You know a great book when you read one. I'll mention three fantastic books that have engaged 2nd graders on up to adults to write creatively, share their stories with each other, and then perform their polished tales to eager listeners. Please reply with other titles that you would like to add to this growing list.

These three books act as mentor texts to engage students in reading, writing their own versions, and then performing these tales through the craft of storytelling. Each book contains a variety of stories to connect with everyone. My students have had more fun working together and honing their ELA skills while celebrating their products through storytelling! I've included a few examples of "tall tales"  my 4th grade students created from David Wisniewski's The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, artifact is defined as
1. a simple object (such as a tool or weapon) that was made by people in the past
2. something created by humans usually for a practical purpose; especially :  an object remaining from a particular period 


Anchor is today's artifact. Let's do a quick write (take no more than 3 minutes to jot down anything that comes to mind when you invision either the word or picture of "anchor."  Share your thoughts with someone close to you. My ideas are typed below. I tend to move right into metaphorical but students will probably begin with the actual physical structure of what an anchor is. See what you come up with.

1. My family anchor's me daily. They are only a phone call away.
2.  Anchors Aweigh - Navy
3.  Story: It takes more than a 20 lb. anchor to keep your bay boat from drifting in the waters while fishing. The winds seemed to dismantle the definition of "an anchor" that day. We're definitely amateurs when it comes to fishing in the Gulf of Mexico--almost ran ourselves up against the jetties while fishing.
4. Hope is an anchor for the soul
5. heavy, iron, chains, sink, unmovable
6. heave-ho - pirates

Find quotes from the internet, poems, books, songs, etc. about anchors

Quotes:
1. "Life's roughest storms prove the strength of our anchors."
2. "It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled seas of thought." - John Kenneth Galbraith
3. My beliefs will run through everything I do. My beliefs,my values are my anchor and when people try to drag me, as I know they will, it is to that sense of right and wrong, that sense of who I am and what I believe, to which I will always hold."- Ed Miliband

Activities to try out with your students or peers:

1. Truisms help shape stories that you write or that have already been written. What truisms can you think of when it comes to the artifact: anchor? Some examples I've found are:
a. We all need an anchor in our life to guide us.
b. Before an anchor can ever be raised, it must be let go
c.  An anchor can drag you down

Using your truism about an anchor (physical or metaphorical), write a story around it. This truism will help you bring in emotion and a deeper sense of what you really want your listener or reader to understand.

2. Sharing connections made with others always generates stories lost and now found - jars your memory. Write down all that you remember and begin to build your story. Share your anecdotes with us on this blog.
I would love to hear from you!

3. Metaphor: Make one of your characters in your tale the anchor and explain why. For example: I am that heavy anchor you heave over the bow

I can't think of a better way to link with others with similar interests around the world than through blogging so I signed up to participate in the Blogging from A to Z challenge beginning in April. I'll have 26 days (not including Sundays) to blog using a theme that I'm  revealing today as so many others are.  Each day's subject will focus on the next letter of the alphabet (A - day 1, B- day 2, and so on).

My Theme for the month of April is ARTIFACTS!
My "Power of Story Blog" fits perfectly in my theme as I will be sharing stories, activities, writing, reading, and research ideas that can be utilized in the classroom, in the library, in a storytelling club setting, or simply, as a spring board for what you want to accomplish with an idea I've presented.


Can't Wait!