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Storytelling
and the Art of Teaching
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Storytelling is the
original form of teaching. There are still societies in which it is the only form of
teaching. Though attempts have been made to imitate or update it, like the electronic
storytelling of television, live oral storytelling will never go out of fashion. A simple
narrative will always be the cornerstone of the art of teaching.
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In dealing with stories,
learners have an experience with the powerful real language of personal communication, not
the usual "teacherese" of the foreign-language classroom. Colloquial or
literary, unaffected or flowery-the full range of language is present in stories. Oral
stories develop listening skills in aunique way. The listeners benefit from observing
non-polished speech created on-the-spot.
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While listening to
stories, children develop a sense of structure that will later help them to understand the
more complex stories of literature. In fact, stories are the oldest form of literature.
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Through traditional tales,
people express their values, fears, hopes, and dreams. Oral stories are a direct
expression of a literary and cultural heritage; and through them that heritage is
appreciated, understood, and kept alive.
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Stories in the affective realm
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Through a story, listeners
experience a vicarious feeling for the past and a oneness with various cultures of the
present as they gain insight into the motives and patterns of human behavior. However,
many storytellers feel that cognitive enrichment is not the primary aim of their art.
Stories have numerous affective benefits for social and emotional development. A story
session is a time to share feelings. A relaxed, happy relationship between storyteller and
listener is established, drawing them together and building mutual confidence. Stories
help children to know themselves and to know others so they can cope with the
psychological problems of growing up. As Augusta Baker and Ellin Greene (1977:17) assert,
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Storytelling brings to
the listeners heightened awareness-asense of wonder, of mystery, of reverence for life.
Thisnurturing of the spirit-self comes first. It is the primarypurpose of storytelling,
and all other uses and effects aresecondary.
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Storytelling is also a
living art. Like music and dance, it is brought to life in performance. A story will be
altered by the storyteller's background: his/her choice of setting and detail, and the
rapport established with the audience. The storyteller's building materials are words,
sounds, and language patterns. The tools are the voice, face, and hands. The product is
the creation of a shared human experience based on words and imagination.
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Storytelling is an
individual art, and an imposed method or ready-to-use plan will prove inadequate.
Beginning storytellers must go beyond the rules. They must know their personal strengths
and develop their own unique style. As master storyteller Ruth Sawyer (1951:26) puts it,
"The art of storytelling lies within the storyteller, to be searched for, drawn out,
made to grow."
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Selection requires an
ability to evaluate stories and to discriminate between those that meet your learners'
needs and those that do not.
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1. Read, read, read.
Although learning stories directly from other storytellers is the traditional method, you
will learn most stories from books. Wide reading gives authority to your telling. Read all
types of traditional stories and literary fairy tales, modern tales, picture-books, action
stories, romances, fantasies, juvenile fiction, nonfiction, and biographies, etc. Read
different versions of the same story.
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2. Choose stories
you like. You can only effectively tell the stories that you feel comfortable with
and which have meaning for you. Choose stories that you can tell-beginners should tend
towards folk tales for their simplicity of structure and language, and shy away from
complex literary tales.
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3. Choose stories
appropriate for your learners. Find stories they will like, and that match their
age and language level. Fairy and folk takes, which blend fantasy and reality, and use
repetitive language, are good for beginners. Contemporary stories which treat problems of
personal identity with more elaborate language are better suited for more advanced
learners.
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4. Choose stories
with a simple structure. Look for a single, clearly defined theme, a
well-developed sequential plot, a consistent style, standardized characterization (except
perhaps for the protagonist), conflict resolution, dramatic appeal, unity, interesting
subject matter, and strong emotional content. Avoid stories with long explanations or
descriptions, flashbacks, subplots, and other literary devices that break the flow of a
story.
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5. Choose stories
with positive values. I prefer to tell stories that implicitly express joy,
compassion, humor, resourcefulness, and other positive aspects of human nature. On the
other hand, psychologists tell us not to be excessively concerned about violence, fear,
anger, hatred, lying, etc., in stories.
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6. Study the story's
background. Know something of the cultural, social and historical background of
the story and the country of its origin. If you can't put the story in context, and its
contents are not universal, consider choosing another.
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7. Test your
selection. Final selection is done through trial, ultimately through the positive
or negative reactions you get from your audience.
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Preparation (prevents forgetting and flopping)
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1. Learn the story.
Learning the story means to make the story your own. Read it from beginning to end several
times. Read it out loud. Master the structure of the story: the beginning (introduction of
characters), the body (building of conflict), and the climax (resolution of con- flict).
Visualize the succession of scenes. Work on creating sensual setting and character
descriptions. Note unusual expressions, word patterns, rhymes, and dialog.
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2. Outline the
story. Storytellers agree that memorizing word for word is not useful. Learn a
story incident by incident, and prepare notes that will help you remember this structure.
