Using storytelling in the classroom
Welcome to Storytelling in the class room
This part of PLACES is about using storytelling yourself as a teacher.
Learning this method to tell stories takes place in two steps, which you will find here on the page:
- Access to the effective narrative language
- Ideas for how to make your own relevant stories alone or with the students
There are a total of 12 short videos in this section.
We hope that you will enjoy the journey.
The effective narrative language
Do you know the fable of the lion and the mouse?
In the following videos, Kasper Sørensen tells “The lion and the mouse” several times to show different ways of using language when telling stories. The magic of storytelling is about evoking images in the heads of the listeners and in that way make them co-producers of the story. It is about transportation to another place and/or time. That is one of the main differences between stories being told or summarized.
The method you will be introduced here is developed by Kasper, and he calls it The highway to tell …
Here the story is being told with a combination of the language lanes of The highway to tell:
You can also work with the fable with your students using the PLACES playful activity card STORY BONE – THE LION AND THE MOUSE.
For thousands of years people all over the world have made and told fables. That makes this genre recognizable for most people regardless of cultural background and age. In addition to that, the fables’ shortness and simple structure make them very suitable for learning to use and to play with the tools of storytelling.
Create your own stories
How do we easily build stories that connect and captivate listeners?
Well, exactly what is a story?
Most people intuitively understand the concept and recognize it easily when told a story. But it can be difficult to identify the most important elements and how to use them.
And thus difficult to do it yourself.
Use these simple tools and you’ll be on your way.
Here are some more ideas for using storytelling to share facts, strengthen relations and engaging your students:
We hope that you have found it worthwhile to ride along on this journey.
Some of the points you can also find on the INFO CARDS on storytelling in the written PLACES materials.
Remember that having a driving license is one thing, only practice makes you an experienced driver on The Highway to Tell.
Have fun!