Story Telling in Small Moments

Small Moments stories only improves if students know how to tell a story. Lucy Calkins refers to this as storytelling. The staff at the Teachers College that work with Lucy Calkins recommends the following 5 steps for teaching children to storytell as a week long event.

1. The teacher models storytelling an event the class experienced together with rich story language across 5 fingers. The teacher tells the story multiple times. The students and the teacher tells the story numerous times. It is important for multiple retellings. This is an oral retelling of the story again today.
2. The class gathers to retell the same story with a storytelling partner. Teacher coaches students to remember characters names, say what the character said, etc. The teacher might retell before (or after) the students depending on how much support the students need. It is important that the students have multiple chances for retelling. This is an oral retelling of the story again today.
3. The students sit in a circle and retell the same story as a class. “Today we are all going to share the _____________________ (one story with one event) as one storyteller.” The children tell the story on their 5 fingers using repetition and rehearsal.
4. While children tell the story, teacher sketches the pictures across pages. It is important that the children are retelling the story across their 5 fingers. It is also important that the children are verbalizing the story. Repetition and rehearsal is leading to most if not all children repeating the story at some level.
5. The teacher writes the words on the last day to the story in front of the students (demonstration).

This procedure is repeated throughout the year to teach storytelling language. The same story is used for the week. It is an experience that all the children have shared. The teacher might guide the writing about a moment on the playground, singing a song, spilling pencils, a silly moment that the class experienced, or something else that has a beginning, middle and end within the moment.

Listing and Small Moment Writing

I Love Dogs is a book to teach listing.  This book is a wonderful example of making a list about a topic.  It is not a Small Moment. 

 White Wonderful Winter! by Elaine W Good has examples of Small Moments on each page.  I read one page to the students to emphasize the difference between writing specific details about a topic and writing about a list.   

I modeled a Small Moments writing lesson.  What is the topic?  What sentences are the details?    The key teaching point is writing on topic.  Does the writing stay on topic? 

White Wonderful Winter! by Elaine W. Good is in a series of 4 books.
That’s What Happens When It’s Spring by Elaine W. Good
It’s Summertime! by Elaine W. Good
Fall is Here! I Love It! by Elaine W. Good

I use this series extensively to teach many writing teaching points.

Small Moment video

http://vimeo.com/1966143

Small Moment examples by Second graders.

Small Moment: Adding Details that Matter

Objective:  Today your job is to remember what your character/person is doing and write down the words of what you see in your mind. 

One of the lessons that my students need is adding details that add to the story instead of boring details.  Typically writers tell us that the sky is blue, the clouds are white, the bike is red.  The writer using adjectives.  We need to move our writers to writing strong verbs that describe the actions of the characters.  I don’t necessarily say (especially to my first and second grade writers), “We are writing strong verbs that describe the actions of the characters.”  Instead I ask my writers,

• “What did you do when you were swinging at the park?” 
• “What did you do when you saw Grandma sitting by the tree with the wrapped present?”
• “What did you do when you were digging a hole at the beach?”

(This is is assuming that the writer is the character.    The question is also suggesting and supporting verb choice.)

The teacher might encourage the child to picture  what he/she was doing at the beach.  “Close your eyes and remember remember digging the hole in the sand.” 

The child talks to the teacher about the memory:  I remember running on the sand that was hot enough to fry an egg.  The sand sticks to you like glue.  I helped my cousin dump buckets of water into the hole I dug with my cousin. 

Teacher says, “You have told me important details that you remember about your day at the beach.” 

Teacher continues by asking, “What does it look like to dig a hole at the beach?”  She helps the writer act out digging, shoveling, patting, dumping as they practice saying the sentences together.  “I am digging a hole.  I am shoveling the sand.”

Teacher continues talking, “Now let’s think about how these details would sound as a story.”

Kid Story: 

On a hot summer day I played in the sand with my cousin.  I scooped the light sand with my shovel first.  “Look out,” I said as the sand fell back in the hole.  We dragged the dry sand away from the hole with our whole arms.  My cousin said, “It worked.”  I thought the sand was sticky like syrup, but I didn’t mind.  We dug deep, poured water and patted the sides.  I dumped a pail of sand into the water every time my cousin and I filled it.  “Let’s stick our feet in it!” I said to my cousin when we finished.  The sand was wet and squishy.  It was great fun.

Teacher says, “Today I was thinking about digging a hole in the sand.  I was describing what it looked like.  Remember whenever you write, you need to think about the person doing something.”

Small Moments: Person Who is Significant During The Holidays

Often teachers ask me about topic generation. I also know nothing sends terror down the spine of a teacher, then 20 or 25 children who are complaining, “I don’t have anything to write about.” Obviously, I am exaggerating!   Or a child who has written about the same frog for 26 days in a row. It is not a matter of assigning a topic or not a matter of saying, “Don’t assign topics!” The solution is in what is happening in the discussion before writing. When I enter a classroom as a writing consultant, I want all children to write, as do all the teachers, I have ever met. So how does this happen? Students need ideas not assignments for topics.

As we look forward to seeing our students tomorrow, I think about the writing workshops across the country. I want students to write about their significant people. I want children to write about what matters to them. I know if we help our students through questioning to think about traditions that matter, they will write about them. Who did they see over break? What happens every year?
I could write about…

After dinner, Santa comes to our house. He is real. …

OR

Everyone in our family knows that my mom does not mail presents. We all open presents at my mom and dad’s house on Christmas morning. …

OR

My dad cooks once a year. Christmas morning breakfast …

As I think about the ‘who’ and a tradition, it helps trigger a memory and a tradition I could write about. This is what we need to do with our students to prevent a list of “What I got for Christmas!”

