If you are a member of the International Reading Association, please take a look at the Storytelling Special Interest Group and consider joining this fantastic group of storytellers and story lovers:

http://www.pampetty.com/sig.htm

Support Storytelling Report Sheet      Suggested Activities for Support Storytelling     Storytelling Resources

                                                                        TRA Conference Resources
 

     SUPPORT STORYTELLING is a special project designed to recognize those teachers who participate on a regular basis in storytelling/storyreading programs.  It is designed to reward teachers for activities often completed in the classroom, rather than burdening anyone with "extra" requirements.

     To complete the Support Storytelling Program, thirty 30-minute storytelling/storyreading sessions must be held and recorded.  The 30 minutes do not have to be consecutive, although that would be preferred.  (For example, a teacher might use 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon, or 20 minutes at one time and the remaining 10 minutes at another time during that same day.)  A total of 30 days of storytelling/storyreading sessions should be scheduled using at least 10 different activities from the "Suggested Activities for Support Storytelling" sheet that is provided.

     The teacher simply needs to record the date of each session and the activity numbers used for that session on the "Support Storytelling Report Sheet."  (Example:  The date may be "10/16/02" and the numbers of the activities completed on that day may be "3,6," indicating that the teacher told a story using a flannel board and told a story that involved audience participation.) The "Suggested Activities for Support Storytelling" sheet is included for teachers to record the date and the source, title, or brief description of what was told or read.  Copies of these sheets should also be included with the "Report Sheet" and sent to the local Support Storytelling Chairperson or to Shirley Holladay, the state Support Storytelling Chairperson.  The "Suggested Activities" sheet allows each teacher to keep a detailed record of resources used and provides an opportunity for the state chairperson to compile a list of possible resources and ideas to share with future participants.

     Thank you for your participation and for encouraging others to participate by involving storytelling/storyreading in their classroom.

Support Storytelling Report Sheet

Please complete the chart and document  your activities for an award.  You may use photographs, samples of children's work, videos, storytelling portfolios, etc. for your documentation.
    Please put this date on your calendar.

State Storytelling Chairperson:
Shirley Holladay

Include in your program at least ten (10) of the following activities:
Send a copy of this form with the Reporting Sheet and keep a copy for your future reference.

1.  Tell a story for pure enjoyment, with no formal follow up.      Date:____________  Source or title:__________________________________________________

2.  Tell or read a story and follow up with creative dramatics (Example:  Caps for Sale)     Date:____________  Source or title:__________________________________________________

3.  Tell or read a story using visual aids (Example:  Gingerbread Boy with flannel board activity.)       Date:____________ Source or title: _______________________________________________

4.  Tell or read a story using puppets in either the initial presentation or the follow up activity. (Example:  The Three Little Pigs.)
     Date:____________ Source or title:________________________________________________

5.  Read a story that has language that needs to be passed along exactly as it is written.     (Example:  The Elephant's Child)
     Date:____________ Source or title:________________________________________________

6.  Tell or read story that involves audience participation.      Date:____________ Source or title:________________________________________________

7.  Read or tell a story and follow up with an art activity.     Date:____________ Source or title:________________________________________________

8.  Read or tell a story and follow up with a creative writing activity.  (Example:  This activity might consist of dictation of a sentence by each child about the story, the writing of a sentence or paragraph about the story by each child, or writing another  episode to the story.)  Date:______________ Source or title:________________________________________________

9.  Include reading or recitation of some poetry in the session. Date:______________ Source or title:________________________________________________

10. Share a picture book, showing the pictures as you tell the story. Date:______________ Source or title:________________________________________________

11.  Tell a story that is related to a song, or in some way incorporates music with the story.  (Example:  The Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly.)  Date:______________ Source or title:________________________________________________

12. Tell a story for which you develop a special mood or atmosphere. (Example:  You may wish to darken the room to tell a "scary" story.)  Date:______________ Source or title:________________________________________________

13. Tell an open-ended story and allow students to create an ending. Date:______________ Source or title:_______________________________________________

14.  Create an activity to allow students to share a favorite story. (Example:  Divide students into small groups and allow each student to tell a story, or let the children  illustrate different scenes from a story and tell the story while showing the pictures.)    Date:_____________ Source or title:________________________________________________

