STORY WORK
Fairy Stories
Discuss fairy stories and choose one that is commonly known. Allow the children to tell the story one sentence at a time. (Emphasis to be placed on developing listening skills and ability to sequence.)
Repeat in groups of four or five.
Give children fairy story beginnings and ask individuals to say what might happen next.
Discuss character types found in fairy stories. Ask the children to walk like a prince, princess, witch, giant, dwarf, etc.
Try out verbal interactions between the various characters given specific situations (e.g. What might the witch say to Snow White when she wants her to eat a poisoned apple? What might Cinderella say to her fairy Godmother when she asks her if she wants a wish to be granted? )
What would you do if ?
You were out shopping and a witch asked you if you would like to buy a magic apple.
You saw a dwarf who had lost his or her six friends and asked you if you had seen them.
Someone said that they were your long lost uncle or aunt and they wanted you to go into a cave to find a magic lamp.
Groups of four or five tell fairy stories of their own choice one sentence at a time.
Groups act out the fairy stories they have told in mime only.
Repeat with dialogue. One child in each group provides narrative links.
Discuss main characteristics of fairy stories. (Characters, themes, conflicts of good and bad, happy endings).
With careful guidance groups attempt to make up their own fairy stories, bearing in mind the main characteristics discussed.
Titles Such as the Following Could Be Used:
The Princess Who Never Stopped Grumbling
The Prince and the Magic Flower Pot
The Witch of Wicked Wood
The Kingdom In the Sky
The Witch Who Wanted To Be Queen
Jack and the Bad Tempered Wizard
The Princess and the Dragon
Modern Fairy Tales
Jack and the Magic Stepladder
Jack's mother has spent the weekly house-keeping money on bingo and makes Jack sell his bike.
On the way to the junk shop he meets his friend who persuades him to change it for a stepladder so he can make some money cleaning windows.
On his return home his mum tells him off.
The ladder is too short for cleaning windows and anyway they need the money now because the chip shop will be closing in ten minutes.
The ladder is thrown out and Jack is sent to bed in disgrace. The next morning Jack wakes up to find that the step-ladder reaches to the clouds. Jack climbs the ladder to seek his fortune.
Cinderella Chocafella
Cinderella wants to go to the school disco, but her sisters make her stay at home and wash the dishes instead.
Her grandmother arrives and feeling sorry for Cinderella, she offers to do the washing up for her and makes her a beautiful gown out of chocolate and marzipan. The snag is, that if she wears the gown too long it will begin to melt. She phones for a taxi for Cinderella.
Aladdin and the Magic Torch
Aladdin is out playing when he should be at home doing his home-work.
An old tramp tells him that he is his long, lost uncle and forgetting what his mum had said about never going anywhere with strangers, Aladdin agrees to go down the rabbit hole to find his uncle's magic torch.
Story Building
Several children are chosen to tell the class what they think might happen next in a story.
Here are some possible story beginnings:
Flying Saucers
I heard a noise outside my bedroom window and looked out into the garden. A flying saucer had landed in the flowerbed. I went outside to take a closer look.
Ghosts
"I wouldn't go near that house if I were you, it's haunted!"
"I don't believe in ghosts! I'm going inside to have a look."
The Strange Flower
I was about to pick the strange flower that mysteriously appeared in my garden, when suddenly it spoke. It said, "Please don't pick me. If you don't pick me, I'll make anything you wish come true!"
The Treasure Map
The old library book looked interesting. It was called, 'How To Find Buried Treasure'.
I opened it up. A piece of crumpled paper fell out and landed on the floor. I picked it up and unfolded it. It said," Secret Treasure Map. Whoever reads this will end up rich."
The Invisible Giant
There was a knock at the door. I opened it, but there was no-one there. Then a voice said, "Please help me, I'm lost!"
I still couldn't see anyone. Then the voice spoke again. It said, "It's no use looking for me, because you won't be able to see me. I'm invisible."
"But who are you?"
"I'm a giant. I come from the land of giants, but don't be afraid. I won't tread on you. Please help me to find my way home!"
Dramatic Improvisation
The above and other story beginnings can be used as a basis for group story telling work. With appropriate modifications, stories can then be used as a basis for improvisation work.
Children are divided into pairs. One of them speaks one of the following lines to his or her partner. The partner must accept that the statement is true and each must endeavour to develop the conversation.( To make it more competitive, the first person who is unable to develop the conversation further after a reasonable interval of time, is out.)
"Excuse me, but could you tell me why your front garden's covered with jelly babies?"
"Are you really a ghost?"
"What was it like on the Moon?"
"Do you like being a millionaire?"
"What is it like being invisible?"
Stories Based On Real Life Situations
Being Lost
Children may work with a partner or a small group in developing these improvisations:
Discuss experiences of being lost. (How did it feel? Where were they when it happened? How was the situation resolved?)
A child is lost in a large department store. Discuss ways that this might happen. He or she approaches a shop assistant. What questions might be asked and what might the answers be?
What might the shop assistant do in order to find the child's parents? Improvise this situation.
The child is re-united with the parents. What might they say to each other? (Relief at finding the child/ Warnings about not wandering off) What might they say to the manager and shop assistant? (Thanks and apologies for putting them to so much trouble.)
Fit the above sequences together into a story
Fire!
Imagine a situation in which a child is the first to notice smoke coming out of the window of a house. What might the child do? Would a phone be used? If so, who would be contacted? If a police officer happened to be nearby, what might be said to him or her?
Improvise some of these possibilities.
What might happen as a result of the child's actions? Eventually the victim is saved and the child is thanked.
The sequences are linked together to make a story.
If a phone had been used, consider what the outcome might have been if vandals had tampered with it prior to the fire. Enlarge upon the moral implications of this, drawing thoughts and ideas from the children.
© Andrew McCann