Can a story be a gift? Can it help heal the heart of a student who had to leave a grandparent or parent behind? Can a story by a student who journeyed alone across mountains and deserts and rivers help others with similar journeys understand their own tangled emotions and triumphs and fears?
It started five years ago, when Dafny Irizarry, an ENL teacher. asked her newcomer students to post their biggest gifts of the year on the class Christmas tree. Not one wrote about a new cell phone or a new pair of sneakers. When she saw that every student wrote about a reunion with a parent or grandparent—either fulfilled or still waiting—she called in Herstory Writers Workshop, a quarter-century-old organization that had helped thousands write their stories. And Brave Journeys/ Pasos Valientes, a collection of stories by 15 young people (ages 14-17) who crossed the border by themselves, was born. Over the past four years, over 8000 copies have been circulated, several thousands on First Book’s Marketplace.
Please review these stories before moving on to the following activities:
At Herstory, we believe every story is a gift. Even a sad story, a heartbreaking story, an angry story. With this in mind, try the following activities with your students:
With this in mind, we invite you to use any combination of these activities or writing prompts to excite students. Sometimes we offer students a variety of prompts, never knowing which question will spark a reflection in a student. Other times, it’s best for our prompts to be short and direct. Be as creative as possible to adapt these activities to best address your students in real time and/or to create your own activities.
ACTIVITY:
– Most of us receive gifts on special occasions such as birthdays and holidays. Once in a while, we get a gift for no reason at all and those are often the best gifts because they come as surprises. Some of the gifts we get are not concrete things we can actually see or hold at all. They are emotions or realizations that help guide us in our lives. Was there ever a story that brought you a special emotion or guided you to do something particularly brave? What makes a story like a gift? When do you think a story is like a gift?
Who told you that story? How old were you when you heard it? Was it told in front of a lot of other people, or were you alone with the person who told it?
Do you remember where you were when you heard the story? Did it surprise you? Did it make you cry or laugh? What were you feeling or thinking after hearing this story? Did it leave you speechless, without any words at all?
Draw it. Write about it. Tell a friend about it. Is it a story you might tell to your own children when you grow up? Or is it a story you don’t ever want to share?
Include details so your audience, the reader, viewer or listener, can truly “see” it. Then describe how you felt when you got this special gift.
– Think of a story you once told someone. What was it? Who did you tell it to and why? How did the receiver react? Was their reaction what you expected or was it different from what you expected? Describe this story gift in a drawing or with words.
– What story do you think would be the best gift you could receive? What would this story be about? Who would tell this story gift? Would it be told to you or written so you would read it? Would it be from someone in particular or could it be from anyone?
Imagine getting this story as a gift!
Now, draw a picture of something from the story. Or, maybe draw yourself hearing the story or reading the story.
Draw a picture of how you would react when you received it?