What are our stories, and how can we share them?
In a Kindergarten classroom, the teacher asked the essential questions, “What are our stories, and how can we share them?” These questions were the driving force behind a year-long play-based inquiry into story making with loose parts.
In this classroom, loose parts are used on a regular basis in many different learning experiences and subject areas. The classroom loose parts collection includes objects from nature (leaves, sticks, rocks, shells, etc.), open-ended building materials (Lego, PlusPlus, blocks, magnet tiles, etc.), craft supplies (frozen treat sticks, pompoms, gems, seasonal items, felt squares, etc.) and many found items such as marker lids, buttons, milk jug lids, and cardboard tubes.
Each story-making session followed the same routine. The teacher began with a mini-lesson and modelled making and telling a story, and then learners were given time to imagine, play, and make their stories. Each session ended with a sharing time that was either between pairs of learners, in small groups, or as a whole class. During the sharing time, the learners practised giving feedback to each other by saying something they noticed about the story.
The first story-making session began with a mini-lesson about how to be a story maker. Story makers imagine a story, play with loose parts, make their story, and then share it with someone. During their first story-making experience, learners were given familiar materials like Lego, PlusPlus, and Keva planks and were asked to tell a story about something that happened to them. The teacher modelled the process of choosing a story from her life, selecting and playing with materials to create a scene, and then telling her story aloud to the class.
As learners became familiar with the routine, new loose parts were introduced, encouraging learner curiosity as they explored new ideas and possibilities. Each time new materials were added to the story-making collection, the teacher asked the question, “What do these materials inspire you to make?” The learners brainstormed ways they could imagine using each new material, and they tried new things and took risks as they came up with ideas. For example, a frozen treat stick could be a person, a bridge, a path, a surfboard, a bench, and more.
Throughout the year, mini-lessons evolved to meet the needs of the story makers. The teacher often used questions to inspire discussion during lessons. Questions such as “Where do story ideas come from?,” “How do stories sound?,” “How do stories start/end?,” and “How can you use your voice in different ways to tell your story?” began discussions and investigations into story making, telling, and eventually, writing. The teacher would often read parts of picture books to further the discussion and inspire new stories. There were regular discussions encouraging learners to reflect on their storytelling practices and new learning.
As the year progressed, learners learned to use tablets to document their story, whether it be using photographs, audio, or video, to share with others and their families. Learners designed and painted their own “story dolls” using wooden peg dolls. Makerspace materials were introduced, and learners created backgrounds or built elements of their story out of paper, cardboard, and other art supplies, and included them in combination with loose parts. Later in the year, learners who were ready wrote their stories after building and telling them. The teacher also transcribed stories or parts of stories for learners who wanted to save and share their stories with others. As the year progressed so did the learners’ feedback to each other during sharing time, moving toward using a star and a wish–type format.
At the end of the year, learners had a collection of photographs, transcribed stories, videos, and written work to revisit as they reflected on the original questions, “What are our stories, and how can we share them?”