15.  Share a story, a poem, or song from a different culture.  (Example:  Native American myths and legends)     Date:_____________ Source or title:________________________________________________

16.  Invite a resource person or storyteller into the classroom to share a story of legend. Date:_____________ Source or title:________________________________________________

17.  Share different works by the same author and follow up by comparing and/or contrasting the works.  (Example: Use several stories by author Judy Blume.) Date:_____________ Source title:________________________________________________

18.  Share a story and follow up by writing a letter to the author expressing opinion about the story.  Letters may be written individually or as a class activity. Date:_____________ Source or title:________________________________________________

19.  Share a story and follow up by writing a letter to the publishing company requesting more information concerning the author.  The letter may be written individually or as a class activity. Date:_____________ Source or title:________________________________________________

20.  Brainstorm the student's reactions to a story just shared. Date:_____________ Source or title:________________________________________________

21.  Organize and conduct a storytelling contest within your class or school. Date:_____________   Activity:______________________________________________________

22.  View a television program or video related to storytelling or storyreading.  (Example: Reading Rainbow)        Date:_____________ Program:_____________________________________________________

23.  Develop a class story by allowing each student to contribute an idea in sequence until the story is completed.  The teacher may need to monitor the development and add  to the flow of ideas. Date:_____________ Activity:______________________________________________________

24.  Share a story and follow up with a food activity related to the story.  (Example: Green Eggs and Ham)        Date:_____________ Activity:______________________________________________________

25.  Encourage students to research and locate stories about their ancestors and family. Tell family stories.        Date:_____________ Activity:______________________________________________________

26.  Tell or read a story while drawing characters on paper or board. Date:_____________ Source or title:________________________________________________

27.  Tell stories with similar themes or various versions of the same story.  Allow the students to compare the stories.  (Example:  Cinderella)  Date:_____________ Source or title:________________________________________________

28.  Read or tell a story and have the children do a script for Reader's Theatre. Date:_____________ Source or title:________________________________________________

29.  Take a group to the public library or other place to hear a storyteller or puppeteer. Write letters to the presenter.       Date:_____________ Activity:______________________________________________________

30. Let the children share their original stories by telling them or making them available in book form. Date:______________ Activity:______________________________________________________

31. Find a site on the Internet that allows children to publish their own stories and allow students to submit an original story.       Date:_____________   URL of publishing site:_________________________________________

32. Have students search the Internet for stories from various cultures.  Let them print copies of their favorites and begin a storytelling portfolio of stories they want to learn to tell.       Date:_____________ Activity:______________________________________________________

33. Use an idea for storytelling that is your own.  (Anything that is not listed above applies here.)  Describe the activity:________________________________________________       __________________________________________________________________________________       __________________________________________________________________________________

Comments (optional) about how participating in Support Storytelling has enriched your classroom or how you think we could improve this program:_____________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________

I will use this space to share resources that will facilitate storytelling/storyreading in the classroom.  It will be updated as I find new and exciting materials, so check back often. Email me to share with me your experience with any of these materials or if you have others to recommend.  I will post your comments here for others to read.

New for August:
The StoryTeller - Felt Educational Products
       Colorful felt backgrounds and the felt characters, furniture, trees, etc., that tell many different folktales, fairytales,          nursery rhymes, and other traditional tales.  Each background comes with the materials needed to tell several stories.  You have to mount the background on bi-fold cardboard and use sharp scissors to cut out each character.  I (Pam Petty) bought the "Castle Tales" (includes Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Saint George and the Dragon, The Princess and the Pea, Rumpelstilskin, and The Frog Prince) and "Classic Board Stories" (includes Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Billy Goats Gruff, and "The Ginger Bread Man).  Each background is 23 x 31 inches and comes with a how-to literature guide and 10 coloring pages (good for sequencing/retelling).  Each kit also includes a tape of each story in the kit.  These kits are only sold by mail or by having "felt" parties.

Purposes of Storytelling
    Storytelling teaches, informs, and provokes thought.  Storytelling touches and reaches children.  Children are able to identify with the characters which provides insight and motives of behavior.  Stories help develop language competence and listening skills, verbal skills, and vocabulary.  Storytelling encourages and motivates children to search for more stories to read.  Telling stories stimulates their imagination.  Storytelling brings laughter, understanding, and a sense of wonder and pleasure.

