Using Storytelling to Teach Literacy,
Language, Speech, and Social Skills.
Jane Schulman, M.S., CCC-SLP
ASHA 2011 Session #9060
Contact: [email protected]
HANDOUTS
1. Speech, Language and Literacy Skills Addressed
in Storytelling -- 3 pages
2. Sample Four Month Protocol – 3 pages
3. Storytelling Resources: Books and Online – 5 pages
4. Storytelling Organizations – 2 pages
5. “Problems – Problems – Problems” Two versions: the original
from Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss from “Children Tell
Stories: Teaching and Using Storytelling in the Classroom”
and one modified with pictures for easy teaching.
Using Storytelling to Teach Literacy,
Language, Speech, and Social Skills.
Jane Schulman, M.S., CCC-SLP
ASHA 2011 Session #9060
Contact: [email protected]
SOME OF THE MANY SKILLS
ADDRESSED IN STORYTELLING
SPEECH SKILLS
 Production of sounds in words
 Production of sounds in sentences
 Intonation – using voice for meaning
 Rate of speech – slower, faster
 Vocal intensity – loud, soft (mouse voice vs. gorilla voice)
 Vocal pitch: raising and lowering for characters
 Sound discrimination
LANGUAGE SKILLS
 Listening
 Vocabulary: nouns, verbs, adjectives
 Expansion of sentences
 Recalling stories
 Sequencing events
 Categorizing objects, pictures, ideas
 Use of action words
 Use of adjectives
 Use of prepositions
 Answering wh-questions
 Predicting outcomes
 Problem solving
 Use of synonyms, antonyms
 Use of multiple-meaning words
 Critical thinking skills
 Improved syntax and morphology
 Nonverbal:: pointing to pictures, AAC, gestures
SOCIAL INTERACTION/PRAGMATICS
 Cooperative learning
 Eye contact
 Reading facial expressions
 Using body language
 Turn-taking
 Paying attention to others
 Helping another student
 Attention to task
 Use of pitch and vocal intensity
to communicate meaning
 Taking varied points of view by producing different voices for different
characters in a story
 Awareness of and reciprocity with an audience
 Poise while speaking in front of a group
LITERACY SKILLS
 Promotes reading for fun
 Builds imagination
 Exposes students to different literary forms such as fairy tales, fables,
folktales, nonfiction
 Exposes students to literature from different cultures
 Opportunity for study of a number of books of one author
 Compare and contrast – book & movie, different versions of the same
story. different endings of a story.
 Answering wh-questions
 Phonological awareness: rhyme, alliteration, blending sounds,
syllable identification
Writing:
Putting ideas into words and phrases
Building a narrative
Sequencing events
Developing characters through description and action
Creating physical environments (settings) using words and gestures
Modifying traditional tales -- writing a different version of a story
(Lil Red in De Hood)
 Editing, making drafts, changing the ending
 Clarity of expression

















Reading comprehension
Relating story to own life
Recognizing beginning – middle – end
Internalized sense of story form
expectations
Story elements :: characters, setting, problem, solution– resolution
Inferencing
Predicting Outcomes
analysis of information presented by others
answering wh-questions about the story
understanding causality
PERSONAL GROWTH
 Self-esteem, believing in one’s self
 Self-expression
 Concentration and attention
 Recognizing that hard work and practice yields results
 Self-confidence
 Uncovers hidden talents
 Overcome shyness
 Success through effort
 Moral lessons
Using Storytelling to Teach Literacy,
Language, Speech, and Social Skills.
Jane Schulman, M.S., CCC-SLP
ASHA 2011 Session #9060
Contact: [email protected]
SAMPLE FOUR-MONTH PROTOCOL
OVERVIEW
 February – Read lots of stories
 March – Pick or write a story. Draw it.
 April – Make props, masks.
Edit it. Learn it.
Work on gestures, voice.