Typed skeleton outlines stick in the minds of visual learners. Cue card outlines are also
useful in preparation and storage of tales, but should not be used in telling.
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3. Control the
story's length. Long stories can be simplified or serialized, but not excessively
modified or censored. Time yourself during practice. A "story hour" should
probably include a mixture of activities: reading storybooks, listening to story tapes,
reciting poetry, singing songs, playing games, etc. besides the oral story itself.
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4. Control the
story's vocabulary. A rich vocabulary, with carefully chosen adjectives and
adverbs, gives color and texture to the telling. However, you need to be comfortable with
your use of language and not try too hard to get things "right" or the story
will come out flat and nervous. Don't worry if the listeners don't already know every
word; guessing is part of language learning.
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5. Refine your
storytelling style. Tell the story aloud to listen to your voice - your instrument
- which you can exercise, train, and even change. A pause and dropped voice are often more
effective than shouting. Take poetic passages slowly; report conversation at natural
speed; tell narration more rapidly, building toward the climax.
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6. Practice,
practice, practice. Practice aloud to yourself, your family or friends. You could
practice on audio or even video tape. Practice in front of a mirror to eliminate poor
gestures and facial expressions. Some say practice makes storytelling artificial and
studied, but it is essential to the beginner.
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7. Relax before
telling. Warm up as the situation allows with breathing, stretching, and vocal
exercises.
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A story should be
presented in a way that emphasizes the "what" of the story and not the
"how" of the telling.
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1. Start on the
right foot. The beginning introduces the characters, sets the scene, establishes
the mood, defines the conflict or predicament of the protagonist, and arouses pleasurable
anticipation. Then the narrative carries the action. It is sometimes essential for
comprehension, before beginning a tale, to make some background comments on new or
difficult vocabulary or the cultural assumptions and setting of the story. You might share
an object related to the story or light a ritual candle to signal the beginning of the
special storytelling time.
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2. Be your best
self. Express enthusiasm, spontaneity, creativity, and enjoyment. You can create a
mood through your physical appearance and mannerisms. Don't rush or ramble. Don't be
condescending or phony. Don't reveal nervousness or embarrassment. And most of all, don't
let your technique show.
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3. Concentrate on
your voice. The audience absolutely must hear everything loudly and clearly! Try
for a pleasant, intimate, smooth, low-pitched tone of voice. You will need vocal energy
for projection, articulation, enunciation, and intonation. Altering your speed and
pitch-for example, giving different tones to different characters-adds to the emotional
impact.
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4. Maintain eye
contact. Eye contact is of the utmost importance as it not only holds the
listener's attention and involves the listener in the story, but it checks understanding
and gives instant feedback.
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5. Help with your
hands and body. The hands also create. Use only gestures that come naturally, but
be aware of your hands; don't hide them or flap them about. Facial expressions and
movement are also vital aids. Some tellers use very limited movement; others almost mime a
story.
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6. Use props
sparingly. Some storytellers are strongly against the use of any objects, puppets,
costumes, bells, etc. They consider them a clever showman's device and an unnecessary
distraction. I don't feel so strongly and suggest that you try them out and see the
effect.
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7. Pay attention to
the physical setting. Some rooms can kill a good story. You need a quiet,
well-lit, acoustically acceptable, comfortable space. You can tell a story standing up
(for more freedom of movement) or sitting on a stool (for better eye-contact) before a
semi-circle of chairs or (for more intimacy) sitting in a tight circle on a carpet.
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While no follow-up is
necessary-stories are valuable in their own right, but a variety of options are available.
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1. Ask comprehension
questions carefully. If a story is followed immediately by a barrage of
comprehension questions, its artistic value is lost and storytelling suffers. I would
suggest waiting at least a day to ask the usual who, what, where, when, how much, and why
questions. There are other, more creative ways to use questions. Multiple choice questions
and questions that can be answered by inference can be used. Suppositions can be made,
like: What would you have done? What should the character have done? Students may choose
from a list of questions provided by the teacher and ask a partner. It's even possible to
give out comprehension questions first and have the students construct the story.
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2. Invent exercises
in phonetics, semantics, and syntax. There is no limit to the language exercises
that can be based on a story: introduction of new vocabulary in lexical sets, rhyming
sets, or grammatical sets; verbal practice and grammatical analysis of repeated phrases:
"Who's been sleeping in my bed?" "I'll huff, and I'll puff and I'll blow
the house down," just to name a few.
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3. Do listening
activities. After a tale, listeners can demonstrate comprehension by: comparing,
discriminating, predicting, sequencing, classifying, transferring information, etc. Unlike
other listening activities, stories are often repeated, but never in exactly the same
words.
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4. Do oral
activities. Choral reading, story fill-in, add-on stories, building a tale from
key words, etc., are all options. Discussion topics can be taken from the story's themes.
