Teacher's Resources

45 Pages·2015·3.25 MB·English

Storytelling in the Classroom
Teacher Resources
Compiled by Wendy Gourley
Table of Contents
The Storyteller’s Tools 3
Sample Lesson Plan 4
How to Find a Story 6
Kinds of Story 7
The Right Story for the Right Age 9
Choosing a Story Checklist 10
Character Web 11
Setting Web 12
Story Maps:
Chain Story 13
Story Board 14
Games & Activities:
Express Yourself 15
React 18
Sound Off 24
Tempo Tango 27
The Storytelling Coach 33
Coaching Cards 35
Self-evaluation Form 36
Resources 37
Story Bones 38
Wendy Gourley �2 www.wendygourley.com
The Storyteller’s Tools
1. Believe in yourself – Everyone can tell a story!
2. Find a story that you love.
3. “Capture” the story in your story file, box or computer file. (Mapping/outine)
4. Take a look at character – what do they look like, move like, sound like or act like?
5. Your voice is your most important tool
A. How are you using your voice in the story?
Narrator, Characters, sound effects, music
B. Use expression
C. Be sure to speak loudly and clearly and use a natural voice for narration.
D. Use varied pacing.
Don’t rush or go too slow. Make use of fast pacing for exciting parts and slow
pacing to build suspense or anticipation. Make good uses of silences.
6. Eye-to-eye contact with your listeners
7. Facial Expression
8. Gestures and Body Language
9. Give your story a strong beginning and ending. Don’t preach the message, but let the story’s
power take it into the heart of your listeners.
10. Mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes at one time of another. Don’t stop or apologize, just get right
back into the flow of the story. Visualize the story in your mind and that will help you find
your place. If you keep going, you might be surprised that your listeners didn’t even
know you made a mistake.
11. Make sure you are having fun! If you are, then your listeners will have fun too. Everyone
loves a good story.
Wendy Gourley �3 www.wendygourley.com
A Sample Lesson Plan (Instructional Procedures)
This sample storytelling unit can be done in a few days or spread out over a few weeks,
depending on how much time the teacher has. I would recommend at least a one hour session
for each phase, but more time is always preferable. All activities and games are included.
Phase One: Choosing the Story
• Have them choose a story they love. It’s the number rule of storytelling. The success
of their storytelling and the project depends on it.
• Use Bare Bones stories if possible. If the story comes out of a picture book, it will be
harder for the student to divorce themselves from the author’s version and make the
story their own. Simple stories are best.
• Have the students read at least five different stories, more if possible.
• The story should be no more than 5-8 minutes.
Phase Two: Making the Story Your Own
• Demonstrate a story for your class
• Bare Bones: Story Mapping
• Discover the MIT - The Most Important Thing
• Flesh it out
• Setting - use all five senses - Setting Web
• Characterization - Character Web
• Strong beginning and end
• Story Visualization - close your eyes and walk through the story in your mind
• Learn basics of Story Coaching
• Pair and Share/Coaching - can use map, if needed
• Homework: Tell your story to at least three people (one can be yourself in a mirror)
without map
Phase Three: The Storyteller’s Tools
• Demonstrate a story for your class
• Find your own style (it helps if the two stories you’ve shared were in different
presentational styles - have your class analyze the difference.)
• Storyteller’s Tools
• Voice
• Narrator
• Characters - Activity: Express Yourself
• Singing
• Sound Effects - Activity: Sound Off
• Body
• Facial Expression/Eye Contact - Activity: Pass the Face
• Gestures & Body Language - Activity: React
• Pacing/silences - Activity: Tempo Tango
• Look over story and plan how to use theStoryteller’s Tools
• Pair and Share/Coaching
Wendy Gourley �4 www.wendygourley.com
• Fill out self-evaluation form.
• Homework: Tell the story three more times
Phase Four: Polishing the Story
• One last Pair and Share coaching session
• Tell for whole class
• If wanted, tellers can take their stories into younger grades or have a parent’s night
performance.
Phase Five: Writing the Story (optional)
A natural next step after an introduction to storytelling would be to develop the story into
a written work. If the child has worked with the story orally and has refined it, the writing
process should proceed much easier than usual. See Writing as a Second Language by
Donald Davis on the resource page.
Wendy Gourley �5 www.wendygourley.com
How to Find a Story
• Read, read, read, listen, listen, listen
• Library: Folk/Fairy - 398 section and more
• Interviews - be prepared with questions
• Mine your own life - keep a notebook to capture
• News, online, books, movies, blogs - stories will land on you everywhere
• Use the stories found in Bare Bones
• Good online resources for traditional stories:
• www.storyarts.com Heather Forest has put together a wonderful resource for stories and
lesson plans for using storytelling in the schools. Click on Story Library and look at “Stories
in a Nutshell” and “Aesop’s ABC’s” for concise, story bones-like telling of many stories.
• www.pitt.edu/~dash/folktexts.html Folklore and MythologyElectronic Texts edited and/or
translated by D. L. Ashliman from the University of Pittsburgh. Hundreds of stories in plain
tellings groups by themes.
• www.sacred-texts.com A massive archive of religious texts from every belief system in the
world. The link, Legends and Sagas, alone has whole books of fairy tales and much more.
• www.aaronshop.com Author/storyteller Aaron Shepherd and posted many of his versions of
traditional tales
• Just Google!
Wendy Gourley �6 www.wendygourley.com
Kinds of Story
Although not everyone agrees on genre and many stories will fit into more than one kind, here is
a general description of different kinds of traditional stories.
What is a folk tale?
A folktale is a story or legend forming part of an oral tradition. Folktales possess many or all of
the characteristics listed below.
• Are generally part of the oral tradition of a group.
• Are more frequently told than read
• Are passed down from one generation to another
• Take on the characteristics of the time,place and people in which they are told
• Speak to universal and timeless themes.
• Try to make sense of our existence, help humans cope with the world
• Are usually about the folk or common people
• Functions to validate certain aspects or values of the culture
• Example: Brer Rabbit stories

