Third graders from Ms. Barquet’s class at P.S. 132 Juan Pablo Duarte in NYC worked with Community-Word Project’s Teaching Artist and Muralist, Felipe Galindo, to create a stunning mural. Their poem fosters and incorporates the key elements of storytelling, the focus of the classroom’s collaborative arts residency.
to brighten New York City
And see the Sparkling
Lights of tall Buildings,
Small below us;
Smart, brave
We Save
the World
One classroom activity involved building a campfire using “fire logs” to represent poetic and theatrical devices being taught, i.e., narrative, character, tableau, voice. The campfire storytelling celebrated the individual voices and shared stories of different cultures and experiences, while building students’ vocabulary and literacy. Adding theatrical elements to storytelling encouraged students to explore writing and find their “voice”.
The idea for the campfire storytelling was derived from the classes’ focus on communities, in New York and around the world. Telling stories around the campfire is one of the most fundamental forms of communication and community, celebrating both individual voices and shared stories, cultures, and experiences.