Students can retell their favorite tales, or invent stories based on their own personal
experiences.
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5. Do written
activities. Rewriting, summarizing, or paraphrasing a tale are obvious and
worthwhile activities. Written exercises can include controlled writing dictation and
cloze paragraphs, guided writing (sentence extension or sentence-combining exercises), or
free writing using the tale as a literary model. Other options include: journal writing,
research projects, making up original stories patterned on stories told to the group, and
writing a poem or a play version of a story.
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6. Do visual
activities. Story-related artwork can include: posters, models, collages, crafts,
masks, puppets, mobiles, photos, picture stories, blackboard drawing, etc. Stories are
part of aesthetic education and develop creativity.
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7. Do creative drama
activities. There are many story games to play. Stories naturally lend themselves
to be dramatized, mimed, or roleplayed. Prepared dialogs from tales can be recited, or
students can tell or retell stories they choose or make up themselves.
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Stories educate,
illustrate, enlighten, and inspire. They give relief from the routine and stimulate the
mind. They are a great motivator for teachers as well as for students. Stories are used in
an exclusively positive scholastic setting, i.e., no grades, no failures, no textbooks, no
notepads, no dictionaries, no costly audiovisual equipment- nothing coming between
the listener and the teller. In EFL, stories fosternderstanding and acceptance of the
foreign language and culture.
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Storytelling is learned
slowly over a long time, but the novice and the expert storyteller can both experience
success on different levels. A storyteller eventually makes a personal collection of
stories for various occasions and purposes. Storytelling is a folk-art which can't be
manipulated, intellectualized, or mass-produced. Its magic is unique. The storyteller is
always a teacher, and the teacher is always a storyteller.
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[Storytelling] can take
many disciplines from the realm ofthe often dreary textbook and raise them to great
heights ofexciting, fruitful experiences in learning. Storytelling asa pedagogical
technique has been used by the world'sgreatest teachers. Jesus used it, as did Plato,
Confucius,and other great philosophers and teachers. . . . The modernteacher who employs
this technique as a teaching tool isusing a technique of teaching that has stood the test
oftime (Chambers 1970:43).
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- Baker, A. and E. Green 1977. Storytelling: Art and technique. New
York: R. R. Bowker.
- Barton, B. 1986. Tell me another: storytelling and reading aloud
at home, at school, and in the community. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
- Bauer, C. F. 1977. Handbook for Storytellers. Chicago: American
Library.
- Bettelheim, B. 1976. The Uses of Enchantment. New York: A. A.
Knopf.
- Breneman, L. N. and B. Breneman. 1984. Once Upon a Time: A
Storytelling Handbook. Chicago: Nelson-Hall.
- Caduto, M. and J. Bruchac. Keepers of the Earth. Golden, CO:
Fulcrum.
- Colwell, E. 1964. A Storyteller's Choice. New York: Henry Z.
Walck.
- Chambers, D. W. 1970. Storytelling and Creative Drama. Dubuque,
IO: Wm. C. Brown.
- Cook, E. 1969. The Ordinary and the Fabulous. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
- Cundiff, R. E. and B. Webb. 1957. Storytelling for You: Handbook
of Help for Storytellers Everywhere. Yellow Springs, OH: Antioch Press.
- Ellis, G. and J. Brewster. 1991. The Storytelling Handbook for
Primary Teachers. London: Penguin.
- Livo, N. J. and S. A. Reitz. 1986. Storytelling Process and
Practice. Littleton, CO:Libraries Unlimited.
- Maguire, J. 1985. Creative Storytelling. Hightstown, NJ:
McGraw-Hill.
- Morgan, J. and M. Rinvolucri. 1983. Once Upon a Time: Using
stories in the language classroom. New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Pellowski, A. 1977. The World of Storytelling. New York: R. R.
Bowker.
- Ross, R. R. 1980. Storyteller. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill.
Sawyer, R. 1951. The Way of the Storyteller. New York: Viking Press.
- Schimmel, N. 1978. Just Enough to Make a Story: A Sourcebook for
Storytelling.
- Berkeley: Sisters' Choice Press.
- Shedlock, M. 1951. The Art of the Storyteller. New York: Dover.
Tooze, R. 1959. Storytelling. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
- Veilleux, J. 1967. Oral Interpretation: The Re-creation of
Literature. New York: Harper & Row.
- Wagner, J. A. and R. W. Smith. Teacher's Guide to Storytelling.
Dubuque, IO: W. C.Brown.
- Ziskind, S. 1976. Telling Stories to Children. New York: Wilson.
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E. Martin Pedersen teaches English to future teachers at the
Universit di Messina, Italy. He has written on the role of folklore in education,
storytelling, using songs in ELT, composition, and literary appreciation. |
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