Jen's Mental Scribblings

Element of Main Lesson: 
Story


Plans for Teaching:

Introduction of the Activity

After giving the children a chance to sum up and review the content of the block, Ms. R and I decided that the children needed a last story for the children needed to be one about the Nations Capitol.
 

Steps in the Activity
After the dictation, use a song to give them an out-breath. Have the children re-settle into their seats and introduce the story. After the story, time permitting, I'll pull out my scrapbook of my trip to Washington DC in 1989. It's stuffed with pictures and souvenirs

Maintaining class participation in the activity: (embedded in steps?)

 The children know how to behave during a story.

Reflection on doing the activity:

 This is the second "history" story I've told (as compared to a biography) and in some ways it was just as frustrating as the first. I'm seeing that I'm having a hard time bringing history to life beyond the knowledge of names, dates, and places. Maybe its not quite so important to know a timeline of the events. Maybe it's better to find the lively pictures. I did try, I tried to paint a picture of the conditions of the civil war, the plight of the Bonus Army, and MLK's "I have a dream" speech, and those moments did touch the children...but the physical descriptions and basic history of the city...not so much. This is something I need to work on.

Story


Plans for Teaching:

Introduction of the Activity

The students have been studying US Geography and History. Their teacher picked this biography to highlight the plight of the slaves in the south and how one choose something different.
 

Steps in the Activity
Quieting the children down
Introducing the topic
Building the background story
Describe the big 4 pictures of her life
Summation

Maintaining class participation in the activity: (embedded in steps?)
The children already know how to behave during story time. I will focus on descriptive language to draw them into the story and making eye contact to maintain interest.

Reflection on doing the activity:
This story went much better than the last one I told. I had a problem connecting to Tecumseh. I had no problems connecting to Harriet Tubman's story. She lived such a full death and it was easy to pick and choose the snapshots of her life to focus on. Bonus. I told this story on the day of or the day before the 100th anniversary of her life. I was able to keep the children's interest and it was obvious they were involved in the story. I feel a lot better about my story telling ability after this activity.