Cumbee_Destiny_Storytelling Reflection 1
Even though I have never taught students younger than middle school, I have always loved reading aloud children's books. I just love the stories that can be shared within a few short pages. My mom has bought me children's books every Christmas since 2013 because she knows of my passion for them. Because of this I had some big decisions to make with which book I was going to do my first reading with for this class. I chose Beekle the Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat. My fiancée introduced this book to me last year and I absolutely fell in love with it. She had used it for a storybook drama in one of her theatre classes so I knew it would lend itself to a read aloud. I think Beekle is a great starting point for storytelling because the book is actually meant to seem as if the main character wrote it about her creating Beekle. It is kind of a story on storytelling so starting there felt natural.
I started the process by rereading the book a few times to get a feel for how it should be preformed. Next, I read it aloud two or three times to get a feel for how it felt and sounded when preformed. Because there isn't a lot of dialogue in the book I did find it a little difficult to determine how to deliver each page. I knew I needed an array of emotions, but I had to tryout how each sounded. I ended up recording three separate deliveries of the book before deciding on the one that I posted. I felt like it was the perfect balance of emotions.
I had originally planned to record the performance in my library room at home, but ultimately felt like it would be a distraction and that I wouldn't have enough room if I chose to be more animated. I chose a side room of my library to record because it was a blank canvas, however, I feel that it was too blank. I would love to add things to my background that add the the storytelling experience. For example, I could have put a tree behind me that matched up with the tree that Beekle climbed in the book. Moving forward I plan on doing this so that the audience can feel even more immersed in the storytelling experience. I am excited to continue adding things to my stories like props and manipulatives.
I really thought that I would be uncomfortable doing this assignment, but as soon as I started it felt like second nature. I slipped right back into what I used to love to do. I never felt embarrassed of being a high school librarian reading a children's book - something I fully expected. I even sent out my recording to co-worker with young children because I wanted to know what they thought about it. I wanted an honest opinion from my actual target audience and this gave me that opportunity. I really enjoyed the storytelling experience and can't wait to perform my next story!
Destiny,
ReplyDeleteI was also introduced to Beekle last year and loved the story and the illustrations. It is a great story with many opportunities for discussion with students. We started our process in much the same way, and I also struggled finding a space that was bright enough to record. I discovered during my recording that my wifi is absolutely atrocious and I will not be uploading from my house again. It took over an hour.
I think reading stories is much like riding a bike. Once you have mastered the skill, a quick refresher might be all you need. Reading is such a vital part of literacy development and finding ways to incorporate reading into lessons can only benefit our students. This is evident in our interactions with students, and the various studies conducted, such as the article last week by Betty Hart and Todd Risley. The word gap that exists between children with varying income levels is vast and could be a 30-million-word gap by age three. (2003) As librarians, getting those books into the hands of families or creating opportunities for families to visit libraries and story times is important.
Christine Donaldson
Hart, B., & Risley, T. R. (2003). The early catastrophe. Education Review, 17(1), 110–118.
Hi Destiny!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post this week. Your passion for the story you read and how you chose it shines through in this post. Choosing a place to record can be difficult, and I admire the way in which you strive to improve your recording space - putting props and decorations in the background is such a fun idea to tie it into the story. I love that you felt so confident in your storytelling, enough to send it to a coworker of yours; I'd love to know what feedback you got from their kids! In regards to your technical issues, if you record on an iPhone or iPad turned horizontally, your footage will be wide screen and won't get cropped (assuming the cropping you're referring to is the vertical orientation). If you still can't get the hang of it on a handheld device, trying to record via webcam might be something worth looking into as well. I have a lot of experience recording, editing, and uploading various videos, so if you ever need any specific help, I can try my best to answer!