So…what is Active Story Making?
Active Story Making puts talk at the heart of writing. Spoken language is the first, most important resource that children as writers will have. If children haven’t got pencil control and command of phonics – the ability to tell stories orally is so important.
Active Story Making is about improving children’s spoken and written language in creative contexts using storytelling as a vehicle.
Through a process of listening, speaking and verbal rehearsal Active Story Making helps children to internalise a bank of story language patterns and structures.
The initial stage of Active Story Making is called the ‘Imitation’ Stage. This focuses on learning a bank of stories and internalising narrative patterns. The stories need to be known so well that they have entered the long term memory.
Learning a story through imitation is quite simple when a multi-sensory approach is used and the story is visited daily.
Using our senses -VAK – Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic learning.
Children and adults learn in different ways. Through Active Story Making we are addressing these different learning styles. The ‘Visual’ input is in the form of a ‘Story Map’. The ‘Auditory’ input is the ‘Words’ and the ‘Kinaesthetic’ input is the ‘Actions’.
The children in the Burrow have been learning a story called ‘The 3 Slimy Aliens’. It is a made up story and doesn’t come from a book. Together we have created some props to help us with our story making. We have 3 Duplo aliens who travel in their rocket and some ugly space monsters that live in colour coordinated planets. The aliens’ quest is to collect sparkly moon dust from the monsters to brighten up their rather dark crater.
We turned our tepee into a rocket by decorating it with foil and painted bubble wrap. We have been on many space missions already discovering new planets and interesting life forms. We made squidgy aliens with play dough and gave them lots of personality with the addition of googly eyes and pipe cleaner antennae.
The children have explored ways of ‘zapping’ others with lasers which has identified many interesting moves and sounds!
We’re sending home the text so that you will be able to participate over the Easter break.
Let us know how you get on. Any photos or videos would be most welcome!
We look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you for reading.
Soraya
THREE SLIMY ALIENS.
Once upon a time (2 hands together open like a book) there was not 1, not 2, but 3 (show number of fingers) slimy aliens(shimmy) who lived beside an enormous (hands wide) dark crater (arms lg circle).
Early one morning (sleeping head on hands – one hand overhead to wake up) they set off in their rocket (point hands over head) in search of some sparkly moon dust (twinkle fingers) to brighten up their crater.
First (1 finger up) they went to Red (run finger under bottom lip) planet.
Little slimy alien (show size using two hands) stepped out of the rocket and spied (binocular hands) an ugly space monster (ugly face, waving arms).
Please (fingers from lips to knees) can I have some of your sparkly moon dust? (twinkly fingers)
The ugly space monster stamped his foot (stamp foot), No, No, No (waggle one finger) now off you go (point away) before I zap you with my laser (Karate arm move).
Little slimy alien got back into the rocket and zoomed off - Whoosh! ((point hands over head).
Next (2 hands roly poly) they went to Blue planet (1 finger along vein on top of other hand from wrist to fingers).
Middle sized slimy alien (show size using two hands) stepped out of the rocket and spied an ugly space monster.
Please can I have some of your sparkly moon dust?
The ugly space monster stamped his foot. No, No, No, now off you go, before I zap you with my laser.
Middle sized alien got back into the rocket and zoomed off - Whoosh!
Finally (hands & arms out closing together till clasped) they went to Green planet (one hand scythes the other).
Big (show size) slimy alien stepped out of the rocket and spied an ugly space monster.
Please can I have some of your sparkly moon dust?
The ugly space monster stamped his foot. No, No, No, now off you go, before I zap you with my laser.
Oh no you won’t (shake head & finger side to side) said the big slimy alien and he zapped the ugly space monster into the distant galaxy with a deafening BANG! (clap hands)
The 3 slimy aliens took all the sparkly moon dust. After that (right hand at waist height moving left to right) their crater was the brightest crater in the galaxy (sparkly hands move out from chest).
The end (hands close like a book).