Canaan Elementary Students Experience Fun with Folk Tales

From Canaan School District: Students from Canaan Elementary School took a field trip to Think BIG Theater Arts in Patchogue and experienced an engaging show that related to their new folk tale units of study.

At Think BIG, students are not viewed as mere audience members, rather they are a part of the experience. Heather Van Velsor, who founded Think BIG with her husband Shawn Thorgersen, greets students as story explorers, and draws them into her performance.

Heather Kutnowsky, a first grade teacher at Canaan, coordinated the trip. Edd Ohlsen, another first grade teacher at Canaan, performs regularly with the improv group at Think BIG and also helped organize the event.

“Students have been learning about elements of a folk tale along with reading strategies to use during our reading workshop portion of the academic day,” said Ohlsen. “Ms. Heather created a show for us that engaged all of our students in an intimate setting.”

Over the course of two days, the first grade story explorers came to visit Van Velsor, Tricky the Trunk and friends for an episode of The Travelin' Trunk Show. Through music, sound effects, and costumed play, the children help create a delightful improvised performance that's never the same show twice.

“We were so excited to have the children visit us and join our family of story explorers,” said Van Velsor. “They loved retelling the Danish FolkTale Fat Cat through puppets and dramatic play as well as public speaking and presentation skills.”

The show began with singing that students were encouraged to join, so they too could view themselves as performers.

On set was a large map, where they discussed where Patchogue was in relation to the state and country. This same map was later used to show students Denmark, the country of origin of the specific tale they were discussing. During this time, students are addressed directly and open-ended questions are used to engage them in conversation. Students that are struggling to answer are led further in conversation until they are successful in front of their classmates.

Van Velsor appears after "traveling" a great distance, greets the students, and then transitions into song. While accompanied by a ukulele, students sang the song “There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly”. This song, while using hand motions and animal sounds to hook the performer, parallels the folk tale.

Next, they met a large puppet, which is actually the traveling trunk. Students interact with this large trunk with moveable eyes as he speaks to us with clicks and whistles made by a kazoo. Ms. Heather told the students they are learning about the folk tale the “Big Fat Cat”. Using simple props, Van Velsor acted the part of the cat, that couldn’t stop eating larger and larger items.

“Students truly enjoyed contributing to the show rather than passively watching it,” said Ohlsen. “The material was age appropriate and the pacing for the show was brisk yet not overwhelming. Students were still talking about the puppets and the experience several days after our initial trip.”

Added Van Velsor: “My favorite moments were watching the children encourage each other and cheer each other on as their peers ‘took the stage’ to help tell the story.”

Image Courtesy of Canaan School District