(upbeat music) - Bonjour learners.

I am so glad you are joining me today.

I have been strolling the beautiful streets of Paris and I found myself wondering about all the ways you can tell a story.

I love literature of all kinds but my favorites are poetry, dramas, and just good old stories.

Poetry is often a type of literature that stirs your emotions and your imagination.

Poetry makes you feel things, lots of poems rhyme, but some don't.

Poems typically use lots of descriptive words to make the reader feel like they're experiencing something right along with the author.

I have a poem right here about a beach ball.

Are you ready to hear my poem?

Here we go.

On a cool warm night a beach ball set listening to the ocean go splish and splat.

Waiting for the sun and the summer heat for all the kids and parents that it would meet.

Yet the moon above seems so still, hours of boredom the beach ball would feel.

It wanted to bounce and jump and play and watch ice cream and popsicles melt away.

It wanted to fly through the air and soar and join kiddos as they explore.

It wanted to roll on the ocean waves.

Oh, how it longed for hot summer days.

But he'd have to sit.

He'd have to wait for people to drive for a beach date.

So he sat that night in the cool, warm weather waiting for the chance to play together.

Now what did that poem make you feel?

It made me feel a little bit sad for the beach ball.

The beach ball just really wanted someone to play with and to experience the wonderfulness of the beach.

He had just had to sit there and wait for someone, anyone to play with him.

Now another kind of literature I like are stories.

Stories often tell about an event and they have characters and a setting.

They can be true stories.

Those are called non-fiction, or they can be completely made up, or fiction.

Let's read a story about a beach ball this time.

Boys and girls from all over have come to Venice Beach, California, to participate in the biggest volleyball match of the decade called the Undeflatable Beach Ball Competition.

But this isn't any ordinary match.

The best volleyball players get to keep the legendary Golden Beach Ball that has stayed inflated for 50 years.

I know what you're wondering.

How does a beach ball stay inflated after so many years have passed?

Years ago my great, great grandfather was able to win the Undeflatable Beach Ball Competition and he learned the secret of how that golden ball stays inflated.

I was curious, so I begged and I begged him to tell me.

He gave in and he said alright.

247 years ago, Chase Rodney, the best volleyball player there was, put a spell on the golden ball.

The rules are simple.

when you win it and it's in your possession, you must never let it touch the floor.

This is why they give it to you in a glass case.

Now how did that story feel different than the poem did?

When I read the poem my emotions took over but when I read the story, my curiosity took over.

I wanted to know more about that magic beach ball.

Now, since this story is all about a magical beach ball, that makes it fiction of course.

Now finally, my other favorite kind of literature is drama.

Dramas are often acted out like a play.

There are several characters who talk back and forth.

That's called written dialogue.

I have a special guest who will join me for this drama performance today.

- Oh, I'm sick of just sitting inside.

No one wants to play in the sun.

- Well you know technology has made kids want to stay inside.

They can learn so much on their computers and iPads.

- I'm much more fun than technology.

And I can talk.

- I mean, you're right about that.

What are your favorite games to play outside anyways?

- Oh I love playing volleyball.

I go really high in the sky.

I like to float on the water and catch some waves.

Sometimes people want to play kickball but it really hurts my tush.

- Oh I bet, it would hurt mine as well.

I couldn't imagine being kicked around.

- I know.

I have an idea.

Let's go to the beach before I deflate from boredom.

- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Slow your roll.

You see what I did there?

Slow your roll because you're a ball.

(laughing) Alright, well guys, we learned about three different kinds of stories.

We learned about poetry.

We learned about drama, and we learned about good old fashioned stories.

I hope you'll join me for more learning and fun with Arkansas PBS Rise and Shine.

♪ Get up off your feet ♪ ♪ It's time to rise and shine ♪