Admittedly, I’ve got a crush on the 398 section of the library.
When it came to picking a story, I knew it would be from this genre. As a K-7 teacher, I have taught lessons and units with stories from this genre and find it fantastic for integrated lessons with all subjects: science, social studies, health, math, ADST, and of course, language arts. Books and stories from the 398 section of our school library are practical and effective for analyzing story elements, so that is how I organized my emoji story:
Click here to see my EMOJI STORY
My first pick for a story is one of my all-time favourite story books, Smartest Giant in Town by Julia Donaldson, but I thought it might be too obscure for peers to guess. Moving to another Julia Donaldson favourite, I thought of The Gruffalo, but it is almost sacrilege to think that an emoji could ever substitute the beloved Gruffalo. Nor could any emoji story capture the lyrical creativity of Donaldson’s rhythmic writing.
I began by sorting through my ‘brain-folio’ of favourite 398 stories (Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, Strega Nona, How Raven Stole the Light, Three Billy Goats Gruff), but couldn’t easily connect my mental images of the characters and settings with available emojis. For example, I could not have three different size goats, recreate the candy house of a witch, or make an ugly dwarf creature that displays such evilness using only an emoji. In my mind, these can only be done through ekphrasis. The best example of this, for me, is The Little Prince. This is a story so beautifully powerful and filled with language and literary devices that no emoji could do justice. The story I decided on was, true to what Kress (2005) affirmed, following a fixed, specific order rather than having an open order or path like a website. In this, it was easy to recall and retell, especially when there were cumulative or repetitive parts. I also knew I could come up with creative ways to represent nouns and key verbs, such as parts that were sung. I taught Kindergarten for ten years and one of my favourite pre-Christmas units was a study of this character and all the different book versions and integrated lessons that went along with it.
The audience for my emoji story is ETEC 540 peers, so I was able to take liberty to use foul language emojis (middle finger); something I would not do with an audience of children, but it does help capture emotion and help with meaning making! Taking consideration of the audience is as important with images as it is with writing or oral storytelling. For example, reading or watching Disney versions of Little Mermaid or Cinderella would use very different modes and content than the original versions from Grimm or Anderson. Can you imagine reading the original Grimm version of Cinderella or Anderson’s version of Little Mermaid to five-year olds and destroying their little prince/princess dreams!?! Not to mention giving them nightmares.
I thoroughly enjoyed this process and found that even the challenges I encountered were fun puzzles to solve. The title of my story is broken down into word segments from compound words. For the rest of the story, I used one emoji to represent an object, action or concept. Verbs and adverbs were most difficult for me to find with the limited stock of emojis (such as ‘want’, ‘quick’, ‘jump’ or ‘ride’). Kress (2005) states that if there is no word then the possibility of representation and communication are ruled out. In my story, I needed the nouns ‘tail’, ‘back’ and ‘snout’; since they are not available, I just quickly killed off the character without details. I think this just reinforces the importance of picking the medium or mode; one that will be optimally accessible and understood for the audience, context and content at hand.
I considered trying to use Charades lingo (such as the ear emoji for ‘sounds like’ to represent rhyming words), but that would be confusing for those not familiar with the drama game. As well, the first word of the title (displayed by a red-haired fellow) is a slang word that might not be common to all readers. Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory reminds us that language and learning are cultural and everyone brings their own sets of knowledge and background of environmental influence to situations for meaning-making. One of the reasons I enjoy the 398 section of our library is the global diversity of stories, of which fosters ethnorelativism.
I am looking forward to exploring these emoji puzzles in the blogs of ETEC 540 peers. Looking through some already, it is apparent that meaning-making needs to have context and experience connection. For example, looking at Rebecca’s post, I just finished reading that book last week. I deciphered the emojis then practically jumped up and yelled BINGO!
Kress (2005), Gains and losses: New forms of texts, knowledge, and learning. Computers and Composition, Vol. 2(1), 5-22.
Hi Valerie,
I read your theme and thought it was saying there was no swearing, mental illness? and no evil or horror involved (although I think fairytales can be quite horrifying). Is it a warning? or rating like G for general audiences? I didn’t know the call numbers for fairytales but I suspect 398.2 is just that. See the boy sing and run along had me stumped but as soon as I saw the fox’s tail, I remembered a fox offering a ride on his back. Still not clear until I discovered the title by recognizing the character in the plot. The boy is a “ginger”! A Ginger bread boy? Very clever. We really do need to have some ability to connect to a story or have an association to it similar to a hyperlink. That one scene gave me the clue. I had no idea what the box was and didn’t recognize it as bread.
I’ve added my whole post now, so maybe it will be a little better to read 🙂 I’ve added in a word or two about Vygotsky and how slang, experiences and culture play out.
I chose between the loaf and the baguette for the bread emoji, but my poor eyesight could see the loaf better! How is that for academic decision making?!?!
Thanks for reading my post, Rebecca.
Hi Valerie! I thoroughly enjoyed your emoji story and your post, specifically your reference to Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory. I think association and experiences are so important when discussing and trying to explain language. For example, if you don’t know of the Gingerbread Man, or aren’t into fairytales, this could become quite difficult to understand and decipher. What’s also interesting is that although I am quite aware of the G-man and all his various stories, I was recently introduced to the Ninjabreadman and it has since become one of my children’s all-time favourite stories to read.
https://youtu.be/nRaxlAjp7bE
Sasha,
Thanks for reading my post and for your thoughtful comments. I just added Ninjabread Man to my ‘to buy’ list for our school library for next year! I wish I was still teaching Kindergarten to add that to my personal collection. Thanks for the sharing that with me…I loved it!
Valerie
Valerie,
I absolutely love the layout of your emojis, even though I couldn’t figure out the book! Then, when reading your description “the first word of the title (displayed by a red-haired fellow) is a slang word that might not be common to all readers” I got it! After that, it was so nice to revisit the emojis and “read” through the story now that I’d figure out the key!
😀