RES 5535: Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (summer 2010)

Ashley,

I don't think we always give students enough time to "talk" and tell stories. How often do we cut our students off after they go on and on about something while we are trying to teach something else? I think it's in our human nature to tell stories (like the Lost Boys did), and we need to give our students time to relate stories to us. We also need to encourage them to get their stories down on paper. I wonder if we recorded a student's story, could they go back and listen to it and get it onto paper more easily? I have so much respect for the Lost Boys to have gone through all they went through, and still want to educate the world about their struggles.
~Jamie Brackett

The lost boys did use their voice and continue to tell the stories.
Literacy was important to them and they knew that their stories were powerful. I don't think we always give our students time to express verbally what they want to say. I have worked this past year on allowing my students time to share with a partner their story before writing it down. This gives them a chance to verbally talk about their story and share their story with a friend.

Ashley,

I appreciated your comment about the fact that many students could tell you a great story but could not put that same "great story" on paper. With my pre-K students this year, I decided to do something different for Mother's Day. I decided to have the students dictate a story to me about their moms and I would type it on the computer as they were telling it, instead of having the students write sentences themselves. This decision was made mainly due to the fact that I was running out of days in which to get the kids to do the writing. It really amazed me to see all the wonderful details and the lengths of the stories that the kids gave when they knew they didn't have to write all those words themselves. I believe I got much more out of them in this "storytelling" manner than I would have otherwise.

Clyde Rice
Clyde Rice

Ashley, I agree that in K-2, we do more storytelling activities. We do author's chair, share time, puppets, and other activities to get children to learn the art of telling a story and often to extend stories we have read from a book. This year our fourth grade did a wax museum which is a form of storytelling and I am sure there are lots of activities like this for older students.

Ashley,
I really love the question you proposed in your blog: “Do we give our students enough time to express themselves verbally?” This question gave me the opportunity to do some self evaluating. I teach 1st grade and I agree that each year verbal expression becomes more silenced. Why is this the case? Do we think that older students do not want to share stories verbally? Do we think this skill is too childish and we will not have evidence that our students have obtained a specific skill? I am not really sure the answer to this question, but I think it would be a good question to bring up in a grade level meeting or a literacy meeting in every school. I am an adult and I love to hear stories told to me verbally. I like the act of being able to imagine what the people, places, and things looked like. As a 1st grade teacher one thing I need to work on is allowing my students to verbalize their connections to text or activities. I usually let one or two students share, but then I fear that we will get off track. Why??? I think because at times I worry about how much time is left for the lesson. You never know when a student’s story might make a connection with another student. How do handle this in your classroom? I know kindergartners and 1st graders love to share. How to you determine when to stop a discussion and when one should continue on?

I do believe that as children move through school, storytelling and singing songs are lost to children. I think that we are so pushed by testing and getting everything taught, that we forget to include these literacies that could be beneficial to some of our students. I think children of all ages love to hear a good story. We have to help our students learn not only to listen to a good story but to also learn how to tell a story. I think once children learn to tell stories their writing will evolve.

I remember learning nursery rhymes, fables and bible verses as a child. We recited them in church programs. At school we put on puppet shows and skits after rewriting them in groups. We made our own filmstrip stories. I remember show and tell was big deal up until I was in 3rd grade. I think we have dismissed different methods of storytelling because it may not improve test scores.

Ashley, I agree the “Lost Boys” research connected well with Henry and Staple’s research. Everyone needs a voice. If we are truly educating students, we are giving them a voice. Some students need more help than others in finding their voice.