Storytelling Starters ~ Key
Problem: storytelling in schools is in decline.
Question: what can be done about it?
This week I’ve been given some good ideas. Here’s one.
Response Archive:
The Response Archive idea was sent to me by Hilary Minns of Warwick University. It involves noticing, then noting down, key moments in children’s responses to oral stories they’re being told. The children can be of any age. The responses could happen either during the telling or after in the course of some talk or activity following the telling.
Recording the responses would be a way of beginning an archive of evidence about the value and benefits of storytelling in education. This is greatly needed in my view and Hilary and others agree.
Example: The Gingerbread Man
Here is the example Hilary sent me of the kind of responses that might be captured for the Response Archive. One student on her storytelling module at the University recently told her class the story of The Gingerbread Man. Afterwards the student role-played being the Gingerbread Man. The children came up with questions. These are the questions they asked:
Why did you run out of the house?
How did you escape from the oven?
How come you were real when you were made out of playdough?
How did you get on the fox’s tail?
Why did you trust the fox?
Did your leg hurt when the fox bit it off?
What was on the other side of the river?
Good, hey? The questions demonstrate how keenly the children had listened to the story and how intelligently they were thinking about its implications. For anyone of the view that these days, it’s difficult to get children to listen, think and speak, let alone be creative, the example could be key.
Action:
Hilary has already asked the students on her storytelling module if they’d like to contribute to the Response Archive. They responded with enthusiasm. She will act as a collecting point for any evidence they come up with.
Will you join in?
Please join in. Whether you’re a teacher, a nursery worker, a storyteller working in schools or anyone else working in education, I’m happy to act as a collecting point for your evidence. Don’t worry that you’d have to provide loads of stuff. One piece of evidence will be better than none. And your evidence could be key, helping to provide one constructive way of drawing attention to the benefits of storytelling in education and current worries about its decline.
So here’s what to do:
1. Tell a story to children in school, nursery or playgroup
2. Observe and remember interesting responses
3. Write them down
4. Send them to me either in the Comment Box below or by email (mary.medlicott@storyworks.org.uk).
Please add the following details which I think are important:
1. The date when the observation was made
2. The age of the children concerned
3. The name of the school, nursery or other venue where the storytelling and responses took place
Any more ideas? Send them on. And please spread the word to others and invite them to join in too.
Tags: Hilary Minns, key, Response Archive, role-play, The Gingerbread Man
July 12th, 2013 at 10:00 am
Hi M – this is a test to see if I’ve correctly changed settings so you get notifications.
Pxxx