Story and Poetry MapsAuthor(s): Jennie Livingston MunsonSource: The Reading Teacher, Vol. 42, No. 9 (May, 1989), pp. 736-737Published by: Wiley on behalf of the International Reading AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20200291 .

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IN THE CLASSROOM _

Story and poetry maps Jennie Livingston Munson

How about an "off the wall" approach to reading instruction? First and 2nd

graders at my elementary school often create mural-like story maps and col

orful renditions of favorite poems, which when hung on classroom and

hallway walls are not only read and en

joyed but also serve an instructional

purpose.

You will need a supply of butcher

paper, some markers, and various col

ors of construction paper for both of these wall ideas.

The story map requires about 6 feet of butcher paper. Draw and label the

shapes as in Example 1. Then choose a

story amenable to story mapping, one

that has a definite sequence of events and strong characters such as The Three Pigs.

Place the story map on the floor in front of the students. (This works best if they form a semicircle around the

paper.) Explain that as they listen to the story they should identify the parts listed on the map: characters, setting, problem, beginning, middle, and end.

After you have discussed these vari ous parts of the map, choose one or

two students to walk slowly over each

shape beginning with the "characters"

square until they reach the "end" rec

tangle. This walking especially helps kinesthetic learners.

Once the story has been read, go

through its parts with the students ap

plying what was heard in the story to the story map. Discuss "Who were the characters in this story?" "Where did

most of the story take place?" and so on. Check for participation by all stu dents.

When students demonstrate under

standing, explain that the class will re create the story within the shapes on

the map. Divide the class into small,

Example 1

Story map

characters setting problem (who?) (where?)

end

Title of book

Example 2

Poetry map

Teddy Bear Teddy Bear Teddy Bear Teddy Bear

Teddy Bear Teddy Bear Teddy Bear Teddy Bear

turn around. touch the

ground.

turn out

the

lights.

say

'goodnight."

736 The Reading Teacher May 1989

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Practical teaching ideas

manageable groups of two or three and

give each group the responsibility of il

lustrating one part of the story map. To avoid crowding around the map,

provide construction paper so that the students can draw the illustrations sep

arately and then glue them on the map. Depending upon the level and inde

pendence of the students, you may want to establish definite assignments for students in the groups, for exam

ple, "Who would like to draw the three

pigs for the 'character' square?" Most

groups, though, if allowed to design their part of the story map, will follow the process in creative and interesting

ways without much teacher guidance. Once the students have glued on all

their illustrations, attach each end of the map to an available wall in the classroom or hallway. Allow each

group enough time to explain what

they included in their shape of the

story map and, depending upon the

level, write specific details on the map for each group.

Students can learn to enjoy poetry in much the same way as the story map. Instead of the groups working on a part of the map, give each group one or two lines of poetry to illustrate on con

struction paper. They then glue their

pictures under or near the matching lines of poetry on the butcher paper (see Example 2).

These "off the wall" creations help to enrich the print environment so vital to

helping reading and writing become

meaningful and purposeful to students.

Munson is a language arts specialist at

Boone Elementary A.I.S.D, Houston, Texas.

Family folklore

sparks reading Earl H. Cheek, Jr.

Sometimes a link fails to develop be tween young children's prior knowl

edge and the material they are asked to read. This not only hinders learning to read but may result in a decided lack of enthusiasm for the material so that

more students than necessary experi ence difficulty in becoming proficient readers.

One way to provide an early link is

through family folklore. All children have some interesting experiences or

anecdotes about their family that can

be used by the teacher to narrow the

gap between school and home, and be tween spoken and written language.

I have found the following steps

quite helpful.

Step 1. Ask each child to relate an

interesting experience or anecdote about their family. Length should be determined by the classroom format.

Working with the whole class, you may wish to set a time limit, but be flexible. In a small group, children should have more time to elaborate on

their stories. In a one to one setting with children

experiencing difficulty learning to

read, view these sessions as more ther

apeutic and interactive, designed pri marily to increase the child's self confidence and interest in reading.

Step 2. Tape each child's story. In the whole class format, the stories can be related over about a week at the begin ning of the school year, especially with

younger children. For older children, you may spread the stories out over a

longer time. Then the stories may be

longer and might be used as a recrea

tional reading activity. In small groups, the length of the

stories is dependent upon your time

frame, goals for the group, and the students' reading levels. In one to one

teaching, the needs of each child will determine the time and direction of in struction.

Step 3. Use the taped stories to nar row the gap between spoken and writ ten language by focusing on the

relationship between reading, writing, and speaking. Have children listen to their stories and then attempt to write

what they have said. This will enable students in the formative stages to in teract with print meaningfully and cre

atively. For some children, you may wish to

transcribe their story for them and then

dictate it to them. Children having dif

ficulty should first concentrate on lis

tening to their own stories, then

participate in writing activities when

they are ready. No child should be pro hibited from participating in writing, if

they express a desire to do so.

Cheek is with Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Personal newsletters for parents Janet Speer Johnston

Each week, usually on Wednesday, in dividual students in my 4th grade classroom wrote personal newsletters home telling about current classroom activities as well as future events. Af ter the parents had read and signed them (some even wrote messages back!) the newsletters were stored in individual student folders. At the end of the year, they were bound and given to each student as a diary of her/his

year in my classroom. What started out as a communica

tion tool from students to parents be came an authentic way for children to

practice and master language arts skills in a meaningful context.

First, the students brainstormed the events and activities they thought were

important and that they might want to include in their newsletter. I "webbed" the ideas on an overhead transparency as they talked, and we discussed infor

mally where the details needed to go, what seemed to fit together, and why.

I shared any information that the

parents might especially need (for ex

ample, a field trip). Each circle of the web and its details were written in a different color on the transparency to

help the students locate the different

categories that would represent para graphs in their newsletters.

For the first few weeks of school, the students and I wrote the newsletters to

gether using the overhead. I wanted to

IN THE CLASSROOM 737

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