Staples Storytime

Today, we were thrilled to welcome students from Staples High School for “Staples Storytime!”

Students in Kim Herzog’s Gender, Sex & Identity: Analysis of the Self class came to read original stories to our Kindergarten students. For their final assessment, the high school students wrote and illustrated their own picture books to convey positive messages regarding gender. They read these original stories to the Kindergarten classes and facilitated discussions about each book’s message.

How did the Staples students prepare to write their picture books? They have been studying informational texts that discuss how children’s literature can impact its readers. The articles presented research about gender imbalances, gender stereotypes, and gender roles found in traditional picture books. The Staples students studied examples of children’s literature, such as The Paper Bag Princess, and William’s Doll, that present positive messages about gender to children. Finally, they wrote original stories to read to the Kindergarten students. The students used all of their learning from the course to generate topics and ideas for their kindergarten audience. Their stories had messages they felt were important to share with the Kindergarten students and messages that they also felt were lacking in children’s literature. Check out some pictures below:

After the session, Kindergarten students returned to their classrooms and discussed what they had learned from the stories. They charted their new learning for the high schoolers. See below:

I encourage you to ask your child about today’s Staples Storytime!