Little Charlie's Dream
Playing Together

Little Charlie dreamed of going to school
Where children learn just how to be cool
In a far away place where they aren’t done
Until they have mastered just how to have fun

So there Charlie was all alone in a chair
In a far away place he didn’t know where
When all of a sudden a teacher appeared
With a room full of children; it was really weird

It’s time for attendance so listen to me
And I’ll start with A and I’ll end with Z

Hi, Adam, Benjamin, Charlie, Drew
Edgar, Franklin, Gabriel, Hugh
Isaac, Jonathan, Kyle, and Leighton
Matthew, Nicholas, Owen, and Payton
Quincy, Robby, and Stan
Todd, Ulysses and Van
Will, Xavier and Yukon Jack
The last little boy is little Zach

Then Charlie’s teacher, she started to laugh
There are 26 boys but that’s only half
There are 26 girls here seated today
So I’ll start with Z and I’ll end with A

Hello Zoe, Yolanda and Xena
Wynn, Vicki, Uma and Tina
Sarah, Ruth, Quinn and Polly
Olga, Nancy and Miss Molly
Lynne, Katie, Judy, Irene
Holly, Grace, Farrah, Eileen
Debbie, Caitlin and Brianna
The last little girl is Adrianna

Charlie’s teacher said, “I think that is all
Then reached in her bag to pull out a ball
Charlie woke up with his head in a blur
And wondered did that just really occur
workshop I gave an overview of setting,
character and the arc of the story.  My primary
focus was then on the eighth final class:  Music
and Rhythm - Putting a Story To Song.

Participants were asked to take a familiar,
traditional tune and think about how the beat
of the music complimented the syllables of the
lyrics. Participants then brainstormed and
developed simple ideas to write a short poem
using the same structure of the song they had
chosen.  Success for the twelve participants
varied but the individual conversations we all had
while the group worked were quite interesting.
The discussion afterward was terrific.

In the workshop, I shared part of this story as an
example of how I used The Alphabet Song to
generate ideas and develop something more fully.

The two alphabet poems used in this story have
also reappeared in my version of
"Rumplestiltskin" called:  "Charlie and the Gold"

Below is the photo I took of the Boston Public
Library where the 3rd Annual Boston Storytelling
Festival and my workshop were held.