Stories by the Millstream

Sept. 13-16- 1 hour each day- total 4 hours
Sept. 17-11:00-2:00-3 hours



Every year second grade students get to attend Stories by the Millstream, a field trip at Sloan Park. This field trip correlates with the NCSCOS because in second grade we have to cover the many different genres. Before the field trip that Friday, each day during guided reading time we discussed storytellers and read several different stories written by famous story tellers like Nikki Giovanni. The students learn that story telling is a type of genre.

At Sloan Park students get to listen to three different storytellers during this field trip. This year I thought our first two storytellers were excellent. They are both local storytellers. They were Sonja and Mother M. They changed their tone of voice when telling their stories and really got the students excited. Two of the most memorable stories that the students liked were about Anasi the spider and a little girl being chased by a wolf.
The third storyteller was a man that traveled but was orginally from the Appalachian mountains. I cannot remember his name. Most of the time, the storyteller that is on stage (which he was) tells several different stories. This time he only told one. I do not think the students enjoyed him quite as much. It could have had a lot to do with the fact that we were sitting out in the very hot sun. I thought he story was funny but I do not think the students understood it.

Overall it is a great field trip that the students get to experience. Some students have never been to the public library where most of the local storytellers can be heard, so this gives them an opportunity for them to see what it is all about.