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TEACHING & LEARNIN G
Classroom Story Telling an d
Resources
speak about us . The greatest joy
can come in the searching for jus t
the right tale !
Bruce Carmody The Role of Storytellin g
o
T be human is to be a story teller . When we see ou r
friends or colleagues after an
absence, we tell the story abou t
what has happened since we wer e
last together . Families gather and
we tell our stories . Often we retell
the old stories that everyone ha s
heard before . "Remember the
time when" is a frequent refrain.
When we say that we "don't really know" someone, we mean
that we don't yet know his or he r
story .
Storytelling is as old as human kind . We have been storyteller s
for as long as we have had language to express our ideas . The
tradition of telling stories, real o r
imagined, was both a form of entertainment and a way of preserving history in early societies . We
use stories in many ways : to pas s
on important lessons, to explain
how the world was shaped and
created, to remember the events
that we don't want to forget . In
early civilizations, every villag e
had its own storyteller, an individual charged with remembering the stories and beliefs of the
collective .
All of the world's religion s
have story at their centre . Storie s
offer us new possibilities . Some times they show us what might be
or could be . They offer us new
ways in which to live . In that way
stories are often healing for both
the listener and the teller .
The power of stories lies in thei r
ability to "let us in" . We can both
in the Schools
come to own the story and also
come to see ourselves within the
story . Today therapists are discovering that stories can play a n
important role in healing individuals both emotionally and spiritually . Caregivers are learning the
importance of encouraging the elderly and the terminally ill to tel l
their own personal stories as a
way of bringing a sense of completeness and fulfillment as a lif e
draws to its end .
At the same time in schools ,
teachers are discovering the use fulness of story in the classroom .
Even students with "short attention spans" are drawn into a
well-told story and become better
listeners . Storytelling can be use d
in many curriculum areas including language, social studies, science, drama and even
mathematics . Stories have a wa y
of sticking in our memories ,
partly because they tell about us .
While we have become accustomed in our society to finding
our stories in books or on film, sto rytelling, as a tradition, continue s
in many societies around th e
world . Throughout North America there exist groups dedicated to
preserving storytelling as entertainment and as an art form . In
fact, in recent years there has bee n
a revival of interest in storytellin g
as people rediscover how stories ,
well told, can both entertain, teach
and even heal .
We will not all be drawn by th e
same stories, but each of us ca n
find stories that speak to us and
Storytellin g
• engages our imaginations
• promotes language development
• encourages readin g
• teaches us about other culture s
and other times
• helps us to understand ourselve s
and other s
Listening to stories as they are
told by another:
• develops listening skills
• increases concentratio n
• develops vocabular y
• develops a sense of story
• motivates students to rea d
Learning to tell stories to others :
• improves oral language skill s
• improves story writin g
• develops the students' understanding of plot and sequenc e
• encourages reading and critica l
thinking skill s
Storytelling can be integrate d
into many subject areas across th e
curriculum .
While language arts and th e
creative arts are obvious areas,
stories can help us to understan d
other cultures and other times .
They can easily be integrated int o
history, geography and socia l
studies programs . Carefully chosen stories can also be integrate d
into the mathematics programs .
Storytelling can be a powerfu l
tool for recognizing and validating the cultures of immigran t
students .
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TEACHING & LEARNING
1.
2.
Tell and re-tell . Teacher tells (o r
reads) a story to class . Individuals re-tell the same story i n
pairs, in small groups, or to th e
whole class . Sometimes it is no t
necessary to have one child tel l
the whole story but rather tak e
turns until the story is told .
Variation : the small group
chooses a storyteller and helps
him/her prepare the story fo r
telling to the whole class .
Tell a familiar story fro m
another perspective .
Example : the wolf ' s viewpoin t
in Little Red Riding Hood .
3.
Tell a personal story abou t
something that happened to
you, about someone who is important in your life .
4.
Tell "whoppers" or tall tales .
Start a " Liars ' Club" . Who can
tell the wildest tale ?
5.
Conduct interviews with
well-known story characters .
The teacher may be the "inter viewer" while the children play
the role of the famous character .
6.
Create your own stories following the typical format of a fol k
tale . Who is the hero? Wha t
challenge must be overcome ?
