Story Retelling - Scripted and Unscripted
This first video of The Girl Who Cried Wolf was scripted. We had reenacted the fable multiple times without a script. I resisted using a script. I think it is very boring to watch kids reading from a script and I want to see how they've internalized the story by using their own words. But something happened that led me to try it out. One of the boys in the 4th grade class was having a hard time responding when it was his turn. He just froze up and I could tell he was embarrassed. Interestingly, his younger brother, who is in 3rd grade, had the same difficulty, but he took it much more personally. I was trying to do something fun with a story but this boy got so upset because he couldn't get his words out that he cried and then refused to try again. This was not what I was trying to accomplish.
The next day I saw him performing Readers' Theater in his homeroom and he seemed comfortable with that. I wanted him to have success, so I had the students write their own script. We wrote it together on the SmartBoard - I typed while they talked. The dialogue was brief (as you will see) so they could remember it. This gave them a good opportunity to write and reread as they memorized their lines. The boy was supposed to be the narrator but he backed out at the last minute. However, he did participate in a small speaking role. I need to keep in mind that not everyone is comfortable doing the same things and they need options for meaningful participation. I see that there is a place for writing a script. It provides a real opportunity to write and reread. I think this could work well for more beginning students because they will benefit from repeated rereading.
The next day I saw him performing Readers' Theater in his homeroom and he seemed comfortable with that. I wanted him to have success, so I had the students write their own script. We wrote it together on the SmartBoard - I typed while they talked. The dialogue was brief (as you will see) so they could remember it. This gave them a good opportunity to write and reread as they memorized their lines. The boy was supposed to be the narrator but he backed out at the last minute. However, he did participate in a small speaking role. I need to keep in mind that not everyone is comfortable doing the same things and they need options for meaningful participation. I see that there is a place for writing a script. It provides a real opportunity to write and reread. I think this could work well for more beginning students because they will benefit from repeated rereading.
Video 1 - The Girl Who Cried Wolf
The students did a nice job memorizing their script. I think it helped that they wrote it themselves, so the language was familiar to them. Each character contributed to his/her own lines.
Video - 2 The real wolf arrives - What did you learn from this?
You can tell from this that they had less time to rehearse the ending. Still, I could see that they were "in the story" and thinking about what was happening and were able to retrieve their lines, however awkwardly. The shepherd girl added at the end that she "better go say sorry to the villagers."
Putting it on the table - in writing - retelling The Boy Who Cried Wolf
This was probably the best peer writing and editing experience I have had in the classroom. The students really worked together talking about their ideas and challenging each other. I think it helped to use the large chart paper and markers so everyone could see well. We started off by writing together - me with the pen and them around in a circle. When they got the idea, I put them in small groups. After they had written a bit we circled up and read together and gave suggestions. This was good to a point. As I often do, in my quest for the perfect product, I think I over-worked it and they got tired of me toward the end. It is a tough balance for me to know how much feedback to give and when to let it be. We talked about giving constructive comments and asking questions.
Students Retell The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Here is one of the final pieces of writing. I was impressed to see how well they incorporated the vocabulary from the story (the underlined words). This was the end product after reading 3 versions of the fable, reenacting it several times, and peer writing and revision. I think with all that exposure to the language, even the less proficient ELLs felt confident about retelling the story. This group of writers did not write a script. This retelling was their written response.
The Three Little Pigs - UNscripted
This may be my favorite video on the site. These students are beginning English language learners. One of them is almost non-verbal in her first and second language and is in a special ed class. Two of them were still learning the alphabet at the beginning of the year. We read the story together and then, partly because my assistant was absent and I had other groups going on in the room, they reread the story together a few times without an adult. That seemed to be going well, so I gave them the animals to play with as they reenacted the story. I saw that it can be productive when I back out of the way and give them space to teach each other. When I got a chance to come back over, I asked them to show me the story again and I recorded it. The first clip ends rather abruptly. There is a scream and then it cuts out. One of the other students was apparently behind me standing on a chair and was about to fall off. I learned that it is important to set expectations about acceptable behavior when watching others dramatize. This retelling was social and improvisational. As I read in my literature review, (Rowe, Fitch, & Bass 2003) much talk among players occurred outside of their chosen roles. They discussed who says and does what, to whom, when, where and how. The student who portrays the wolf, rarely speaks, yet here he is taking on a leading role and helping others. He has gained confidence this year and is putting much effort into his work. This is a big improvement over last year when I met him. Now they want to do this with every story they read.
Video 1 - The Three Little Pigs
The students clarify for the first little pig that his house is actually made from straw. Then the onlookers get wild and we have to stop.
Video 2 - Collaboration
The third little pig instructs the wolf to start at the first little pig's house.
Video - 3
The wolf instructs the 2nd little pig on which way to run. The third little pig asks, "What happened you guys?" That's a good example of spontaneous speech showing that he understands what is happening in the story.
Writing connection - Anish's Sequel to The Three Little Pigs
"Three Little Pigs Book
The big bad flom (wolf) had a plan to eat the three little pigs and he made stro (straw) to eat The Three Little pigs and he called the three Little pigs and The Three Little pigs and the big bad wolf had a lot of friends he indides (invited) to his homes and to made trap and they cach (catch) Three little pigs."
This writer is one of my new students. He was not reading at the beginning of the school year and still has trouble recognizing common words. I was impressed with the amount of writing, his enthusiasm in the effort and his clever plot twist where the wolf entices the pigs with straw and then traps them.
The big bad flom (wolf) had a plan to eat the three little pigs and he made stro (straw) to eat The Three Little pigs and he called the three Little pigs and The Three Little pigs and the big bad wolf had a lot of friends he indides (invited) to his homes and to made trap and they cach (catch) Three little pigs."
This writer is one of my new students. He was not reading at the beginning of the school year and still has trouble recognizing common words. I was impressed with the amount of writing, his enthusiasm in the effort and his clever plot twist where the wolf entices the pigs with straw and then traps them.