About this Course

Overview:

This hands-on nine-hour workshop is designed to support teachers of young children (aged 4-6 years) to use spoken arts in developing literacy. This course will present the qualities of literature that meet the language needs of the developing child. Through poetry, story-games, storytelling and puppetry children engage in the foundational processes of literacy development.

Artistically presented experiences of the spoken word invite children to enter deeply into the world of language. The investment of the teacher is critical in creating fresh and interesting experiences for their students. Teacher enthusiasm and engagement in language invite young children to imitate deeply. Through their interest and imitation they are empowered to concentrate, develop a rich vocabulary, and understand on an unconscious level the structure of many kinds literature. Above all, children should come away with joy and delight in language.

Objectives:

 Review building blocks of early literacy and create a group written document relating beginning spoken arts skills to early literacy skills.

 Relate the sound and image quality of language to the act of making meaning.

 Investigate effective teaching techniques for listening and speaking that are developmentally appropriate for kindergarten aged children.

 Experience the flow of movement in the spoken word. Develop a repertoire of movement- sound and movement picture gestures that reinforce meaning in children’s nursery rhymes and folk poetry.

 Experience storytelling, puppetry and story-games in telling traditional and current children’s literature.

 Learn how to provide an appropriate environment for the development of intensive listening and comprehension.

 Develop and implement a lesson plan teaching a poem or story through the spoken arts of storytelling, puppetry or story-games.

Session 1: Exploring storytelling, movement and puppetry as a support for literacy skills

Theoretical Framework for supporting literacy through the spoken arts:

Language and brain development

Literacy development comes alive through spoken arts using:

  Sound and movement in relationship to sounds and letters.

 Sound to image

 Puppetry

 Story games

 Development of an effective storytelling voice.

 Development of concentration and quiet.

 Engaging students in listening. Sound play - rhymes, songs, and poems

 Early language play between mothers and infants.

 Early gesture language games for infants and very young children.

 Examining the language play in traditional English nursery rhymes.

 Searching for similar traditional language play examples in Tamil, Chinese and Malay. Once upon a time… the power of story

 Choosing stories for young children across cultures.

 Review of literacy foundations that young children can learn through stories.

 Effective storytelling techniques including: voice, tempo, repetition and puppetry.

 Story games, what are they? Effective teaching techniques

 Practice effective speaking in storytelling.

 Create a story game.

 Create movements and gestures to support the spoken words in a nursery rhyme.

 Create a puppet for a story to present to your students.

Lesson Plan Development

 Review the lesson plan format that will be the same as teachers are required to submit for their site.

 Identify the sample lessons we did in the workshop that used storytelling, meaningful gesture, story-games and puppetry to teach a specific literacy skill or concept.

 Brainstorm one to two lesson plan ideas that the teacher can implement at their site.

 Development of lesson plans to be implemented with students during the next month before the follow-up session.

Session 2: How did it go!

Fine tuning – review of participant lessons

 Presentation of lesson and classroom student response.

 Group discussion and celebration of successes and problem solving.

 Share out of what teachers learned in this process and how they might incorporate this work in their classrooms in the future.

Methodology:

Participants will be expected to move and actively participate. They are advised to wear comfortable clothes for doing artwork and movement.

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