Celebrate the Chinese New Year: 2024 the Year of the (Wood) Dragon

 

"A fisherboy dived into the water
and brought up a pearl from beneath
the chin of a black dragon."
The Dragon Princess
from The Chinese Fairy Book
by Richard Wilhelm
Artist George W. Hood, 1921

"I do not care what comes after; I have seen the dragons on the wind of morning."
- Ursula K. Le Guin, The Farthest Shore

The Chinese New Year begins on Saturday, February 10, 2024, marking the start of a new lunar year and 2024 is the Year of the Wood Dragon.

The Wood Dragon is a symbol of power, nobility, and success, representing honor, courage, and tenacity. People born in the Year of the Dragon are said to be ambitious, energetic, and charismatic, inspiring others with their passion and enthusiasm. They are considered to be natural leaders, confident and unafraid to take risks, making them magnetic personalities in social and professional circles.
https://www.almanac.com/content/chinese-new-year-chinese-zodiac

 

STORIES

 

The Dragon - Italy
http://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/Italian_folktale_22.html

The Dragon and the Prince - Serbia

http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/sfs/sfs57.htm

The Devil and His Grandmother – Brothers Grimm

https://fairytalez.com/the-devil-and-his-grandmother/   

 

The Dragon of Ghent - Belgium

http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/tl/tl08.htm

 

The Dragon of the North – Estonia http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/reading/estonia/pages/06.htm

 

The Dragon Princess - China
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/29939/29939-h/29939-h.htm#XLV

 

The Dragon’s Tail – Germany
https://fairytalez.com/the-dragons-tail/

 

The Four Dragons - Asia

http://worldoftales.com/Asian_folktales/Asian_Folktale_6.html

How the Dragon Came to Be - China

http://www.pitara.com/talespin/folktales/online.asp?story=47

How the Dragon Was Tricked - Greece
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5615/pg565-images.html#link2H_4_0003

The Four Dragons - Asia
https://www.worldoftales.com/Asian_folktales/Asian_Folktale_6.html#gsc.tab=0

The Lambton Worm - England
http://tinyurl.com/3krfcz7

The Princess and the Dragon - Serbia
https://www.pookpress.co.uk/the-prince-and-the-dragon/


STORY COLLECTIONS

 

Chinese Fairy Tales by William Elliot Griffis, 1919 - The Golden Dragon ofthe Boringue on page 188 and Turk, Turban, Tulip and Dragon, page 166  To read these tales and download the  book for free go to
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/67256/67256-h/67256-h.htm 

The Serene Dragon - This incredible site is sure to slay you! Over 544 dragon tales listed by country and region, with origins, and articles; you will be breathing fire in no time at all. Unfortunately, the site is no longer online but you may still access the pages via the Wayback Machine at this link:
https://web.archive.org/web/20050205214117/http://www.theserenedragon.net/home.html

 

Story-Lovers.com –Books, stories and more, all related to those amazing mythical creatures.
Jackie crossed over a few years ago but her incredible work lives on, accessible via the Wayback Machine here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20100120170730/http://www.story-lovers.com/listsdragonstories.html

 

BOOKS

Bookroo – Dragon books for a variety of ages.
https://bookroo.com/explore/books/topics/dragons

CRAFTS AND ACTIVITIES

 

15 Chinese Dragon Crafts for Kids to Celebrate Chinese or Lunar New Year

https://happytoddlerplaytime.com/15-chinese-dragon-crafts-for-kids-to-celebrate-chinese-or-lunar-new-year/

Dragon Coloring Pages

http://www.coloring.ws/dragons1.htm

Handprint Dragon Puppet
https://www.craftsbyria.com/handprint-dragon-puppet-chinese-new-year-craft/

 

CURRICULUM

 

Adventures with Dragons, Gods and Giants – A grade three unit connected to the Core Curriculum Standards.
https://studylib.net/doc/18517051/fantastic-adventures-with-dragons--gods--and 

Edsitment.neh.gov – Lions, Dragons and Nian: Animals of the Chinese New Year – Curriculum grades K-5.
https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/lions-dragons-and-nian-animals-chinese-new-year

 

Education.theiet.org – This is curriculum from the United Kingdom for ages 7 to 11 with downloadable activity sheets.

https://education.theiet.org/primary/teaching-resources/chinese-dragon/

We Are Teachers – Curriculum to complement the 2024 Chinese Lunar New Year.

https://www.weareteachers.com/lunar-new-year-for-kids/

 

SOMETHING EXTRA

 

British Folklore – Ten Dragons

https://norfolktalesmyths.wordpress.com/2018/03/28/british-folklore-ten-dragons/

Draconian.com - The history of dragons in various cultures, short legends about dragons and more.

http://www.draconian.com/whatis/whatis.htm

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

 

Karen Chace 2024 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission, please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.

 

Story Spoons: An Interactive Storytelling Game

You never know when inspiration will strike! I am always trying to think of new, interactive games to get my storytelling students up and moving, while advancing their storytelling skills.

Last year I found an Egg Relay Game at our local Christmas Tree Shop. I bought it thinking I would find a use for it in my storytelling program and tucked it away. Finally, last week I dusted it off, brought it in to class and Story Spoons © was born!

Setting Up the Game

This is an easy one, requiring little effort. I split my class of eighteen (one was absent that day) into three lines, six students each. I placed three chairs at the front of the class, spaced equally apart, a distance away from the students.

Playing the Game

• The first person in each line was given a spoon and egg.
• I instructed them that they had to tell their story aloud as they navigated the space.
• When I said, “Go” the student at the head of each line walked as fast as they could, holding out the spoon and egg in front of them (they couldn’t touch it with their other hand) to the chair in front of them.
• If they dropped the egg they had to return to the line and start again.
• They rounded the chair, back to their relay line, passed off the spoon and egg, and the next person repeated the journey until everyone had a turn.
• The first relay line to complete the task won!

We played this game four times and they were hooting and hollering, cheering each other on every time.

Object of the Game

At the end I asked the students, “What does this game have to do with storytelling?”

Jaelyn replied, “It helps us with our pacing.” Not exactly what I was thinking of, but she was right!
Keira replied, “It taught us how to concentrate on our story.”  Yes!

Next time I will add more obstacles they have to go around to make it a bit more challenging. The game was deemed a keeper by all of the students! Please feel free to use this idea in your work. I only ask for the courtesy of attribution.

If you are looking for more fun, interactive games, and classroom worksheets to complement your storytelling work, please consider my award-winning book, Story by Story .

 

 

 

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links. At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

 

Karen Chace 2024 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission, please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I appreciate your support and personal integrity.