The StoryBus Curriculum

Teachers jazz up the story of the Three Little Pigs during a StoryBus literacy workshop.

The curriculum materials developed for each story are intended to enhance the experience on the StoryBus. They were developed by members of the Kohl McCormick Academy (award winning teachers with vast experience in early childhood education). Although the activities are organized into curriculum areas, they are intended to be used holistically. This can be accomplished through a unit or project approach. Many of the activities can be and should be incorporated into the learning centers in the classrooms. Literacy development is a strong component of the entire StoryBus project. Throughout the curriculum you will find numerous activities that address the four basic components of literacy development:

Speaking

Children's use and knowledge of spoken and oral language are extremely important. A good oral vocabulary supports the decoding of print. Generally, oral language is developed in the home through interaction with significant adults. As the children grow, new words are added to their vocabularies. Children who do not get sufficient opportunities for conversation and vocabulary building at home must get them at school. When you encounter a new word with the children, ask them about its meaning before you tell them what it means. This will help you understand their thinking. Use the new word many times in your own conversation and provide the children with many opportunities to do the same.

Writing

As soon as young children are able to grasp a crayon, they need to draw, paint and scribble. This develops fine motor skills needed for writing. The children's scribbles evolve into recognizable letters and words, and eventually into stories. Children should be provided the opportunity to dictate their stories about their pictures and their experiences with the activities in this curriculum. An adult can write down what the child dictates and read it back to him/her.

Listening

Being able to enjoy the rhythm, rhyme, and alliterative features of words helps children develop the auditory skills necessary for phonemic awareness in preschool and kindergarten and phonics in first, second and third grades. They need opportunities to play with rhyming words through nursery rhymes, songs, finger plays, poems and riddles. They need to learn about letters in a meaningful and familiar context (i.e. "My name begins with the same letter as yours.").

Reading

There are many opportunities for you to read to the children in the curriculum materials. Experiences with books are critical for young children. Reading to children is extremely important. Attention needs to be given to vocabulary and the meaning of words in the book, as well as the comprehension of the story. Ask the children to guess what the story is about with just the title and picture on the cover as clues. In addition to the four components for literacy development, dramatization, dramatic play, and pretend reading are important for the development of comprehension and critical thinking. When children have opportunities to take on the roles of characters in stories and act them out, they are building comprehension skills. Through interpreting what they have heard or read, they are enhancing their critical thinking abilities. Dramatic play experiences provide them with the opportunities to create their own stories and dialogues, thereby expanding their vocabularies and creativity. They will "read" a familiar story, if they have had opportunities to assist when an adult is reading (i.e. repeating, "'Not I!' said the lamb, 'Not I!' said the cat," each time it appears in the story).