Following up their post of 2 weeks ago Sharon and Katie report on the actual event spanning all grades of their school with great panache…
What better way to come together as a community than to share a story, and what better story to share than a rollicking, rhyming tale like Hickory Dickory Dash!
All three campuses of the Friends’ School participated in National Simultaneous Storytime. At Morris Primary Years, vertical groups of Prep – Year 6 students collaborate on a number of tasks throughout the year. For National Simultaneous Storytime, Year 6 leaders read the story from their iPads, and helped their group create a new verse for the story. Each student then produced their own drawing to illustrate the extra escapades of the characters. The verse was transcribed onto a paper clock face, hands were added to show the time and the drawings were glued to the outside of the clock. It was wonderful to see our Year 6s use the story to unite students from across the grades and to hear the laughter of our students plotting what else the characters could do.
In the High School, the event reflected the school’s international-mindedness and the story was translated and shared in Chinese, French, German and Japanese. In the library, Year 7s shared the story and had a great time creating and illustrating new verses. Students in a drama class created audio recordings of the book to practise oral story-telling techniques, and asked for critiques of their performances.
All of our Year 11 and 12 classes also participated, with some opting to watch Jay Laga'aia read the book on Storybox Library. In past years our Principal, Nelson File, has read the story to our Kindergarten students but this year found himself in front of a senior secondary Accounting class – an enjoyable but markedly different experience for all involved!
We love participating in National Simultaneous Storytime and look forward to doing so again in 2019!
Sharon Molnar and Katie Stanley are Teacher Librarians at The Friends’ School.
It is wonderful to read the various creative ways the teachers used the picture book Hickory Dickory Dash for National Simultaneous Storytime. The teachers at The Friends' School and at Don College demonstrate the age appropriate engagement activities that can be used to inspire young children and older children alike. Congratulations to both schools!
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