Week 6: An Opportunity to Share Stories - Past, Present and Future

Dear Parents,

How are you doing?  Can you believe it has been six weeks?  Can you believe you have been contained with the same people for six weeks?  Are you running out of things to talk about?  Is dinner conversation getting boring because you already know what everyone did today?  Looking for a project to do with your kids?  It might be time to organize your old photos and begin collecting some new ones!

My sister-in-law has been texting me old photos every few days.  I love looking at them and remembering that time in my life. I have fallen into the habit of sharing these photos at dinner with my family.  It sparks conversation, storytelling and laughing!  It is also a great scaffold for writing. The truth is most writers talk their way into a story and photographs are a great way to get started.

If you have old photos in boxes or albums it might be time to get them out.  If a family member has old photos, see if they could take some pictures of them and send them to you via text or email.  You could look through old photos on your phone or computer.  Then start a daily ritual of sharing the oral story of a photo with each other.  Try not to tell about the photo, rather tell the story of the photo – a time when …  The more expression, gestures, and details you include the better. It is helpful to include what the people in the photo were saying, doing, thinking and feeling in your story. This will serve as a great model for your kids.  Then invite them to share some of their favorites.  Encourage them to get up and act out their stories as well 

Some kids may also want to document the present - the historical moment they are living through right now.  Your children are in the position to create the primary sources for future historians. They could keep a paper, photo, or video journal with daily or weekly entries.  They could create a podcast with daily or weekly entries.  These entries may include thoughts, observations, ideas, illustrations, questions, facts, and worries.  Let them decide what and how they want to document living through a pandemic. Their lives will be studied by future generations.  What do they want people in the future to know about living through a pandemic?

Oral storytelling is an essential foundation to writing.  You can’t write a story if you can’t tell a story!  The act of telling one’s story increases vocabulary, supports elaboration, and provides an opportunity for authentic revision.  It also documents history, develops identity, connects us to each other, and evokes empathy.  It is important to know one’s story, to tell one’s story and to hear the stories of others. This may be a good opportunity to share stories from the past and collect stories for the future.  Start off simple, follow their lead, and embrace this time to come together through story.

Here’s one I shared last week:

So, breathe, tell stories, and remember you’ve got this!