Take 3: Fun with Baba Yaga

For my third lesson, we talked about how villians try to keep heroes from succeeding. I told the story of Baba Yaga and the students loved it! They were asking for more stories about Baba Yaga for weeks afterwards. This was the first time that I had brought props for a story that I told in their class, and I feel like it added so much. I think that I am going to incorporate that into a lot of my future storytelling, especially when I am telling for children.

One thing that worked really well was that when I got to the class, the students were still at recess. Teaching right after recess worked really well for me because it gave me time to get set up and go over a few things with my classroom teacher before the students returned. When I was getting my props set up, I noticed a rug that was a map of the world.

With permission from Mrs. Tarpenning, I moved it to the front of the class. I was able to point out some of the different places that some of our stories had come from throughout the semester and have a storytelling place with set boundaries. Since I was moving around and using props for this story, making sure that I had adequate space helped a lot because the kids wanted to get as close as they could in their excitement. Whenever they started inching onto the rug, I just reminded them to keep the storytelling space clear so that the teller has room tto move and no one would get hurt. They would immediately scooch back and clear the space. It worked great having boundaries that the students could see so that they knew what the expectations were.

I also really liked the way that Teresa included a cool down in the lesson. I kept that because I thought that it would be really useful to help the students return to themselves and calm down after such involved actions. I hope that it was helpful to my teacher when transitioning back into her lesson plans for the rest of the day.

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Storytelling Lesson #3

Villains Try to Keep Heroes from Succeeding

Overview:

Villains in stories throw into sharp relief the goodness and strength of heroes. Not only do villains represent humans who thwart noble hopes and dreams, but also frequently villains represent natural and supernatural powers. These powers are mysteriously at the villain’s beck and call.

A dramatic, colorfully drawn villain character ensures the reader’s allegiance to the hero and heightens the story’s conflict. The vanquished villain provides a satisfying climax to the story.

A good storyteller uses his/her body, voice and mind to make the story come to life. And a few well-chosen props don’t hurt either.

Objectives:

• Students will compare and contrast heroes and villains.
• Students will participate in the sound and motion of the Villain story
• Students will use their bodies, voices and minds to create and portray a villain’s encounter with a hero.

Materials needed:

• Poster or projections of Heroes from Lesson Two
• Correlating pictures of Villains for all the fictional Heroes.
• World map
• Bandana or napkin
• Small towel
• Small comb
• Mortar and pestle (Cookware or import stores are a good source of a small inexpensive set)
• White board and markers
• “Baba Yaga, The Witch”, Usborne Stories From Around the World, retold by Heather Amery, Usborne Publishing Ltd., London, 2000, or other Villain story - Memorized

Vocabulary:

Villain, “bad guys”, antagonist, Russia, mortar, pestle, loom, weave, Baba Yaga

Procedure:

1. Present the poster from last week, along with the correlating pictures. Invite the students to match the “bad guys” with the “good guys”. Briefly review the concept that heroes overcome obstacles. Introduce the word antagonist , and use it throughout the lesson.
2. Ask “If heroes overcome obstacles, what do villains do?” After discussion, write the following on the white board: Villains try to stop heroes. Ask students to identify the ways the villains on the poster try to stop their correlating heroes.
3. Hold up a picture of Baba Yaga. Describe this fictional character as a character that exists in Russian stories. (Refer to map.) Detail the characteristics of this character, including her iron teeth, her house on chicken feet, her fence of bones, her herd of skinny cows, and her manner of traveling in a mortar and pestle. Use your mortar and pestle to describe the way Baba Yaga travels. (“Not like a Halloween witch on a broom. The mortar sort of jumps and bumps, along as the witch rides inside, steering as if her pestle was an oar.”)
4. Note: At this point the students will be eager for the story and will be asking to see the book. Tell them today that you are going to share the story from your head. Remind them not all stories are written down in books. We also carry stories in our heads and in our hearts.
5. Indicate you will use a few things to help tell the story. Get out the bandanna, towel and comb, and lay them ready to use as props. Refer to them as your props.
6. Tell the story . Be sure to use your voice and body to create the characters and dramatic tension Add sound and motion as you see fit, inviting the students to participate, as you have in the past two lessons. The more expressive your telling, the more the children will respond dramatically later in the lesson. Remember you are helping them create images in their minds that they will later use to create a full character.
7. Additionally, use the bandanna to wrap an imaginary piece of cheese. Use the comb and towel as they are called for in the story.
8. Invite the students to find a space on the floor where they will be able to stand without touching anyone or anything. Call upon them to use their common sense, not to stand near equipment, doors, walls and furniture.
9. Ask students to form themselves into a small ball on the floor. Tell them no voices should be working at this point. (“Silence, please.”)
10. Ask students to make a picture in their minds of Baba Yaga. Describe the character vividly so that the student can create a clear picture.
11. Instruct students that when you start counting, they are to “grow” into Baba Yaga, to show you what the picture in their brains looks like. Tell them they are to use their bodies and minds to create this villain. Tell them to begin growing on“1” and to freeze on “10”, so that you can “get a good look at them.”
12. Begin counting. If children exercise good creative effort and control, finish counting and say “Freeze.” Look carefully, commenting on their good work.
13. If students flounder, return them to the small ball and begin again. If students are excessively shy, ask them to keep their eyes shut until you say “10.”
14. Be sure to be encouraging, and not dictatorial as they create their witch characters. Side-coach them as they are creating: Ask “Do I see iron teeth?…oh, is she really old?… Are your hands like Baba Yaga’s?…Your mouth?…Your legs?” Students will change as you point out various details. That’s fine as long as they are creating their own work, and not copying someone else’s characterization.
15. Now, invite each witch to step into her mortar, pick up her pestle and “Bump, bump, bump,” through the forest, chasing Misha. Remind students that they may touch NO ONE while traveling. Be firm about this, or you will have kids behaving in an unsafe manner. (You may invite them to bumb around and pretend to travel within their own little space. "Remember to stay in your space.")
16. “I wonder what Baba Yaga would yell at Misha? Go ahead and tell Misha how mad you are at her! Show with your face and your voice how frustrated you are that she got away!” Encourage students to respond.
17. “Now Freeze! In some stories the witch is destroyed when she melts. When I say “go” you will silently melt into a big puddle, again, touching no one and nothing else but the floor. Ready, go. And meeelllt, meeellllt,and…mellllllllllt.”
18. Good. Please, silently, take three quick breaths through your mouth, and one out your mouth….Again…Again. You may sit up and go back to you seats.”

Assessment:

• Did students use their voices, minds, and bodies to create the Villain character?
• Were students able to correlate villains with their heroes, and participate in a discussion of comparison and contrast?

*Lesson plan courtesy of Teresa Love, adapted slightly by Taylor Stroupe