Monday, March 3, 2014

SOLSC #3 The storyteller artists




I am posting every day during March as part of the annual "Slice of LifeChallenge for Two Writing Teachers.  Check out their website for lots more reflections on teaching.

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Over the past couple of weeks, the children have been working on paper collages to tell a story (just like you know who - Ezra Jack Keats, our author study focus).

Preschoolers love, love, love all manner of gluing projects and we pretty much have the glue out every day.  Glue sticks are always available at the writing table - you never know when you want to add special paper details to a card or letter you are writing. We frequently use liquid glue, either with brushes or individual squeeze bottles. Yes, gluing a paper collage is pretty ordinary and easy stuff.

However, I really didn't want these to be "make and take," with the children quickly gluing tiny papers all over a large sheet and, right away, taking it home.

I wanted them to work like an artist -
to make the beautiful papers,
to cut the beautiful papers,
to create images with these papers.

I wanted them to work like an artist -
imagining,
beginning,
reflecting,
revisiting,
modifying,
extending,
persisting.

I wanted them to work like an artist -
to create it over time,
with significance and meaning.

What happens when we ask young children to delve deeply into something? 

Beautiful things happen.

Akhil's collage


The children created special papers using a variety of painting and coloring techniques. Then, these were cut into smaller pieces. The children worked with papers of various weight and textures - cardboard, cardstock, and other. A family gifted us a bag full of picture book jackets and we spent a couple of days cutting special papers from these - beautiful pieces for characters and settings. The children drew characters on small pieces of paper in the writing center. Each child chose a large piece of their own process art to be the background of their story picture. As the children worked with scissors, glue, and these special papers, I had lovely discussions with them about who would be in their stories, where their stories might take place, and what would that look like with papers. Details were added to the artwork using markers and pastels. The children dictated stories to me and revisited the collages, adding more details. Sometimes they changed the story, because the artwork took them in a new direction. Additional glue collages were made with leftover, "extra" pieces - and often this would lead to still more details being added to the original artwork.

These children worked like artists.

Although I had the expectation that each child would create a collage and share a story to accompany the collage, I didn't stand over them and force them to work on these. These activities were available for large stretches of time, over many days, giving the children lots of flexibility in their work. The children entered, worked, and went away to do other things, over and over, listening to their inner voice, their own motivation. Their interest would ebb and flow, depending on the day. This flexible environment allowed  the children to motivate one another. I particularly loved seeing children standing alongside classmates who were working on their collages, both the observer and the artist absorbed in the creative process.


These children worked like artists.


I wondered aloud to the children,
Do you think Ezra Jack Keats wrote his story first and then created the pictures, or created the pictures and then wrote the story?
I find Ezra Jack Keats' artwork so compelling, I wonder  - did he start with these and then create the story?
I don't know.
Which comes first for an author/illustrator?
I don't know.

In my classroom, I am amazed at how storytelling seemed to strengthen the child's engagement in the artwork and, vice versa, how the process of making the artwork seemed to expand and enliven the storytelling. 

Because I find each child's collage story so unique and special, I'm going to share one child's project each day for the next many days, at the end of my daily slice. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

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(A daily share by a preschooler, in their own words)

A Story Collage by Ada

Once upon a time, there was a little house that lived on a hill. It did so well and couldn’t be sold for anything. But people lived inside it. One night, a turtle was at the top of the sea and following a light from the moon. But it was not from the moon, it was from a bat! A bat belonged to somebody that had a necklace around it, and it shone a light around it. It was a special bat, it could see inside the dark because of the light. One day, a girl looked inside the necklace and she saw special kinds of buttons that if you step on them you can see all the parts of the world. She took four balloons and started going out her window, and when the bat wasn’t looking, she took the necklace. The bat wanted to go forward, but it went backward. If the girl took it off her, then she would go backward. The necklace helped the bat always go forward. The girl gives the necklace back to the bat and the bat starts going forward again. And she starts going all the way back to her bed. The End

11 comments:

  1. How lucky these kids and parents are to have you! Whenever I hear people squawking about developmental appropriateness, I remember examples like you who prove just how much little kids CAN do, with the right support, expectation, and love!

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    1. Thank you! I am passionate about keeping preschool a place that is flexible and fun, and yet "deep." I think project work - going back and revisiting things over time - is an excellent way to cultivate important academic skills in children (and a very playful and joyful way to do so!).

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  2. Every time I read your posts, I think what will this look like in my classroom? How can I bring this to upper elementary? I am pretty struck by this: "These activities were available for large stretches of time, over many days, giving the children lots of flexibility in their work. The children entered, worked, and went away to do other things, over and over, listening to their inner voice, their own motivation." I think some where after 1st grade this gets lost and I am not sure how to get it back.

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    1. I really appreciate your honesty and reflection. I wonder if we should wrestle with this as a staff, to consider what this might look like/how it might work in upper grades...if it is even necessary. In my classroom, this flexibility makes for very happy preschoolers. They are less able to focus on one thing for a long time, which I suspect elementary students are better at?

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  3. Similar to Latisha, I was stuck on the same quote. I've always admired your ability to let an art project drag and grow on its own as the kids see fit. The Three Pigs Project in my room was the first time I've really let something drag out and it was hugely rewarding. But I also carefully scheduled and controlled when kids would return and work on things. I wonder what would happen if I left it more open-ended?

    On your pondering of whether the illustration or story comes first, I always thought that it was illustration that follows story. But looking that the story of what your kids tell after creating the art, there is something so enthralling about the idea of letting the story emerge from the art. Like, what would happen if you had kids give their on narration for a Keats book based on what they saw in the pictures? And could you write a whole book of stories written from children's interpretations of their own art? What if you had your kids make art and then gave it to Latisha's class to write a story based on the pictures they see? Now I'm clearly spiraling out of control. But your wondering inspired wondering in me. Yay inquiry begetting inquiry!

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    1. Great ideas, Laura! Thank you for sharing. I am glad that my writing inspired such wondering! Love the idea of my children sharing pictures with Latisha's class...what a great thought!

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    2. I REALLY LOVE THAT IDEA!!! Even better I just came across this site called kidsblog. I wonder if they could blog about a picture as their first post. This could be our change maker day project. Thanks Laura! Great idea. We gotta talk about this Maureen.

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  4. How many times have I said how much I love hearing what you're doing with these pre-schoolers, Maureen. This again is marvelous. You really need to write a book for pre-teachers-really all teachers would benefit from your beliefs. At my school we trust the kids to work over time, & giving them large blocks is a priority too, from the youngest to the middle-schoolers, process is so important. Thanks like always!

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    1. Thanks for enormous compliments, Linda! For me, teaching this way is just plain fun. How I would love to visit your school and see how teaching through process is done throughout the years.

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  5. Beautiful post, and beautiful work by the kiddos! Thanks for being a part of our community!

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    1. Thank you, Beth! I appreciate your words! It is such a pleasure to be part of this community of writers.

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