Storytelling: Fictional Narratives, Imaginary People, and the Reader's Real Life

Methods

Teachers can use the following suggested activities as a means to scaffold prior to the main lessons for the stories, The Story of Ferdinand and Chrysanthemum. It is expected that routines/procedures will be reviewed prior to each activity and lesson. All students will explore their belief systems of friendship, caring, and non-violence, connect to the characters in the stories, offer their reflections and personal advice/feedback to the characters through a series of classroom activities: discussion, drawing and writing assignments, take-home activity, and student-created skits.

Creating Our Environment: Inclusion of Students and Their Family Members

At the beginning of the school year we commence our journey by building a safe and engaging classroom community to grow and learn in. I review with my parents at the beginning of the school year the Lifelong Guideline and Lifeskills and we can both use the vocabulary in everyday situations when we're interacting with their children and with each other. I also highlight the unit that we'll be doing together in-class and at home. I focus on team-building since the emphasis is reading to the first graders on a daily basis to increase their vocabulary and assist the first graders as emergent readers. Back-to-School Night is a precious opportunity to share what I'll be doing in the classroom regarding to friendship building and anti-bullying activities – ultimately receiving support from parents to actively contribute in the community building and addressing any matters which will come up during the course of the school year. I also communicate by a class letter every-other-week. It is vital to get family participation for creating our kind and loving school community since most of the time we have to rely on this team relationship for follow through at school and at home. I want to support the parents at home and I also appreciate their help in the classroom too.

The Lifelong Guidelines are the main amendments to our class constitution. We focus on Lifeskills of friendship, caring, and cooperation in the beginning stages of developing our classroom community. It's useful to introduce students at the beginning of the year to the following devices: creating a class constitution together which incorporates the Lifelong Guidelines of being truthful, trustworthy, an active listener, doing their personal best, and being kind (instead of putting down each other, we pull each other up).

This year, with the help of my colleague, we will construct a pirate ship; (our mascot is the image of a pirate, however, it will be made perfectly clear that we are "Peaceful Pirates" aboard the ship). The name of the ship is the "S.S. Friendship" with the message – "We're all in the same boat." We will take photos of the children's heads and place the images aboard the ship with the captains (teachers) wielding pencils. The ship's sails will have the Lifelong Guidelines written on them along with the images of jumping dolphins with the Lifeskills written on the dolphins' backs. The destination will be to an island where a "Community Treasure Chest of Self-Respect" rests. Hanging on a palm tree besides the chest there will be a key with the inscription, "Master Personal Best." The school community introduces one or two Lifeskills a month and as a class we consistently refer back to Lifeskills. The school community learns a pledge with movements to accompany the Lifelong Guideline vocabulary words. The following pledge was invented by our former principal: "I am trustworthy and truthful; and an active listener too. I will do my personal best and use no put-downs on you." I highly encourage teachers to incorporate song/chant accompanied by simple bodily movements to learn Lifelong Guidelines or your school's life skills' program.

Another way to create a safe and collaborative working environment is introducing Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences (MI) Theory to highlight the students' strengths and areas for improvement as life-long learners. The MI Theory is defined as "problem-solving or product-producing capabilities." ⁴¹ The emphasis on this activity is to recognize and celebrate students' strengths as learners and especially to realize that students are capable of assisting others when their peers encounter difficulties with a particular subject matter instead of putting down other students' weaknesses; likewise, they can seek out assistance from their classmates who will be able to share their knowledge. The following are user-friendly terms for Gardner's eight Multiple Intelligences: Thinking/Number Smart (logical-mathematical intelligence); Word Smart (linguistic intelligence); Picture Smart (spatial intelligence); Body Smart (bodily-kinesthetic intelligence); Music Smart (musical intelligence); Self Smart (intrapersonal intelligence); People or Other Smart (interpersonal intelligence); and Nature Smart (naturalist intelligence). ⁴² This sets the classroom up as a collaborative and safe environment to learn and grow in.

