“Story Painters” at West Mercer

“Charlotte is the best storyteller I ever heard,” said Fern, poking her dish towel into a cereal bowl. “Fern,” said her mother sternly, “you must not invent things. You know spiders don’t tell stories. Spiders can’t talk. “Charlotte can,” replied Fern. “She doesn’t talk very loud, but she talks.” “What kind of story did she tell?” asked Mrs. Arable. “Well,” began Fern, “she told us about a cousin of hers who caught a fish in her web. Don’t you think that’s fascinating?"
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1st graders in Nancy Burrill and Elizabeth Rosane’s classes at West Mercer listened quietly to the soft voice of Ms. Burill reading the familiar story of Charlotte’s Web. Every now and then she would pause at a new word. “What do you think incessant means?” she asked. “It means always,” said one little boy. “Or – never ending,” said another. As she continued reading, two little girls went to the back of the room where there was an easel set up with paper and colored markers. And then they started to draw.
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Their assignment? “Draw the pictures in your mind,” said Ms. Rosane. The first little girl drew the unmistakable image of a fish caught in the spider’s web. The second one began a sketch of a stool in a barn, the place where Fern goes everyday to talk to Charlotte.  Then, the girls wrote a sentence describing their picture.  “A fish got caught in the web” and “Fern sits on a stool in the barn.”

“Story Painters” is a technique developed by primary grade teachers to help students understand imagery in reading, one of the critical steps to comprehension. It is also a physical response to the story, another way to reinforce understanding. “First grade teachers are really good at unlocking the mysteries of reading comprehension,” said Patti Weber, Director of Curriculum and Staff Development for MISD. “They know that visualization is critical to comprehension. It encourages students to actively engage in the text. It also improves students’ writing. Students realize that an author’s word choice and voice directly impacts the reader’s enjoyment of a story, and they begin to use colorful words in their own writing. “Story Painters” is a wonderful example of teaching to the standards.”

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