Storytelling & The Narrative Classroom
By: Grace Luppino
As an educator I've always embraced the theory of Multiple Intelligences in my practice but I'd often times struggle with how to articulate the way that I learn. I've never been the biggest note taker or flash card enthusiast so, often times I'd just find myself listening in class-no notebook or laptop in sight but my ears were kept wide open trying to take in as much as I could. I still did well on exams and assignments because the way I was able to recall information was through the anecdotes my teachers told. I learn best through stories and real life connection. And many of the stories that were told through out my education I can still recall today, because stories stick in a place in your brain that flash card memorization doesn't. The point I'm trying to make is that I think that the power of storytelling in the classroom is often overlooked. Sure, study guides and other traditional methods of absorbing information are helpful but what if we encouraged listening to, telling, and connecting with stories as an alternative way to be actively engaged in learning? The video below better explains the science behind storytelling and its impact on learning:
The Power of Storytelling in Teaching
Getting to Know Your Students Through the Stories They Tell
Storytelling is part of our lives as humans starting at a very young age. Stories are used when toddlers use their imagination to create different worlds in their bedrooms, they're used to pass down tradition, to learn morals, and to teach others about our experiences. Students love to tell stories especially about themselves and their life outside of school. Providing opportunities in the classroom for children to express themselves and share their lives with us can be such a powerful tool for educators. Through this we learn about their interests, their upbringing, their culture, and so much more that can be used as to support instruction. It's important to capitalize on these moments and the things that they share to help make better connections and use their interests to your advantage.
"This natural tendency to share our stories can be woven into the fabric of the day and lead to a more in-depth storytelling curriculum." (Rainville and Grodh, 2016)
Storytelling in Reading & Writing
Storytelling can be used to teach and reinforce our students' reading comprehension skills. When students are engaged in stories they begin to form better understanding of text structures (predictions, sequence, cause and effect) and therefore learn to make better sense of narratives. Allowing students to retell stories in their own words can help them practice as they learn to use reading comprehension strategies. Teachers can learn a lot from listening to their students retell stories too...you can get an idea of what sticks with them and figure out where further instruction could be beneficial.
Children are writers before they even learn how to hold a pencil. They have stories to share and their voice acts as a vessel for the words in their head. When teachers write down the words that children say they make a connection to their voice in hopes of providing confidence in their a ability as writers. Writing is often a stressful task for most people but oral stories can provide a great jumping off point for young writers.
Building the Narrative Classroom Environment: Storytelling 101
- Use Folktales!- they're structured in ways that make them easy to remember
- Repetition is Key- using stories with repeated phrases can help students be more attentive and engaged while listening
- Use a story skeleton- this can help you tell a story in your own words...students are used to the way that use speak and respond well to familiarity
- Practice-it's important to become comfortable telling stories so don't try to jump ahead of yourself. Start off brief, practice what you're going to say, and try different methods/ strategies...figure out what works best for you and your students!
- Collaborative Writing- This is an activity usually done in a group where one person (or a given prompt) starts a story and others add onto it, helping the story evolve. There re many ways to do this; you can do it in pairs, small groups, as a whole class, using a talking stick/object or by playing the dice game. The video below shows a great example of how collaborative writing can be done in the classroom.
- Storytelling Prompts Jar- Get an empty jar and fill it up with pieced of paper that have different words and phrases written on them. When the jar gets passed around the room the student has to come up with a story using the prompt that they picked out.
- Using maps to tell stories- Have students draw map. Depending on how you are using this activity in your class it could work in several different ways. The map could be imaginary, a place from their real life, a place that means a lot to them, a historical landmark, and the list goes on! Then use the map as a story telling device...have the students share the stories that connect with what they've drawn. You can prompt stories by asking questions: "What goes on at this place?" "What would it be like to live there?" "What is your favorite memory you've had here?"
- Puppets- Acting it out is a great way to engage children in stories. Having students create puppets and put on a show gives them so much room to be creative. It can help when learning about dialogue and understanding the role it plays in stories as well.
- Story cubes- Story cubes can be used to help inspire the start to a story when students don't know what to write or talk about. Cubes are tossed around like dice and whatever it lands on is something that could be used in a story. Official story cubes can be purchased but students can also make their own, that way everything on the cubes are personalized and caters the things that they care about.
