Storytelling Experience

 

          Since my last storytelling experience blog was posted, I have shared four more stories with the class.  One was storytelling using props or manipulatives.  For this endeavor I chose to share the story The Idea Jar by Adam Lehrhaupt.  When I was looking for a book to share, I wanted to choose one that teachers in my school could use for instruction in their classrooms as well as one that students would enjoy.  In this book, ideas written on paper for students to be able to write about come alive.  This book shows children that any idea can be turned into a story.  Sometimes our early writers have trouble coming up with ideas to write about, so I felt like this story would be a good match for our first and second graders.  I got on Amazon and purchased the small items that come to life in the story (a dragon, pirate, monkey, cowgirl, robot, etc.).  I had recently purchased a jar that would work perfectly to put the items into.  Once the items arrived, I practiced fitting them into the jar, pulling them out, and the movements I would have each one do to match the story.  Before deciding to record my storytelling, I wrote myself some notes on large sticky chart paper and stuck them to the cabinets in my office behind my iPad in case I forgot or needed the exact wording while telling the story.  I also lined up my props in the order I needed them beside my on a small table to assist in my telling process.  Below is the final result:

 
The Idea Jar

          The next storytelling experience was an interactive story.  Once again, I got online looking for a newer story that would fair well to interaction with my audience.  I found the amusing book called, I Say Ooh, You Say Aah written by John Kane.  In a question and answer section on www.readingzone.com John shares that he “only started creating books a few years ago.  [He] had [his] own children, called Molly and Dylan, and they got [him] thinking.  One was an avid reader, one reluctant.  [He’s] passionate about books being part of kids lives so [he] set about trying to work out a way to get the reluctant twin to embrace books” (Reading Zone, n.d.).  I identified with that statement as I have some students who come to the library and are reluctant to pick out a book.  After listening to his book, I Say Ooh, You Say Aah, I knew this would be one that my primary-aged readers would love to interact with.  I decided to give it a try on my own 7-year old daughter.  In the book, the author gives prompts for the children to watch for or listen for and then respond with a certain script.  She loved it!  I made sure when I recorded it with her, that I didn’t let her hear the story ahead of time.  I wanted her true reaction to the story.  She loved it so much in fact, she asked to take it back to her second-grade classroom for her teacher to read to her class.  Kane has several other books along this same premise: I Say Oh, You Say No and I Say Boo, You Say Hoo.  I will definitely be looking into more of his books to purchase for our library.  Here is my telling of I Say Ooh, You Say Aah:

I Say Ooh, You Say Aah

          The third, and certainly most difficult storytelling experience was to tell a story without using the book.  I thought about my choice for this book longer than any of the others.  Being that one of the requirements for our annotated bibliography was a relatively new book within the last six years, I started looking for one I could share that would meet this requirement.  I had noticed that some of the popular check-outs in our library were the two Aaron Reynolds books we owned, Creepy Crayon and Creepy Pair of Underwear.  Since Halloween was coming up, I decided to show the read-aloud of Creepy Pair of Underwear while my students were waiting for their turn to go check out a book.  The students loved it and even requested to hear it again the following week.  After listening to the book repeatedly while showing it to my library classes, I decided to write the story out in hopes of learning it better.  Although I had a good grasp on the plot and storyline, I was scared to try and do it all from memory.  I made myself notes again on the large sticky chart paper just in case I drew a blank or there was story specific language I wanted to get just perfect.  Below is my telling of Creepy Pair of Underwear:

Creepy Pair of Underwear

          For the fourth storytelling experience, I got to choose the kind of storytelling event I wanted to share.  Once again, I went to search online for a newer book I could use.  This time my search led me to The Fantastic Bureau of Imagination by Brad Montague.  In doing some more research, I discovered Brad Montague is the creator of the viral sensation Kid President videos.  This was his first picture book that has been put into production.  The teaser for the book on Amazon says,

“Every day, special figment agent Sparky delivers all the mail the FBI receives to the proper department, like the Office of the Unexplainable or the Department of Dreams. It's a big job, but Sparky keeps everything running smoothly . . . until disaster strikes when the Cave of Untold Stories overflows and threatens to topple the whole bureau. It turns out too many people have been holding in their big ideas, and now Sparky must recruit more agents to share their dreams, songs, and stories with the world.

And now, dear reader, will you join the effort and become a special agent before it's too late? The FBI is counting on you!” (Amazon, 2023)

The illustrations were so detailed and intricate I wanted to show the book close-up while I read the story aloud.  With the help of the technology assistant at my school, we made a way for that to happen using my school iPad.  While this story is different from the others that I shared, it stems around building the confidence to share your ideas with others which reminded me of The Idea Jar I had shared in a previous storytelling.  Here is my reading of The Fantastic Bureau of Imagination:

The Fantastic Bureau of Imagination

          Through all of these storytelling experiences, I feel that I have grown so much.  These experiences have increased my knowledge of habits good storytellers bring to their tellings as well as the different kinds and types of storytelling events that can be shared.  Storytelling doesn’t only have to be reciting a story from memory although that can be magical.  It can be using props or manipulatives, sharing an interactive story, reading aloud a story, the possibilities are endless.  As long as your audience is engaged and you’ve chosen it with them in mind, any story you may choose can be a good fit.

 

Works Cited

Montague, B. (2023, March 21).  The fantastic bureau of imagination. 

Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Fantastic-Bureau-

Imagination-Brad-Montague/dp/0593323475

 

Reading Zone (n.d.)  John Kane.  https://www.readingzone.com/

authors/john-kane/