The Little Red Hen at Southdown School
Southdown Primary School kindergarten ESL students recently participated in a very special lesson and performance. The day was even more memorable because many of the youngsters didn’t speak a word of English when the school year started last September.
The kindergarteners read the story of The Little Red Hen in their class and then performed a “reader’s theater” for other Southdown kindergarten classes. Students picked their own characters, created stick puppets and rehearsed their assigned lines and parts. “It was meaningful and fun,” Principal Michelle Marino said. “And, best of all, they had the opportunity to perform for their peers a great story with a powerful lesson.”
The lesson started with a “read aloud” that saw students listening to the story as it was read to them. A “shared reading” followed, where the youngsters read specific parts of the story while their teacher, Ms. Ethel Bronstein read along.
The session featured various concepts and skills, including sequencing (first, next, etc.), listening, speaking, vocabulary, syntax, fluency and expression, stage presence, the concept of the role of a narrator, identifying character traits, the importance of hard work (the hen), cause and effect and team work (working together to decide who would play which part and rehearsing).
The youngsters made stick puppets to retell the story as a “reader’s theater” presentation, which proved to be a big hit with their friends in other Southdown kindergarten classes.
“It was a delightful lesson,” Mrs. Marino said.
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