What is a Story?

What a great discussion we had in our morning meeting on Thursday in response to the question: What is a story?

Every single student had something to say. Many of the children said that "stories are not real", but one child shared that "stories can be real". We thought about the books that we've read in class and discussed whether or not they are stories.

Everyone agreed that these are stories:

But what about these? 

The photographs in the Lion Dancer book caused many of the children to believe that it couldn't be a story. The Pable Picasso book tells about a little boy called Pablito who loved to draw on the walls of his house. Many of the students said that since Pablo Picasso is a real person, the book couldn't be a story.

Despite some uncertainties and a few misconceptions, many important ideas about stories came out through our discussions. 

Stories...

...have authors and illustrations

...have more than one page

...have pictures and words

...have characters

...have beginnings, middles and endings

...are fun to read :)

Today I shared a few true stories from my life, including the time my childhood dog got sprayed by a skunk in our backyard. The children hung on every word as I recounted what had happened. I also shared a true story that I'd written about a time when baby Esmé woke me up in the middle of the night. The children were then excited to talk about true stories from their lives!

I introduced them to their writing partners and away they went! They were eager to put their stories on paper.

Over the next several weeks, the children will have many opportunities to learn to write longer and stronger, with an emphasis on producing pieces that are easy to read (more about this another time). 

Parents, you can help by doing lots of oral storytelling at home. Instead (or even in addition to!) a bedtime story, try telling a story instead. It could be a true story from your life, or your child's, or even one that is completely made up. Encourage your children to tell you stories, too. Children won't write stories that they can't tell, so this oral storytelling is an important first step in the writing process for our young authors.

Reminders:

Our Work Share is on Thursday in the class at 10:30am. I look forward to seeing you then! If you are unable to make it, please let me know in advance. 

If you haven't yet signed up for a Parent-Teacher conference, please do so via the online system. The office sent the link early this week. Thanks, and have a great weekend!