The StoryBus Curriculum

The award-winning teachers of the Kohl McCormick Academy of Outstanding Educators have developed four curricula based on the classic children's stories The Gingerbread Man, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, and The Little Red Hen. Each curriculum contains at least 25 activities. Each activity is aligned to at least one (and usually three) of the Illinois Early Learning Standards, and are compatible with Creative Curriculum's Golden Objectives. StoryBus schools implement one of these curricula each semester.

The theory is that, by centering on a single, familiar story throughout each semester, we intensify the experience for students. This is intended to help the children better recall the lessons. Everything ties together in a way they can understand--a way that helps them to develop their critical-thinking skills. It's also more enjoyable for the children. Just as they get excited about playing the same game over and over, they become excited by the repetition of weaving the same story into their activities throughout the semester. It makes all aspects of learning particularly memorable, whether it is reading the story, writing alternate story endings, counting cups of flour to make the Red Hen's bread, mapping the Gingerbread Man's route, or developing interpersonal skills by problem-solving how the Wolf could become friends with the Pigs.

Intended to enhance the StoryBus, the activities are most rewarding when incorporated into your classroom learning centers before your StoryBus visit, and we recommend that you combine individual lessons into a holistic experience – either through a unit or project approach. Always conscious of the StoryBus mission, we’ve ensured that literacy development is the driving component of the lesson plans. Throughout the curriculum, you will find numerous activities that address the four basic components of literacy development:

Listening

Being able to enjoy the rhythm, rhyme, and alliterative features of words helps children develop the auditory skills necessary for phonemic awareness and phonics in preschool through third grade. They need opportunities to play with rhyming words found in 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.").

Speaking

Children's use and knowledge of spoken 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, but 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.

Reading

There are many opportunities for you to read to the children in the curriculum materials. Bring your students’ attention to vocabulary and the meaning of words as you read, and ask for their 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 critical thinking. Dramatic play experiences provide them with 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).

Writing

As soon as young children are able to grasp a crayon, they need to draw, paint, and scribble. This develops the 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 her.