Beyond the Flannel Board: Story-Retelling Strategies across the Curriculum

by M. Susan McWilliams, Carolyn P. Edwards (Foreword by)

Overview

Winner of Learning magazine 2019 Teachers' Choice Award for Preschool.

Improve young children’s language, social-emotional, and number sense development with effective developmentally appropriate teaching strategies in story retelling. This book demystifies the story retelling experience for teachers of young children by identifying effective, intentional teaching and learning practices and providing a variety of examples for integrating story retelling activities across the curriculum for building skills in social-emotional development, numbers, STEM, and more.

M. Susan McWilliams holds a PhD in educational leadership and innovation and an MA in curriculum and instruction in early childhood education. She is an associate professor of early childhood teacher education at the University of Nebraska.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781605544861
Publisher:	Redleaf Press
Publication date:	05/09/2017
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	8.38(w) x 10.88(h) x (d)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Carolyn P. Edwards: Carolyn Edwards is a professor of psychology and child, youth, and family studies at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln. She has a doctorate in human development from Harvard University and has done postdoctoral work in Reggio Emilia, Italy.

M. Susan McWilliams holds a PhD in Educational Leadership and Innovation and an MA in Curriculum and Instruction in Early Childhood Education. She is currently an associate professor of early childhood teacher education at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She is also an active advocate for community awareness for the crucial role literacy development plays in the early years and stays involved in the Omaha Family Literacy Partnerships. Dr. McWilliams presents nationally and is widely published in early childhood publications, including Spotlight on Young Children: Exploring Play and Young Children.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Chapter 1: Revealing the Concept of Story Retelling
· What is Story Retelling?
· Story Retelling as Problem Solving and Analysis
· Benefits of Story Retelling
· Limitations to Implementing Story Retelling Strategies with Young Children

Chapter 2: Developing Language and Understanding in Classroom Settings
· Vocabulary Development
• Doing What Matters: Characteristics of Teaching Vocabulary
· Developing Conceptual Understanding
• …of Words
• …of Narrative Text
• …of Expository Text
• Cultural Variations in the Map

Chapter 3: Implementing Interactive Teaching Strategies for Story Retelling
· What Teachers Do: Characteristics of Teaching for Effective Story-Retelling
• Strategies Before Reading: Selecting the Book and Introducing the Story to Children
• During Reading: Shared and Interactive Strategies
• After Reading: Story-Retelling Strategies
· Putting it All Together: An Emphasis on Interaction

Chapter 4: Designing Story-Retelling Experiences with Development in Mind
· Planning with a Developmental Lens
• Selecting Stories
• Developing Props and Visual Aids
• Teaching with Guided Play
• Scaffolding to Higher Levels
• Coaching Toward Proficiency
• Incorporating the Creative Arts
• Interacting with Children
• Encouraging Retelling to Others
· Guiding Story Retelling with Preschool Children

Chapter 5: Building Social and Emotional Concepts with Story Retelling
· The Social and Emotional Domains
• Developing the Language of Emotions
• Nurturing Friendships and the Social Studies with Preschoolers
· Making Book Selections of Relevance
· Enactments and Retellings as a Safe Way to Explore Behaviors and Emotions

Chapter 6: Supporting Children’s STEM Inquiries through Story Retelling
· STEM as an Integrated Concept
· Inquiry with Young Children
· How Story Retelling fits into Inquiry and STEM
· Selecting Quality Literature for Young Children
· Supporting Children’s Reflections

Chapter 7: Making Number Sense with Story Retelling
· Developing Number Sense for Mathematizing the World
· Number Sense Book Selection Criteria
· Story Retelling for Enacting the Language of Number Sense

Chapter 8: Documenting and Assessing Young Children’s Learning
· Teacher as Inquirer into Children’s Learning
· Documentation
· Assessing Story Retelling
· Assessing Conceptual Understanding
· Other Ways of Assessing
· Analysis
· Sharing the Developmental Stories
• Display Panels and Documentation Panels…
• Quotes, Anecdotal Notes, Videography
• Collaborating with Parents

Resources
· Websites to support story retelling with children
· Publications for teachers supportive of story retelling
· Recommended Children’s Books (organized by curricular themes)
Glossary
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

"This book demystifies story retelling by identifying effective, intentional teaching and learning practices. You get examples of activities that integrate story retelling across the curriculum to build language, number sense, and social-emotional skills." &mdash Learning magazine

“Marvelously fresh and insightful . . . Cover to cover, it's an enjoyable, highly instructive read that paves the way for teachers to help young students get the most out of the story retelling experience.” —Tillywig Toy Brain Child Award

"Built on a solid theoretical and research foundation of how children learn, this book is full of practical, easy to apply strategies to make stories come alive for children. The methods described in this book are sure to develop a culture of story lovers within your classroom. Practical considerations for assessment strategies are also included, making this book a comprehensive and thorough resource for new and seasoned teachers alike!" —Michelle Rupiper, PhD, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

From the Publisher