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Teaching Language Arts in the Elementary School
November 21
Storytelling
LANES-League for the Advancement of New England Storytelling: http://www.lanes.org/index.html
"The League for the Advancement of New England Storytelling is dedicated
to the appreciation and promotion of the art of storytelling in all its aspects:
traditional, creative, educational, cultural, personal, and therapeutic."
Story Arts Online: http://www.storyarts.org/
Story Arts Online not only tells you why storytelling is so important, but also
gives you tips and advice on how you and your students can become better storytellers.
Also included are lesson plans and activities, a curriculum ideas exchange,
related links, and more.
Story Circle in the Capital District: http://www.timesunion.com/communities/storycircle/
Story telling information specifically for the Albany, New York area.
Storytelling Coach #39: Is Your Story Work Out
of Balance?
eTips is a monthly newsletter of storytelling tips, ideas, resources, and events,
by Doug Lipman
Contents:
1) IS YOUR STORY WORK OUT OF BALANCE?
Long ago, the story goes, a rabbi was summarily convicted of a terrible crime
and sentenced to death by the sword.
"But I didn't commit the crime," he said. "Is there no way I
can prove my innocence?"
"Certainly," sneered his executioner. "Walk across the rope that
is stretched across that chasm. If you are innocent, surely you will succeed.
If you fall to your death, it's a sign you are guilty."
The rabbi, whose strengths were much more intellectual and spiritual than athletic,
reluctantly agreed. The sword was certain death, he thought, but if he tried
to cross the rope, there was at least a CHANCE that he'd survive.
The rabbi was brought to the edge of the chasm. He took a step onto the rope,
teetered a little, righted himself, and took another step. He took another and
another. To his own and everyone's amazement, he made it across.
One of his students, who had watched all this helplessly, said, "How did
you do that? What spiritual discipline did you call upon?"
The rabbi said, "Well, whenever I felt myself falling to the right, I leaned
to the left. Whenever I was falling to the left, I leaned to the right!"
***Balance in Our Story Work***
Balance may be simple, but it is never an easy discipline. Take the crucial
area of working on stories. We recognize it's importance, but how often do we
think of the many ingredients that, in the right proportion, nourish us artistically?
How often do we find ourselves off-balance, discouraged, or frustrated, when
adding a single story-work ingredient to the mix might bring us back to upright?
***The Four "Ingredient Groups" of Storytelling***
Over the years, I've found that there are four major
groups of ingredients in my story work. Every teller, at any given point, will
need a unique balance among them. But this much is true of everyone: if you
neglect any major area long enough, your telling is likely to suffer.
Which of these areas have you already incorporated into your work? Which are
new frontiers for you to explore? Which have you done in the past but need to
revisit?
1. Work on individual stories on all levels
We each tend to specialize in one kind of story: stories we create, stories
we adapt, or stories we tell very much as we found them.
Each of these involves many skills and would be worth a whole book. But consider:
each process can shed light on the others.
If you're finding yourself facing a long-term difficulty with polishing your
stories, for example, try creating a new one. The insights and skills you gain
may be just what you need to reinvigorate your presentation skills. Or if you
create stories but seldom adapt the stories of others, try borrowing a folktale
and making it your own. Or learn a literary tale as it was written. You may
find yourself learning something that will strengthen your ability to create
stories, too.
2. Get Feedback
Feedback is a rich field, which includes self-feedback, listener feedback, peer
feedback, and feedback from professional coaches. It's part of how we know we
are falling!
Self feedback? Try recording yourself, then listening back later. I record not
only my performances of stories I'm working on, but my practice tellings as
well. I'm able to notice many areas to improve - and think of ways to improve
them - by simply listening to myself tell.
Do you find ways to let your listeners tell you their responses? If, like me,
you're often too vulnerable right after a performance to hear detailed suggestions,
you may want to find ways to get delayed feedback, perhaps by making advance
arrangement with folks who meet with you a day or so after the performance.
Or host a special "dress rehearsal" which includes a feedback session.
Or use a feedback form.
Your colleagues and other buddies can provide the bulk of your feedback. When
you need more skilled - or just different - help than they can give, consider
a professional coach or workshop leader.
3. Connect Your Stories with the Needs of Listeners
There's a danger in constantly performing for new audiences: you may not come
to know any audience well enough to understand their unique needs. In time,
you can lose touch with the idea that your stories CAN meet long-term needs.
On the other hand, a similar danger exists for those who tell to the same folks
again and again. You can become so entangled with the details of your relationship
with them, that you fail to notice how your stories could be a special
gift. In this case, you might pause to ask yourself: Where do they need encouragement,
inspiration, or a shift (humorous or otherwise) in point of view?
I find that I grow the most when I'm pursuing two interwoven paths. Together,
they help me connect my deep artistic urges with my listeners' deep hungers:
A. One path starts from my own desire to tell certain
stories. Then I ask, "Who else needs to hear these?"
