Day 63 - A Lesson On Re-Telling Stories - Ms. Farmer - Francis Wyman First Grade

This post originally appeared on Ms. Farmer's Blog

Our Reading Class has been working hard on learning how to retell stories that we have heard or read.  One activity we did recently to illustrate and reinforce this concept was the retelling of the Native American tale Arrow To The Sun with our story telling bags.  Since many Native American tribes told stories using story telling bags filled with items to remind them of the tale that they were telling, the students did the same with their own paper bag version of a storytelling bag.

First, the book was read aloud to the group.

Using pictures of the characters from the story, I demonstrated how to sequence the events of the story. (We had a faux campfire burning to add to the ambience of campfire story telling.)

 We then helped each other retell the story.

The children were then given their own pictures of the story to color, cut out and put into their own story telling bags (paper bags decorated with Native American symbols).  They then retold the story of the Arrow To The Sun to a teacher while recording their retelling on their iPad using the Voice Memo app.

They then enjoyed listening to the recording of themselves on the iPad, retelling the story.

Please help your child practice this new skill at home by asking them to retell stories in their own words after they have read them to you.

One of our favorite Thanksgiving poems was Mr. Turkey (ask your child to sing it to you at home).

Each child had a copy of the poem while a large copy of the same poem was displayed on the Smartboard.  As each child highlighted rhyming words and underlined trick words on their individual poems, a student was chosen to highlight the words on the Smartboard poem. 

Fun Thanksgiving Writing:

The class finished the prompt, "If I were a turkey..." for some fun, creative writing.  They had some great ideas on what they would do if they were turkeys around Thanksgiving.  Below are some samples to enjoy:

From the Article:

Reasons Why Reading With Your Child Is a Habit Worth Keeping

Here are five reasons why developing a habit of reading daily with your child can instill confidence, knowledge, and a love of reading:

1. Students who read 20 minutes per day score in the 90th percentile on standardized tests vs. students who read for 1 minute per day score in the 10th percentile on standardized tests.
2. Reading with your child, or alongside your child, models a love of reading for your child.
3. Students and children listen better and longer and develop a wider vocabulary.
4. Reading together promotes social and emotional interactions among family members.
5. Reading together engages children and parents in a nurturing way.