Using Story Extenders

“Story Extender, is a term Walter Mayes (a San Francisco Bay-area story teller) uses for activities that encourage expression and bring books to life (Bozdech, 2006).”

  When children have to opportunity for repeated experiences with a new concept in a variety of playful learning activities they learn more effectively (Landry, 2002).

Story (Literacy) Extenders are many, many things:

-Art activities

-Dramatic play activities

-Shared and independent writing

-Music & movement activities

-Science experiments

-Cooking activities

-Games

-More…

 All based on a story using creative ideas to extend and build on the learning from the story.

There are easy to make and develop using a little creativity!

*Benefits of Teacher Made:

• You can develop activities based on your own objectives and the specific skills and concepts you want children to learn from the stories you are using. 

• Cheaper! Which allows you to have a greater amount and variety of resources to keep children interested in books and reading.

Here are some ideas how you can create your own collection of Story Extenders:

Dramatic Play Story Extenders

Dramatic Play Story Extenders give children opportunities to:

• Tell and retell stories

• Create new stories of their own

• Understanding main themes and concepts of stories

• Understand plot, character, setting, and point of view

• Problem solve and think critically

• Be exposed to new vocabulary

• Express their thoughts and emotions

Stuffed Animals:

• Find stuffed animals that can represent characters in books

• Scholastic often offers small characters with book orders

• Kohl’s does a great reading promotion where they produce stuffed animals especial for certain books and sell them for $5.00 a piece as a fund raiser! Watch for them in Kohl's stores.

• Garage Sales - a great place to find cheap stuffed animals, throw them in your washer and they are as good as new.

• Make a stuffed animal into a puppet! Open a seem in the bottom of it and pull out the stuffing.

Puppets:

• Hand & Finger Puppets

• Stick Puppets

• Paper Plates- colored

• Paper bag

• String

• Sock

• Gloves, Mittens, Pot Holders- The puppets in this picture were made by a woman who's class I went to at a conference.  She used a car wax mitten for the dog, and a pot holder for the dinosaur with some felt! How easy and cute! Watch for these things when they go on clearance at places like Wal*Mart.

*Kids can make many of these too!

Flannel Boards/Flannel Pieces:

Make your own-

• Color Books- Color, laminate, Velcro on back

• Clip Art- Laminate, Velcro on back

• Fun Foam- Velcro on ba ck

• *Milk Filters- Trace, color, cut

*Milk filters can be found in farm supply stores like fleet farm, they are great because they are easy to see through and trace over. I have heard it also works to run them through your printer

• Children’s Pictures- Laminated and Velcro piece on back (Classroom Books)

*Anything that isn’t too heavy to stay up with Velcro

• Vinyl Table Clothes- use pictures or for a backing