Day one of the lesson we read the story then started acting it out with our voices and bodies. We were out in the hall so the kids were able to move around a bit more. One of the groups with the higher reading level had the Three Little Pigs. This group has the three girls and two boys; it was a battle to be whichever pig they thought was cooler. And this version of the story was a little gruesome, the first two pigs were eaten and the wolf was boiled to death in a vat. Well…we changed the story a bit. The girls didn’t want to die and the wolf wanted to be friends in the end so we somewhat adjusted the plot. The second group had the Little Red Hen. They each loved the character they got in this story, which made it easier to delegate. The third group had Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Unfortunately this group had 4 boys and none of them wanted to be Mommy bear, so we changed it to brother bear. This day taught me how you have to be able to think on your feet and be flexible as a teacher. Adjusting the characters and the stories was needed for the children to be positively effected by the lesson.
Day two I had them color in puppets I had drawn for them. They colored them in really well, sometimes in unconventional colors. I felt it was important, especially as kindergarteners, to allow them to be as creative as possible with the coloring because I had drawn the puppets for them taking away some of the creative outlet. This took up the whole rotation time but we had some extra time where I threw together an old box to make a puppet stage.
Day three we acted out the puppets with the stage. I reread the story to them to remind them of how it went and they then acted the story out the way it went, then I let them change the story. I could not believe some of the plots these children were coming up with. The Three Pigs group had one character who was the man who sold straw, sticks, and bricks. (I had to add this character so there were enough parts for people). He would say, “Give me all your money!” Every time someone asked him if they could buy something. He also decided to run from house to house warning the pigs the wolf was coming. The pigs fought back and the wolf whimpered but then the wolf had a whole dramatic scene where the wolf died then came back to life as an angel. The Little Red Hen group cracked me up too, the boys in this group have somewhat of a language barrier and instead of saying, “Not I!” they would shout, “Me no!” “Me no!” and then “Me yes!” Goldilocks group had a great time acting out the different voices like Daddy’s big voice, and the baby’s voice. They actually stuck to the plot really well until the bears came home and ate Goldilocks.
Also Thursday was the Crowning of Mary ceremony. All the kids brought in a flower to place near the statue of Mary and they all had practiced songs to sing for the ceremony. It was precious. EC 1 and 2 (3 and 4 year olds) and Kindergarten all did the ceremony together. They have been practicing the Hail Mary song throughout the year leading up to their performance at the ceremony as well as their graduation ceremony at the end of the year. I found it really interesting watching this religious ceremony in school as I had gone through public schooling my whole life.
The fourth day we practiced the plays again then actually performed them for the class. I was helping the kids on the side if they forgot any part of the plot but they had it, they were fantastic! We used a table instead of the stage because the stage got in the way as the kids were fighting over it. When practicing I reminded them to take turns speaking and I made sure they could identify the beginning middle and end of the story. I really think my teacher was impressed by how well they did and that made me feel so proud.
The fifth day we started a writing prompt where they were to retell the story in writing rather than puppets. They each had a different part of the story and had to write 1 or 2 sentences (depending on which group it was) and draw a picture to go with it. With some of the groups there’s so much behavioral management that goes into everything. I found it interesting to gage what I needed to teach each group. The highest level reading group needed me to help shape their sentences, whereas the lower groups needed help figuring out which letter made what sound. I've always found the range of abilities in the same age and grade group interesting.
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