Exercising Our Mindfulness in the Classroom: More Mindful Activities The Power of Music on the Mind: Calming, Activating, and Community Building

Educators can use music in the classroom to calm, activate, and encourage community building as well as teach valuable lessons. Students can also benefit from learning and memorizing vital lessons as well as remembering stories through music. According to Kovalik and Olsen, singing songs is a reliable and effective learning technique for the following reasons:

Songs are a wonderful teaching device and, along with storytelling, the best mnemonic available. They combine the power of memorable melody and the rhythm and rhyme of poetry and significantly increase the likelihood that what is learned will become stored in long-term memory. They also provide powerful hooks for retrieving memories. ⁴³

I continue to have a deep emotional connection to The Story of Ferdinand because I'm able to recall the lyrics of the song based on the story.

As mentioned before, thoughtfully-chosen music encourages empathy. A great musical CD that deals with differences and creating a safe community is The Mosaic Project. All the songs on this CD include wonderful melodies and catchy lyrics such as the following chorus from the song called, "Don't Laugh at Me:" "Don't laugh at me, don't call me names. Don't get your pleasure from my pain. Deep inside we're all the same. We all need hope and care and love. Don't laugh at me." ⁴⁴ Similarly the lyrics in the song "Fighting is Not the Solution" sums up an effective manner for all ages to communicate well together: "Fighting is not the solution. Try conflict resolution!" "Stand in each other's shoes." "I'm going to use my I statements." "I feel (very sad)." "When (I get left out on the playground)." "Because (I like dodge ball too). " "I (just want to play with you)."

Certain kinds of music have beneficial concentrating and calming effects on the nervous system especially if it's relaxing instrumental or classical. I take advantage of this to create a serene atmosphere to cue students that it's a quiet concentration time –whether it be for writing or solo work time, I've had students request "concentration music."

Music is also effective in building community. At the end of the week if students have consistently completed their work, we will have cooperative choice period. At this time students engage in social activities that will enhance students' cooperation skills. One choice activity is music and dance. This is usually the most popular of all the choices. Students are able to choose the music (usually upbeat) and create dance routines and dance with and for their peers. Music is a powerful tool educators can use in their classroom to enhance their students' learning environment.

The Power of Writing: "I Statements"

Students can reinforce their practice of "I statements" with a cloze sentence activity. First, allow the students to get used to the practice of using the "I statements," by demonstrating using the lyrics from the song, "Fighting is Not the Solution." Allow the students to practice with a partner. Offer different scenarios where students can role play in pairs and use the script from the song. After, students can use the cloze sentence activity to write and rehearse with their partners.

The Power of Breath: Breathing Techniques for Concentration and Focus

There are many breathing techniques to choose from to help create a calm and focused classroom. The first breathing/meditation technique I like to teach my class is the activity called, "Concentration Game" which requires a singing bowl. We begin by sitting on the rug or "Contemplation Carpet" with the following guidelines: Prior to the activity students are reminded to continue to breathe as they listen to the singing bowl. It's helpful to remind the students that sometimes we hold our breath when we are in deep concentration. Students begin sitting "criss-cross" on the carpet. It's useful to make them aware of their posture and constricting their breathing capacity. Allow the students a chance to mimic an exaggerated slouch, then show them how to create some length and space in their spine by inhaling and gently making the spine nice and tall, then exhaling and allowing the shoulders to relax down and keeping the chin parallel to the floor. Students actively listen (with voices off) to the singing bowl as the teacher creates a sound with the singing bowl mallet. Once the teacher removes the mallet from the bowl, listeners continue to listen and concentrate on the sound even as it starts to fade away. Once they no longer hear the sound, students raise their hand quietly with voices off. All students continue to have their voices off until all hands are raised. Students may want to remove the sense of sight if they would like to focus more. They may do so on a second round, ask if they notice a difference between keeping their eyes open or closed. The point of this exercise is to concentrate on their breath and the sound of the singing bowl.

Teach students to use breathing techniques when they're anxious – because of a test, or upset because of a problem- or in general to calm when students are unable to monitor and check in when they are over-stimulated and can't seem to ground and focus. This is also useful before a teacher exercises any conflict mediation between students. It's beneficial for the teacher and students if the adult and students practice this together. The teacher can demonstrate on him/herself by holding onto his/her belly with his/her hands, breathe in deeply (until the belly expands and move the hands); then exhale through the mouth.

