Story Time Creation

Lauren Bingmer Kindergarten/Language Arts

Common Core Standards: Reading Standards for Literature Key Ideas and Details o RL.K.1. - With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. Craft and Structure o RL.K.4. - Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text. o RL.K.10. - Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding. Reading Standards: Foundational Skills o o o o RF.K.1. - Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print. RF.K.1(a) - Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page. RF.K.2. - Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes). RF.K.3. - Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

Speaking and Listening Standards Comprehension and Collaboration o SL.K.2. - Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood. Language Standards Vocabulary Acquisition and Use o L.K.6. - Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts. o L.K.5(c) - Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., note places at school that are colorful). Lesson Summary: The students and I will sit in a circle as I read "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?" aloud to them. I will ask them to identify the animals and colors in the book. I will also ask them to associate the sounds described in the book with the appropriate animal. We will emphasize the phonetic sounds of each word we practice. After that, I will have the students create a short story (three to four slides) about their favorite animal (or something similar if pictures of the particular animal cannot be found) from the book using the Storybird online application. Once their stories are complete, everyone will again sit in the story circle and read their story aloud using the class tablet. The purpose of this lesson is to engage the students in reading, enhance their phonetic skills, word association, creative writing using pictures, and exposure to online applications/tools.

Estimated Duration: This lesson should take between two to three and a half hours to complete. Each portion of the lesson will be divided into 20 to 30 minute increments and spread out over a five to seven day time frame. Commentary: Attaining the students' interest in this lesson should be fairly easy as its very visually engaging and most students at this age are thrilled about story time. Keeping the children engaged after the initial story time should be easy as well since they will be allowed to play around with an application on a computer which most kids of various ages greatly enjoy. The initial challenge will probably present itself in the students' technical abilities when using Storybird. To assist with that I will give them a quick tutorial on a projector. Then the class aide and I will walk around the room and assist where needed. The second challenge may present itself during the story presentations as it may be difficult to keep the audience's attention. However, splitting presentations up into a few days should help with that.

Instructional Procedures: Day 1: The class will gather in a circle and aloud I will read the book "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?" to them. At appropriate times throughout the story I will have them demonstrate their knowledge of the animals, colors, and sounds presented in the book. To do this I will slowly sound out important words. If any students say the words with me I will enthusiastically praise them and encourage others to join in. I will point to the animals and colors then ask if anyone knows the names of them. I will then call on those with their hands raised. When the story presents the sound that an animal makes, I will ask the entire class to make their best impression of that animals sound. If none of the children know then I will make the sound myself to be informative, engaging, and comedic. Day 2-4: Each student will be charged with creating their own short story (three to four slides) about their favorite animal (or something similar if pictures of the particular animal cannot be found) from the book using the Storybird online application. The animal does not have to be the same color as the one in the one read aloud, but the animal has to be the same or close to the same. I will give brief instruction on a projector showing the children how to use Storybird. They will each be assigned a work station (PC). As the class works, my aide and I will be around to assist as needed. Depending on class size and resources available, the class may have to be divided up into two or three sections. One section will complete their story while the other section(s) work on something else. This will also determine the number of days it will take to complete this assignment. However, also taking into consideration the attention span of 5 and 6 year olds, I expect this section of the lesson to take two to four days to complete.

Day 5-7: The class will again gather in a circle for story time. However, this time they will be the story tellers by presenting their Storybird stories to the class using the class tablet. I believe that using the tablet will give the feel of "traditional" story time where actual books are used considering the tablet's weight, size, and the fact that it will be passed around. Each student will pull up their story on the tablet and read aloud the story they created while showing the images to the class. There won't be any text on the slides, so the student will either draw from memory or make it up as they go if they can't remember.

