|
|
|
 |
TEACHING IDEAS
|
|
| |
|
|
Illustrate As You Tell
I once read in a book, “Until I was born there were no artists in our family. After I was born, there were still no artists in the family.” That is my mantra. Artist or not, it doesn’t matter when you tell a story. If you have a chalkboard, overhead projector or piece of paper where you can draw (and I use that term loosely)—you’ve got an effective story-telling device.
As you begin to tell the story, draw simple sketches or figures. The method will keep your listeners interested and entertained.
The following is a “Once upon a time...” story or fable that demonstrates how to “Illustrate As You Tell”.
Once upon a time—long, long ago—in a lovely kingdom lived a wonderful king and queen.
The king was good, wise, smart, strong, fair, kind and....gentle. He had a beautiful castle with lots of windows, and a big wide moat.
He also had a most handsome kingdom filled with tall majestic trees, sturdy rocks, a creek and dainty flowers.
The king and queen had many, many children.
 And, more than they loved their castle, more than they loved the forests, more than anything, the king and queen loved their children.
The king liked to take his children on chariot rides and read them books.
He liked to watch them play and teach them lessons.
One day as he was watching his children play he thought of a plan that would help his children to be happy forever, if they wanted to be. He called them all together in the royal court for a magnificent meeting and said, “Hear ye, hear ye. I don’t want just one of my children to become a future king or queen, I want all who would like to be a king or queen to have their own kingdom.” The kind and gentle king continued, “I have a plan for everyone who would like to live with me forever and become a king or queen.”
All the royal children clapped and squealed with excitement. They loved their father and wanted to hear the proposal. The King went on, “We must have only chivalrous kings and queens. I have a plan to teach you to be only the best. I will take you to the nethermost corner of the kingdom and you must find your way back to me waiting here in the castle. The kingdom has many good lessons to teach you along the way and you will prove your loyalty on your journey. By the time you have returned to the castle you will be prepared to be mighty kings and queens.”
All of the royal children gave three rousing cheers for the King’s plan. The King asked for a volunteer who would go and mark a path through the kingdom to help all of the royal children find their way back to the castle. One prince stood up quickly and said he would go and lead the way. Another young prince stood up and said, “I have an idea. I will drive a chariot to the edge of the kingdom and make all of the children ride in it back to the castle. Nobody will get lost on the journey; I’ll make them stay inside the chariot. We won’t need a path.” Then he muttered, “Of course, since I’ll be driving the chariot and it was my idea, it’s only right that I get a bigger, better kingdom than the rest.”
The royal children began to think on the two princes’ offers. Most of the children thought a path with freedom to walk was the best idea and wanted the smart prince to lead the way. They didn’t want to be squished into a chariot. But, a few did want the chariot ride—an easy way to become king or queen; they didn’t care what kind of king or queen they became. The children thought and talked amongst themselves. Finally the King stood up and said, “Children, I love you enough to allow you to choose which prince you want to follow” and he called for a vote. Two thirds voted for the marked path and one third wanted chariot rides. Most of the royal children were very happy, but the losers were mad. They began to stomp their royal feel and shake their royal fists. The kind King told them they would have to leave the castle forever—he would not tolerate royal temper tantrums. The would-be-chariot driving prince stormed out of the castle with all of his voters wagging behind him.
With the decision made and the castle back in order, the King sent the Prince to mark the path.
As the prince marked the path he posted signs along the way. One read, "Stay on the path...do not walk on the grass."
On another he wrote, "Follow the arrows, do not yield to the losers."
A third sign said, "Go straight to the castle, do not get off the path to carve on the trees."
There was wise advice on each sign.
He also installed guide posts along the way. These were talking guide posts that told the little princes and princesses things like:
Be your best.
Tell the truth.
Don’t back-talk.
Say your prayers.
Be nice.
When the Prince finished marking the path, he traveled it to lead the way. The King watched from the high window in his castle and saw that it was a very good path. He began to prepare his children to be sent to the nethermost part of the kingdom so they could begin their journey back to the castle. The King gave each child a messenger pigeon
and told them that they could send messages to him any time—day or night, rain or shine. He promised he would reply so that they would never be left alone. He also offered each child a map to help them find their way.
And, last of all, he gave each child their very own lantern.
He explained the lantern would burn very bright when they stayed on the path, but that it would go dim if they started off the path or the flame would go out altogether if they got off into the rocks and trees. With that, the royal King gave each child a kiss, bade them well and told them he couldn’t wait to see them again.
The temper tantrum children—the losers—had hidden in the forests among the rocks and trees. When they saw the little princes and princesses following the path to the castle, they hissed from their hiding spots and threw pebbles at the children on the path. They teased them, made fun of them and called out, “Come over here. It’s lots of fun if you get off the path. Come play with us.”
Some of the royal children got sidetracked; they set down their road map, pigeon and lamp and followed the losers—never to be heard from again. Others left the path and soon realized they were tricked and ran straight back to the path shivering and shaking. Still other royal travelers never even listened to the hissers and booers, they were too busy reading the markers, listening to the talking guideposts, sending and receiving messages with their pigeon, studying the road map and following their lantern.
Soon many of the royal children began arriving at the castle. The King was overjoyed to see each and every one as they returned and invited them to prepare for the superb feast he had prepared. The royal children were excited to see each other and agreed that though the journey through the kingdom was difficult, they were glad they traveled the path.
To this day, there are still royal children following the path. There are only a few left to finish the journey, so the losers are hissing and booing very loudly now. They know that once all the royal children are back home with the King the path will be empty and they will be very, very lonely as they cannot enter the castle. They are trying harder than ever to persuade some of the Kings’ children to hide behind the rock and trees with them so they will be miserable, too.
But the losers will never win, for the King is in charge of his kingdom and he is watching still from his window in the castle, watching and waiting for his little royal children to return.
The End.
|
|
|
|
|
