In honor of Indigenous People’s Day, a day to celebrate those who lived on the land before us, first-grade students learned a “game” that Indigenous peoples once played, “Story Stones.” This “game” was played to help tell stories and to help share & memorize important knowledge, like the directions to a favorite hunting spot. The original game was modified to fit the first-grade class, but still fun and beneficial in teaching students about indigenous people and their traditions, working on sequence of events & listening skills, and sharing their newest narratives with their writing partners.

Before playing the game, students wrote a narrative using the writing process in Lucy Calkin’s writing curriculum. The first step in this process is to think of an idea, plan it and sketch it out. Students numbered three pages in their notebooks, thought of a small event (“seed story”) from their own life, and touched each page while thinking of their idea. Then, they began sketching the beginning, middle, and end on each of the three pages. Next, students wrote their rough drafts, using their sketches as a guide.

After writing the rough draft, students conference with their writing partner to discuss details that may have been missed, answer questions a reader may have, and provide support before moving to the final draft. To share their story with their writing partner this week, students transferred their story to rocks. They went out in nature and gathered the rocks for their story, as the Indigenous people would have done.

Next, students drew a symbol or simple sketch on their stones to represent the beginning, middle, and end of their narrative.

Then it was time to play the “game”! Students partnered up and read their rough drafts while placing their rocks in sequential order for their partners to see. Partners listened and observed. Once the story was finished, the stones were mixed up for the partner to retell in sequence.

After playing the game, partners asked questions, and suggestions were made with helpful and kind intent. Students were then able to return to their rough drafts to edit & revise. However, some had so much fun, they decided to test their creativity by mixing up their stones with that of their partners and come up with new stories.

It was an honor learning and teaching this game from the Indigenous people, connecting with nature, and seeing the young people of today use a tradition from history to share their own story.

https://www.t8gp.com/post/story-stones-an-indigenous-game-with-many-lessons

https://www.unitsofstudy.com/k5writing/