An author or storyteller visit doesn’t have to be a one-off deal. It’s great when students are prepped before a visit, but I think it’s just as great to use the experience to build on.
Here is an example from Chief Justice Milvain School in Calgary. The wonderful grade two teacher (I don’t put names on the internet, but trust me, she’s real) got her students drawing right after my storytelling session with them. I only had time for a peek because I had to rush off to the next school, but the examples I am posting were actually in colour. Nonetheless, I was thrilled with seeing their interpretations of the stories they heard and had asked her to send me some copies.
Here is part of what she wrote on the letter that accompanied the pictures:
“Our school has a very high English as a Second Language population (I only have one student that isn’t ESL). This morning, after your storytelling, we came back to the classroom and talked about how even though you hadn’t shown us any pictures or books – that we could ’see’ what you had been telling us about. It was quite a powerful learning moment for them. … one student said that he wants to be a storyteller when he grows up because ‘you don’t have to keep your finger on the words to keep your place on a page, it’s just in your head.’”
I wish I could put all of the pictures up, but here is a small selection.
