1. Using Mia’s Story A Whole School Approach

2. The Activity Inspired by Ben Ballin’s article, I decided to work with teachers across the school on Mia’s Story, the aim of this activity being to reflect upon the different approaches to oral storytelling. I prepared a story sack with musical instruments, materials, puppets, sticks, pots and paper and set off to the Year One Class.

3. Year One As Ben explains, Mia’s Story has a simple narrative which younger pupils instantly attach to. The pupils connected immediately to the landscape and the journey of Mia and her dog Poco. The use of a dog in the story immediately caught the their attention. Although the pupils enjoyed looking at the objects in the story sack they asked for lolly sticks to create their own puppet show.

4. Click on the link below to watch the year one video Year one video

5. Year Two The year two pupils took a more kinaesthetic approach using role play and objects they found around the classroom. They made the different places in the story and set these up around the room (Dad’s car, home, the city, the mountains). They made little flowers also. This group of pupils ‘wowed’ over the flowers and the idea of Mia going higher than she ever had up the mountain – this struck them emotionally and was included in their role play.

6. Dad in the car driving to work

7. The Chilean Mountains

8. The Retell… Click on the link below to watch the year two retell video Year two retell video

9. Do you like the story? Click on the link below to watch Elsa’s response Elsa’s response video

10. Year Three Like the other classes, this class engaged emotionally with the text and the awe and wonder of the snowy mountains. However, they asked questions about how the flowers grew and wanted to sort this idea out before making their retell. The group instantly asked to make puppets to retell the story and they performed this through a wooden box lit by small torches. The children in the film were very keen to introduce the story using the languages they speak at home and at school.

11. Click on the link below to watch the year three video Year three video

12. Year Four/Five In reading Mia’s Story to the older children they commented on how the cloud of smoke was evidence of pollution and although the dog featured in their discussions they were curious about Mia’s dad’s dream to buy a house of bricks and the clues this gave about his identity. However, though older, they were very keen to tell the story using puppets and went to the Reception class to use their puppet theatre.

13. Puppet Theatre Click on the link below to watch the year five video Year five video

14. Year Six I was struck by the year six pupils’ response to the activity in that they did not want to use any objects in the sack and instead chose a puppet hanging in my classroom. However, they then used this puppet to retell the story from the perspective of the dog, thus thinking about new adventures and taking on new identities from the story.

15. Click on the link below to watch the year six video Year six video Poco’s story

16. Reflections Each group prepared different retells but in terms of similarities: Pupils rarely made use of the musical instruments in the story sack, wanting to show more movement around the place through words and puppets. The visuals in the book are very striking and therefore really engaged all the pupils. Every group begged for more time to create backdrops for their puppet shows and they used non-fiction texts to think about the shape of mountains. This book would be an excellent accompaniment to a unit on mountains and distant places. The pupils made emotional attachments to all the characters in the book and this was made easier through the diary entries that run alongside the main narrative. Perhaps the story sack could have been more inviting but I was shocked by the use of puppets from nearly every group (even year 6). However, giving the pupils the freedom to choose and select their own retell ensured that they had a voice and the story became theirs.

17. Going Further This activity could be used across the whole school or a key stage as an integrated project or as part of a geography week activity. Using the same story, for example Mia’s Story, allows for the geography co-ordinator to observe and document pupils’ ability to identify geographical features in their retell and detect the features of a place. In using a whole school text, there is the potential for teacher to teacher talk to share ideas and outcomes and child to child expository and expressive talk across different age groups.

18. Assessing the work The year one and two classes watched the film of their retells and assessed themselves against a checklist created by the teacher. There is plenty of scope, however, for pupils to create their own checklists or be part of a shared write with the teacher. The year 4-6 classes collaborated to write a rubric. This then allowed for them to watch each other’s films and collaboratively assess the outcomes of their work against a rubric. A blank rubric and one group’s completed rubric can be downloaded from PG online. The idea of peer assessment is supported by Smith (2005) who explains: ‘today, more than ever, children must be given time to talk about their learning and their experiences’. Smith, C. (2005) ‘Developing Children’s Oral Skills at Key Stage 2’ in Grugeon, E. et al. (eds) Teaching, Speaking and Listening in the Primary School. Oxon: Routledge.

19. Creating a rubric in a group Click on the link below to watch the video Rubric video

21. Having the opportunity to work alongside teachers and pupils across different ages allowed for me to observe the different approaches pupils have for talk and the way they listen and respond to stories. Using oral retells allowed for these pupils to share the experience of a new place through puppet theatre and role-play and create some magical, original pieces of drama. Mia’s Story made this possible through the powerful imagery, simple text and lively movement through different places. This activity showed me the power of stories as a means of bringing life to an author’s work. Observing in the playground and in free time in my class, pupils used their puppets to continue to create small world play around the focus of the story, thus creating many new stories of their own.

22. I would like to thank the teachers at the International School of Bologna for their curiosity and support with the project, Ben Ballin for his inspiring article and of course all the wonderful pupils you see in these films for their risk-taking and courage to speak in English. Jane Whittle