Resources:
"Toward a Narrative Classroom: Storytelling, Media and Literacy" (2016) Kristin Rainville and Bill Grodh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FJD68y7LNo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is5CPTqiYso
Hi Grace. I really liked your blog. I thought it was very interesting to see how you can incorporate the multiple intelligences through storytelling. Not all students respond well to constantly being lectured at, or through memorization. I think by framing a lesson plan multiple ways really helps all students to succeed. By realizing the needs off all learners in our classroom we can be successful teachers. I have used some of these methods during my years as a camp director as ice breaker activities. However, as a high school teacher, especially a history teacher, it is often very hard to incorporate story telling into the classroom. I think many of the resources you have provided in your post can be adapted to all classrooms.
ReplyDelete-Stephanie
Hi Grace,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog and the personal spin you put on the information we learned this week. I felt after reading this, I had a sense of what kind of teacher you are or want to be. I think this because you speak about the multiple intelligences and focus on the different ways story telling can take place in the classroom. My favorite part was the dice game, what a creative and fun idea. That would be easy to put into place and hopefully help students. The power of storytelling comes mainly from the teacher in the younger grades but all the ways that it can bridge writing, teach comprehension, create community and more, can be applied and transferred into older grades. I look forward to trying this dice game and taking all the suggestions you provide into the classroom. Nothing better then sharing stories with 7 year olds and listening to theirs too, it's always entertaining :)
Amanda
Hello Grace,
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing blog post! I enjoyed reading this and seeing your perspective on the content we read. A part of your blog that really stands out to me is the section about storytelling in reading and writing. I couldn't agree more with the fact that storytelling is so important in the reinforcement of reading comprehension but can also aid in writing as well. I think thinking out of the box is really important when it comes to storytelling in the classroom. Normally, when we hear the word "storytelling" we usually think about someone orally telling you a story or you writing a story. However, I strongly believe that to be a successful teacher we must look beyond that and realize that there are so many different ways to tell one's story as you mentioned in this blog post. You mention how you can tell a story through maps, puppets and can even have students create story cubes. I love these ideas and even though I do teach high school students, I can still see how I could incorporate some of these create ideas into my own classroom! :)
-Jaclyn Servillo
Hi Grace!
ReplyDeleteYou did such a wonderful job with your post! I really enjoyed reading your blog and using it as a way to get familiar with the content. I liked the way you started your post with a personal connection, and I found myself relating to what you wrote! I completely agree that the stories that we hear stick in our heads much more than the memorization of flash cards. I'm glad you mentioned that because experience is so important. Engaging students in real storytelling or interactive lessons has a huge impact on what they will remember. Words and expressions are so much more meaningful when they are interactive and allow time for reaction. That connects to the part where you mentioned that allowing students to express themselves and share the things that are important to them is such a powerful tool that educators can use. It is amazing that you provided the storytelling activities which we can use in our classrooms! It is great to see how you can connect the content directly to what we can do ourselves as educators. It was a great idea to also include video! Thank you so much for sharing this post. It is so important for students to share their stories and always feel heard. As educators, it is our job to make sure that they are heard. Using the post you have provided, I feel as though we are all taking a step in the right direction when it comes to using storytelling in the classroom!
Great work!
-Ali Lombard
Hi Grace,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this blog post with us! You were brave to go first and it was a great read. I agree that it is crucial to provide a variety of ways for students to access and engage with a story or concept. Engaging multiple intelligences rather than focusing on a certain “learning style” helps students make deeper, lasting connections with the content. As Jaclyn said, storytelling is much more than listening comprehension. It is our opportunity to build reading and writing skills as well. I love all the different examples you included to illustrate this. The story cubes idea was my favorite! Sometimes, knowing how to begin is the hardest part. The story cubes provide a loose structure that allows for creativity and self-expression. This would be a fun strategy to pair with the collaborative writing idea and would even be distance-learning friendly. I appreciated the helpful tips for building a narrative classroom. It was reassuring to read that scaffolds like a story skeleton are something a *teacher* can need and access as well. In turn, those tools become a great opportunity for us to model effective use for our students.
-Jen S.
Hi Grace,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your first blog post! Right away I found myself agreeing with your point that the power of storytelling is often overlooked in classrooms. I liked how you then went on to support that point with a video. Your examples - using storytelling to get to know your students and to improve on reading & writing - also supported the message of the blog post. I was inspired by the multiple activities you suggested to capitalize on the power of storytelling. I especially liked the jar full of prompts; I hope to try this out one day in my future classroom! Thank you for all the helpful tips and advice ! :)
Hi Grace,
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great first blog post! A part of your post that really resonates with me is where you discuss how children are naturally writers, and that oral story telling is an effective way to get students started with writing. I love how you wrote, "Writing is often a stressful task for most people but oral stories can provide a great jumping off point for young writers." I have definitely noticed this with my students when working on different writing tasks. I have a few particular students in mind who NEED to be given the opportunity to verbally share their stories prior to writing, whether it be with a peer or a teacher, as it helps them to map out their stories in their heads. In the same way, an adult may orally share a draft of an email they need to send with a friend or coworker before they take on the task of typing it all out.
