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Transformations

Stroies to Tell in the Classroom

John Hunt Publishing Ltd.

The Power of Stories

Positive Outcomes

If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be even more intelligent, read them more fairy tales. Albert Einstein

Stories are the easiest and most powerful way to increase children's learning skills in speaking, reading, writing and creativity. These stories can be an effective educational tool benefiting all children from the reluctant reader and writer to the high achiever, and combined with the children's evolving powers of comprehension, analysis, discussion and imagination, play an instrumental role in developing their literacy skills.

These stories will:

• Challenge and expand children's imagination

• Increase their confidence and enthusiasm for independent reading and writing

• Increase confidence and ability in speaking and listening in all settings

• Increase understanding of the language and image-making involved in storytelling and writing

• Increase children's ability to use language to explore their own experiences and imaginary worlds

• Increase children's understanding of plot, character and story structure

• Increase their skills, understanding and use of grammar and punctuation

• Increase and enrich their vocabulary, pronunciation and word recognition

• Increase their confidence in public speaking

• Increase their confidence in their own creative skills

• Lead to their personal growth and development

• Bind groups and classes together

• Create a unique sharing experience

• Give a creative boost to learning across the school and in the home.

Storytelling has always been part of the human experience. Stories are universal, crossing boundaries of language, culture and age. Oral stories have always been with us as an enjoyable and entertaining way to teach children human history, traditions, culture, morality and other complex ideas. Our stories help define who we are. Our sense of identity is forged by the stories we tell ourselves, and they can also help build and preserve a group's sense of community.

The importance of stories in the overall development of young children is well documented. Children's ability to grasp the concept of narrative appears at a very young age, and stories provide a key means to understand the world around them as well as other people and themselves. Stories mirror human thought. Evidence from neurology and psychology leads to the conclusion that humans think in narrative structures. Concepts conveyed in story form – more than ideas explained with logic and analysis – imprint themselves naturally into human minds.

There is also strong evidence to suggest that young children who are read to and told stories from a young age have considerable advantages at school, not only in the development of literacy skills, but also in the development of social skills, such as empathy and being able to relate to others.

The more stories that children know at an early age, the more likely that they will be successful as lifelong learners. But stories are not just for children; they are a communal activity, and if teachers and parents tell stories to children the positive effect is magnified.

The Fact, Fiction and Five Senses Questions

When telling a story to children something wonderful happens. After between 60 and 90 seconds the children stop watching the storyteller and begin to see the story. Their own imaginations begin to create their own unique version of the story. If you mention a wood, the boy from Somalia sees a completely different wood to the girl from Vietnam or from Middlesborough. Everybody in the room sees a different wood. It all depends on their life experience and their cultural references. Throughout the story the children's imaginations have created unique versions of the characters and backgrounds and even different readings of the plot. By the end of the tale there have been not one but thirty different stories told.

'... and that is the end of the story.' There is now a cacophony of voices from the carpet. The children are now vocalising the story. They are retelling it. Sometimes describing their best bits or just commenting on the experience. There is not a lot of listening going on. Often two children face each other and speak simultaneously. But this is not about listening. This is about processing and exploring the images they have made. The story is still fresh and live for them. The story is still continuing. It remains in the room.

I encourage teachers to savour these moments and not intervene. They must stay quietly watching. These are precious moments where the images are still being processed. After about two minutes the teacher brings the children to a central focus. I say two minutes because a confident speaker or dominant classroom personality may impose his or her own visual images onto the group. The teacher's task is to keep intact each child's unique imaging vision.

Now begins the exploration of those images. I ask that teachers refrain from soliciting generalisations and opinions about the quality of the story (Did you enjoy that? Wasn't it great when ...?). The task is to begin a communal retelling, an exploration of the differences in the images perceived by each individual. One way to achieve this is the five questions.

There are three sets of five questions each. Each set has a different function.

• The Fact Questions

• The Fiction Questions

• The Five Senses Questions

The Fact Questions

These questions are there to re-establish the narrative of the story. In doing this they also recall the image for each child. They must be very general and basic, of the 'Who?', 'What?', 'Where?' variety. No description.

So for example, for 'Little Red Riding Hood' the questions could be:

• Who sent the child into the wood with a basket of food?

• Who did the child meet in the wood?

• Why was the child bringing food into the wood?

• What did the wolf put on before jumping into bed?

• Where was Granny when Red Riding Hood knocked at her door?

These do not have to be in narrative order. With older children it might be challenging to skip back and forth through the story along the narrative line. These questions are to establish the facts of the story. The facts give it its basic structure.