Selecting a Story
    Find a story that begs to be told.  Find a story that BEGS YOU to tell it.  After reading a story for the first time, it may linger in your thoughts and call you back.  This warm reaction to the plot, characters, and style is a good sign.  Your reaction to the narrative is most important, because only you can decide which ones are best for you to learn and retell.  Trust  your feelings.
     What makes a good story?  The most important element is empathy; the moment when the audience understands and relates to the story.  It should have a well developed plot, characterization, and clearly defined theme and style.  It needs dramatic appeal.  A good story should relate to a child's emotions and experiences.  It should be simple and direct.  The plot needs to be strong and develop at a rapid pace.  A suitable narrative will have a conflict and a resolution to the conflict.  A good story should flow well.
     All of these features should be considered when selecting a story for a specific age level.  Kindergarten stories should be five to eight minutes long, have lots of obvious action, only two or three characters and lend themselves to the use of props.  Stories for grades one and two should be eight to twelve minutes long, have lots of action, three to five characters, obvious humor, and participation.  Third and fourth grade literature needs fifteen to be twenty minutes in length, have plenty of mood and thought, and group participation.  Ghost stories and fables appeal to children in grades five and up.  These tales should contain mood, thought, and grown-up humor.  Story lengths can range from fifteen to forty-five minutes.

Storytelling Suggestions:

How's your Appalachian dialect?  You might want to take a look at A Regular Flood of Mishap by Tom Birdseye, Holiday House, New York, 1994.  ISBN 0-8234-1338-1 (paperback) or ISBN 0-8234-1070-6 (hardback).
This is a wonderful story about a girl named, Ima Bean (her aunt's name is Etta Bean).  Ima Bean is trying to help her grandfather do the work on the farm when all of her good efforts turn into a "flood of mishaps."  So much disaster is caused that she decides she will never be forgiven by her family.  Much to her surprise and the reader's delight, her family is most forgiving and reminds her of what being "family" really means.  The language in the book is priceless and the action begins immediately and continues throughout the story.  This books provides a beautiful sentiment that can be enjoyed by children and adults of all ages.  Enjoy!

Story Preparation
    Enthusiasm for your story is the key.  Make the story yours, make characters come alive through you.  Feel the emotions of the characters.  Adopt the story to your individual talents and personality.  Work with it and decide how you tell it best.  Practicing aloud will help you build confidence.
    Practice! Practice! Practice!  Try telling your story while doing some routine task; like driving the car or taking a shower.  Tape the story and play it while driving.  If you can make it through the story several times, then you will be prepared to deal with distractions that may arise during your presentation.  Make sure you practice telling the story until it comes naturally.

Presentation
    There are no set rules to follow in telling a story, for storytelling is an individual art and each person must find his/her own style.  There is no "right way."  Do what is comfortable for you.
    Set the mood immediately in your introduction.  Get the audience primed and ready to recognize humor or melancholy as the story develops.  Show personal warmth and the listeners will be naturally attracted to your story.  By interacting with the audience you will all enjoy the story.

Hints for Storytelling
     1.  Keep eye contact with the audience.  Read their body language and respond by continuing, changing, or adapting your story.  Make them feel that you are doing the story for their benefit, because you are!

     2.  Pausing can add suspense and give listeners a chance to digest what has been told.  Use a pause to its best advantage.

    3.  Use gestures only if you are comfortable with them.

     4.  Take cues from your audience.  They will determine the pace of the story.

     5.  Outline the story on paper, visualize it.  Imagine the action of the story and play it out in your mind.

     6.  Prepare appropriate places for questions, pauses, and times when the audience could respond.

     7.  Use your voice for effect.  Change the volume for emphasis and control of the story.  Whisper or raise the volume to create a mood.  Vary the amount of emotion you put in your voice; a tremor in the voice sometimes greatly enhances the story.

     8.  Be aware of nervous habits.  Practice before a friend and have them critique you.

     9.  Know your limits.  Only tell stories you are comfortable with.

Warnings:
    1.  Don't be afraid to change a story after you have started to tell it.  If you see the audience is restless and not interested in the story you are telling, change it.

