Telling Stories Through Objects - Brooklyn Children's Museum

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■ INFORMATION FOR THE TEACHER ■ Introduction: Every Object Has a Story to Tell To the teacher The objects included in this Portable Collections case can support your reading, writing, and language arts curriculum. They have been carefully selected and paired with stories (included in the Appendix, page 26) that relate to them or to the people who made them. By sharing these objects and their stories with your class, you can inspire your students to think deeper, read more, discuss things enthusiastically, and write substantively about what they have learned. The objects and stories in this case also present a good opportunity for helping your students cultivate their abilities to observe and describe objects and to tell and listen to stories. A story can be understood for purposes of this case in the broadest terms, as an account of people and events. Stories may be personal and informal or public and literary. They may be brief or epic. They may relate fact, fiction, or some combination. They may be written down or told aloud. They may be presented in a book or magazine, a play, a movie, a website, or a television or radio program. Making the connection between objects and stories is a potent way to begin recognizing how stories are all around us. How do objects “tell” stories? How can you “tell stories through objects”? Some objects almost literally “tell” stories. The shadow puppet and conqueror mask in the case are two examples of objects made to be storytelling props. When wielded by a puppeteer or worn by an actor, these objects seem to come to life and stories flow through them naturally. Many objects—the kinds we often see in art, religious, or civic settings but also everywhere around us— represent characters in stories or depict stories. In the case, the statue of Osiris represents a god who appears in Egyptian myths (page 1); the kachina represents a spirit being who appears in stories and ritual dances (page 1), and the kiwi represents a bird TELLING STORIES THROUGH OBJECTS 4 whose special characteristics are explained by a traditional tale (page 1). The Blue Willow plate depicts some of the settings and characters in a story inspired by the fashion for Chinese goods in the late 18th century. Stories also often incorporate otherwise ordinary objects as accessories or agents of the action. Usually, if they are in the story, these objects are helping the storyteller to set the scene or move the action forward. Simple, functional objects like the ink stone and brush, the spindle, or the saltcellar in the case may play a role, even a pivotal role in a story. Here the actual object in front of us is not the one in the story. It may not even look like the one in the story. But the relationship between the object and the story can enrich them both: Looking at the saltcellar can remind us of the importance of salt in the folktale “The Necessity of Salt” (page 31); hearing the story of “The Dreaming Prince” (page 33) can make us look at the calligraphy tools in a different way. The mola, the bark painting, and all but one of the goldweights in the case do not have any particular stories (or, in the case of the goldweights, proverbs) associated with them, even though they look like they might. They suggest how students can approach objects whose stories they do not know either because the objects are unfamiliar (and maybe also because they look old, valuable, or prestigious) or because the students are not part of the cultures in which they were made and where their stories are widely known. With these objects, students can take clues from what they observe about the objects and use their imaginations to conjure up stories that fit! Objects also tell other kinds of story—stories of the people who made them, the culture in which they were made, the way in which they were used, the materials and techniques that went into making them, and their history as objects. To find and understand these non-fiction stories can lead your students to do research into different cultures, biography, technology, and history. Hints to these kinds of story are contained in the Information About Objects ▲
■ INFORMATION FOR THE TEACHER ■ Introduction: Every Object Has a Story to Tell (continued) section following this Introduction and opportunities for students to research can be found throughout the activities. The arts of telling and listening to stories People are always telling stories. When their parent or caretaker asks your students what they did at school today, how do they answer? That one simple question may lead a student to tell any number of stories. “You’ll never guess what happened on the playground today!” “I was on the way home from school when…” “Today my best friend did the funniest thing!” We all know, however, that even a fascinating story gains interest when it is well told. In the course of using this case, you may want to work with your students on different techniques to make their storytelling more exciting. The DVD in the case provides examples of story telling for children. Show them how varying their tone of voice can add nuance to their stories. Urge them to practice speaking softly to indicate secrecy, or loudly to indicate excitement. Their timbre can also help them differentiate between characters. They may represent a masculine or gruff-voiced character by speaking very low, or a feminine or shrill character by speaking warmly or higher. They can have fun repeating the same sentence with different expression—sad, loving, angry, regal, military, and so on. Students can also help create excitement and suspense by varying the pace at which they tell their tales. A dramatic pause can keep their audience on the edge of its seat. Gestures and simple sound effects may also be used to their advantage when telling stories, but remind your students that they should not overdo it on these features—their words are what will keep the story moving along. It is also important for your students to keep in mind that telling a story they have written or read does not mean they have to recite it from memory. In telling the story, they want it to seem fresh, as though it TELLING STORIES THROUGH OBJECTS 5 were happening right in front of their listeners. To do this, they may need to read a story several times and recreate the story as an unfolding experience in their minds. That experience creates mental landmarks from which the story in their own words will spin out. Tell your students not to worry about the words coming together just so—just start at the beginning, get yourself through the middle, and come to the end. Everyone’s words and style of storytelling will be unique to him or her alone. Your students do not need to imitate any other storyteller. If they have confidence that their stories are good, they have only to tell it in their own way and their audience will listen with rapt attention. Listening to stories is also a skill you can help your students cultivate. Explain to them that just as telling a story is not a recitation from memory but an active experience, listening to a story is a participatory rather than a passive act. When you read or tell a story to them, ask them to build a theater in their minds and to transform the words they hear into scenes, characters, and unfolding events. Stop at moments and ask them to elaborate on the story. What do they see that’s not in the story? What are the characters wearing? Have them describe the scenery. What do they think the characters feel about each other? What do they think could happen next and how might the story end? Objects and stories have a natural affinity. Both involve imagination, detail, character, event. They are mutually enlivening. Hitched together, as they are in this case, they can heighten students’ interest in each and serve to increase their abilities to observe, to imagine, to read, to write, to shape a part of the world. ❑ Words in boldface have been included in the Vocabulary Words section on page 23.
Page 1 and 2: Portable Collections Program Tellin
Page 3 and 4: ■ CHECKLIST: WHAT’S IN THE CASE
Page 5: ■ INFORMATION FOR THE TEACHER ■
Page 9 and 10: ■ INFORMATION FOR THE TEACHER ■
Page 11 and 12: ■ INFORMATION FOR THE TEACHER ■
Page 13 and 14: Hold Emerge Hope Fix Listen Enter I
Page 15 and 16: PREDATORS AND PREY 13 What color or
Page 17 and 18: MASKS 15 What color or colors is th
Page 19 and 20: ACTIVITY 4 All Grades Related Objec
Page 21 and 22: A Fragmented Story: The Blue Willow
Page 23 and 24: ACTIVITY 7 Additional Activities an
Page 25 and 26: ■ RESOURCES AND REFERENCE MATERIA
Page 27 and 28: ■ RESOURCES AND REFERENCE MATERIA
Page 29 and 30: The Myth of Osiris An Ancient Egypt
Page 31 and 32: Cupid and Psyche (continued) By thi
Page 33 and 34: The Necessity of Salt An Austrian f
Page 35 and 36: The Dreaming Prince (continued) sev
Page 37 and 38: The Game Board (continued) "Here,"
Page 39 and 40: How the Kiwi Lost Its Wings (contin
Page 41 and 42: How the Hopi Indians Reached Their
Page 43: Acknowledgments Beth Alberty Chrisy

Telling Stories Through Objects - Brooklyn Children's Museum

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