To prepare, I watched the story many times and I wrote down the key points of the story, which were the various jobs that Jack holds in the story. However, asking students to retell a story without any prior preparation was met with mixed results.Īfter the storytelling class, I looked through David’s channel for more stories and I found the old English story of “Lazy Jack”.I really liked this story and decided to tell it in one of my weekly speaking classes. Students were generally able to understand the story and enjoyed sharing their pictures with each other. Next, I asked the students to write a list of things David did well when telling his story and finally they tried to apply these tips while telling their own story. After watching a YouTube video of David Heathfield telling “The Indian Bird”, the students then drew pictures of the 4 most important moments in the story and shared their pictures with each other.
Becoming a great storyteller in pdf how to#
The idea was that students could learn how to tell stories from a professional storyteller and then use what they learnt to tell a story familiar to them. The first storytelling class I ever hosted at my school was called “Telling Bedtime Stories”. How I got into storytelling and my experiences so far
I hope that it inspires other teachers to give storytelling a try. It was great talking with David and he gave some excellent advice and suggestions on how English teachers can use storytelling with their students. Secondly I’d like to share a recent phone conversation I was fortunate enough to have with David Heathfield, the professional storyteller whose video I used in that first lesson 18 months ago. In this article firstly I want share a little bit about my journey into storytelling, and how I’ve incorporated it into my teaching. Nevertheless, in the last the 18 months oral storytelling has opened up an exciting new world for me and, I hope, for my students too. Nor had I ever considered myself a good storyteller or even a good teller of anecdotes before. I don’t know much about great literature or ancient mythology.
Becoming a great storyteller in pdf plus#
I go out into the communal area of my school and gather all the students I can find, 17 in total plus one child, and tell the story of Mbongoro,a fantastic Shona folktale that requires chanting, acting, dancing and, most of all, a great deal of confidence from the storyteller. I’m excited because no students have booked my final grammar class. I’m not a good storyteller.įast forward 18 months and it’s a Saturday afternoon. I can just have the students watch a video of a professional storyteller. Never mind the fact that I don’t actually know any stories, that’s what YouTube is for. Why not try a story telling class? After all, many students at my centre are parents – surely they’d be interested in this topic. Email: over 18 months ago, I found myself in a situation which I suspect other new teachers can relate to I was pressed for time, I had to come up with another topic for my speaking class, and I had no idea what to topic to choose.
He is interested in using storytelling to engage his students and helping them to improve their speaking skills.
Nicholas Emery holds a CELTA and teaches EFL at an adult training centre in Shanghai where he has been teaching for just less than two years.
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