Social Studies Instruction Through Storytelling

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Social Studies
Instruction Through
Storytelling

• Susan Cothran
• Riverview Elementary School
• EDUC 655
• Inquiry Project 2006
• Stories are the creative conversion of life
  itself into a more powerful, clearer, more
  meaningful experience. They are the currency of
  human contact. Robert McKee

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• Strategies for Incorporating Social Studies into
  the Classroom

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• Students can dress up like historical figures,
  narrating specific events in history seen through
  the eyes of a person during that time period such
  as a soldier, slave, woman, or child.
• Example A student could dress up like Harriet
  Tubman to tell the story of the Underground
  Railroad.

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• Allow students to become storytellers by giving
  them historical facts and events and allow them
  to create stories.
• Example Give students the facts about the
  bombing of Pearl Harbor and allow students to
  create their own stories and allow sharing
  sessions to listen and compare stories.
• Students can recite poetry to describe a
  particular period of time.

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• Begin a story and stop early to allow students to
  write an ending to a story.
• Example Introduce the bombing of Nagasaki and
  Hiroshima to the students by telling a story
  about Roosevelt passing away and Harriet Truman
  taking over. Stop the story right after telling
  them that Truman will have to make the biggest
  decision of his life, either by using the atomic
  bomb or continuing to fight in WWII. Have the
  students write an ending and then allow time for
  sharing before telling what actually took place.

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• Introduce a lesson or concept with a book.
• Example Read The Terrible Things to
• supplement teaching students about the
• Holocaust.

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The real results What do the kids have to say????

• It helped me a lot and made Social Studies a fun
  part of a lesson. My social studies grade went up
  and it helped me to understand. I hope my sixth
  grade teacher does this!
• I think storytelling has helped me because if I
  tell stories, I can study it because its like a
  summary.
• Even though I dont feel storytelling has helped
  me, it does make Social Studies more fun.

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• Social Studies was my worst subject in 4th
  grade, but now its my best! It has been a use of
  improvement for me.
• Storytelling is fun and helps me to understand.
  I think you should allow students to come up and
  be involved.
• Storytelling in Social Studies has helped me
  learn a lot better because the lessons are more
  EXCITING!!
• I like the way youre doing Social Studies
  because I can learn much better than reading out
  of a text book, and its a lot more fun too!

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• Social Studies is more interesting when its a
  story instead of facts out of a book, and it
  makes me think about it more.
• Storytelling in Social Studies make me pay more
  attention!
• Storytelling in Social Studies helped me because
  reading out of a book is confusing and hard to
  figure out. Storytelling is better at putting a
  mental picture in my head of what we are talking
  about and it gives a lot of examples.

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Works Cited

• (1998). Classroom strategies for encouraging
  collaborative discussion. National
• Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education,
  ED435188. Retrieved Feb 2, 2006
• (2000). Teaching storytelling a position
  statement from the committee on
• storytelling. National Council of
  Teachers of English, ED450385. Retrieved
• Feb 2, 2006
• Colon-Vila, L. (1997). Storytelling in an ESL
  classroom. Teaching PreK-8, 27.
• Retrieved Feb 2, 2006
• Groce, D. R. (2004). An experimental study for
  elementary teachers with the
• storytelling process interdisciplinary
  benefits associated with teacher
• training and classroom integration.
  Reading Improvement, Retrieved Feb 2,
• 2006
• Koki, S. (1998). Storytelling the heart and soul
  of education. . Pacific Resources
• for Education and Learning, Retrieved
  Feb 2, 2006
• McCabe, A. (1997, May ). Cultural background and
  storytelling a review and
• implications for schooling . The
  Elementary School Journal, 97. Retrieved
• Feb 2, 2006

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Quotes about storytelling

• Thou shalt not is soon forgotten, but Once
  upon a time lasts forever.
• Philip Pullman (1996 Carnegie
  Medal acceptance speech)
• God made man because he loves stories.
• Rabbi Nachman of
  Bratzlev ( as quoted by Steve Sanfield)
• Stories tell us of what we already knew and
  forgot, and remind us of what we havent yet
  imagined.
• Anne Watson

www.aaronshep.com/kidwriter/quotes.html
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• Thats my story, and Im sticking to it!!