Another breathing exercise that is beneficial is the 4-4-8 Breathing Technique. Students begin by inhaling through the nose for the count of four; holding the breath – keeping the mouth closed – for a count of four; then completing the cycle by exhaling through the mouth for a count of eight. Investigate other breathing techniques to use with the class and see how students' self-monitoring techniques evolve from a handful of exercises.

The Power of Movement: Brain-Body Connection

I will always incorporate mindful movement with the goal of refocusing or re-energizing the students. For refocusing, I first teach students a series of stretches and dynamic movements beginning from the top of the head and proceeding down to the bottom ending with ankle circles. I will mix in movement that will have the students crossing the midline of their body (referring back to the brain-body connection). I also teach a couple of new yoga poses each week. This is also a job for a pair of students that I like to call, "Concentration Coaches." Once the students are secure in the movements, two students lead their classmates in these exercises accompanied by mellow instrumental music, or if they need more energy, faster tempo music. All students must ideally do this silently while focusing in on their bodies.

If the students need another energizer I will choose a movement from one of my decks of yoga activity cards and I will also share a breathing technique that is used specifically for energizing the body: "Fire breathing" is simply inhaling and exhaling through the nose rapidly, insuring the breath is not shallow, so students will see their bellies expand and contract in this exercise. Also, as the year progresses and they become proficient in these yoga movements, I have my amazing and attentive assistant choose one pose for the students to do during this time period. Also, if I notice throughout the day that students are either sluggish or wiped out I give them a break to do a standing stretch of their own choosing. I will also integrate music (focus on tempo depending on the mood of the students). Students are able to return to their work refreshed.

The Power of Personal Narratives: Sharing Our Stories

A meaningful community-building activity for the teacher, students, and the students' families is sharing of personal narratives. Initially the teacher shares a personal narrative about a childhood friendship that was memorable for him/her and to describe the activities that he/she engaged in with this playmate (something the students will adore hearing from their teacher and eventually from their family members). The goal is to share the Lifeskills that made this friendship stand out. The teacher will draw a portrait of his/her friend while students take turns sharing examples from the teacher's story of what made the friendship work. The teacher will affirm using the Lifeskills vocabulary: "Yes, my friend was a good active listener," or "My friend was caring and had a great sense of humor." The teacher can draw symbols for each Lifeskill around or on the portrait (This is also an opportunity to explain what a symbol is if students haven't had a chance to review this term.)

Students will practice sharing this activity with their classmates and then with their family members. It would be ideal to interview family members of various ages. First, they may interview a grandparent or other elder, a parent or guardian, and a sibling or cousin. They will recognize with their family members common Lifeskills that their family members from generation to generation exercised with their friends (see First Grade Family Members Interview Activity). It's valuable to set aside some portion of time for each student to share about a "Friend Story" by a family member of their choosing. There's an option for a student to bring in a family member's photo of a friend. The purpose of interviewing multiple generations is so our students can recognize commonly shared Life Skills exhibited by friends throughout the ages.

Coloroso shares Trevor Romain's list "The Top Ten Ways to Keep Your Friends" in her book, The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander:

1. Show them kindness and respect.
2. Stick up for them.
3. Be supportive when your friends need help or advice.
4. Tell the truth (but be kind about it).
5. If you hurt a friend, say you're sorry.
6. If a friend hurts you and apologizes, accept the apology.
7. If you make a promise, keep it.
8. Put some effort into your friendships; otherwise your friends might feel neglected.
9. Don't try to change your friends –accept them the way they are.
10. Treat your friends the way you want them to treat you. And one more thing: Always be thankful for your friends.⁴⁵

This list can always be referred to in class (or at home for that matter). It will provide students concrete ways to practice their Lifeskill of friendship. The following community builder activity encourages students to recognize their classmates as practitioners of good will and empowers compassionate classmates to continue to do acts of kindness.

