Sunday, 22 March 2015

Stories Alive! - Superheroes in Taywood


Superhero Storytelling 
at Taywood Nursery 
with Pippa Pixley



a report from a superhero workspace....

At Taywood Nursery many of the children evidenced a real interest in superheroes.  To support their interest, and to expand upon it, the children had enjoyed stories such as Traction Man by Mini Gray, Super Duck by Jez Alborough and Super Daisy by Kes Gray & Nick Sharratt.  As part of continuous provision a tray of old comic books was made available they could cut up and rearrange to make their own stories.

During Pippa’s visit the children could access a large box of superhero stuff, providing opportunities to explore imaginative play with capes, masks and wristbands.  Little superheroes soared, zipped and zoomed as they created stories using puppets.  Pippa used open questions to encourage the children to think about what could happen next in their adventure.  They explored the sounds the characters make, such as “Roaaaar” and “Stomp, stomp, stomp“.  They added actions using their hands and fingers (big scary claws!), as well as using facial expressions to enhance the story, making the telling exciting and fun!

Everyone sang rhymes and role-played being superheroes.  This naturally led to retelling the story.  The groups of children started by creating pictures of the characters and the situations on a large roll of paper.  Some drew large zig-zaggy scribbles for big teeth and then added words using emergent writing, while others linked the story elements with continuous lines to create story maps.  The story text was then transcribed on a separate piece of paper and hung in the hallway alongside their work for the parents to read.



Here is an example of how one group of children collaborated to make their story:


Several children are choosing characters for their story from a resource box . . .

Keziah –             Superheroes eat superhero food!
                        Superheroes eat ice.
                        Superheroes eat sausage rolls.
                        Superheroes eat cheese.
                        Superheroes eat smoothies:
Strawberry, banana, pear, blackcurrant, orange juice . . .

Angel -             Put in the bowl and press the button – mmmmmmmmm . . .
                        Healthy superheroes.

Sam chose the T-Rex . . .

Sam -                         Big feet, spineasaurus. Big, scary claws!

Angel -             Loud sound: STAMP, STAMP!!!

Keziah chose the pig . . .

Keziah -             Baby pig was crying, wants his mummy, couldn’t find his mummy.
                        Along came a dinosaur: STOMP, STOMP!!!
                        Pig crying: wee, wee, wee, wee!
                        Dinosaur roared: ROAAAAH!!!!

Sam -                         He wanted to eat him! (Sam “grumbled” for the dinosaur)

Keziah -            Pig cried again: wee, wee, wee, wee!

Ocean -            Brought Super Sammy Seal to fly to the rescue!

Sam -                        The dinosaur broke his neck and died. The End!




Stories Alive! has placed 5 artists in 5 Nursery Schools (see below) in and around Burnley in East Lancashire with the challenge of developing 5 different sets of activities to help embed storytelling and storymaking in Nursery practice, in families and in the children we are working with


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