B. The other path starts from the needs of a particular group of people. What
stories might they need to hear?
Ask yourself: Which stories have arisen from your needs?
Who might need to hear those stories? Also, which audiences are available to
you? What might they need to hear?
4. Reflect on Your Work and Your Process
Time to step back and look at the forest. Notice your methods, your tastes,
your direction. It's easy to be perpetually so absorbed in the next story and
the next performance, that we fail to notice the trends in our storytelling
lives.
Look back on the kinds of stories you've done. Notice any similarities? Any
trends? Are you developing an imbalance that is more easily corrected now, before
it impacts you strongly?
Look back, too, on the stories you have wanted to tell but have not. Do they
show you something important to you that you want to take on, but have not yet
created the space, time, and helpers for?
Or is the problem with those untold stories that you've outgrown them before
you've even worked on them? Do they represent "leaning in the same direction
you're already falling"?
To stay upright as a storyteller, pay attention to the forms of story work you
do. Give yourself variety. With every step, adjust your balance. Your survival
as a storyteller may depend on it!
Contents copyright 2004, Doug Lipman
Tellebaration!2004: http://www.tellabration.org/
"Enjoy the thousands of storytelling enthusiasts around the world without
even leaving your own community. Visit the Events section to find a Tellabration!
nearest you." Also, you can host a Tellebration and this site gives you
lots of help.
Folk Tales and Fairy Tales
A Europe of Tales: http://www.europeoftales.net/
Travel through time with this site exploring Europe's folk tales.
Explore traditional tales from Scotland, Finland, Iceland, Italy and Brittany
-- written in eight different languages -- access special features including
background information, photo galleries, teacher's guides and more.
Fairy Tales, Then And Now: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/10/g35/grimm.html
Stories, Folklore, and Fairy Tales Theme Page: http://www.cln.org/themes/fairytales.html
Storytelling isn't just for little kids. From Grimm's fairy tales to Zen and
Taoist ones, this site offers a large number of compelling stories for older
students. The site also links to sites offering tales from the Basque region
to Guam to Russia to Japan. The high points of the site are the interdisciplinary
lesson plans, including one in which students discuss heroic actions using the
newspaper and another where they study Native American culture through the reading
of folktales.
Unit on the Six Types of Folk Stories
Objectives: Students will be able to identify some key elements of folktales,
fables, fairy tales, legends, myths and tall tales, and be able to differentiate
between them.
Materials: Selections from each genre, chart paper, markers.
Procedure: Define genres (7 minutes). Say, "Today we're going to play a
game to learn the differences between these six genres of literature, called
folk stories. They are stories that were told aloud, passed down by communities
in every country of the world. Each of these six genres are pretty similar,
but there are some important differences."
Go over each genre:
1. A fable is very short, with a moral at the end. Characters are usually talking
animals.
2. A folk tale is a story, also usually with talking animal characters, which
uses a pattern (numbers, repetition).
3. A fairy tale is similar to a folk tale, but the characters are people. There
are obvious "good guys" and "bad guys," and magic is usually
involved.
4. A myth is a magical story about how natural forces work (death, creation,
weather). Sometimes myths have gods, goddesses, or heroes.
5. A legend is similar to a myth, but it is based on actual historical events
or people.
6. A tall tale is a story about a heroic person who did completely outrageous,
impossible things.
Ask students to suggest examples of each type as it is described. Describe the
game (3 minutes). Divide the students into teams and give each team a genre.
Say, "On the floor are some books. Each book is a kind of folk story. You
have to look through the books and try to find all the folk stories that fit
your team's genre. Bring the book back to your team's table when you think you
have one that fits. Then you have to explain why you think the folk story falls
into that genre. It's not enough to just say 'The cover says so!' Use the reasons
we have listed here on this chart. In ten minutes, your team will present one
of the books you chose to the class. Any questions?"
Do it (15 minutes). Assist the students as they browse the books. Listen to
their discussions and offer suggestions if they seem stuck. Wrap up when most
books have been brought to the tables, then go around and have each table present
a justification for the books they selected.
Fractured Fairy Tales
Traditional Three Little Pigs and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by
Jon Scieszka - Venn diagram comparing two, write letters to Big Bad Wolf in
Jail, discuss point of view.
Traditional Cinderella and Bubba the Cowboy Prince by Ketteman
Traditional Jack and the Bean Stalk and Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope
Osborne
Traditional Little Red Hen and Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza by Philemon Sturges
Easy Pizza
This pizza takes less than 20 minutes to make from beginning to end. It’s
an easy recipe for kids to master.
Ingredients:
Large whole wheat tortillas
Bottle of ready-made pizza sauce
Grated mozzarella
Pepperoni slices
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread the pizza sauce on the tortillas. Sprinkle
the mozzarella first and then top with pepperoni. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
The delicious pizza comes out crispy, like thin crust pizza. You can be creative
and add your own topping choices: mushrooms, artichoke hearts, spinach, olives,
etc.