What obstacles are presented t o
prevent the hero from reachin g
the goal? How are they over come? Element of magic ?
7.
Map out the main events tha t
occur in a story to aid in the tell ing .
8.
Give the students a story out line and have them tell it fillin g
out the details to make the story
more interesting .
9.
Examine stories that should be
read rather than told because
the language needs to be maintained as it was written or be cause the pictures carry th e
story .
10. Make a display of : story openings "Once upon a time . . . "
heroes/heroine s
villains
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magic spell s
story ending s
11. Examine different kinds of stories : fables, legends, fairy tales
etc .
12. Have older students learn stories that they can tell to younge r
children in the school .
13. Start a "Storytellers' Club "
where stories are shared .
14. Challenge students to learn a
story that someone in the family remembers from childhood .
15. Have a multicultural festival,
learning and telling storie s
from many cultures .
16. Integrate stories from other cultures or other eras into the social studies program.
17. Find several versions of th e
same story, eg Cinderella .
18. Collect "creation stories" - wh y
the bear has a short tale, wh y
the hare is always running, etc
A Short Bibliography fo r
Storyteller s
Adams, Richard . 1991 . Best-Loved Stories
Told at the National Storytelling Festival .
Jonesborough, TN : National Storytelling Press .
Adams, Richard . 1980 . The Iron Wolf an d
Other Stories . London : Penguin Books.
Barbeau, Marius and Michael
Hornyansky . The Golden Phoenix an d
Other Fairy Tales From Quebec. Toronto,
ON : Oxford University Press .
Barton, Bob . 1986 . Tell me Another.
Markham, ON : Pembroke Publishers
Ltd .
Barton, Bob . 1992 . Stories to tell . Markham,
ON : Pembroke Publishers Ltd .
Barton, Bob and David Booth David .
1990 . Stories in the Classroom .
Markham, ON : Pembroke Publisher s
Ltd .
Berry, Jack. 1991- . West African Folk Tales .
Evanston, IL : Northwestern University Press .
Bettelheim, Bruno . 1975 . The Uses of Enchantment : The Meaning and Importanc e
of Fairytales . New York: Vintage Books,
Random House .
Booth, David . 1992 . Stories to Read Aloud .
Markham, ON: Pembroke Publisher s
Ltd .
FALL 200 4
Caduto, Michael J . 1997 . Earth Tales fro m
Around the World . Golden, CO : Fulcrum Publishing .
Collins, Chase . 1992 . Tell me a Story: Creating Bedtime Tales Your Children Wil l
Dream On . New York: Houghton
Mifflin Company .
Cox, Allison M . and David H . Albert . The
Healing Heart . Gabriola Island, BC :
Communities New Society Publishers .
Cox, Allison M . and David H . Albert.The
Healing Heart . Gabriola Island, BC :
Families New Society Publishers .
De Vos, Gail . 1991 . Storytelling for Youn g
Adults, Techniques and Treasury .
Englewood, CO : Libraries Unlimited,
Inc .
Evans, Richard Paul . 1998 . The Christmas
Candle. New York : Simon and Shuster .
Helm Meade, Erica . 2001 . The Moon in the
Well Open Court, Chicago, IL .
Kane, Alice . 1995 . The Dreamer Awakes .
Peterborough, ON : Broadview Press .
MacDonald, Margaret Read . 1991 . Look
Back and See, Twenty Lively Tales for gentle Tellers . The H .W . Wilson Company .
Milord, Susan . 1995 . Tales Alive . Charlotte, VT : Williamson Publishing .
Philip, Neil . 1996 . Christmas Fairy Tales .
New York: Viking, Penguin Books .
Ragan, Kathleen . 1998 . Fearless Girls, Wis e
Women & Beloved Sisters . New York :
W.W . Norton and Company .
Rossiter, Rick . 1994 . The Greedy Man in th e
Moon . St . Petersburg, FL : Riverban k
Press .
Van Allsburg, Chris . 1985 . The Polar Ex press . Boston : Houghton Mifflin Co .
Yolen, Jane, 1986 . Favourite Folktales fro m
around the World . New York: Pantheon
Books .
