Story Workshop: New Possibilities for Young Writers

by Susan Harris MacKay

Overview

Even our youngest students have lots of stories to tell, whether real or imagined. How can we create entry points for writing, so that all writers feel confident and motivated to share their stories? How can we establish a classroom community of beginning writers where equity, empathy, and compassion become part of the process and vital by-products of story writing?

Enter story workshop, a structure for early literacy that amplifies the relationship between play, art, and writing. Children develop ideas and stories through choices of art materials. By creating images through play, story workshop invites children to explore the "amazingness" (Nisa, age 10) of their ideas in a variety of art forms. "Through their stories," Susan writes, "students share the meaning they make of their experiences in the world." Children in every classroom environment feel empowered to transition from play to pencil as they add words to their stories.

Story Workshop includes an abundance of classroom videos, photos, and student samples that illustrate what is possible when children use words, colors, textures, shapes and all kinds of materials to create the stories they want to tell. Watch how students' imaginations soar, their love of writing blossoms, and their connections with one another become the focal point of your classroom.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780325120348
Publisher:	Heinemann
Publication date:	03/11/2021
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.55(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

A teacher for 25 years, Susan Harris MacKay most recently served as Pedagogical Director at Opal School in Portland, Oregon, where the idea of story workshop began in her classroom. As a national speaker, she has inspired thousands of teachers to expand their use of play, the arts, and inquiry to support children's rights to high quality educational environments upon which our democracy depends.

Table of Contents

Video Contents viii

Online Resource Contents ix

Acknowledgments x

Prelude xii

Introduction xv

Chapter 1 The Case for Story Workshop 1

What Is Story Workshop? 1

Humans Are Storytellers 3

Stories in School 8

Supporting Children to Grow as Themselves 19

Action Steps: Enrich Your Story Workshop Practice 26

Chapter 2 Preparation 31

What Is Preparation? 31

Preparing Ourselves for Stories: We Are All Protagonists 36

Preparing the Classroom to Welcome Story 55

Action Steps: Enrich Your Story Workshop Practice 64

Chapter 3 Provocation: Presenting

Content to Be Learned 67

What Is Provocation? Telling Is Not Teaching 69

Thinking in Questions 81

Introducing Materials to the Children 85

Action Steps: Enrich Your Story Workshop Practice 92

Chapter 4 Invitation and Negotiation: Setting Expectations and Inviting Children to Create 95

What Is Invitation and Negotiation? 97

Nurturing Empathy and Solidarity Between Young Writers and Their Teachers 101

Keeping the Head and the Heart Connected 113

Action Steps: Enrich Your Story Workshop Practice 115

Chapter 5 Story Creation 119

What Is Story Creation? Exploring the World in Every Word-or Not 120

Time to Create Stories 123

The Power of the Arts 133

Supporting Children During Story Creation 136

The Power of Play 139

Action Steps: Enrich Your Story Workshop Practice 147

Chapter 6 Story Sharing 151

What Is Story Sharing? Learning to Listen 155

Sharing Stories Weaves a Web of Community and Belonging 166

Action Steps: Enrich Your Story Workshop Practice 177

Chapter 7 Living and Learning 179

Stories Create Possibility-and Limit It, Too 180

Joy Is a Result of Challenge and Struggle 187

Works Cited 189