Story Stretchers for the Primary Grades

by Shirley C. Raines

Shows how to use a variety of children's books as a basis for activities in writing, art, science, and math

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

First published May 1, 1992

Reviews

[Pamela Hatch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-R-S for the Primary Grades: Activities to Expand Children's Favorite Books / by Shirley C. Raines and Robert J. Canaday -- Mr. Rainier, Maryland : Gryphon House, cc1992 (256 pages)

SUMMARY: We wrote this series of story s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-r books as a vehicle to support teachers who develop classrooms where children grow to love books, poems, jokes, riddles, songs and the stories of our many rich cultures....support teachers in their quest for well-developed literacy environments where listening, speaking, reading and writing permeate the curriculum. (p19)

There are 18 units with five focus books per unit, and each book has read-aloud suggestions for the book and five story s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-r-s per book. (p21)

...reading as an interactive thought/language process. The suggestions are based on relating the children's prior knowledge and experiences to the main idea of the story, asking children to offer predictions and confirming information drawn from their own experiences, language patterns and reading....The students build more connections to the concepts, main ideas and imaginative extension through the activities which each book stimulates. (p23)

Throughout the book, you will see the suggestion that children read their writing to an editing or listening group. This step helps children view writing as a process. The first step is pre-writing or thinking about what one would like to write and how it might be developed....The second step is writing a draft....The author reads his or her draft and listeners make suggestions and ask questions ..."What else would you like to know?" (p23)

We would also be remiss as teachers, curriculum planners, and lovers of good picture books if we failed to appreciate the art of children's books. Someone said that children's books are the last source of inexpensive, yet great art for families. (p25)

REVIEW: I have known about this series for a long time...and have used it as a librarian/storyteller and helping parents and teachers find classroom resources. Some of the books I am familiar with and some I'm not. Even if you can't find the titles from this older publication, you should be able to find similar ones and use the activities and principles listed. You may even be inspired to develop your own activities.

NOTE: The original Story S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-R-S book was what started me writing my own curriculum to the books that I read. You will find some of these listed in with my book reviews on this website.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice resource for activities and ideas for a literature-based approach to learning. Classic books are divided by general theme (i.e., Animal life, Machines and things, Feelings, Celebrations, etc.), and each book is given a two page spread with about six related activities, covering everything from art to writing to science. Some of the ideas are good; some are average. Since I was most interested in obtaining ideas for writing, I found several that I'd like to try. Mainly it helped me to formulate some of my own writing ideas to use with books in general.

Note to Esther: I originally added the wrong book. This is the correct one, the difference being that it's aimed at K-3 instead of preschool. I agree with you that many of the ideas are lacking in creativity, but they got the wheels of my brain turning and I needed that. I've bookmarked about 10 books/ideas that I'm going to use over the next couple of months. I'll let you know.

[Gladys Fernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good resource for using a book as a "hook" for your lessons. I only wish that the books used in this were a little more "current" and accessible. I find myself having to look for the books in second hand stores and school libraries.

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book will be of useful to the teachers, librarian and parents of particularly primary grades. The book also provides useful resources that might be helpful to further the knowledge in making the classroom more interesting and learning a new experience.

[Kellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat better projects than in the previous edition, but maybe because it is for an older age group.