I recently was preparing for a storytelling concert in which the theme was kindness and Bucket Filling.  For those of you that don’t know what Bucket Filling is, it is based on a book by Carol McCloud, Have You Filled a Bucket Today? To fill a bucket one does things that makes others feel good about themselves. It can be anything from complimenting them to just smiling at them. You can fill your own bucket also. That usually happens by filling someone else’s bucket. The opposite of a bucket filler is a bucket dipper. That happens when you take away from someone’s good feelings. Bullies are bucket dippers.

With that as the theme for my program I did my usual research to find stories that I already tell and new ones that fit the theme. One of those new stories I chose was ‘More Than a Match’ by Aaron Shepard. Aaron gives permission for storytellers to tell this story. The story takes place on the road between the cities of Here and There. A giant blocks the road. When the king’s most powerful warriors are defeated by the giant, the Wise One discovers the giant’s true power (the giant’s father is the wind and mother a curved mirror so he shows whatever he sees reflected back) and through kindness learns how to defeat the giant and get his help. Aaron states on his website that this story is suited for ages 5-12 and adult.

As is my usual practice when learning and telling new material, I go to my local schools and practice on willing classes. Since this performance was going to be for grades 1-2 and 3-4, I decided to practice on classes within that age range.

The first class I practiced with was a 3rd grade class. After telling the story the teacher asked the class how the giant was defeated and with a little prompting was able to get the mirror analogy from a student. My second class was also a 3rd grade class. They however could not get the analogy and therefore did not understand the underlying meaning of the story. There were two reasons that they didn’t get the story. One was that the analogy of a mirror was probably too abstract for them. And two, I used a wrong term when describing how the giant helped the Wise One.
Continue reading To tell or not to tell? – that is the question…