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I am the studio teacher in Zach's Place Studio, an AMS Montessori teacher, an artist, a mother and much more.

Friday, February 18, 2011

week 18- story writing


In the studio, we have been writing alot of stories. These stories are the result of a child's work. Typically, they bring me a piece of art and I ask, "Would you like to tell me about it?" Sometimes I will ask questions like, "Does your piece have a name/title?". If it is a worry doll, I may ask details, "Where does s/he live?", "What does s/he like to do?", etc. Often a story will emerge. Some children have one at the ready, while others need a little more prompting. Occasionally a child will simply say, "There is no story." This happened in the studio again today and I thought I would try something new, something I do myself when writing isn't coming easily. I said, "You know sometimes a story isn't up here (pointing to my head), but if you close your eyes and listen closely you might hear a story being born (touching my heart)". This child agreed to try it. He closed his eyes and I said, "I will know you are ready when you open your eyes". In a short time his eyes flashed open and he told me a single sentence. After writing it down, I said, "Is that all or would you like to listen again". He closed his eyes several times, opening them again to tell me another sentence. When he was finished I read his story (a poem really) back to him and asked him where that story came from. He smiled and patted his chest, "It came from my heart". He went back to his class smiling.
Here is his heart's poem:
Castle, by Braden, age 5
The eagle is eating.
The king is walking.
The bell is ringing.
The wind is blowing.
The eagle is flying.

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