Teacher’s Corner

 When Children Read or Hear a Story

• They can experience things they don’t experience in real life – being on a farm, owning a pet, having superhero powers, etc.

• They can learn about things they need to know – how to safely cross the street, deal with bullies, care for animals, etc.

• They hear and see what happens when people act in different ways with each other – bossy, nice, helpful, mean, etc.

• They hear and see different ways that people feel – mad, sad, scared, happy – and what they do about it.

More about storytelling at: The Importance of Storytelling

Writing Prompts and Discussion Topics on the subject of storytelling.

Have your students think, pair, and share verbally or have them write their responses to the following prompts.

1. Describe something you read or heard about in a story that you had never experienced in real life.  (For example, playing a sport, being in a far away place, meeting a person very different from you, etc.) Tell what it was like to have that experience by reading the story. Would you like to have that experience in real life? Why or why not?

2. Describe a time you learned something important from a story. (For example, how to do something you didn’t know how to do before or how to handle a new situation.) Explain any ways you have used what you learned.

3. Describe a story where the main character acted bossy, nice, helpful, or mean. What did you learn from how the main character in the story behaved? How did other characters in the story react to the main character? What advice do you have for the main character or the other characters in the story?

Teachers, you can use this blog in classrooms. Here are two ideas about how.

1. For middle or high school parenting or child development courses:

• Use the blog for discussion topics
• Require students to research the topics and agree or disagree with what the blog is suggesting.

2.  For all courses, especially English Language Arts:

• Use the blog for writing prompts for paragraphs, theme papers, journal entries, class starters, etc. Have students read the blog and respond to:
  • Do you agree with what is being said about kids? Do kids really act, think or feel that way?
  • Do you agree with what is being said about parents, grandparents, teachers and child caregivers? Do or should they act, think or feel that way?
  • What would be your advice on this topic?
  • What was left out of this article?
  • If you were a parent, would you use any of this information? How?

Why can this blog be a useful teaching tool?

• Students that see connections between their coursework and their lives do better in school.
• Most students will either be parents one day or have children in their lives that they care about, so the topical information can help them build their knowledge about children and parenting and develop a positive image of the type of parenting they want to do.
• The new core literacy standards adopted by most states call for frequent writing in all courses.
• Newly developed end-of-course assessments to be used by many states will require that students demonstrate that they can think critically. These prompts help students practice critical thinking.
• Newly developed end-of-course assessments to be used by many states will require that students demonstrate that they can analyze what they read. These prompts help students practice analysis.