Note: While these 3 books by Willia m
White are listed as resources fo r
Christian storytelling, they are a
wonderful resource of stories that
can be used in any context. Most of
the stories are not obviously "religious" in nature .
White William R . 1982 . Speaking in Stories :
Resources for Christian Storytellers . Minneapolis : Augsburg Publishing House .
White, William R . 1986 . Stories for telling:
A Treasury for Christian Storytellers.
Minneapolis : Augsburg Publishin g
House .
White, William R . 1988 . Stories for the Journey: A Sourcebook for Christian Storytellers .
Minneapolis : Augsbur g
Publishing House .
Wilde, Oscar . 1971 . The Happy Prince an d
Other Stories . Middlesex, England :
Penguin Books .
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TEACHING & LEARNIN G
FALL 2004
Wojciechowski, Susan . 1995 . The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey. Cambridge, MA : Candlewick Press .
Wolkstein, Diane. 1980 . The Magic Orang e
Tree and Other Haitian Folktales . Ne w
York : Schocken Books .
Yashinsky, Dan. 1990 . Tales for An Unknown City . Montreal and Kingston :
Mcgill-Queen' s University Press .
Yashinsky, Dan . 1992 . The Storyteller a t
Fault. Charlottetown, P.E .I . : Ragwee d
press .
Storytelling and the Worl d
Wide We b
More and more storytellers ar e
turning to the web as a source fo r
stories . A bit of searching can lead
you to Native Stories, Folklor e
from almost any country in th e
world, ghost stories or almost an y
other topic imaginable.
However, web sites come an d
go and I'm always somewhat reluctant to say, "Here are some
good sites for stories," when thos e
sites may be gone tomorrow .
Having said that, here are som e
sites that were active the last time
I checked :
http ://www .indians .org /
welker/bear .ht m
http ://www .indigenouspeople .
org/natlit/ipl Jinal .html
http :/ /www .worldandi .com/
newhome/wwft/ demo .html
A final word of caution: anyon e
can put a story up on a web site . I
find that some of the stories contain spelling and grammatical er rors . Proof read before you prin t
off copies for all your students !
http:/ /www .folkart .com/
home/tales .ht m
Bruce Carmody is a retired educato r
http ://www .americanfolklore .net
(click on the links or use the pop-up
menu to find lots of stories )
http :/ /home .earthlink.net /
—nativelit/ coyote/
http ://www .eldrbarry .net
(Click on the " Raven " link .)
http :/ /www .indiana .edu /
—afrist/ Beaver/ Folktales .htm l
http ://www .pitt .edu/—dash /
folktexts .html
http :/ / WebinstitueForTeachers .ORG /
99/ teams/ tales/ folktales .html
http ://www .longlongtimeago .com /
llta_fables_turtletalk .html
or try
http ://www .longlongtimeago .com
and seasoned storyteller . Bruce performs for children and adults and i s
currently President of the Story tellers School of
Toronto and a
member of Story tellers Canada . He
is the storyteller i n
residence at the
Young Street Mission . He is an invited teller a t
schools and festivals and is a well known for his wor k
in developing programs for the Ontario school Curriculum . Readers
may contact Bruce Carmody a t
bruce@storytree .c a
*A,
Conference Announcement
Story Tellers of Canada Annual Conference will be held in Calgary, Alberta . July 20-24, 2005 .
For information contac t
Mary Hayes, Conference Co-Chair at storymary@hotmail .com
or Karen Gummo, Conference Co Chair at karengummo©shaw .c a
or visit http ://www .sc-cc .com
or email coordinator at www .sc-cc .com for links to this conference and others .
+iv
Brock University and CCCAH Centro Cultural e de Congressos ANGRADOHEROISM O
announces
the Third International Conference on Storytelling and Cultural Identit y
to be held in Tereceira Azores Portugal . June 27- 29 .
Deadline for papers has past but conference attendance is welcomed .
Contact Dr . Mario Cabral Director CCCAH at ccahbral©cm-ah .pt
or Dr . Francis Cota Fagundes, Spanish and Portuguese University of Massachusetts Amhers t
[email protected] .ed u
or Dr . Irene Blayer, Modern Languages, Brock University, Ontario, Canad a
at blayer©spartan .ac .brocku .ca
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