Story notebooks

One of our extra things we do in school is our story notebooks. I don’t really know what else to call them. Each child has their own sketchbook to draw a picture and then write a story. They use Crayola sketchbooks which are unlined. I measure off 2″ from the bottom of each page and draw a line. They draw on the upper portion of the page then dictate a story to me. I haven’t given them any direction on this, just let them draw whatever they choose. It’s been an interesting peek into whatever is on their minds that week.

Boo is not really into coloring or drawing. This is painfully evident in his story notebook. He does not draw like a 7 year old at all. I have been trying to keep my opinions to myself and not “help” him draw, but really, he really needs to do better. You can really see what I’m talking about here:

“We were all with God in a very happy place. That is Heaven. All the yellow stuff is the glory surrounding them. We were all very happy. We had a terrific party. We danced and danced all night.”

He does write good stories.

After another, I hate to say “bad”, drawing I decided he did need more guidance. We had an impromptu art class where I taught him how to draw a little more realistically. Here is his first drawing since then:

“Today I was driving my motorboat to the Smarty Mart to deliver stuff. The wind blew now and then, so I had my motor on, too. I also had my sail up. I arrived at the Smarty Mart in a jiffy. Then I just hung out for the rest of the day.”

Much better.

Pumpkin Girl’s stories are mostly about her and Rebecca:

“In Heaven, Becky was with God. They were happy and smiling at me when I went in. They had a beautiful party for my family. At the end, we all had a great time and then went to bed. The End. (p.s. The one that is all sparklish is God.)”

Today we not only used the notebooks for undirected stories and pictures, but we also used them to further our drawing skills. We used a picture of Larry and Bob from a coloring book and copied it. I then had the children write their own stories to go with the pictures. Interesting enough, Pumpkin did better at the drawing, getting all the peices in the same places at the coloring book picture, but for all her story-telling skills, she had trouble making up a story.

“Bob and Larry are dancing outside in the cool morning.”

Boo wasn’t as accurate with the drawing of Larry and Bob, but he embellished his drawing by putting them in a boat. He also made up a great little story, complete with dialogue.

“It was a warm, sunny day. Bob and Larry were out sailing. They were headed towards the beach. It was a windy day. The wind took a pause, so they had their engine on, too. When they spotted the beach, Bob shouted, “Land, ho!” And Larry shouted, “Anchors down!” They landed ont he beach and had a wonderful time there. ”

Here’s my drawing. I didn’t write a story.

This is one of Boo and Pumpkin’s favorite school activities. My plan is to keep them going as long as they enjoy them. We will be starting nature notebooks in the fall, too, so I may combine the two into one discovery journal where they can continue to write and illustrate stories, and observe and record nature and the world around them.

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