Grimm's Fairy Tales: From Folklore to Forever: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm/
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were German patriots of the early nineteenth century
who set out to preserve their country's folk tales. The stories were often cruel,
but once the brothers saw how popular the tales were with young readers, they
started making them softer and sweeter. National Geographic serves up a graphically-rich
adventure into twelve "unvarnished" Grimm fairy tales, some of which
include audio. Click on the treasure box for a biography, resource links, and
a kid's activity page.
Scholastic: Myths, Folktales, Fairy Tales: http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/mff/
As part of their Writing with Writers series, this Scholastic project is a multi-grade
resource for learning about and writing myths, folktales and fairytales. Grades
one to three explore fairy tales and meet two authors who have re-written classic
fairy tales: Jon Scieska (author of "The True Story of the Three Little
Pigs") and Diane Good (author and illustrator of "Cinderella: The
Dog and her Little Glass Slipper.") Similarly, grades three to six dive
into folk tales while grades five through eight learn about myths. There even
is an opportunity to submit your own tales for possible publication on the Scholastic
site.
Historical Fiction
Ann Arbor District Library Kid's Page - Historical Fiction: The
Old World: http://www.aadl.org/kidspg/bibs/histfic1.htm
Historical Fiction for Children: http://bookgirl3.tripod.com/historicalfiction.html
Historical Fiction Listed by Date: http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/FranklinMS/research/hisfic.htm
Mysteries
The Dakota Meadows Eighth Grade Mini-mysteries: http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/schools/dakota/mystery/contents.html
Millennium Mystery Madness: http://library.thinkquest.org/J002344/index.html
This award-winning ThinkQuest Jr. site takes an in-depth look at mysteries and
how they're written. Teach your students about some of the world's most famous
mystery writers. Then walk through the step-by-step guide to the various elements
good mysteries need. Finally, get some reading assignment ideas from the list
of favorite mystery books and stories.
Mysterynet.com: http://mysterynet.com/
This site gives you ideas on how to use the mystery genre to encourage critical
thinking and take the mystery out of improving language and reading comprehension.
Prize winning books
40 Books about Survival: http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/bibs/40books/survival.htm
40 Wordless (and Nearly Wordless) Books: http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/bibs/40books/wordless.htm
The 50 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time: http://www.bookmagazine.com/issue28/adventure.shtml
100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know: http://kids.nypl.org/reading/recommended2.cfm?ListID=61
Challenge your class to read these honored books in home and in class. You can
keep a class chart to check off when you have read each book, and have a celebration
when you complete them all. Make bookmarks with each of your students' pictures
glued on to kick off your efforts.
300 Top Books for Teens: http://www.welchenglish.com/top-books-for-teens.htm
Awards for Children's and YA Books by State (and National): http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/newreadingd.htm
Book Awards: http://www.eddept.wa.edu.au/cmis/eval/fiction/awards/index.htm
Boston Globe Horn Book Awards: http://www.hbook.com/bghb.shtml
First presented in 1967, the Boston Globe Horn Book Awards are given annually
to winners in three categories: Picture Book, Fiction and Poetry, and Nonfiction.
Caldecott Medal: http://www.ala.org/alsc/caldecott.html
Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award: http://www.cla.ca/awards/boyc.htm
The Children's Literature Web Guide: http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/index.html
Links to many other websites, including commentaries on children's books, book
award winners from around the world, and ideas for parents, teachers, and storytellers.
Coretta Scott King Award: http://www.ala.org/srrt/csking/
Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature: http://www.dawcl.com
Enter your age, gender preference, favorite genre, desired historical period,
preferred setting, and even a keyword or phrase, and press "Search."
Results include winners from more than thirty different awards.
Fiction Books for Students with Learning Disabilities: http://www.ldonline.org/ld_store/bibliotherapy/ldbooks.html
Jane Addams Children's Book Awards: http://www.soemadison.wisc.edu/ccbc/public/jaddams.htm
Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award: http://www.reading.org/awards/Lee.html
Michael L. Printz Award: http://www.ala.org/yalsa/printz
Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award Winners: http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/lovelace/lovelace.html
Miss Rumphius Award: http://www.reading.org/awards/rumphius.html
NASA at Your Library Reading List: https://members.ala.org/nasa/lists/index.php
Nebraska's Golden Sower Home: http://www.state.ne.us/home/NLA/golden/sower.htm
Newbery Medal: http://www.ala.org/alsc/newbery.html
The Newbery Medal, named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery,
is awarded annually to "the author of the most distinguished contribution
to American literature for children."
Teenreads.com: http://www.teenreads.com/
The Texas Lone Star Reading List: http://www.txla.org/groups/yart/lonecom.html
Young Adult Canadian Book Award: http://www.cla.ca/awards/yac.htm
Young Australian Readers' Awards: http://www.yara-online.org/
This site began in March 1998 and was created
by Janet Luch. This page was last updated
on
December 2, 2005
.
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