So far we haven't been to Apache except for the Hudini show the other week.  That was really fun, and it was neat to see someone wear the persona of another person.  I learned a great deal about Hudini and some of the big events of his life.  The children seemed to love it! What a great thing to do for elementary students! I can't wait till we are able to work with the kids this afternoon. 

 

VISIT #1

 

This was the first day that we visited with the Apache kids.  My three are Eliot, Keana, and Joseph.  Eliot was gone today, so the Keana and Joseph and I worked on just getting to know each other.  At first I tried to make a story map with them to brainstorm ideas for their chataqua characters.  However, Joseph was not keen on the idea of writing (which I later discovered from Mrs. Bradshaw was because he is very insecure about his spelling).  So I decided to just try to break through and get to know the kids I was working with.  I figured that if I built a relationship with them, they would be more apt to wanting to learn and to do what I asked of them.  So we spent time talking about our lives, and I told lots and lots of funny stories to get them in the mood for story telling.  After we finished talking for a while, I asked that each of them tell me a funny story.  Surprisingly, both of them opened up and told me a story that they loved.  Joseph had originally wanted to do his aunt, but after telling me his story, he decided to be his sister.  Keana stayed with the character of her mother, but told the story from the perspective of her mother at two years of age.  This was such a successful class period mostly because we formed a relationship and I could tell that they both had fun!

 

VISIT #2

 

This visit was about getting down to buisness.  Eliot was gone again today, which dissappointed me a little. I figured since we had our characters picked out and our stories verbalized last week, that we would work on getting them written down.  Once again, Joseph protested.  So I made a deal with him: If he wrote two sentences, I would write two sentences that he could dictate for me.  Keana wrote most of her story down, but toward the end she asked if I could finish writing while she dictated.  We talked a lot about how to stay in character while writing, and to make sure and put things in that person's point of view.  At the end of this session, we worked on reading through our pieces once or twice.  At the end, I explained to them that they will not be able to read their scripts when they perform and should be working on memorizing their stories before we meet next time. 

 

VISIT #3

 

Eliot was here this time.  He is such a quiet child, so I spent a great deal of time talking to him and getting to know him.  I worked with him on brain-storming for a character. He decided to do his brother but didn't know a story to tell.  I told him to research more by asking his brother questions and then we could work on writing it down next week.  Eliot and I listenned to Joseph and Keana read through their scripts and made suggestions.  Both of them had memorized quite a bit over the week, so they were able to talk about the characters a bit and to practice reciting without the script.  We joined Vicki's group toward the end and all performed for one another, giving stars and wishes when each person had finished showing their chataqua.  The stars and wishes were really helpful, and I think seeing everyone perform helped both of my kids to feel more comfortable with the idea of doing their character in front of the class.  I explained that the next week we will work on expression and props.

 

VISIT #4

 

Joseph was absent today, but the good news is that Eliot is here! He's so shy, but very smart and a hard worker.  He wasn't able to talk to his brother over the week because his brother is in the army, but he did do some thinking about a story to tell.  We sat down and he dictated his story to me for part of it, and wrote the other part.  Keana was kind of bored, and I wasn't able to pay much attention to her because I was trying to get Eliot caught up.  I had her help me help Eliot think of ideas for his story.  After we finished his story up, I let them go outside for a little bit and play on the playground.  Both of them had a pretty bad day before I had come.  They let me know that the substitute had not been very nice to them and they were not having a good time at school with Mrs. Bradshaw gone.  So I thought a little running and playing couldn't hurt anything.  AFter that, we played some basketball.  I told them for every shot that any of us missed, we would have to say one thing to describe our character that we are working on.  After this we joined up with a couple of groups and shared our characters, doing stars and wishes afterward.

It was a great session, and I think we all had a great time.  Eliot is doing well with his story, even though it is very new.

 

Visit #5

 

We pretty much just waited for our turn to perform.  I asked to children if they wanted to go over their characters, but they had just practiced earlier, and didn't really feel like it.  I knew they had them memorized and knew how they wanted to act them out, so we just chit chatted until it was our turn.  Keana is a natural! She did such a wonderful job getting into character and remembered her whole story.  In fact, Joseph and Elliot both did a great job remembering their stories as well.  Joseph is so outgoing in our group and acts out his part so well.  However, when he gets in front of large groups he get nervous and does his character without expression and as quickly as possible.  I am interested to see how he does tonight.  Elliot is usually very shy.  When we filmed his Chataqua, he made a good effort at speaking loudly and expressively.  It still isn't where I think it could be, but he is doing great!