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Thursday, October 3, 2013

TELL A TALE


There’s nothing better than a good story that children beg, “Do it again!  Do it again!”  Melissa Yoder shared this story with us when I was in Austin last week.  All you need is a piece of paper and a marker.  (You could also tell this with a document camera or whiteboard.)

Once there was a man who went walking with his hands behind his back.

Some fast bees swarmed around him.
He saw lake and jumped in, but the bees still chased him.

He ran up a tall hill.

There were two dark caves.

He went up and down a mountain.

A cat jumped out and chased away those bees!

*To make it a Halloween tale you could change the bees to bats and let a black cat scare away the bats.

Pumpkin House Story
I tell this every year and it’s a timeless tale children have always enjoyed.  I like to tear it with my fingers, but you can cut with a pair of scissors if you prefer.  All you need is an orange sheet of paper.
Once there was a little old lady that lived near (your school).

She lived in a funny orange house that was half a circle with a chimney at the bottom.

This lady had a cat named (child’s name) with a long squiggly tail.  The lady had a special door built just for the cat so she could go in and out.

This lady always wore a pointed that.  She had a special door built just for her hat so it wouldn’t fall off.

She also had two pet birds named (two children’s names).  Here’s a special window for the birds so they could fly in and out.

On Halloween eve all the boys and girls from (your school) went to her house and knocked on her door.  (Knock!  Knock!)  She came to the door and said, “Close your eyes.”  (Have all the children close their eyes.  Open and hold it up to your face.)

SURPRISE!  It’s a jack-o-lantern!

*My children loved this story so much I told it every day until they could tell it with me.  Gee, I was doing the Common Core Standards 30 years ago and I didn’t even know it!!!  I also sent a copy of the story home for the parents to do with their children..