 May – Practice, Practice, Practice
FEBRUARY:
READ AND TELL LOTS OF STORIES
 IMMERSE IN STORIES:: read or tell a story
three times a week in each class. Bring masks & props.
Use maps and globes to place stories in context.
 Explore genres: folk tales, fairytales
nonfiction, biographies. Bring maps.
 Highlight characters
solutions.
, fables,
, settings
, problems,
 Use story grammars, graphic organizers, story maps.
 Show videos
of children telling stories, from Children Tell
Stories, and videos of other students in the school telling stories.
MARCH – -PICK OR WRITE A STORY. START TO LEARN IT.
 PICK A STORY you like a lot.
 READ THE STORY OVER & OVER
 Imagine
the story in your head.
 Draw episodes,
characters, setting
.
 Decide whether to tell it solo, in a pair, a group, whole class.
 Make costumes = props = masks
.
 Videotape “before” the storytelling gets polished to compare
it with the videotaping of the final production.
APRIL – WORK ON THE PRESENTATION
 DON’T MEMORIZE THE STORY!!
 Use gestures
and intonation
.
 Work on convincing facial expressions
 Practice with –
costumes,
Props –
puppets
masks,
 Invite the families
 Practice – Practice – Practice
MAY – REHEARSE AND PERFORM
 Practice, Practice, Practice
in class, in another class, at home
 Perform in the auditorium
 Use microphone
 Remember to photograph and videotape!!!!
Using Storytelling to Teach Literacy,
Language, Speech, and Social Skills.
Jane Schulman, M.S., CCC-SLP
ASHA 2011 Session #9060
Contact: [email protected]
STORYTELLING RESOURCES: BOOKS & ONLINE
BOOKS ABOUT STORYTELLLING
About Story: Writings on Stories and Storytelling, 1980-1994, by Ruth Stotter.
(also: More About Story: Writings on Stories and Storytelling, 1995-2001)
Caroline Feller Bauer’s New Handbook for Storytellers, by Caroline Feller
Bauer.
Children Tell Stories: Teaching and Using Storytelling in the Classroom,
Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss. Comes with a DVD with stories and videos
of kids telling stories.
The Folktale, by Stith Thompson.
Funk & Wagnall’s Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend,
edited by Maria Leach.
Improving Your Storytelling: Beyond the Basics for All Who Tell Stories in Work
or Play, by Doug Lipman.
Index to Fairy Tales, published by Faxon, several volumes, through 1973.
Literacy Development in the Storytelling Classroom, by Sherry Norfolk, Jane
Stenson, and Diane Williams, Editors.
The Moral of the Story: Folktales for Character Development, by Bobby Norfolk
and Sherry Norfolk.
The Story Biz Handbook, by Dianne de Las Casas.
Storyteller’s Research Guide: Folktales, Myths, Legends, by Judy Sierra. (How
to find and do research about stories.)
The Storyteller’s Source Book 1961-1982 & The Storyteller’s Start-Up Book:
Finding, Learning, Performing and Using Folktales, by Margaret Read
MacDonald.
The Storytelling Classroom: Applications Across the Curriculum, by Sherry
Norfolk, Jane Stenson, and Diane Williams
Storytelling Professionally: The Nuts and Bolts of a working Performer, by
Harlynne Geisler.
The World of Storytelling, by Anne Pellowski.
STORIES & STORY COLLECTIONS
BY MARTHA HAMILTON AND MITCH WEISS
Stories in My Pocket: Tales Kids Can Tell
Through the Grapvine:World Tales Kids Can Read and Tell
How and Why Stories:World Tales Kids Can Read and Tell
Scared Witless
Noodlehead Stories:World Tales Kids Can Read and Tell
The Thing: A Scary Tale with Tips for Telling
BY MARGARET READ MACDONALD:
Earth Care: World Folktales to Talk About
Five-Minute Tales: More Stories to Read and Tell When Time is Short
Three-Minute Tales: More Stories to Read and Tell When Time is Short
Three-Minute Tales: Stories From Around the Worldto Read and Tell When
Time is Short
Twenty Tellable Tales: Audience Participation Folktales for the Beginning
Storyteller.
