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FEBRUARY 2005 PBS Ready To Learn is supported by a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Education, PR/Award Number R295A00002 Self-Expression

From the Start: Telling Tales @ www.pbs.org/teachersource/prek2.htm www.pbskids.org/shareastory www.pbskids.org/stories.html

SELF-EXPRESSION Children have wild imaginations. As adults, it is important to foster their natural creative and expressive abilities from a young age. On this episode of Sesame Street, Cookie Monster is looking for a way to think about something other than cookies, so he uses storytelling to engage his imagination! Read My Crayons Talk with children to expose them to another form of self-expression. While Cookie uses his words, the little girl uses her drawings to bring a story to life. Self-expression through storytelling helps children make sense of the world, develop literacy skills and foster social interactions. Encourage children to create their own story: verbally, visually or written. AND, if children are in grades Kindergarten through third grade, they can submit their stories to Thirteen’s annual Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest!

Web Resources:

VIEW: SESAME STREET (4075)

Cookie Monster Writes a Story Monday, February 14, 2005 at 7 a.m.

Cookie Monster is getting nervous and impatient since he has just eaten the very last cookie at Hooper's Store and has to wait for Alan to bake more. Cookie Monster tries to think of different ways to stop thinking about cookies for a while, but it's just too hard. Then Gabi encourages Cookie Monster to use his imagination to make up a story about cookies to help time go by faster. Together, they write a fun, creative story about King Cookie who lived in the Kingdom of Cookie.

TRY THIS…

Take a story that is familiar to your child and… • Act it out • Change the ending • Draw it • Mix up the beginning, middle and end

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FEBRUARY 2005 PBS Ready To Learn is supported by a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Education, PR/Award Number R295A00002 Self-Expression

Other Recommended Books: Abiyoyo by Pete Seeger, Michael Hays (Illustrator) The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon

Scieszka, Lane Smith (Illustrator) Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson Oh The Thinks You Can Think! by Dr. Seuss Dreams by Ezra Jack Keats Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Calling the imagination and creativity of all Kindergarten to Third Graders!

Thirteen/WNET is now accepting original entries in the Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest! Review the enclosed materials or visit www.thirteen.org/kids/rainbow for more information.

READ: My Crayons Talk

By Patricia Hubbard, G.Brian Karas (Illustrator)

A child’s first introduction to using color is probably with their crayons. The idea that colors can bring to mind certain ideas is presented in this vividly illustrated poem. If crayons could talk, what would they say, and how would they say it? We get a young girl’s perspective on what they would say and how they would say it as she tells her story using her crayons.

DO: My Own Story

Children can develop their imaginations by experimenting with storytelling. Talk to them about the various ways that you can share stories, such as with a book, out loud, or through art, music, and dance, etc. This is an opportunity to discuss the cultural importance of storytelling – people tell stories about their individual families, rituals and customs. Encourage children to create a story of their own that could be based on a favorite tale, their culture or a particular interest. They can tell it aloud to other people like Cookie Monster, draw it like the girl in My Crayons Talk or write it down using words. Children can further their creativity using props, music, dance, etc. to make their stories come alive!

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY: