Multimodal ways of knowing: utilizing Paley's 'Storytelling Story Acting' approach to support Grade 2 students' story writing
Date
2013-09-04
Authors
Nicholls, Bonnie
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Abstract
Multimodal ways of representation and expression are an integral part of children’s exploration and communication of their personal narratives in literacy education. The aim of this project was to create a video-based workshop demonstrating how to incorporate Vivian Paley’s ‘storytelling story acting’ teaching method to support elementary students’ personal narrative story writing, multimodally, in a Grade 2 classroom. The literature reviewed for the project included sociocultural theories of learning, and multimodal ways of learning and teaching, with specific attention to how visual, dramatic and oral storytelling can influence students’ story writing. The video-workshop presents a theoretical rationale and step-by-step description of Paley’s approach. Practical suggestions for implementation are offered, key aspects are illustrated with examples from a Grade 2 classroom, and teaching objectives and assessment are supported with reference to prescribed learning outcomes from relevant provincial curriculum documents. The project concludes with personal reflections on utilizing Paley’s storytelling story acting approach with story writing and illustrating that pertain to the practicalities of implementation as well as the impact of multimodal literacy opportunities in a Grade 2 classroom.
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Keywords
teacher workshop, multimodal, narrative, drama, storytelling, story acting, writing and illustrating texts, culturally appropriate teaching, literacy instruction, strengths-based instruction