StarWalk

We love to share stories in kindergarten!

We read stories, share picture books, and tell oral stories just about every day.  One topic that seems to frequently pop in our story repertoire is that of the constellations.  We particularly love to share the stories from Greek Mythology that describe the origins of different constellations and stars.

Just for fun, we added a little iPad research (that's right, it's science time) to these story times.  Usually, the stories require some thinking.  They follow a pattern or there might be a moral to be learned.  We often use the stories to get the kindergarteners predicting such things as what happens when characters start boasting (it never ends well)...Other stories illustrate that it is often preferable to use your thinking cap rather than your charms...

How do the iPads fit in?  StarWalk!

StarWalk

 Here's what we do in our class:

*Share stories both verbally and from picture books - (check out these books:  Dot to Dot in the Sky - Stories in the stars by Joan Marie Galat, Kingdom of the Sun by Jacqueline Mitton, The Planet Gods by Jacqueline Mitton, Zoo in the Sky by Jacqueline Mitton)

*Draw the stars on your white board and as you share the story connect the dots to outline the picture in the constellation.

*Ask the students to make predictions, to find similarities/connections between stories, to share why they think the story turned out as it did (this is the flexible thinking part)

*Hand a pair of students an iPad and let them explore the sky - it helps to write the names of some of the constellations that are not so speller-friendly (Cygnus? Cetus? Bootes?).

*Listen to the exclamations as they find the constellations and personally connect to the stories...

We love this app! (Check it out at night - point it at the sky and it will tell you what's up there!)

How many ways can we tell a story?

In our class we have been working on finding different ways to tell a story. We began by reading some great stories about kids our age and having the students write a story with paper and pencil. The students reflected on their work. Does it have a beginning? Is there a middle? How does it end?

Our next stories were created solely with an art app. Most of the students used Draw Free.

The students narrated their stories to a partner. The students really enjoyed this project and created elaborately detailed tales to accompany their illustrations.

This story picture told the story of a boy who can walk under water!

Next, the students wrote with pencil and paper about one classroom job. Once they finished the paper and pencil version of their non-fiction "story," they went to Book Creator and created an iBook about the very same job. They were able to use the camera to take photos, an art app to draw illustrations, the keyboard option to type text, and the voice recorder to narrate these books.
This book was created to explain the Door Monitor job.

This week, we took story telling to the movies!
We talked about movies that are filmed and those that can be created by a series of photos. Using iStopMotion, we have made "A Day in the Life of KX."


To begin, I taped an iPad easel to a bookshelf and set it up. I showed the first student how to operate the app. I gave her some basic suggestions: tap the shutter button lightly, try not to move the iPad, check first to make sure it is lined up, etc. She took the first few frames and then taught the next student. We continued this throughout the day. Everyone had a turn to be the film director and everyone had a turn to be the cameraman.

Before we began, we shared what this story might look like on paper: We arrive at school. We have gathering. We have snack. We do Book Club. We go to lunch. etc. Not a very thrilling story. However, in this new format, the story provides details and information that the written story did not.




What I like about this app:
*kindergarteners can do it
*students get a chance to practice "teaching" something
*students get to experience different types of storytelling
*this is fun!