Short Stories

This month is our Book Study theme, and our class—returning to a topic we touched on earlier in the year—is studying short stories. This study is taking several forms: The kids are reading their way through stacks of short stories, and checking off the ones they've read on a list I've printed out. When they finish one story, before they begin the next, they come find me to read me their favorite sentence in the story they've read, and explain why they like it so much. Some reasons I've heard so far: the sentence is funny, it contains new words, it sets up a whole sequence that's going to follow in the story, or it's just very clear. In the end, each student will be asked to pick one sentence they've liked better than any other this month—so we call this the Hunt for the Perfect Sentence.

The children will also need to pick one story each—a story no one else in the class has checked off—to read out loud. They'll be able to take their chosen story home to practice reading it before they read to the class. (In fact, all the books of short stories are available to be taken home.) If they have time before the end of the month, they may also move on to create their own art based on stories they've read; they'll be able to make a drawing, a painting, a poem, another short story, a play, or even a movie if they choose.

On Tuesday of this week, we learned about story arcs. We had a short discussion at the board about the arc of a story, and the different paths that different stories may take. Then, the children got out big sheets of graph paper, and we settled into our sunlit classroom to map the arcs of stories as I told them. We started with a few short practice tales, and then the kids had to map the arc of a 15-minute story as I recited it. I think everyone had fun!

And this Friday, Jesse's younger brother Justin will be coming in the morning to give us a special reading of James Thurber's The Thirteen Clocks. I was privileged to hear him read this a few months ago, and I immediately asked if he'd be willing to give us a performance—I can't wait to hear it again!