Storytellingby: Laura Trellue

Storytelling “Storytelling is an ancient profession, and

these stories are among our oldest possessions. For many years before the white man ever came to our homeland these legends were told over and over, and handed down from generation to generation. They were our books, our literature, and the memories of the storytellers were the leaves upon which they were written.”

Chief Standing Bear, Ponca Indian chief

“If you don’t know the trees you may be lost in the forest, but if you don’t know the stories you may be lost in life.” a Siberian Elder

“There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.” Ursula K. LeGuin, author

“A writer’s brain is like a magician’s hat. If you’re going to get anything out of it, you have to put something in it first.” Louis L’Amour, author

“People did not wait until there was writing before they told stories and sang songs.”

Albert Bates Lord, author

Why Storytelling It is empowering for a child to be able to express his or

her thoughts and feelings through oral language. Storytelling can be a tool for practicing both listening

and verbal skills. Teachers can effectively model interesting, expressive

language for students to emulate. New vocabulary can be introduced and easily

comprehended within a story’s context. Diverse ways in which language is used can be

depicted in folktales, including instructions, recipes, secrets, riddles, warnings, questions, and explanations.

Imagination can generate language. Comprehension, or the ability to make sense of a

story’s plot, is facilitated by being able to mentally map the story’s main events.

www.storyarts.org

“Students who search their memories for details about an event as they are telling it orally will later find those details easier to capture in writing. Writing theorists value rehearsal, or prewriting, stage of composing. Sitting in a circle and swapping personal or fictional tales is one of the best ways to help writers rehearse.”

National Council of Teachers of English

“Listeners encounter both familiar and new language patterns through story. They learn new words or new contexts for already familiar words. Those who regularly hear stories, subconsciously acquire familiarity with narrative patterns and begin to predict upcoming events. Learners who regularly tell stories become aware of how an audience affects a telling, and they carry that awareness into their writing.”

National Council of Teachers of English

Activities for Teaching Storytelling

Favorite Object* - Have students bring a favorite object or picture of that object. Children will name the object, explain where or how they got the object, say why it is their favorite object. (Later they can develop a story about the object.)

React Game* - (helps with visualization) Teacher will read a phrase like the one listed below. The students visualize themselves in that situation and react with facial expression and movement (and dialogue when appropriate).

Every Child a Storyteller: a Handbook of Ideas

My Favorite Place - Students will visualize their favorite place and describe them to partners using as many sensory words as possible. The partners will tell the original tellers what they saw as the tellers describe their favorite places. Then partners switch.

Understanding Character - Teacher to tell or read a well-known story (i.e. Red Riding Hood). Then ask some of the following questions:

traits - What kind of person is Red Riding Hood? What kind of person is the wolf?

motivation - What motivates each character?relation to other characters - How is Red related

to wolf, mother, grandma, etc.?purpose - What is the role of each character in

the story? Every Child a Storyteller: a Handbook of Ideas

What do they Look Like? After teacher tells or reads a story, have students write or draw description of a character in the story. They should include voice, physical characteristics and qualities.

Guess the Action* - Write activities on slips of paper and place them in a box. Have each child draw one slip of paper and act out the activity on that slip of the class. Have the other students guess the activity.

Guess the Object* - Write the names of objects on slips of paper and place them in a box. Each child draws a slip and becomes the object. The other children guess the object.

Guess the Creature - Write names of creatures on slips of paper and place then in a box. Have students draw slips and act out the creatures while the others guess.

Every Child a Storyteller: a Handbook of Ideas

How You Say It - (helps with voice) Divide students into pairs and have a list of ways to say something (i.e. with sadness, with surprise) and a list of words or sentences to say in that voice. Students take turns playing the game.

Park Bench* - Two students sit in two chairs placed at the front of the room. The other students sit in a semicircle facing chairs. The two chairs represent a park bench where two people meet and carry on a conversation. Students draw cards indicating a mood or personality trait they should assume. Students stay in character as they talk with their bench mate. After a while a third student comes up and taps one of the players on the shoulder and replaces that person. Play continues until all have participated.

Every Child a Storyteller: a Handbook of Ideas

Adding Dialogue - Teacher tells a story without the dialogue. Talk about how the characters would have different dialogue. Have students develop the dialogue for each of the characters and add as the teacher tells the story. (i.e. “Once there was a little girl named Little Red Riding Hood. One day her dear mother said”: (add dialogue.))

The Magic Storytelling Stick* - Create a magic storytelling stick. Have the class select two main characters, three sensory words, and emotional feelings. You can have a list ready or have them make up their own characters. The object is to create a story that eventually includes all the characters, sensory words and feelings that were selected. Teacher starts by holding the stick and begins story. The stick is passed as each student adds two or three sentences to the story. Teacher or another student can end story.E

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First Sentences - The teacher will develop a folder full of first sentences. The sentences can be used with the storytelling stick or for writing. Students should be encouraged to add to the first-sentence folder.

Last Sentences - The students are given the last sentence in a story and are to build a story around the sentence. This is more difficult than the first sentence activity.

