kindergarten storytelling

For division 11's last visit to the library this year, I set out five different storytelling stations with different materials related to two topics the students have been studying - dinosaurs and the farm. The kindergarten students were divided into groups and rotated through all five stations.

For the dinosaur stations, they were asked to choose two dinosaurs (characters) and create a scene (setting) using the natural materials that were out on the tables. The students were then asked to "tell" a story (plot). I loved listening to their stories and seeing how they used their factual knowledge of dinosaurs in their stories.

There were three farm stations - plastic animals, soft animals and puppets. At the farm stations, the students needed to work as a group, each choosing one character to work with. They needed to work together to come up with some sort of story. This was much more difficult for the students.

For our young students and for our students learning English, oral storytelling is an important activity to participate in before asking students to "write" their ideas on paper. Having materials to inspire ideas and to actively engage the students resulted in some fun stories!

~Ms Novakowski