Storytelling by: Laura Trellue

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Storytellingby Laura Trellue
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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

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• If you dont know the trees you may be lost in
  the forest, but if you dont 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 writers brain is like a magicians hat. If
  youre going to get anything out of it, you have
  to put something in it first. Louis LAmour,
  author
• People did not wait until there was writing
  before they told stories and sang songs.
• Albert Bates
  Lord, author

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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 storys 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
  storys plot, is facilitated by being able to
  mentally map the storys main events.
• 
  www.storyarts.org

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• 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

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• 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

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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
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• 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
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• 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
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• 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
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• 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.

Every Child a Storyteller a Handbook of Ideas
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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
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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 - millers 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
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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
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Storytelling Skills Rubric

• When 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
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www.storyarts.org
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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-tellers
  Start-Up Book. August House Publishers, Inc.,
  1993.
• Yolen, Jane. Favorite Folktales from Around the
  World. Pantheon Books, 1986.

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Storytelling Websites
StoryArts 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.
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Want to join a storytelling group? We have a
great one here in Houston. http//www.houstonsto
rytellers.org/index.html
Houston Storytellers Guild Everyone has a
story! Monthly- Story Time 7 p.m. the 3rd
Wednesday of each month. Borders Books, W.
Alabama _at_ Kirby Our gatherings are for sharing
stories, promoting storytelling, and having fun.
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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.

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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/position
  s/category/curr
• Schwartz, Marni. Connecting to language through
  story, Language Arts, 64(6), October 1987, pp.
  603-610.

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• 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. Youre not as alone as you thought.
• John Steinbeck, author