Try Storytelling!

Start Storytelling !

Storytelling is as old as language itself, and for centuries stories were a means of passing on oral history. Eventually people started to write down the old stories, and so we have legends, folk tales and traditional, or fairy, tales.

Storytelling to a class of students is a worthwhile exercise. It supplements the reading of stories, and encourages listening and imagination.

Here are some tips to help you get started:

Look and act confident! They don’t know it’s new to you, but it may well be new to them. So relax, breathe & enjoy! Look as though you’re enjoying it.

Don’t try to learn a story verbatim. If you get stuck or muddled, it gets you bothered and you lose your confidence and the concentration of your audience.

Instead, learn the outline of a story: sequence of main events, characters, ending and then tell the story in your own words. Let your imagination add details and embellishments.

If you get stuck, keep going; don’t apologise or stop. Play for time by:
• describing the setting, the atmosphere, the weather

•Or asking your audience to close their eyes and picture the scene, the sights, the sounds, the smells.

•Or taking a moment for a suspenseful pause : “And then ...” as you look from face to face to enhance ‘the moment’.

Your ‘blockage’ suddenly becomes a dramatic moment, a chance to enrich the story!

Speak in a clear, steady voice. Use the rhythm of natural speech, not that of someone making a speech. When you sound natural, it has an informal, anecdotal quality that is absorbing to listen to.

Don’t rush through, but take time to pause for effect .

Pauses are important, and help an audience digest your words, take in the importance of a new event or moment in the story.

Watch your audience and you will be guided about when to pause for suspense or drama or humour.

Use the 'language of literature' such as 'Once upon a time...; Suddenly there was a flash of light and...; When suddenly what should appear but a... ; With a horrendous roar, the fierce fire-breathing dragon...

Your vocal and facial expressions will help the audience understand some of the difficult words.

Keep stories to about 10 minutes or less, especially to begin with. It takes practice to maintain momentum and an audience’s attention.

If you are starting to lose your audience, stop and tell them that was chapter 1, and we will see what happens next after lunch/recess or tomorrow. After that interval, recap and finish the story. Or ask students to supply an ending, either orally or as individual creative writing.

A recommended kidcyber website of teacher resources:
School Market Place teacher resources page provides a wide range of topics and ideas for teachers, including grammar, reading comprehesion, spelling, writing genres, maths. Also a range of topics in environmental education, science & links to information about Australian Aborigines. There are themes with further information pages and lesson plans, and also webquests and project ideas.

The Wordplay Program is built around developmental learning models that enable young people to improve their communication, literacy and thinking skills.Wordplay is based on the belief that children learn best when they are imaginatively engaged in purposeful learning.