Page 134 - Reading Nest - The Supportive Literacy Environment Handbook

Storycrafting has four stages:
1. tell me your story;
2. I write it up exactly as told;
3. when finished, I’ll read your story back to you;
4. if you wish, you can change or correct it.

The child has the right to tell the story as they wish, without guidance or correction. The beauty
of the activity lies in that the child feels confidence in himself and that what he says is
important. The importance is further emphasised by writing the story up. This enables the child
to see the connection between the speech and writing. Children are enchanted by seeing how
words they uttered turn into graphic characters on paper or a computer screen.

Children usually remember well what they said and when the adult reads the story in the third
stage, they will be told immediately where mistakes have occurred. In most cases, the story is
not changed much, children specify something, give a name to a main character or similar.

When storycrafting as a didactic method is introduced, the child’s copyright as a storyteller is
stressed. Permission must be obtained from the child for showing or publishing the story and
the child’s name should be included in the story. It also needs to be remembered that carrying
out research concerning children and personal data protection may differ from country to
country. Finnish researchers find it important to publish the child’s full name, in Estonian
student papers it is advised that real names are to be replaced by codes or pseudonyms. The
scribe and collector of children’s stories should be aware of the issue and explain what for and
how the collected materials would be used.

Storycrafting may entirely rely on the child (tells whatever they want to at that moment), or
have a thematic focus (a story on a particular theme is requested). Storycrafting may be
collective, in a pair or group, so that children take turns to speak. When introducing
storycrafting, everybody in a children’s group should get an opportunity to speak and they can
see how it is written. Inventors of the method remind its users: “The method is based on two
principal questions that the scribe should ask if they want to improve their listening skills.
These are: 1) what will I teach and give to children (wards, old people etc.) when I meet them?,
and 2) can I accept the other person’s present or story, and show gratitude?“ More information
on storycrafting can be found on the University of Helsinki webpage:
(http://www.edu.helsinki. fi/lapsetkertovat/lapset/Sadutus/sadutus_viroksi.htm) and materials
collected from Estonian children “Children’s story basket“ is found at:
http://www.edu.helsinki.fi/
lapsetkertovat/Sadutus/EESTI_Laste_jutusalv.10.07.pdf.