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Principle 2

Encouraging story as a meaning-making process to understand self and world.

Children make sense of the world through story as a process of making meaning and bringing significance to their everyday experiences in families and communities. Story captures the richness and nuances of human life within particular sociocultural contexts. When children are surrounded by stories in many different forms at home and at school, they learn about literacy as well as how to make sense of their lives and world. Our teacher candidates explore ways of encouraging families to tell stories about their history and traditions in order to share their funds of knowledge with children and with the classroom. Stories also immerse children in the lives of people in diverse cultural communities to explore the multiple ways in which people live and think around in their community and world.

Family Story Backpacks
Connecting families & the classroom through story
Reader Response Strategies
Strategies encouraging children to respond to texts
Neighborhood Memory Map
Story as Meaning Making
Decisions about Family Story Backpacks
A Framework for Implementing a Family Story Backpack Plan
Family Story Backpacks
Guidelines for selecting materials
Children's Book Search