Telling Stories Through Objects - Brooklyn Children's Museum

ACTIVITY 4
All Grades
Related Objects: All, DVD
Show and Tell
Objects that remind us of the past can also prompt us to
re-tell tales of times, people, and events from the past.
For us, these objects may represent a cherished family
history. However, other people may look at the same
object and think of something completely different.
In this activity, your students will have the opportunity
to tell a story about an object from their own lives, and
how it conveys their personal history.
Materials:
• Objects brought from home, one per student
• Optional: Story Journal (see page 16) OR writing
paper and pencils
• Optional: DVD in case
What To Do:
1 Assign your students the task of bringing in an object
from home. They may choose anything they like, but
the object they choose should have some sort of personal
story behind it, and it should be something they
are willing to share with others (and thus not be too
personal or precious). For example:
• A student who brought in a souvenir from far away
could tell a story about his or her vacation.
• A student with a baby shoe could tell the story of his
or her own birth, or of the day a younger brother or
sister came home from the hospital.
2 Play students the Keys to Imagination DVD in the case
and review the characteristics of good story telling
(see introduction).
3 Have students present their object and tell their story
before the rest of the class. Alternatively, they may
draw a picture of their object and write their story
down in their Story Journal.
TELLING STORIES THROUGH OBJECTS 17
Variation for Older Students:
1 Have students place their objects on a table in the
classroom.
2 Each student should choose an unknown object from
the table (this activity works best if each student
chooses a different object, so that all objects are used).
Students should examine their object carefully, and
think of a story to go with it, without consulting the
object’s owner. Just from looking at the object, what
do they think it is about? Their stories should, of
course, be respectful since the objects are personal to
their classmates.
3 Students may tell the stories they created to each
other in small groups, present them out loud before
the class, or record them in their Story Journals.
4 After students have told the stories they made up, they
should reclaim the objects they originally brought in.
They may write or tell their classmates the stories
they chose to go with their own objects.
5 Optional: Have students write down on separate
pieces of paper the two stories they created to go
with the unknown and familiar objects. Place the
objects from home around the classroom, and post
the two stories that were written about each object
(one by its owner, and the other by a classmate) next
to it. Have students go around the classroom and see
if they can tell which story was written by the owner.
Discussion Questions:
• What made you choose this object as the one you
wanted to share with the class?
• What story does your object have to tell?
• What do you think people can tell about you from
the object you brought in?
See page 23 for details on how this activity meets
New York State Learning Standards.