Launching into Stories

In this video, you will see the importance of having very compelling student artwork.  Notice how the lines are simple, the shading is done in color pencil/crayon, and it fills the space.  I want art that is not nuanced, but more like an icon or a logo, or a cartoon.  It is easier for kids to see the details that way.  Color is so key.  This summer, Kathrin really brought the power of images to the forefront of Ben’s and my thinking, thank you Kathrin!

In this video you will see us take a One Word Image and begin our very first story of the year!  We did not have time to finish it due to having to set up the job of Story Driver (which could be Ben Slavic’s greatest invention) and celebrating a birthday.

This class is very creative and works together beautifully as a group.  They were my first group who was ready to launch into stories.  I knew that because they were listening respectfully to each other’s ideas during our last One Word Image, and they are able to stay in Spanish even when the emotions are triggered.  These two skills are KEY for stories.  They need the group esprit de corps to work together and be accepting, not negative, about others’ suggestions (this class also has a very strong Profe 2 to help with that), and they need to be able to get excited but have the self-control to not blurt in English too much when stories get cute/exciting.

Another class that is ready to launch into stories is working with a giant Russian taco called Big Bertha.  They simply launched into a story using Big Bertha today.  We still have to set up the Story Driver.  This was a simpler story with only one location.  This is Part Two.