Earlier this year the third graders were treated to a Kamishibai presentation by storyteller Walt Ritter from an organization called Write Out Loud.
Kamishibai is a form of Japanese storytelling that literally translates to “paper theater”. The Stories are performed by Kamishibaiya (Kamishibai Narrator) using sets of illustrated boards that are placed in stage-like boxes and narrated as each image is changed.
After the presentation, the third graders were inspired to design and build Kamishibai boxes and write and illustrate their own original stories.
The students worked on their boxes during Science and Design class, wrote stories in their language arts classes, and created their “stage” scenes in Art class. Last week, they presented them to their peers during Morning Meeting. They then took them to the Early Childhood classrooms where they told their stories to the EC students.
Each of the stories was written specifically for their EC audience using the Gillispie Values as themes (Integrity, Compassion, Attitude, Respect, and Effort.)
Their boxes will be gifted to the Preschool and Prekindergarten classrooms for future use!