Because of this instinct of conversation one form of creative reaction
may be _language expression_. The oral reproduction of the story
re-experiences the story anew. The teacher may help here by creating a
situation for the re-telling. A teacher might put a little foreign boy
through rapid paces in learning English by selecting a story like _The
Sparrow and the Crow_ and by managing that in the re-telling the
little foreigner would be the Crow who makes the repetitive speeches,
who must go to the Pond and say:--
Your name, sir, is Pond
And my name is Crow,
Please give me some water,
For if you do so
I can wash and be neat,
And the nice soup can eat,
Though I really don't know
What the sparrow can mean,
I'm quite sure, as crows go,
I'm remarkably clean.
As the Crow must go to the Deer, the Cow, the Grass, and the
Blacksmith, and each time varies the beginning of his speech, four
other children could represent the Crow successively, thus bringing in
a social element which would relieve any one child's timidity. By that
time any group of children would realize the fun they could get by
playing out the simple tale; and there would be petitions to be the
Deer, the Cow, etc. If the teacher sees that the characters place
themselves as they should, carry out the parts naturally, and that the
Crow begs with the correct rhyme, she is performing her legitimate
task of suggestion and criticism that works toward developing from the
first attempts of children, a good form in harmony with the story.
Here, while there is free play, the emphasis is on the speeches of
rhyme, so that the reaction is largely a language expression. The
language expression is intimately related to all varieties of
expression of which the child is capable, and may be made to dominate
and use any of them, or be subordinated to them.
A most delightful form of creative reaction possible to the child in
language expression, is the _formation of original little stories_
similar to the "Toy Stories" written by Carolyn Bailey for the
_Kindergarten Review_ during 1915. A story similar to "The Little
Woolly Dog" might be originated by the little child about any one of
his toys. This would be related to his work with fairy tales because
in such a story the child would be imitating his accumulative tales;
and the adventures given the toy would be patterned after the familiar
adventures of his tales.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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