The Power of Actions: Acts of Kindness

I will also introduce our "100 Acts of Kindness" bulletin board – it will remain up for the entire year so students can read it as their reading skills move from emerging reader to proficient/advanced reader. Our goal is to reach 100 acts of kindness. Once a week I choose five students who acknowledge their classmates exhibiting acts of kindness. They cannot nominate themselves and it can be something as simple as, "Janie held the door for a teacher," or "Logan shared an eraser with me," or "Kevin helped a Kindergartener when he got hurt." I will write down these observations on paper hearts and staple them in rows of ten on the bulletin board. This is also a good review for counting by tens up to one hundred. Students will also be given a visual reminder to keep their hearts open to kindness instead of closed and crumpled up. This is a reminder from a later activity called "The Power of Words and Actions: Blooming and Wilting."

Our Fictional and Real-Life Teachers: Ferdinand, Chrysanthemum, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Family Members

Students will be introduced to two non-violent fictional characters, Ferdinand, a bull, and Chrysanthemum, a mouse. Prior to introducing the character of Ferdinand the bull to students, create a KWL (What I Know/What I Want to Know/What I Learned) chart and process students' prior knowledge and questions about the animal. Define the terms fact and fable. Ask the question from Seymour Simon's Animal Fact/Animal Fable, "Bulls get angry when they see red. Is this a fact or a fable?" (It's helpful to have a visual of a bull/perhaps a matador with a red cape.) Take a survey by creating a T-chart with the words, "fact" and "fable." Have a volunteer tally the students who believe it's a fact and the students who believe it's a fable. You may read from the story that it is a fable:

There are many stories that tell us that bulls become angry when they see red. The trouble with these stories is that bulls are color-blind. It's the motion of an object in front of it that angers a bull. Bulls will get angry if you wave anything in front of them. ⁴⁶

This is imperative to share with the students so that they are aware of the true natural behavior of bulls and why Ferdinand is such an anomaly in his story.

After sharing the stories of Ferdinand and Chrysanthemum, it's helpful to share a supplementary realistic fiction book called Say Something, which encourages the students to ask the question, "Is it okay to stand by and watch and not do anything about bullying?" Students will also learn about their responsibility as bystanders when witnessing other people's victimization.

After reading The Story of Ferdinand I share with the class the childhood bullying experiences of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I read part of the chapter "Learning and Living" from the biography Martin Luther King, Jr.: Young Man with a Dream that examines MLK's behavior after being harassed by a bully. He knows how to stand up and speak for himself and he refuses to engage in physical violence. Physically fighting and settling with violence are the norms of his peer group. Readers and listeners learn about the courage, confidence, and integrity it took for MLK to stand by his convictions and do what was right for him and the rest of his community.

Students will also have a chance to interview the characters of the story. One student may volunteer and role-play as either Ferdinand or Chrysanthemum. I will provide stuffed animals for the volunteer to hold. This role-play will occur after each story has been read to the class. The teacher can elicit the first questions to "Ferdinand." This is a helpful activity to do prior to the Character-Think Portraits. Some questions for Ferdinand could be the following (Students may not ask yes/no questions):

1. "Why do you like to smell flowers under the cork tree?"
2. "Why don't you like to butt heads like other bulls?"
3. "Why weren't you sad that you couldn't stay in Madrid?"

The same method can be used prior to creating a Character-Think-Portrait for Chrysanthemum:

1. "What are things you can say to Victoria, Jo, and Rita to tell them to stop?"
2. "How can you get the help from your classroom teacher?"
3. "Why do you think the classroom teacher didn't do anything to stop the bullying?"

This encourages deeper character analysis by the class and can move into role-playing in pairs about ways to stand up and speak out for change in behavior deemed disrespectful.

The duration of this unit can be last up to two school weeks not counting the community-building activities in the beginning of the school year. It's helpful to make frequent references to the characters throughout the course of the year to remind students about which character would they choose to be if they predict what the outcome may be depending upon their actions? As the students' writing abilities strengthen, the teacher may create more opportunities to reconnect with familiar story characters as well as real-life leaders by using letter-writing assignments: creating inquiries about how each character would respond to everyday stresses.

