Musings on how children learn best through play and The Project Approach in action
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Sunday, May 1, 2011
Upside Down Story
Do you remember reading Harold and the Purple Crayon as a child? I do. In fact, that is how I started my lesson. I talked about how I had enjoyed this book as a child, how old the book was, and how it was still being enjoyed by so many people.
We read the story and discussed how Harold solved each of his problems. We then laid out a very long sheet of mural paper on the floor and the children each laid on their stomachs with purple crayon in hand and drew a piece of our very own story. We decided to call it "Tim and the Purple Crayon" after one of our beloved turtles.
After the children drew for awhile we rolled the mural up, put it on the easel and unrolled it one scene at a time to write the story as a group. It certainly was an interesting tale with many twists and turns.
But then we were faced with the daunting task of finding a place to hang such a huge story. The only place available in our window filled classroom was the ceiling.
We really enjoyed lying on our backs and reading and rereading and rereading our masterpiece. The children loved surprising their parents at pick up time with the story on the ceiling and having them read it aloud.
Give a cooperative story a try. And make sure to revisit your old friend, Harold.
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