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Real stories by real kids:
Story Time: An Exercise in Collaborative Storytelling
For the older children who came to the library for summer program we had intended to have a fire engine for them to look at. But that fell through. We fell back on Plan B—organizing an activity ourselves. It’s not too hard to do things with small children. They like to have you read stories to them. Older kids don’t want to sit for that. So we decided to have them make some stories of their own.
With a bit of help from one of my staff (Actually a lot of help—she was the one who proposed the idea) I brainstormed several story starter ideas that I hoped would prove inspiring. We set up five tables in the room and covered each with a big sheet of white paper. Each table had a supply of pencils and crayons.
When the children arrived we had them sit down with up to six at a table. Each group got a story starter. With that and the materials at hand they were to write and illustrate a story. How, exactly, they got the story down on paper was up to them.
They seemed to have fun. At least they made plenty of noise. I went from table to table monitoring progress, answering questions (“Does illustrated mean drawing?”), and making sure things did not get out of hand. At one point I felt it necessary to fetch an empty cookie tin and a large spoon from the kitchen to beat on like a drum for attention. “I won’t ask you to be quiet,” I said, when everybody had looked over to see what was making the banging noises. “But let’s do keep it down some!”
The first group was given this story starter idea: You’re driving along the highway and a log truck passes you. You see that there’s nobody driving the log truck. What happens?
This group covered the whole sheet of paper on their table with assorted drawings and calligraphy. But they didn’t actually write a story. Or so I thought. As I was cleaning up the room afterward, I saw, written on the back of the story starter paper, this sad tale:
“Somebody got run over by the truck and it was the driver. The end.”
Another story scenario read: Some kids are watching a movie in the living room one night. There’s nobody else in the house. But they hear footsteps upstairs. What’s going on?
This group drew up a lovely multicolored title. Then they messed up on it and started it over again. They never actually produced a story or illustrations.
A third group of six boys received this scenario: A spaceship is exploring a distant planet. The astronauts find a weird-looking rock. And they begin to suspect that the rock is really alive! What is it?
Their text, in its entirety:
“A spaceship is exploring a distant planet. The astronauts find a weird-looking rock. And they begin to suspect that the rock is alive. It’s a geo dude.”
They also drew a rocket, two vaguely spacesuited forms, and a one-eyed monster with a pair of huge arms and no legs. I guess that’s what “geo dude” looks like.
A fourth group, comprised of four girls, had this to work with: There’s an abandoned amusement park in town that nobody ever goes to. People say it’s haunted. Three kids go into it on a dare. What happens?
They produced two different versions. The first ran:
“The three kids was in a pitch black room. Then a flash of light then came out an unstoppable train cart filled with fresh hot coal. The kids jumped out of the way and found out that Jason, Freddie, Chuckie, and Bloody Mary dolls pushed the cart. The dolls were alive stalking to get their doom for kids abusing and brusing them. So they got out their weapons and chased the kids. They chased them all through the amusement park. One of the three kids got hit in the skull with a spoon. Then the dolls returned to Rare Doll Land with evil sneering on there faces. Blood dripped off their hands. The End?”
The second, even more gruesome effort, said:
“There was three kids who went in a dark place and they heard a sound they didn’t no what that was so they turned around one of the kids got eat by a bear (crossed out and amended to “hurt by a bus” or maybe “bug”) then one of the boys said I bet you you wont say bloody mary 3 times loud in the miorr they lock the door then they unlock the door blood was all over the floor and use the bathroom on there self.”
Let’s not even get into the illustrations on this one….
Finally, we had a group with this set-up: Your class goes to school one morning and there’s nobody else in the whole school. They can’t leave until 3 o’clock. What does everybody do until then?
Some insight into the creative process is provided by brainstorming notes in one corner:
“Ideas
Electric scooters
Remake the rules
Contact aliens
From outerspace
Princable (principal?)
Pinyata the"
“One Freaky Day At ______ Freaky School
“Ch.1 One day whenever Mr. ______ class went to school. And the class said Mr. _____ lets go contact aliens from outer space, Paca!!! Paca is a Purple and Pink talking pinyata horse who is princable.
“Ch.2 Aliens coming down to earth. Its 1:30 pm everything is queit. But then theres a green light and then aliens appear! Then Paca the Pinyata said “Come into _____ Freaky school, and we will ride electric scooters!”
What really makes this one are the illustrations. There are two flying-saucer-shaped UFOs. One, with two “aleins” aboard, is abducting “Paca the princable” using what looks like a tractor beam of some kind. The other is crewed by a creature that bears a remarkable resemblance to something I tried to eat in a Chinese restaurant a while back.
Well, what can you say? As far as I’m concerned that last entry would have won the contest. On the strength of these stories I’m rather worried about the English language skills of today’s tween age students. I’m a bit concerned about some of the movies some of them are evidently watching. But there’s no faulting their imaginations!
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The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls who, when he found an especially costly one, sold everything he had to buy it.
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