I wrote about this topic previously here: Person: Think of person that matters to you

and here: writing about special people

and here: Gooney Bird book teaches about personal narrative

Writing about a Class Experience

One writing idea is to have the class experience something, then write about this experience.

-Sing a song, then tell the students about it, have the students turn and talk about it, then the teacher writes about it using story language.
-Line up to come inside from recess. If it is a nice day, instead of going inside, write outside right now. We just lined up to go inside, let’s write about that. The teacher tells the story on her/his fingers. The writing partners tell the story to each other. I have my chart paper outside and model how right there.
-Walk the kids over to the slide. Have all the students climb up the ladder and slide down. Listen to their language. What are the details you hear? What specific words are the children saying? Everyone sits down after the class experience. First, the teacher tells the story using story language. Next the writing partners turn and talk to each other practicing telling the story using story language. The teacher should model writing about the experience before the children write.
-After a field trip, write about the class experience.
-After any other common experiences by the class, it lends to writing: fire drills, lunch room, music, gym, etc.

We worked on small moments. I modeled my own small moment and then as a class we made one together about lining up for recess. The objective is to take an idea and stretch it out…like an elastic band. We will be working on small moments (narratives) for the entire term. For many of the students it is a new concept.

Writing: true, focused, significant

As I reflect on writing samples, I find myself thinking about Lucy Calkins words, “Are the students truly writing stories that are true, focused, and also significant?” Are the writers remembering something that matters to them? These stories should fill the writers with big feelings: sadness or excitement or wonder. This leads to a significant story. The child probably will not say, “This is a significant story.” My niece Abby has written about her excitement of receiving a guitar for her birthday. She now can play just like her first grade teacher. She no longer has to play the tennis racket.

If a child is writing about a sequence of actions, such as eating dinner with a grandparent, it may appear as an everyday occurance. However, if the child is writing about it, the teacher wants to ask, “So What?” “Why are you writing about this topic?” “Why is this significant?” I remember that my son told me that he was the only one in the car and he remembers telling grandpa that he would have his usual at the drive-thru. Of course, Grandpa had no idea what that was! It was a good thing that Grandpa had a cell phone. My son wrote all about this episode the next day in writer’s workshop. He didn’t actually write, “I am special.” He voiced this to me when I inquired why he wrote about this topic at bed later that night though.”

Small Moments Links

Small Moment Minilesson and Conference
http://debrennersmith.blogspot.com/2008/11/writing-conference.html

List of Small Moment books
http://debrennersmith.blogspot.com/2008/10/small-moments-list-of-books.html

http://debrennersmith.blogspot.com/2008/07/book-list-for-small-moments.html

Small Moments (Many Moments During a Big Idea)

http://debrennersmith.blogspot.com/2008/10/small-moments-many-moments-during-big.html

Small Moment – What Matters to You
http://debrennersmith.blogspot.com/2008/10/small-moment-what-matter-to-you.html

Small Moment – Roller Coaster Lesson
http://debrennersmith.blogspot.com/2008/10/small-moment-writing-lesson.html

Small Moment by Abby
http://debrennersmith.blogspot.com/2008/07/small-moment-writing-by-abby.html

Small Moment using the book, Puddles
http://debrennersmith.blogspot.com/2008/07/photo-fridays-mud-puddles.html

Small Moment Components
http://debrennersmith.blogspot.com/2008/07/small-moment-components.html

Small Moments List of Books

I am always looking for titles that work for Small Moments.
Salt Hands by Jane Chelsea Aragon
Saturday and Teacakes by Lester Laminack
The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
Joshua’s Night Whispers by Angela Johnson
Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco (other books by this author)
Baghead by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco
Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
Koala Lou by Mem Fox
The Leaving Morning by Angela Johnson
Joshua’s Night Whispers by Angela Johnson
Do Like Kyla by Angela Johnson
Snow Day by Lester Laminack
Trevor’s Wiggly-Wobbly Tooth by Lester Laminack
Jake’s 100th Day of School by Lester Laminack
Big Mama’s by Donald Crews
Shortcut by Donald Crews
Max’s Dragon Shirt by Rosemary Wells
Salt Hands by Jane Chelsea Aragon
Shortcut by Donald Crews
The Paper Boy by Dav Pilkey
Fireflies by Julie Brinckloe

Small Moment: What Matters to You?

Small Moment Unit of Study

String of Mini Lessons: Writers write focused, true stories about their lives
· Writers zoom in (like a photographer) on just a small moment and recall it
· Writers focus in on most important part of a memory
· Watermelon/seed- big story –vs- small moment
· Share how a published author zooms in
· Contrast a list-like story and a story to stop writers from writing lists of what they did

String of Mini Lessons: Writers write sequenced stories about their lives by planning out what the story will sound like
· Writers plan stories and they tell their stories across fingers
· Writers plan stories across pages by touching each page or turning the pages of a pretend book
· Writers use timelines to help tell a story in a blow-by-blow fashion

String of Mini Lessons: Writers write detailed stories about their lives by adding by adding words.
· Writers stretch out the stories from their lives by writing a lot of details
· Writers add detail to a shared experience story
· Contrast a bare-boned story with a story full of detail Ask, which one gave you a picture in your mind?

String of Mini Lessons: Writers revise their writing
Writers can revisit a big story and write a whole story off of it focusing on one thing
Writers write new endings to their story in order to stay in the moment
Writers write internal thoughts of how they felt to add more to their story
Writers storytell their pieces to partners and ask, “Did you get a picture of this in your mind?”