    2.  Don't use voices or accents if they aren't comfortable for you.

    3.  Don't try to recap the facts to clarify a point at the end of the story.  End strong and fast and leave the rest to the imagination.

    4.  Don't try to tell too many stories in one setting.

    5.  Try not to memorize the story unless it is appropriate.  Picture the story in your mind; the sequence and the action.
 
 

Websites

http://www.aaronshep.com/storytelling/
    Alan Shepard's Storytelling Site:  Finding your Story; Preparing your Story; Telling your Story; Final Hints

http://www.storyarts.org/classroom/index.html
    Storytelling in the classroom:  activities, lesson plans.
 
http://www.tellitagan.com/
    Software for Children (30-35 page stories with captions and audio files).  Follow the links on this site.

http://www.storynet.org/resources/links.htm
    Storytelling links (24 pages).

http://www.magickeys.com/books/index.html
    Children's Storybooks Online for young children, older children, young adults, riddles, mazes, coloring book.

http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/storyhandbook.htm
    Storytelling Handbook

THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN STORYTELLER LESSON PLANS & UNIT:
http://www.cis.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1990/4/90.04.05.x.html

Bibliography of Books for Storytelling

More than a Stove by Bonnie Fussell, Illustrated by Dale Sadler
Available at Blackberry Publishers:  http://www.blackberrypublishers.com

Teaching Through Stories : Yours, Mine, and Theirs
                      by Betty D. Roe, Suellen Alfred, Sandy Smith
                      Our Price: $31.95
                      Paperback (June 1997)
                      Christopher-Gordon Pub; ISBN: 0926842714
      This book addresses the following issues:
            - The Importance of Story
            - Tips About the Storytelling Process
            - Using Storytelling to Teach Language Skills
            - Using Storytelling to Enhance Learning In and Through Literature
            - Using Storytelling to Teach Drama
            - Using Storytelling to Teach Art and Music
            - Using Storytelling to Enhance Learning in Social Studies
            - Using Storytelling to Enhance Learning in Math and Science
            - Using Storytelling to Promote Understanding of Cultural Diversity
            - Using Storytelling to Help Understand Self and Others
 

The Storyteller's Start-Up Book : Finding, Learning, Performing, and Using
                     Folktales : Including Twelve Tellable Tales
                     by Margaret Read MacDonald
                     List Price: $26.95
                     Our Price: $18.87
                     You Save: $8.08 (30%)
                     Hardcover - 215 pages (July 1993)
                     August House Pub; ISBN: 0874833043
Picture Books recommended for Storytelling:

John Henry (Caldecott Honor Book)
                     by Julius Lester, Jerry Pinkney (Illustrator)
                     Reading level: Ages 4-8
                     Hardcover  (October 1994)
                     Dial Books for Young Readers; ISBN: 0803716060

Aunt Nancy and Cousin Lazybones
                     by Phyllis Root, David Parkins (Illustrator)
                     Reading level: Ages 4-8
                     School & Library Binding - 32 pages 1 Us Ed edition
                     (October 1998)
                     Candlewick Pr; ISBN: 1564024253

How Turtle's Back Was Cracked : A Traditional Cherokee Tale
                     by Gayle Ross, Murv Jacob (Illustrator)
                     Reading level: Ages 4-8
                     Hardcover - 1 pages 1 Ed edition (March 1995)
                     Dial Books for Young Readers; ISBN: 0803717288

Smoky Mountain Rose : An Appalachian Cinderella
                     by Alan Schroeder, Charles Cendrillon Perrault, Brad Sneed 
                    (Illustrator) Reading level: Ages 4-8
                     Hardcover - 32 pages (May 1997)
                     Dial Books for Young Readers; ISBN: 0803717334

With a Whoop and a Holler : A Bushel of Lore from Way Down South
                     by Nancy Van Laan, Scott Cook (Illustrator), Nancy Van Laan
                     Reading level: Ages 9-12
                     School & Library Binding - 112 pages 1 edition (April 1998)
                     Atheneum; ISBN: 068981061X
 

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08/21/08 06:32:18 PM

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