Best-Loved Folktales of the World, selected by Joanna Cole
Danny Kaye’s Around the World Story Book, by Danny Kaye.
Fables, by Arnold Lobel.
Favorite Folktales from Around the World, edited by Jane Yolen. (A great
collection of tales to tell, collected by a storyteller.)
Fearless Girls, Wise Women & Beloved Sisters: Heroines in Folktales from
Around the World, edited by Kathleen Ragan.
Outfoxing Fear: Folktales from Around the World, edited by Kathleen Ragan.
Ready-To-Tell Tales: Sure-Fire Stories From America’s Favorite Storytellers
and More Ready-To-Tell Tales From Around the World, edited by David Holt
and Bill Mooney.
Ride With the Sun: An Anthology of folk Tales and Stories from the United
Nations, edited by Harold Courlander.
Shadow Spinner, by Susan Fletcher. (A retelling of Scheherezade.)
The Story Vine: a Sourcebook of Unusual and Easy-to-Tell Stories from Around
the World, by Anne Pellowski
Thirty-three Multicultural Tales to Tell, by Pleasant DeSpain.
3-Minute Motivators, by Kathy Patterson.
Treasury of Classic Stories for Children, by Eric Carle.
World Tales, by Idries Shah.
COLLECTIONS OF TALES FROM PARTICULAR PLACES
& CULTURES
ANANSI THE SPIDER STORIES: too many to list but here’s a few.
Anansi Does the Impossible: An Ashanti Tale, by Verna Aardema.
The Pot of wisdom: Ananse Stories, by Adwoa Badoe
Anansi Goes Fishing, by Eric A Kimmel
Anansi and Turtle Go to Dinner, as told by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk.
(The Norfolks present many Anansi and other folktales in books, CD’s,
and on the Storycove website)
The Adventures of Spider: West African Folktales, by Joyce Cooper Arkhurst.
The Complete Fairytales of the Brothers Grimm, translated by Jack Zipes.
East O’ the Sun and West O’ the Moon, by Peter Asbjornesen and Jorgen Moe,
translated by George Webbe Dasent.
Fairy Tales of the Orient, by Pearl S. Buck.
Indian Fairy Tales, edited by Joseph Jacobs.
Italian Folktales, selected and retold by Italo Calvino.
Scandanavian Folk and Fairy Tales, edited by Claire Booss.
Tales of the North American Indians, Stith Thompson.
A Treasury of African Folklore, by Harold Courlander.
INTERNET STORYTELLING RESOURCES
 www.storyarts.org Story Arts Online:
 www.beautyandthebeaststorytellers.com Mitch Hamilton and Weiss
 www.pitt.edu/%7Edash/folktexts.html Folklore Electronic Texts:
 www.storynet.org National Storytelling Network
 www.storycove.com Great folktales to hear and watch
 www.aaronshep.com/stories/ Aaron Shepard’s World of Stories:Folktales,
Fairy Tales, Tall Tales, Myths, Legends, and More
 www.story-lovers.com/listssstorytellinginclass.html
storytelling in classrooms
 www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/ The puppetry homepage
 www.timsheppard.co.uk/story/ Tim Sheppard's storytelling resources for
storytellers
 www.creativedrama.com Creative Drama and Resource Site:
 www.improvencyclopedia.org
 www.library.thinkquest.org
improvisation exercises
theatre games
 www.storydynamics.com Doug Lipman’s website with articles on
storytelling, professional telling, and coaching storytellers
 www.folktale.net stories, articles, performances by Vermont storytellers
Jennings and Ponder
 www.storyteller.net
articles, stories, books, performances
 http://storyteller.swiftsite.com tales from the Story Bag Storyteller Harlynne
Geisler, San Diego, California
 http://www.eldrbarry.net/roos/books/hatrsbks.htm online bookshop for
storytellers
 www.vineyardvideo.org
Videos with Jay O’Callahan on storytelling
 www.aesopfables.com Aesop’s fables
 http://www.nald.ca/clr/aestrat
Folktales and Storytelling - Individual
Evaluation - Storytelling.
