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CathinCoffeland
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| Posted: Sept 30 2008 at 3:08pm | IP Logged
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Last year narrations didn't go over well.
Dd would mumble out a sentence or two but was not particularly motivated. She thought it was "boring."
Which is funny because she could blab to Daddy for hours about her favorite books series.
We have been reading and learning about North America this first month of school and dd has been enjoying our
books and projects.
I had a big plan for a finale project but have been just so morning sick and tired that it was all I could do yesterday to just sit in the chair in the living room. So I asked dd if she would just like to narrate to me.
She looked skeptical so I told her to just tell me about anything she had learned.
Boy I wish I had had a way of recording her!
She suddenly jumped up spread a blanket on the floor and stood on it arms in the air-
"Presenting the story of 2 Squirrels who traveled through North America!"
For about 10 seconds I though of interupting her to tell her to "stay on task" but frankly was too tired to. I was worried she was going to just tell a made up story-which she did.
But the funny thing is that she incorporated so many things we had learned about. Those squirrels did everything from ice skate and eat frozen maple pops in Ottowa to do the spinning Mayan dance and play maracas in Mexico. She included landmarks, geographical features, Saints, food , national emblems, money and other things I can't remember. And she talked for over 20 minutes!
Afterwards she was quite happy and enjoyed applause from her siblings and went to read some math stories.
I was completly bemused. I had the idea that narration was a factual telling back of learned ideas- but she has trouble doing that- she "can't remember" things she has read althoug she can correctly answer question about her reading. And this spontaneous imaginative tale had almost everything we have talked and read about this month so obviously she has good recall just maybe she needs a different format?
Thoughts, ideas for how I should develop narration with her? She says she would like to narrate more but I don't know if i should encourage or redirect this creativity.
Thanks- Maggie
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Sept 30 2008 at 7:56pm | IP Logged
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Love it!
I would definitely encourage it. Perhaps give her an opportunity to make simple puppets (paper and stick) and/or scenery for her stories. Then offer to record her shows. They'd make great keepsakes!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: Sept 30 2008 at 8:11pm | IP Logged
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I think it's GREAT!!!!! She's definitely making "connections"!!!
Maybe incorporate some of the "20 different ways to narrate" ideas. There are so many things that she'd probably enjoy doing in this list.
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Suzanne in ID
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Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Oct 01 2008 at 8:26am | IP Logged
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I agree with Suzanne and Theresa...let her imagination take flight. I saw a post on Mary M's blog on her son doing a creative narration and thought of your dd immediately. I got out the puppets immediately after I read her blog post and my son loves narrating with them over the backside of the couch - actually everyone gets involved. The children practice their latin with them too...it's hilarious to hear the hen conjugating a verb whilst the fairy sprite declines a noun and Winnie the Pooh announces "Vini, Vidi, Vici" - (I came, I saw, I conquered". 
Anyway, here's how I encourage narrations...I never call them a "narration". I always choose a relaxed setting (while I'm making lunch, we're driving somewhere, I'm folding clothes). My son is a very, very active little guy so he either has to be squeezing some beeswax to keep his hands occupied or he is hanging upside down from the couch or something else "active". My dd can narrate anything, anywhere. I just say that I'm really excited to hear about "________fill in the blank with the book_______ - tell me what's goin' on...." Sometimes they're short, but usually they're *quite* detailed.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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missionfamily
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| Posted: Oct 01 2008 at 4:16pm | IP Logged
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Maggie--Perhaps we begin to reaslize the blessings of morning sickness when it makes us too tired to get in the way of our kids learning  ! Seriously, I think our notion of what narration should be sometimes stifles particular children from doing well with it. When we (and our plans) get pushed out of the way for one reason or another-we're sick, we have a new baby, or life is just too demanding-we often discover great things about our kids. I think you figured this little darling out now...next time you want to gauge how much she's learned about something, sit down, put your feet up, and give her the stage...no more narration boredom!
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Colleen
dh Greg
mom to Quinn,Gabriel, Brendan,Evan, Kolbe, and sweet St. Bryce
Footprints on the Fridge
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: "imaginative" narrations?