The Fiction Questions

Now we come to the differences in each child's perception of the story. These answers do not come from the story that has been told; they come from what each child 'saw' when watching the story. The teacher should explain that each answer is truthful because it comes from the child's imagination.

For example:

• What kind of basket was it?

• What colour is the wolf?

• Did you see any other animals in the wood?

• Does the woodcutter live in the wood?

• How would you describe the nightdress that the wolf is wearing?

Do not gainsay any of the answers to promote reality. If the basket is a Morrisons shopping trolley, well, perhaps that is what the child saw. We must never assume that our children might know what a basket is. In many ways their world is very different to the one we experienced at that age. By the same token, if one child saw a dinosaur in the wood we have to take that at face value, perhaps acknowledging that their wood is certainly a very dangerous place in that child's imagining. The other children will have their own opinion on this matter. But again all the 'pictures' seen by a child are valid at this stage.

The Five Senses Questions

Now we communally build up the detail of the story entirely from the imaginations of the group:

• Choose one scene in the story to explore.

• Repeat the question after every answer until you can judge it right to go on to the next question.

For example: Granny's cottage: Open the door. Stand in the entrance. Look inside.

What do you see?

• The bed. Where? Over there. (Points left)

• The cupboard. Where? Over there. (Points right)

• There is a glass with teeth in. By the bed.

• There are shoes by the door etc.

What do you smell?

• Food cooking. What kind of food?

• Flowers. On the table.

• Soap. Cleaning liquid.

• Wet clothes from the wash.

• The wolf's fur etc.

What do you hear?

• Snoring.

• Clock ticking.

• Silence.

• The birds outside etc.

What can you feel?

• The doorframe is rough wood. Splinters.

• It's cold inside the cottage.

• The carpet is soft.

• Spiders' webs etc.

What do you taste?

• This depends on the particular scene that is chosen. However, many children smell with their tongues and it may be worth giving it a try to see what responses can be had!

Image making is an essential part of writing. Pencils must not be picked up until the imagination is thoroughly exercised. Image making subsists within children, and the promotion of the idea that every child will see a different image, and that all the images are valid, will lead to richer and more complex writing.

The Sacred Space

This is the space at the front of the class, and the people who enter the space are worthy of respect and free from harm.

The Sacred Space is so called because it is a special place. It is an area, perhaps at the front of the class, that is used by children retelling, showing or inventing their narrative. Whether sitting on the carpet or at their tables, all the other children in the class are focused on the space. When a child steps into the space they take up a strong position commanding the attention of all the watchers. With use, children understand that the Sacred Space is an area within which anything can happen.

Some classes define the space using a rope or chalk line. This gives it extra appeal by creating a boundary to cross into the special area. Questions can be asked of children who are in the space, but it is important that no one enters the space unless they have stories to tell or other work to show.

When in the space a child becomes aware of exposure. Acute physical awareness in most children begins with the onset of puberty; until then children tend to look outwards from themselves. This is very different with the voice. The voice is the delicate expression of personality, and when used in a public forum like the Sacred Space there is a danger that the child will see the voice as a traitor, to be kept under strict control in case it reveals secrets. A function of the space then is to persuade the child to trust the voice. In using the space slowly, carefully and frequently, the child becomes acquainted with the voice and becomes familiar with its features. It begins to give pleasure to the child. The child becomes aware of its impact on others. There is also the sense that the voice becomes a generator for personal development, a mirror that reflects progress back to the child. The frequent use of words in public enables the subsistence of logic and grammar in language and clarifies meaning. It gives thechild power, the power of understanding and the power of affect.

The vivid stimulus of a told story that sets off the tumbling of images has to be followed by a cascade of words. The narrative and action is so 'hot' in the imagination that children need to speak it out to comprehend it. Using the voice is imperative. It follows then that if Mother Kehoe's adage of 'the best way to learn something is to teach it' is true, then the Sacred Space exists not just for the working of the oral story but is also available for all teaching and learning. Let the idea of the public voice in action seep into maths and science. Let the public presentation of all work be the plenary of every lesson.

The Scottish Laird

A Tale from Scotland

One of the most beautiful birds in the world is the golden eagle. Golden eagles live in Scotland. Now, if you were a golden eagle and you were there on top of a mountain seeing the vast country spread out like a quilt below you, maybe you might take it into your head to fly. Take off! Begin to soar around the hills and mountains. Then look down. If you look down you may see a valley. In Scotland it's called a glen. And in that valley, there might be a lake, and in Scotland that's called a loch. And in the middle of the loch is an island. In the middle of an island is a castle. A Scottish castle – tall, sharp and black.