 http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/storyteller/ This is a great site by
Scholastic featuring a "storytelling workshop" with Gerald Fierst.
 http://www.marnigillard.com/ Marni Gillard's Why Storytelling? A List for
Parents, Teachers & Curricula-Makers.
 www.storyconnection.net List of storytelling activities and in the Storyteller's
Library, a list of books for storytelling in education.
 http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/talesofthebrothersgrimm/
index.html Brothers Grimm--Literature/Animals lesson plans (grades K-5)
http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/islandsofmystery/
Using Storytelling to Teach Literacy,
Language, Speech, and Social Skills.
Jane Schulman, M.S., CCC-SLP
ASHA 2011 Session #9060
Contact: [email protected]
STORYTELLING ORGANIZATIONS
National Storytelling Membership Association
www.storynet.org
Storynet is the website for the newly reorganized National Storytelling
Membership Association. This national organization for storytellers in
United States sponsors the National Storytelling Festival, the National
Storytelling Conference and Tellebration!
California Indian Storytelling Association www.cistory.org
The home page for The California Indian Storytelling Association has goals of
the organization, upcoming events, membership information, and the
newsletter.
Fox Valley Folklore Society www.folkjam.org
Folklore Society homepage features events, links, storytellers, and
organizations in Chicago and nationally.
Florida Storytelling Association www.flstory.org
Florida Storytelling Association sponsors an annual Storytelling Camp as well
as the Suwannee River Storytelling Festival and Florida Citrus Storytelling
Festival. The website has a page that lists local storytelling organizations and
storytelling sites on the web.
Jonesborough Storytellers Guild www.storytellersguild.org
The Jonesborough Storytellers Guild home page has storytellers’ pages, stories,
events listings, and favorite links.
League for the Advancement of New England Storytelling (LANES)
http://lanes.memberclicks.net/ LANES is the New England organization for
storytelling. It promotes the art and appreciation of storytelling throughout
New England and upstate New York. It sponsors the Sharing the Fire
storytelling conference in March, and publishes The Museletter and the New
England Directory of Storytelling. They have a new 3-minute story each week
starting on Mondays. Call 617-499-9662.
WHEEL Council www.wheelcouncil.org The Wheel Council seeks to
create programs that merge traditional cultural knowledge with scientific
research to facilitate healthy life choices. Their mission is to prevent
drug and alcohol use and other destructive behaviors in young people
by combining storytelling, the arts, and cultural empowerment with
scientific research.
Australian Storytelling
http://www.australianstorytelling.org.au/ This website showcases
Australian storytellers & stories, interviews & articles about storytelling,
listings of storytellers and regional guilds events as well as many other
features and links.
Using Storytelling to Teach Literacy,
Language, Speech, and Social Skills.
Jane Schulman, M.S., CCC-SLP
ASHA 2011
Session #9060
Contact: [email protected]
1. Problems-Problems-Problems from Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss, from
Children Tell Stories: Teaching and Using Storytelling in the Classroom.”
2. Modification of this story for easy teaching
Modification with added pictures for easy teaching
of Problems-Problems-Problems.
Problems - Problems – Problems
In a village in India, long long ago, mosquitoes
were a terrible problem!
When people opened their doors, the mosquitoes
buzzed
around them.
The buzzing and biting was driving everyone crazy!!!!
SOMETHING HAD TO BE DONE!
Frogs
are the solution!” shouted the Mayor.
They love to eat mosquitoes .” The people agreed.
They captured thousands of frogs
Soon the mosquitoes were gone.
and let them loose.
But now the village was full of frogs!
People kept stepping on them. They jumped
out of closets
and hopped on the table when people were eating.
At night, their croaking was so loud that no one could sleep.
SOMETHING HAD TO BE DONE!