this quiet sunday evening, i'll share a very small, very special story. the text comes from a series of text messages sent to me at wandlitz from davidly, while we were working at two different berlitz kids camps. (are there any other comrades out there listening?) viola was a little blonde girl, maybe 11 years old, who had been in my english class for one or two weeks the summer before. as an accompaniment, the photo is a page from my journal, where i pasted a mama bird and baby bird drawn for me by another camper, sophie, 7.
"i'm here with a homesick viola,
who i've brought back up from evening activity
cause she was crying.
we've been talking about books she likes
and your name has just come up
(along with the 'sun')
she really loved the one word stories
you did in class
i've just told her about my improv wkshop
she thinks she can stay for the rest of camp now
thanx 4 the magic"
Werbellinsee, Germany 26.07.2004 21:02
8 comments:
...and thanx 4 the memories! That's what I call a blast from the past; it' giving me goose bumps.
I knew then, and this just reminds me, that you have a way with the adolescent mind. It must be the heart. I can't wait to hear how it goes with the high schoolers, which I'm sure'll be equally inspiring.
I meant "pre-adolescents", probably should've said "kids", but you get my point.
margeaux--your blog is beautiful, and i love reading it. when i start reading it, i can't stop--your language is stunning.
i am curious about the one word stories. how did you do one word stories? it sounds like something that might work with my age group.
~ellen
...also, i came across something that made me think of you, so i thought i'd share it. it's a brief history of education on the south side of chicago:
http://southside.uchicago.edu/History/Education.html
~ellen
once again i'm floored by your generosity - of words and of spirit. impossible to express how meaningful it is to write something quite openly and truly from yourself, and feel it loved.
i'm meant to be writing a paper now but i couldn't not give something in return. (like all grammatical errors, there are good reasons for a double negative every now & then.)
sweet ellen, the one-word stories are really amazingly simple. it's something i did with english language learners, but could easily be used in a regular classroom. you simply write a class story by moving around the room and adding on one word each. (i would transcribe it live on a big sheet of butcher paper - students can read along while you go. also give them extra moves for prepositions and things so everyone gets to add something interesting to the story.) students have to pay attention to what "type" of word has to come next based on what's already there, so it gives them a good feel for the natural rhythm of the language without "noticing" that they are learning. but they also get a lot of freedom, and they love being able to revise the vision of their classmates when it's their turn to contribute a word. also anything that can make a refinable, finished project - this could be rewritten and illustrated together and published in a class magazine, for example - is always good, in my opinion. older kids, or more advanced linguistically, could do a sentence-by-sentence story; you can see how this very simple exercise can be adapted many ways - another thing i like in lesson ideas.
one more thought toward the one-word stories: anything that is playing, being creative, making something meaningful of a language you are learning is so important. we can't speak a language unless we can express ourself in it. maybe Gildas can even attest to this - after all, my final project for him in Nimes was a book of poems i'd written in rough French about my experiences.
thank you margeaux. i will be able to put that idea to good use--i think it would be really fun for my kindergarteners (i will be working with them only on writing and my sole assignment with them is to come up with fun, enriching activities to practice what they have been learning), but also perhaps for my third and fourth graders (with whom i will spend most of my time as their regular classroom teacher). i'll let you know how it turns out.
You write very well.
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