Well, in that castle was a lord. In Scotland he is known as the Laird. Well, the Laird said: "Right, chamberlain, come here. I have a got a wee bit of an idea. Well, winter is coming in and it's going to be a harsh one. It's going to get very cold indeed and I don't want people to be lacking in any cheer, so we are going to have a party. Invite everybody in this glen to the party."

The chamberlain, booted and cloaked, crossed to the bank and rode through the glen, inviting everyone to the party.

From warm smoky huts they emerged in their best clothes and with great excitement. Laughing and greeting each other, the people reached the loch and, getting into the boats, they were rowed across to the island and entered the castle. And as soon as they went through the big oak doors, they were greeted with the smell of roast meat and vegetables. And there in front of them five fires crackling in five hearths down the centre of the hall made the whole building beautiful and warm. Behind them were minstrels in the gallery playing music and every table was groaning with food and soon every bench was full of people.

Away at the far end of the Great Hall there was the Laird himself with his family on the platform. Well, people were eating and drinking and dancing and singing and haut boys were darting in and out filling up jugs and cups with refreshments. After the food was eaten the Laird stood up and he took his mug and banged it down on the table. The minstrels stopped playing; everybody looked at the Laird.

The Laird said, "Everybody, I want your ears and your eyes. We are going to have a wee competition now, and in every competition there are winners. It's a storytelling competition. Over here, do you see, here I have ten bags of white pearls. These pearls will go to the ten best storytellers. But over here I have something special. This is a bag of black pearls. And this will go to the best story. Okay! You have all got stories. Let's hear them. Who's first?"

A young woman put up her hand.

"Ah, Morag, I know you from last year," said the Laird. "Come up! Let's have your story."

Morag got up and she started to tell a story. Her voice was quiet, but filled the room. Everyone was silent and the story was so heartbreakingly beautiful that there was not a dry eye in the whole building. When she had done, she got a roar of applause.

The Laird beamed. "Hey, Morag! You win the first bag of white pearls.

Now, who's next?"

A man put his hand up.

The Laird was delighted. "A man from England! A visitor! Well, friend, you are a stranger no more. Come up here! You are a guest in our house. Now then, let's hear your story."

The man began. "Yeah, all right, eh hey, everybody! Ehaha, this is my first time. Ooh, tough crowd, ha ha. Well, let me tell you this story about ... oh, you are going to love it. You are going to love this. There was this man, yeah right, there was this man, right, there was this man, right, and he was walking down a road. No. No. I am wrong. I am wrong. It was not a man; it was a woman. That's right. Good grief, what am I like? There was this woman, right, and she was walking down the road, right. No, it weren't a woman. No, no, it were a man. I was right first time. And he wasn't walking; he was riding a horse ... that's right, he was riding a horse."

Well, he went on and on and on and on. By the time his story came to an end, everybody had their chins in their hands wearing impatience behind their polite smiles.

The Laird said, "Thank you very much, eh. Sit down and no pearls for you. Anybody else got stories?"

Well, the evening went on and they had stories that were sorrowful and harrowing, that were funny, that were mysterious, and that were ghostly. Soon every single bag of white pearls had been won. Everyone had told. But the bag of black pearls still sat there.

The Laird said, "Is there anyone here who has not told a story?"

And there was. It was one of the servants, one of the haut boys. He was hiding behind a pillar. He didn't want to get up there. He didn't want to tell a story. He just didn't want anyone looking at him. But he was spotted by a ham-faced man. "My Laird, over here! There's a wee boy here who hasn't had a turn!"

"Bring him up, bring him up!" said the Laird, and the poor boy had to be dragged up to the platform. He stood there shaking, not lifting his eyes. He didn't want to do this! He just wanted to be somewhere else.

The Laird sat back in his chair and said, "Right, boy, what story are you going to tell us then?"

And the boy then said something that you should never say in Scotland. The boy said, "I don't know any stories."

The Laird stretched his eyes and the people gasped. "You what? You don't know any stories? Are you not human? YOU DON'T KNOW ANY STORIES!?"

People began to laugh and point at him, and the Laird got so angry he leapt up, grabbed the boy by the ear and dragged him down the whole hallway. The boy managed to twist around and he caught sight of all the people as he was dragged past them. They were standing and laughing and pointing and calling him names. At the end of the Hall they got to the big oak doors and the servants opened them, letting the cold in. The Laird then lifted the boy up by his ears and booted him into the night.

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Excerpted from Transformations by Phil McDermott. Copyright © 2014 Phil McDermott. Excerpted by permission of John Hunt Publishing Ltd..
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