When a story is not just a story.

When we decided to read ‘Dragon Rider’ to the FRW’s we had hoped that it would provide the opportunity for an ongoing project/investigation. Although perhaps this concept of an investigation is a little different than what the children or the parents have been used to. The project that is emerged in a far richer form than we had anticipated, it has evolved as a quest for a deeper understanding of the story, its characters and its settings. Some of the encounters that we have asked the children to be involved in may seem very structured if viewed out of context, so I have provided a flow chart of the Dragon Rider project so you can see the relationships that are being built and therefore the development of understanding and skills.

Children in Amy’s class were interested in Dragons last year.

Therefore Dragon Rider suggested at orientation as possible group story. (The suggestion was enthusiastically received)

First challenge proposed by teacher- How much do we need to read each day in order to finish the book in one term? (Maths division problem)

Second challenge proposed from children’s wondering what Sorrel (one of the characters) looked like- To read book extracts that describe Sorrel, highlight the descriptive phrases and then draw a character based on the highlighted phrases. (Comprehension, reading for meaning, translation to a visual language)

Third Challenge proposed from Children’s wondering where the Himalayas are – To search in an Atlas to find the Himalayas then write in their books all the countries that the Himalayas span. (Research/literacy)

Fourth Challenge proposed from third challenge- to locate and plot the Himalayas on a map of the world. (Visual literacy)

Fifth Challenge proposed by teacher to listen to the story to discover why the Dragon can only fly at night. (Listening challenge)

In addition to the above challenges the children are also asked to recall what has happened in the chapter they read the day before and predict what will happen in the next chapter from the title of the chapter and what has already occurred.

There will be many ongoing challenges which will respect the children’s ongoing interest in the story and offer the opportunity to develop skills of literacy, research and much more.

As you can see reading a story is far more than just reading a story. Perhaps you could help by asking your child what happened in the story today. We do ask that you wait until the class has finished reading the story together before you buy the book for your child. That way we keep the magic of story time alive.

Ciao for now

Gillian, Trudi and Bec