::: the ghost on Peterson’s farm
We have been running workshops on Engaging Boys lately and when discussing with other teachers what boys enjoy about literacy, we all came to the conclusion that they love action, props and joining in with the story. What better way than through a tell and draw story?
We went to good old Youtube and found one we felt the boys would love – it is a bit scary, they can join in with the actions and sound effects and there is a surprise right at the end! What fun!
It is called “The Ghost on Peterson’s farm”. We have changed the words a little to make it a bit more Aussie!
One day a boy called Dave went to visit his grandfather. He lived in a big house.
He went into his grandfather’s study and looked up on a shelf where he saw a very interesting book. He took it down from the shelf and a piece of paper fell out. Dave knew straight away what it was – a treasure map! He could tell it was a treasure map because when he looked closely he could see …
that there was Platypus Creek …
down here was Turtle Lake …
and over here was Growling Dingo Mountain.
Now marked with an X right here was Old Man Peterson’s farm!
Old Man Peterson had been dead a looooooong time and Dave knew that if he went there and started digging, he would find Old Man Peterson’s treasure. So that night when it got dark, he packed some supplies and grabbed a shovel.
Off he went to Old Man Peterson’s farm. “Where shall I start first? I know … the barn.”
So he went off to the barn and started to dig a hole right there.
He started to dig, and dig!!! Then he heard, “Oooooooooo, ooooooooooo.”
“What’s that?”
“Oooooooooooo, oooooooooo.”
“Oh, it must have been my imagination, I didn’t really hear anything.” So Dave continued to dig, and dig and dig.
“Ooooooo, oooooooooooo.”
“OH, I heard it again!!!!!! That must be the ghost of Old Man Peterson, I just know it is! I’m going to get a stick.”
He grabbed a stick and shook it and said, “Don’t you come near me, Old Man Peterson, don’t you come near me!” “ I think he’s gone away now – I’ll get back to digging.” So he went off to the other side of the barn …
…and started to dig and dig and dig. Then there it was again! “Ooooooooooo, oooooooooooooo!”
Just then the moon came out from behind the clouds.
Now Dave was sure he could see the ghost walking back and forth, back and forth. “Oooooo, ooooooo!”
“Aaaaaaagh,” cried Dave,“Aaaaaaaaagh!”
He ran to the end of the barn, went into the toolshed…
and peeped through a knothole.
He could still see the ghost moving back and forth, back and forth, “Oooooo, oooooo!”
Dave stayed there for quite a while when suddenly it all went quiet.
Dave started to go out the door …
But then there it was again, “Ooooooooo, ooooooooooooo!” …
“Aaaaaaaaagh!”
Dave ran back inside!
and spent the night looking out through another knothole.
Dave waited and waited and finally the sun came up. It was a beautiful, gorgeous sunny day …
so Dave opened up the door of the shed, threw down the stick …
and ran as fast as he could this way home. BUT! … If he had turned around and looked Dave would have seen what he thought was …
the Ghost on Peterson’s farm!
I love this idea. I too struggle with keeping my boys engaged. Thanks for this wonderful reminder that they learn differently and it is our job to meet them where THEY are and not expect them to conform.
::: It’s so true Debbie! As the saying goes … if they don’t learn the way we teach, we must teach the way they learn … and it’s so much fun!
how fun! Well, you definitely held MY attention!
::: Hee … hee … hee … It is a goodie Pam!
you had me hooked as well really wondering where the picture was going…i will give this a go for sure, are there more like this? i can see once you had done one there would be requests!!!!
::: Cheree here is some information we have found so far.
A draw and tell book some of our friends have been ordering on line is available here …
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9781877732010/Draw-Me-a-Story-Volume-I
Down the bottom on the left of this link is a picture of an apple tree which reads Draw-Along Stories. Click on the red type for a few stories in pdf format …
http://www.sewwhat4ucorp.com/teacherresources2006.htm
And here are a couple of draw and tell stories clip we found on you tube …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QgAISC-heA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWeLpZX3l5o
Thank you for this – waaay back when I was doing my teaching prac the supervising teacher had many of these type of stories and I wish I had written them down. I’ve been wanting to find some for preschool and now I can get started.
::: There was another one we used to do about a little old woman who went out collecting sticks etc, etc, etc, … and the final picture was a cat BUT like you Jenny we didn’t write it down. Now we’ll have to go hunting for it.
Ooooooh! I could not figure out where this was going! On your prompt, I recently tried one off these with my 2.5 year old. It didn’t fully hold her attention and I wondered if the story was lacking, my storytelling skills were lacking, or if she wasn’t developmentally ready for it. Do you recommend starting these at a particular age?
::: Rachelle, generally we have done these stories with our 4 and 5 year old children however if we alter the story to be more relevant to the younger children, for example use familiar names and places we have managed to keep the attention of the odd 2 year old. We have another great story idea that the 2 year olds love. We call it a cut and tell story. We will post about that for you next week!
what fun! cool idea using a storyboard like that
::: It is lots of fun Cathy!
What a great story, and I know the old woman and her cat story – think it might be in a Useful Book from Playschool – or was – I will hunt it out for you. Thanks too, for the links for other draw and tell stories. Louise
::: Thanks for that Louise. We’ve just had a look and you are right, that story is in the 1979 edition … good remembering!
[...] The Ghost on Peterson’s Farm {Irresistable Ideas for Play Based Learning} [...]
I just read and did this with my Kindergarten class. I gave each one of them a piece of paper and had them draw the “map” as I read the story. They were amazed when they got through and saw they had drawn a cow!
::: Oh Sandra WHAT FUN!!!