Pre-Assessment: Once all of the students are sitting in the story time circle, before reading the story I will go around the circle and ask each student to name his/her favorite animal and mimic its sound. If they have trouble with the animals name I will clarify it for them using phonetics. If they have trouble mimicking the animals sound I will ask the group if anyone else knows how to and have them demonstrate. If none of the children know the sound the animal makes I will mimic it for them with enthusiasm to keep their attention. The pre-assessment will allow me to know how well each child pronounces certain letters/words, what their favorite animal is, memory capabilities, and how extroverted or introverted they may be in crowds. Scoring Guidelines: During the pre-assessment I will simply use my best judgment to mainly evaluate their levels of word association and pronunciation. If they are able to pronounce words easily and have fluid word association I will consider them to be ready for the next step. While the students are creating their stories I will visit with each student to assess how well they are utilizing the technology. If they are able to find the pictures they want and add them into the story without much trouble then I will consider them as passing the technology period. I will also assess how well they can connect their ideas from one picture to the next in order to make a comprehensive story. If their stories at least mostly make sense then I will consider them passing the creation period. Post-Assessment: The story presentations will give insight into how much the students have progressed in their pronunciations, word associations, and technology use. It will also allow me to see how comfortable or uncomfortable each student is when standing and speaking in front of a crowd. Each child's level understanding the flow of a story and their creativity will be showcased. Scoring Guidelines: To score the presentations I will simply give a pass or fail. As long as the student willingly presents their slides and is able to easily pronounce at least most of the words they use for their story, I will consider them as passing.

Differentiated Instructional Support For those students who are having an exceptionally hard time with this project, I will have them work with another student that is showing at least moderate understanding. I will allow them to work on the

entire project together and present as a group. For these groups I will pay special attention to in case they need assistance as well as to accurately gauge both group members' understanding of the project. However, groups will be as limited as possible since assessment of understanding is done much easier when the student is creating and presenting their work alone. Students that are excelling will be tasked with adding text into their stories.

Extension The ABC Match game is fantastic for learning word association and pronunciation. Its incredibly engaging with all of the visual and audio stimulation. http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/games-tools/match-a-30091.html The Berenstain Bears Story Time game is extremely interactive, fun, and helpful with creating your own story. http://pbskids.org/berenstainbears/games/story/index.html The Kindergarten writing worksheets serve a variety of purposes from learning colors, drawing, word association, writing complete sentences, etc. It is also something fun that parents can enjoy with their children at home. Parents can help turn any of these worksheets into a phonics lesson as well! http://www.greatschools.org/worksheets/kindergarten/writing/

Homework Options and Home Connections I would suggest that the students play the online games above at home when their parent(s) are available to sit with them. Also, I would encourage their parent(s) to visit the Storybird website with their child so that they can both become familiar with the application. Additionally, I would print out various worksheets every week from the extension listed above for the children to do at home. Lastly, I would encourage the parents to read to their child most nights of the week. I would advise them to have their child help with the reading so that eventually the child will be reading the story to the parent(s).

Interdisciplinary Connections Students will be looking through many pictures on Storybird and choosing the most aesthetically pleasing pictures that represent their favorite animal. Additionally, since they will be presenting their stories to their classmates. On the flip side of that they will be listening to other students presentations as well. Art Public speaking Listening

This lesson could be incorporated into purely an art lesson where I have them paint a picture of the animal they reported on. It could also be turned into a production where they turn their favorite animal into a hand puppet then we have a hand puppet play. This would enhance their cooperation, artistic, public speaking, and listening skills as well.

Materials and Resources: For teachers Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? book Paper/pencil for grading and note taking Smartboard or projector Storybird account

For students

Laptops with internet connection Tablet/iPad (one to share) with internet connection Storybird accounts

Key Vocabulary Their favorite animals name Character Setting Emotions Tablet/iPad Laptop

Additional Notes I truly believe incorporating technology and visuals into learning is extremely important helpful. I think children would find this exercise incredibly fun and engaging. For most of them this would probably be their first exposure to an online story creation application so they would be likely to use this application in the future for school and personal use. Not only would this lesson help with their foundational skills, it may also turn reading into a favorite past time!