The timeline and amount of activities and material can be adjusted according to the teacher's preferences. The teacher has the flexibility to add his/her content that meets the needs of his/her classroom's demographics and the teacher's personality. Ultimately the teacher, students, and students' family members are responsible for creating a safe environment to learn and grow in. During this time of community building the learners will be learning about the basic story elements, character, setting, and plot along with Lifeskills.

For the discussion-related activities students will share in pairs sequencing of events, summarizing of the story, and the main idea of the story – what the author is attempting to share with the reader and the students' analysis of the Lifeskills exhibited or not exhibited by each character. For the drawing and writing assignment students will create a character-think-portrait of both Ferdinand and Chrysanthemum. A character-think-portrait is modeled first by the teacher. Before designing the portrait, show students several examples of pictures of portraits and have them guess the meaning. A simple description of a portrait is a painting of the head of a person. Next, follow these directions for the remainder of the activity:

1. Vertically tack or tape up a blank piece of construction paper onto the board.
2. Draw an outline of the head of Ferdinand. Then draw in eyes, ears, mouth, and maybe a flower somewhere.
3. Draw out three think clouds.
4. On the side of the board elicit ideas from the students about what Ferdinand may have been thinking throughout the events of the story. For example, "I like flowers." Students create simple sentences. Write out all the simple sentences for students to reference when they arrive at the point to write their sentences onto their lined paper and paste it on the think bubble.
5. Write out one of the sentences in a blank think cloud. Make sure students have strips of lined paper for their writing so they can paste one to three sentences on their self-created posters.
6. Students may get their materials and go to their seats once they've reviewed the directions together.

This exercise can be repeated for Chrysanthemum. Students can choose how Chrysanthemum is thinking at the beginning, middle, or end of the story. Example, "I like my name," or "I don't have any friends," or "I am proud of my name!" Again, depending on the student's writing ability, he/she may draw/write in one, two, or three think bubbles. At the end of the unit students will design a student self-think-portrait about what they think about friendship, bullying, and one thing they think they can do to build their classroom community. In both the character-think and student self-think portraits students identify the thoughts/beliefs/Lifeskills that were outstanding for both characters. Students will be encouraged to reflect on their personal practice of Lifeskillls at school and at home.

The Power of Words and Actions: Blooming and Wilting

Students will have an opportunity to learn about words of kindness. They will hear and see from Chrysanthemum's experience that words of violence are just as harmful as acts of violence. After reading Chrysanthemum each child receives a paper heart to actively participate in this activity. Tell the students that this heart represents Chrysanthemum's heart. Explain to students that every time students hear a cruel put-down they fold/crumple the heart. Read from the scene where Chrysanthemum's classmates are taunting her during music class (no page numbers are listed in the book, turn to the page of the music teacher scene). Ask the following questions to the students: Could our words/judgments harm other classmates/family members?

Tell the students that they will have a chance to repair Chrysanthemum's heart. Ask how this can be done. Recall any characters in the story who stood up for Chrysanthemum or made her feel respected. Read from the two pages when Mrs. Twinkle is standing up for and uplifting Chrysanthemum. Every time students hear a kind word/compliment uttered by Miss Twinkle, students can open up one fold at a time. Tell students they can do acts of kindness and speak words of kindness – both are powerful ways to open people's hearts and strengthen our school and home communities.

Students can focus on the words, "bloom" and "wilt" and embody these words by rereading the passages which explain how Chrysanthemum wilts in response to her classmates' cruelty and how she blooms in response to her music teacher and how her self-confidence soars as a result of her "knowing" rather than "thinking" that her name is perfect.

An added vocabulary enrichment activity is to integrate the vocabulary words "bloom" and "wilt" into a life science activity. What do flowers need to bloom? Students will review that if a plant or flower does not receive water, food, and light they will wilt.

Students can be empowered to be loving and kind family members, friends, classmates, and world citizens. Consistent and compassionate non-violent curriculum and character development will assist students to recall the choices that were made by fictional characters and real-life people. Students gain the confidence and self-control vital for their personal and professional success. They can pause and ask one of these questions when faced with a choice to say and do what's right:

• "What would Ferdinand do?"
• "What would Martin Luther King, Jr. do?"
• "What would I do?