Just the Facts (adding details) - Have several stories with the detail removed. Put one story on the overhead and work as a class to develop interesting and appropriate details. Have students try the exercise with a partner or small group.

Every Child a Storyteller: a Handbook of Ideas

Just the Facts - Rumpelstiltskin• Miller very poor - one day brags to King that daughter can spin straw

into gold.• King demands she be brought to castle and put to the rest.• Girl put in a room with spinning wheel and spindle - if straw not spun

to gold in morning she will die.• Little man appears - does work - she pays with necklace.• Next morning King astonished and greedy - puts her in larger room

with same command.• Little man appears, does work, and is paid with her ring.• King takes her to a larger room to spin straw or die. If she is

successful, he will marry her.• Little man appears - miller’s daughter promises her first born child.• In a year King and Queen have child - little man comes to collect.• Queen upset so little man gives her three days to guess her name.• Messengers go out to bring back all the names.• Each day guesses get more bizarre.• On the final day a messenger says a little man is dancing around a

fire chanting.• Queen guesses and Rumpelstiltskin is so mad he stomps his foot and

disappears deep into the earth.

Every Child a Storyteller: a Handbook of Ideas

Other Storytelling Activities Sequence a story using a story map, an

outline, a flow chart or a time line. Explore spontaneous speech by making up

oral poetry. Create a story corner in the classroom where

stories are read or told by both teacher & student

Have a story exchange week. Make a class book of favorite folktale and send

to other classes. Have students collect stories from their

parents or grandparents. Find stories in songs.

www.storyarts.org

Storytelling Skills RubricWhen telling a story, an effective storyteller

demonstrates the following traits: Voice Mechanics: speaks with an appropriate

volume for the audience to hear Face/Body/Gesture: expressively uses non-

verbal communication to clarify meaning of text Focus: concentration is clear, eye contact with

audience Characterization: dialogue is believable to listener

and differentiated from each character Use of Space: storyteller relaxed and confident

Pacing: story is presented efficiently and keeps listeners’ interests

www.storyarts.org

Beginner I ntermediate Profi cient Accomplished

Voice

Mechanics

Facial

Expression

Body

Language &

Gesture

Focus

Characterization

Use of

Space

Timing/ Pacing

www.storyarts.org

Teacher Books on Storytelling Bauer, Caroline Feller. New Handbook for Storytellers

with Stories, Poems, Magic, and More. American Library Association, 1993.

Hamilton, Martha and Mitch Weiss. Children Tell Stories, a Teaching Guide. Richard C. Owen publishers, Inc., 1990.

Isabell, Rebecca and Shirley C. Raines. Tell It Again! Easy-to-Tell Stories with Activities for Young Children. Gryphon House, 2000.

Kinghorn, Harriet R. and Mary Helen Pelton. Every Child a Storyteller: a Handbook of Ideas. Teacher Ideas Press, 1991.

MacDonald, Margaret Read. The Story-teller’s Start-Up Book. August House Publishers, Inc., 1993.

Yolen, Jane. Favorite Folktales from Around the World. Pantheon Books, 1986.

Storytelling WebsitesStoryArts

http://www.storyarts.org

Lesson Plans & Activities and links to stories provided

National Storytelling Network

http://www.storynet.org/

Tells you about the organization and offers more links to other storytelling sites.

Storytelling Games

http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/storygames.html

Offers three games that allow students to develop storytelling techniques.

Houston Storytellers Guild

Everyone has a story!Monthly- Story Time

7 p.m. the 3rd Wednesday of each month.

Borders Books, W. Alabama @ Kirby

Our gatherings are for sharing stories, promoting storytelling, and having fun.

Want to join a storytelling group?

We have a great one here in Houston.

http://www.houstonstorytellers.org/index.html

Accommodations and Modifications

GT and AP students: Students to make up own stories meeting four

basic criteria 1. Use descriptive language and nonverbal expression 2. Make sure plot of story is clear 3. Create beginning, middle, and end 4. Work to keep audience interested

Special Needs Students: Students can use non verbal in pantomime 1. Pantomime how you would look if you were feeling: angry,

curious, sad, cold, sleepy 2. Pantomime a short scene; You eat spaghetti and it slips off

your fork. 3. In small groups, pantomime a scene; group jumping rope.

References Block, Cathy Collins. Teaching the Language Arts.

Allyn and Bacon, 1997. Chaney, Ann L. and Tamara L. Burk. Teaching Oral

Communications in Grades K-8. Allyn and Bacon, 1998.

Christensen, Patti. (2004). PattiStory. Retrieved 16 July 2005. http://www.pattistory.com

Forest, Heather. (2000). Story Arts on Line. Retrieved 6 July 2005. http://www.storyarts.org

National Council of Teachers of English. (2005). Teaching storytelling: A position statement from the Committee on Storytelling. Retrieved 9 May 2005. http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/curr

Schwartz, Marni. “Connecting to language through story”, Language Arts, 64(6), October 1987, pp. 603-610.

“We are lonesome animals. We spend all of our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say and to feel, “Yes, that is the way it is, or at least that is the way I feel it.” You’re not as alone as you thought.”

John Steinbeck, author