I am coming from a family of talkers and listeners. I remember the long summer afternoons at my grandparents' farm, sitting in the shade of their courtyard shelling beans, canning pickles or plucking chickens and the radio was always on: never music, but always "talking radio", with interviews, radio dramas, series, adapted books. I remember the calm but still exciting feeling when snuggling beside my dad or my grandpa and listening to their stories over and over again; I knew the end of the story, but my heartbeat was still up when the wolf jumped out of the bushes, or the dragon stretched out his wings. I remember every time I was sick, I carried my pillows and blanket behind the couch in the living room and set up the record player myself and listened to the 40-50 vinyl records with stories and fairy tales for children, recorded by the most talented and acclaimed actors in the Hungarian theatre scene. I can still recall lots of those stories word by word, and they play inside me in the voice and intonation of those storytellers.
In the primary classes I often see children who struggle to recall the story they've just read, they have trouble to create a story on their own, and if they do, they have a hard time to use descriptive language and interesting details. There could be several reasons behind this, but I often think that in a lot of families oral storytelling or reading to the children is not present anymore. These days children are overwhelmingly exposed to visual representations: colourful picture books, cartoons, YouTube videos, graphic novels.
At the early years children's brains develop differently if they listen to stories/being read to vs. sitting in front of a screen for hours. Listening to stories between 0-5 years boosts future functionality and the ability to learn. When we, teachers have our primary-aged students, that ship, unfortunately, has sailed. What we can do, though, is to focus on oral storytelling, to encourage listening (and not watching), to teach storytelling skills, to help to improve their vocabulary, to give them tools to create a narrative. Our BC curriculum majorly focuses on narrative texts, as they show collective wisdom, reflect on personal journey or identity.
However, I also know that students LOVE using technology in the classroom! When I introduce a new project with iPads, their eyes light up, they get excited and they can't wait to put their hands on the screen and start "playing". I am planning to explore in the future how to strengthen oral storytelling skills and still use technology for further enhancement.
This is a strong first post. Your personal, reflective, narrative style draws the reader in and entices them to continue to follow your learning journey. I appreciate the inclusion of multimedia elements. These add another layer to your post and enhance the reading experience for your audience. You have a clear direction for further reading and research. I wonder if you have explored Story Workshop at all? This topic is related to many of the themes you discuss.
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