Materials
microphone with a speaker attached
Instructions
Following are some ideas to use to grab children's attention when introducing
a book or story.
* When introducing a new book, put a wrapper around the book jacket to
hide the picture and title. Give children clues about the story and let them
guess the plot or characters before you uncover and read it.
* Tell a story by drawing simple stick figures and other outlines on a
chalkboard. This new storytelling technique will intrigue them. For
example, for "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," draw three faces of varying
size for the three bears, simple half circles for bowls, lowercase "h"-shaped
chairs, and so on. Erase characters and shapes as they appear and
disappear in the story.
* Let them participate in stories by repeating a gesture, sound, word, or
phrase that occurs often in the narration. Give individual children actions
or sounds to make every time their particular character appears in the
story. They have to pay attention so they don't miss their cue.
* Tell a familiar story with mistakes that the children can correct. This is a
good way to introduce opposites or rhyming words.
* Fill a bag with props appropriate to the story and pull them out as the
story progresses.
More to do Art: Let the children make masks of the story characters.
Dramatic Play: After a progressive story that introduces many characters to
solve a problem, let the children re-enact the plot.
More Dramatic Play: Retell a familiar story by introducing dolls or stuffed
animals to be the characters in the story, and let the children, alone or in pairs,
find other props to use in the story.
Language: Let children make up alternate endings to a story. This works well
with "The Gingerbread Boy" (so he isn't eaten) and "The Little Red Hen" (so
other animals can eat the bread, too).
