Narrative Skills

We still have a week left in October, and our skill of the month is Narrative Skills!

Narrative Skills include describing things and events, telling stories, knowing the order of events (sequencing), and making predictions (what might happen next).

Here are some ideas for promoting this skill in your storytimes:

• Talk with the children before and after storytime.


• Talk with the children about your theme for the day: What do you need for a birthday party? What would you take on a picnic? What would you wear if it were a cold, snowy day?


• Read a story and follow it with a puppet show (simply, so the children can retell the story at home with their stuffed animals).


• Share stories with a sequence.


• Invite the children and parents to repeat repetitive phrases.


• Have children help act out a story or nursery rhyme: Little Miss Muffet, Caps for Sale, etc.


• Share familiar fairy tales: Three Pigs, Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Little Red Hen, The Three Bears, etc.


• Share Mother Goose rhymes, story poems, fingerplays, and action rhymes.


• Some illustrations lend themselves to a dialogue with the children: What the Sea Saw by Stephanie St. Pierre is a joyous celebration of the sea and the shore with realistic, large pictures that make it perfect for sharing.