Storytelling From Home

Storytelling with Stuff

Our unit for the next few weeks is Storytelling.

One of the first stories we read was about a woman who connected stories from her life to various hats she kept in her house. From there we discussed how objects can remind us of stories in our own life. I used a small statue I keep in the classroom as an example, how I bought it during a motorcycle ride and how when I look at it I think of that trip.

Some of our students shared that they too have things at home they connect stories with. So for the next few weeks students will be signing up to bring in an object they have a story connected to. A story they will write down and share.

This is NOT just Show and Tell. The object of this assignment is not, “This is my trophy from my football game.” Students need to have a specific story attached with the object. The story should be a few paragraphs long.

For example, with my statue my story would go, “When I look at this statute I think about a long motorcycle trip I took with my dad and his wife. I bought this in New Mexico on the side of the road. It was in the town we stopped for the night at. I bought it because my students were doing lessons about storytelling (true story) and I thought it would be a cool thing to bring back and show them. The ride we were on had been really hot that day. My dad missed a stop light and went straight through an intersection that evening, but it was a slow traffic day in a small town and luckily nothing happened.”

Students will bring in their story and object on the day they sign up for. Sharing will start May 5th and run that whole week. We will also record and post the stories on the class website, mrrobertsonshomework.blogspot.com.