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Children as storytellers!

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edu_care
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Children as storytellers!

Post by edu_care » Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:32 pm

hi, I was talking to a child who said he would love to create his own stories! I wonder why we mechanically read out stories to children when they can be so imaginative. I searched around and came across some great ideas to encourage a child /children to create their own stories!

1. Round-Robin or sentence stories
Start with an opening story line. Ask your child to add a sentence to the story,and let him decide what will happen next.

2. Theme stories
Invite the child to choose a theme for the story. Maybe all the characters will be dinosaurs, or perhaps the story involves magic.

3. Descriptive stories
Involve the child in making up stories using plenty of descriptive words. keep on adding words till ‘The lady chased the dog’ becomes ‘the lady in the polka dot dress chased the fuzzy yellow dog across the street.’

4. Picture stories
Select some photographs/pictures from magazines. Ask the child to describe what he/she sees in the picture and what he/she thinks is happening or what might happen next. Then help the child to use their imagination to create connections and plots.

5. Grab bag stories ( With friends)
Fill a bag (or box) with various familiar objects. Pass around the bag so everyone select an object. Ask each child to make up and individual story about the object or add to an existing group story.

6. Finish-the-story stories
Begin the story/ask a child to use a sentence or two to set u a brief plot. Have the child to contribute to the story’s development and ending.

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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Sat, 26 Jul 2008 10:23 am

durain, you out there? Wanna take a bet on this one? :wink:
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by Levikane » Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:30 am

Um, thanks for sharing... Now tell us why?

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Post by edu_care » Sat, 26 Jul 2008 6:14 pm

well, a lot of parents can use the ideas at home during their free time with kids...

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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Sat, 26 Jul 2008 10:47 pm

It's coming......... :wink:
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by durain » Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:47 pm

common... hit me with it. what ya selling?

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Post by edu_care » Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:55 am

My classmates and I had researched on this topic when I was studying early childhood 2 years ago.....we had talked to many children and all of them loved telling stories using props, puppets etc. Their stories were great, different..unique. They wanted us to let adults know that they love to tell stories..the kindergarten children wanted to publish stories or make movies of their own stories. One of them said he wants to tell stories to the whole world.
But our libraries hardly have any books written by children, its because we stifle their imagination and force them to read stories adults write...probably they could have written a better story if anybody had the patience to encourage them.

The information provided is free...hopefully it may be useful to some parent here... The idea may be good to sell, maybe someday I might look deeper into it...

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Post by QRM » Sun, 27 Jul 2008 9:06 am

edu_care wrote:
The information provided is free...hopefully it may be useful to some parent here... The idea may be good to sell, maybe someday I might look deeper into it...
Sure knows how to build up tension, info is free, but ....

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Post by durain » Sun, 27 Jul 2008 10:13 am

edu_care wrote: But our libraries hardly have any books written by children, its because we stifle their imagination and force them to read stories adults write...probably they could have written a better story if anybody had the patience to encourage them.
forget the libraries. does amazon or borders sell any books written by children? any blockbuster movies based on a book written by a child? and how old (ballpark figure will do) you expect a child to start writing their blockbuster?

will a child tell the difference between a book written by an adult or a child? even if the book is wriiten by a child, it would probably be heavily amended before publishing.

i rather my kids read books from professor robert winston than some books wriiten by some child. :)

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Post by QRM » Sun, 27 Jul 2008 10:27 am

Just a cheap marketing gimmick, bit like those toys a while back, toys designed by kids for kids, yeah right

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Post by cbavasi » Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:18 pm

cynics aside - the initial information is great. my 4 year old is really getting into telling stories and loves to hear ones that are made up. thanks for the good ideas! :)

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Post by edu_care » Sun, 27 Jul 2008 2:06 pm

The child may not be able to tell the difference between a book written by an adult and that of another child. But he will surely be able to tell the difference if the book is written by himself! The books may not necessarily be designed for other kids, not necessarily published…the kid may design the books for himself, keep them with him till he grows up and read it out to his own kids one day. Forget the libraries out there, parents could add the books authored by their child on their own bookshelf at home…

One must not edit a child's story so much as to change it completely, the child just needs subtle clues to help the him build up the story..
Blockbuster movies may not be necessary …a child can act out his own story as a small skit with his friends on a weekend for his own family. The child will be thrilled! And you as parents will love it too. Parents can use their videocams and record their child's skit, and the movie is ready for the child to watch!

Cbavasi, I’m really glad your little kid is enjoying telling stories.. :-)

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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Sun, 27 Jul 2008 3:18 pm

What is really sad is as soon as the sales pitch appears the whole thread will disappear. So all of the expense building is a waste of time as as far as his pocketbook is concerned. Nothing like drawing attention to oneself is there

Of course what is probably happening is that (S)he is trying a different tact. Will probably post until the magic number of posts and then try spamming those who expressed interest in the thread via PM. Then the first complaint I get will result in the thread disappearing and the account being locked. Time will tell...... :cool:
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by edu_care » Sun, 27 Jul 2008 3:57 pm

I havent wasted any time as atleast one kid is already experiencing the fun of telling his own stories to his parent out here ... since comments on this post have been active till now more parents would have read this..and more kids will tell/write stories at home with their moms and dads!

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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Sun, 27 Jul 2008 4:53 pm

And how do you know that that person isn't just humouring you......maybe to draw you out! :P
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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