What is a Fairy Tale? 
A fairy tale is a fanciful tale of legendary deeds and creatures, usually intended for children.
• Usually contains a magical element
• Make Believe
• Happens long ago
• Has an evil person
• Can often involve a heroic journey
• Things happening in threes is a common pattern
• Example: Rapunzel
What is a Myth?
Myths are traditional, typically ancient stories dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or
heroes that serves as a fundamental type in the worldview of a people. They spring from a
culture’s religious or spiritual traditions. They were stories created for adults. “Myth” comes from
the Greek word “mythos” which means “word of mouth.”
• Often explain the origin of something or explain aspects of the natural world
• Reflect the psychology, customs and values of the society
• Have deep symbolic meaning
• The characters are often Gods or demigods
• Example: Hercules
What is a Tall Tale?
A tale tale is an extravagant, fanciful or greatly exaggerated story. Usually focuses on the
achievements of the ultimate hero.
• Sometimes explains how certain geographical features came to be (grand canyon,
Mississippi river.)
• Usually happens in a frontier setting
• Example: Paul Bunyan
Wendy Gourley �7 www.wendygourley.com
What is a Legend? 
A legend is a traditional tale handed down from earlier times and believed to have an historical
basis.
• Can have the same element of exaggeration as a Tall Tale.
• Is usually more serious than a Tall Tale
• Usually grand and heroic in nature
• Example: Davey Crockett
What are Urban Legends?
Urban Legends are apocryphal stories involving rather fantastic contemporary incidents which
have a tantalizing bit of plausibility to them. Urban legends contain many folkloric elements and
are disseminated through mass media.
• Are cautionary tales - used to scare people into correct behavior
• Have a more modern, less rural setting
• Example: The Hitchhiker

What is a Fable?
A fable is a short narrative making a moral point.
• Animals are usually the main characters
• Animals often have human characteristics, such as power of speech
• Example: The Ant and the Grasshopper

Wendy Gourley �8 www.wendygourley.com
The Right Story for the Right Age
Infants/Toddlers (birth to age 3)
They are in the sensory-motor stage. The are actively learning through interactions with objects
and people. They are forming trust vs mistrust and need to be surrounded by consistent and
responsive people. Toddlers are establishing their autonomy as separate and independent
people. They like to do things for themselves and need to be encouraged to try new things.
They are storing language for future use and need to be exposed to talking and stories as much
as possible. Finger plays and stories with lots of child involvement are key and they especially
enjoy sound effects, props and puppets. They may be frightened by scary faces or loud noises.
Preschoolers (ages 3-5)
The preschooler is rapidly developing in all areas: intellectual, social/emotional and physical.
Play is a major component of their learning. Role play and props are very effective for this age.
Their language is exploding and they enjoy repeating phrases, sounds and stories. They like to
hear the same story over and over again. They may not understand the difference between
reality and fantasy and are egocenric, so believe everything in the story will happen to them.
Stories with action, repetition, music and participation are good. Choose stories with simple
plots and few characters. Simple repeating stories like circle or chain stories are great. They
like to hear about children their own age and where kids are the heroes. Stories should be non-
violent.
Older Children (ages 6-12)
By six and seven, children are moving into the Concrete Operational stage. Once there, they
can understand, for example, that although five pennies look like more money, a dime is actually
more valuable. Their learning is still mostly based on personal experience, verses abstract
thinking. They are beginning to play games and conform to rules. They want to know if things
really happened or if a story is true. Once they begin school, they begin to master life skills and
begin to form either a positive or negative self image. Always emphasize strengths, not
mistakes. As their language develops, they will be able to tell their own stories. Somewhere
between the ages of 11-15, children can move into the last developmental stage, called
Hypothetical Thinking. It is marked by the ability to think logically about abstract problems and
to understand general principles behind solutions to problems. They are able to imagine
possibilities outside their realm of experience. Not all people reach this stage, and it greatly
depends on their educational opportunities and what they are exposed to. Exposure to a rich
range of stories is helpful to obtain this level of development. Ages 5-7 still enjoy repetition and
participation, but can handle a more detailed story line. Choose stories with clear answers
which shows that good triumphs over evil. They love stories about kids their own age who get
into trouble (personal ones from your own life are supreme.) They need to know others make
mistakes. They especially like humor. Ages 8-10 enjoy longer, more intricate stories. They will
sit longer, but still enjoy participation. Fairy tales and heroic adventure stories are great for this
age. Ages 10-12 love to be treated like adults. Don’t expect as much of a reaction from this
age group, but it doesn’t mean that the story is not having an impact. They may still participate
in a story, but only if you have won them over first. Tell stories with strong lessons, but don’t hit
them over the head with the moral. Trust that they are sophisticated enough to get it on their
own. The lesson goes deeper if they figure it out for themselves.
(Adapted from Rebecca Isbell and Judy Sima, Telling Stories to Children)
Wendy Gourley �9 www.wendygourley.com
Choosing a Story Checklist
Name: ____________________________________
Have you read the story silently at least two times?
Have you read the story out loud to hear what it sounds like?
Do you like the sound of the story?
What do you like most about the story? List below:
Who is your intended audience? Will they like this story?
Do adaptations need to be made to fit your intended audience? List below:
Will you still like it after you’ve practiced it 10 or more times?
Once you have learned this story, where are some other places you could tell it?
Once the checklist is complete and the story has been approved, fill in the details below:
Story title:
Story source or author:
Country of origin:
Wendy Gourley �10 www.wendygourley.com