for students with learning needs such as dyslexia, but this exception is worth making for the huge boost to confidence of being a Young Storyteller. I insist that students take their story and all the props with them. I only hand this out once a student has made a successful visit to a different class. My students are very proud of their special laminated badge, which they helped design themselves. For example, Grade 3's stories about problems in the playground have matched Grade 1's inquiry into relationships, and inspired written responses from the younger students. I have tried to connect my students' stories, ranging from their versions of folk tales to realistic fictions to the school curriculum. Those younger audiences will be much more forgiving of mistakes, and they love seeing older peers, brothers, and sisters performing for them. It's vital to find the classroom of a trusted colleague who shares your enthusiasm and can support your students as they take risks. I remind students that they are ambassadors for themselves, for all of Grade 3, and for me. Luckily, my principal is a big supporter of creativity and student-initiated action, so this was easy. I don't want to limit creative expression, but the standard rules apply: no story should feature any bad words, excessive violence, or "toilet" humor. I've told stories in assemblies so that willing students become used to the basics of performing for an audience: facing the right way, using a big voice, etc. This allows me to review the story and give guidance to the actors. I have the students practice telling their stories and directing actors inside the safety of my classroom. The new development is that my students are now officially Young Storytellers, visiting other classes ranging from kindergarten to third grade.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |