Here at Creatures, we have a storytelling ritual. The kids who want to, tell stories orally around the table during community snack. Sometimes the kids comment on someone's story, "That was really short." or "I couldn't understand what he was saying." I like to emphasize how each person tells a different kind of story. The act of telling a story is the most important thing to me. Each child gets to be center stage. S/he can choose to do with it what s/he wants. And so it was today when one child distorted his voice while telling his story. I pointed out that he was using expressive gestures that we could watch. There is more to a story than just the words. We can use body language, facial expressions, illustrations, ...
Today, the kids took turns leading the group through circle/monster blob time. They told their own stories. Someone turned on the overhead projector and it created a spotlight of sorts. I suggested that they could use light drawings to illustrate their story performances. We put the storytelling on hold, and the kids got to work drawing on transparencies.
Then, they took turns telling their stories with light illustrations!