This part of your blog post also made me think of the article we read for Week 3, "Towards a Narrative Classroom: Storytelling, Media, and Literacy", by Kristin Nicole Rainville and and Bill Gordh. A part of the article discusses how telling stories orally is an exciting task for young writers, and it gets them motivated and eager to write. Rainville and Gordh state, "The idea that writing writing provides an opportunity, rather than an assignment to be dreaded, can be planted in the early childhood narrative classroom and will serve the young student for years to come." I think the storytelling activities you listed in your post, such as Story Cubes and Puppets, would be a fun and engaging way to get students to first share their stories orally, and then through writing.
-Colleen K.
Hi Grace!
ReplyDeleteAs children get older, school becomes less hands-on. I have always been a hands-on learner, but I did not know this when I was young. All I knew was I went from feeling successful in elementary and middle school where I was constantly engaged in different activities to feeling like I was a "bad student" in high school because I had difficulty focusing in a dark room with a lecture and PowerPoint. The one thing that seemed to take me out of my stupor was when a teacher told a story. I held onto those as tightly as I could. They were my anchors.
I agree that storytelling is an important part of the classroom, and I am always looking for more ways to incorporate it into mine. I tend to gravitate towards reader's theater, in which students can embody and act out shared classroom stories. I also love the suggestions at the end of this blog for how to encourage students to tell stories. I believe people of all ages are full of stories, both real and imagined, but sometimes they don't know where to start! The storytelling activities you listed are great strategies for encouraging storytelling in the classroom.
Thank you for being brave enough to write the first blog post and for filling it with such great insights and personal anecdotes.
Best,
Kate
Hi Grace,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed tis post because it provides many different avenues to take when prompting the students to tell stories. Sometimes the students will need some guidance when telling a story as well as bringing out key details of information from an assigned reading and the ideas you put forth in this post grasps the idea of good strategies to be an effective teacher. I liked the story cubes specifically because I think this is a very fun way to have students recall either a story of their own or a key part of a story assigned. These ideas are especially effective in making the more shy students feel more comfortable in the classroom environments speaking and giving their knowledge on either a story or a topic. Having a safe, encouraging and positive classroom environment sets up the students for effective teaching and learning. Thank you for sharing because I will definitely use some of these ideas in my own classroom in the future. I can also relate because when a story was presented to me in a more "bland" way when I was a students, I was very disintrested so this will definitely make storytelling more more interactive and fun!
Best,
Mark
Hi Grace!
ReplyDeleteI loved your blog post and all of the examples that you included. At the secondary level, I feel as though something as simple as getting the basics down of how to tell a story, are often overlooked. It's also not as in depth as both students and teachers probably hope for. In an English classroom, you want your students to feel comfortable enough to share their stories and share their work with their peers, but they may not know where to begin. With the help of breaking it down and reminding students that they all are capable of writing, and sharing their stories, they will gain confidence in the classroom and also gain a life skill. I really liked your example of collaborative writing because I hope to have a classroom where working together is always encouraged.
Awesome job! I loved the various strategies you outlined at the bottom. My two favorites were the story telling prompts and the story cubes. I think prompts are beneficial for young students. I see a lot of young writers who struggle to come up with an idea to start with. I hear a lot of teachers complain of getting back writing assignments with an "I don't know what to write about" I also love the idea of storytelling cubes. I love the idea of tying in visuals to student storytelling. I think young students rely on images and pictures to guide a lot of their understanding of what is happening in a story. I think giving them the power to harness these tools, even in a small controlled way, is incredibly beneficial to their growth as storytellers.
ReplyDelete-Bob
Hello Grace,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading about your perspective on storytelling and how you connected it to personal aspects of your life. I love how you talked about the importance of storytelling and how it affects student learning, specifically how it could be the best way certain students learn, how it creates a safe/welcoming classroom environment, and how storytelling is inclusive even when using it in an informal way (like to break the ice). Storytelling is a great way to get to know your students and for the students to get to know you. Building relationships through sharing experiences in crucial, especially during the beginning stages of teaching (in the beginning of the year). Students who feel comfortable talking about themselves or experiences they have had will also make them feel ore comfortable asking for help in an academic setting, which is also why it is necessary to be inclusive when building these relationships.