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In her article, "Using the Storytelling/Story Acting Process for Teacher Development," from the Beginnings Workshop section of the latest issue of Exchange magazine (July/August 2007), Judi Pack describes Vivian Gussin Paley's approach to promoting fantasy play by young children. This process, called Story Telling/Story Acting, includes the following steps:

• Children tell the teacher a story — their own made-up story — as the teacher writes it down in her notebook.
• The teacher writes as many stories as there are children willing to tell them, or as time allows.
• At some point in the day, the entire class gathers around, the teacher chooses the actors (to be fair, one by one going around the circle), and narrates a child’s story as the children act it out.
• Every child who wishes to participate does.
• The story may consist of one sentence or can be up to one page in length. What matters is that children can see each other in these stories and hear the voices of their classmates.
• The teacher gets to listen to children individually, to write down and chat with the child about her imaginings, thoughts, ideas, fears, wishes, and dreams.
• The children know that what they say is important to the teacher and to their classmates. When children watch as their classmates enact their stories, their ideas become visible and clarified.

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You can now purchase all 7 Beginnings Workshop Books at a package price. The 7 practical teacher training and curriculum development resources provide advice from the field's leading thinkers on literacy, play, child development, art, music, movement, drama, brain research, math, science, and behavior. Check out this bargain!

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