Storyspinner video: Grandpa and the laundry basket
Alastair Daniel on storytelling
The Fairy Tree story – sound file
The Button Story
Self-Portrait Storytelling: Building Identity and Community
Michelle McMartin and Terry Campbell
I love seeing the look on other people’s faces when they hear my story.
I like getting help from my friends. It helps make the story better.Jaimee, aged 10
The art of storytelling involves our hearts and minds in ways that deeply
connect us as teachers and learners.Campbell & McMartin (2017)
Stories are an integral part of life and learning. When oral storytelling becomes part of our literacy instruction, its ripple effects can be amazing! The three traditional pillars of literacy – reading, writing, and oral communication or talk – can all be enhanced in various ways through storytelling activities.
We (Michelle, a classroom teacher and Terry, a teacher educator) have been co-conducting action research for the past ten years in a school in a mid-size town in Northern Ontario, Canada. The school community includes a mix of socio-economic and cultural groups, with a strong minority of Indigenous learners. Our first project together involved using oral storytelling to encourage Michelle’s striving writers in her class of ten to eleven year olds. We called the approach ‘using a different kind of pencil’ (Campbell & Hlusek, 2009). We found that telling stories and talking together about their writing injected new life into the writing process. Since then, we have worked together in Michelle’s classroom almost every year (usually with learners from eight to eleven years) focusing more and more on the role of talk as a catalyst for learning and creating community. This work culminated in a text called Literacy Out Loud (2017).
In this article, we would like to share one activity from that text that learners enjoyed immensely – one that sparked full engagement, enhanced self-esteem, and fostered a feeling of community. We called it self-portrait storytelling. The activity would be easily adaptable for younger (or older) age groups, for EAL learners, and indeed, for any educational or community setting anywhere.
This identity-building experience emphasizes creative individuality while contributing to classroom community because of its collaborative quality. We began with a light touch as far as teacher modelling goes. Michelle often adopts this ‘minimalist modelling’approach, particularly when the students are engaging in creative experiences. She explains:
As teachers, we sometimes have a tendency to over model what the end learning goal of a task should look like. We do this with good intentions. We explicitly model so that success criteria can be met and students can do their best. Through experience, I find that students often replicate the modelled task. The students who want to take a different approach are constantly seeking affirmation and approval: ‘Can I do it like this?’ ‘Is it OK if I change the story characters?’ Confidence in their own ideas and creativity is lost and they are anxious about not succeeding in the assigned task. How does that promote engagement? I found that student voice is lost if we over model.
I am a collaborator in students’ learning. A neat thing that happens is that the students model the possibilities to each other and help each other to hear their ‘voice.’ A classroom that promotes literacy through hearing student voice enables students to have more autonomy for their learning and more confidence to take risks. That is what an LOL classroom is all about. (Campbell & McMartin, 2017: 95)
For this multimodal storytelling activity, we provided large empty wooden frames (normally used for paintings) for students to use to emphasize the idea of painting a self-portrait with their spoken words. From start to finish, from rehearsing orally through to recording using iMovie, the process took four days, using the daily literacy block (about 100 minutes per day). Here is an instructional sequence:
- Warm up the class with a read-aloud or an oral story told in the first person. Doing this sets the stage for the first-person tellings students will engage in. We chose Ooko by Esmé Shapiro for its direct first-person account of a fox in search of a friend, who discovers through experience that it is best to be yourself.
- Using a frame held in front of the face, the teacher or volunteer guest models a brief personal account. You might talk about how you got a name or nickname, what some of your preferences are, and what wish for the future you have. We kept this very short and emphasized that each person should determine what to say based on what seemed important: This is your self-portrait. This was the right time to implement Michelle’s minimalist modelling.
- Michelle asked them one overarching question to think about: What is it like to be ME?
- Have students break into groups of three to five, seated in circles, with one frame distributed per group. Students talk first about what kinds of truths about themselves they might want to include in an oral self-portrait. When ready, each student takes a turn with the frame and shares their personal story.
- Students reassemble in the large group, and individuals volunteer to share their first telling with the class. One student’s first telling started like this:
- If desired, and weather permitting, take the class outside for photos of students posing with their frames. Michelle’s class had a great deal of fun doing this, and their photos were very creative! For instance, when one student told his story about people who are important to him, he invited others into the frame, saying, for example, ‘Come in here with me, Jay!’
- On subsequent days, begin in the large group to recap what has happened so far. Drawing on the initial oral self-portraits and class discussion, Michelle and her students co-created an anchor chart with questions and prompts, reflecting what the students had said about themselves.
- Have students work in partners. Using an anchor chart as a guide, they can begin importing photos and recording self-portraits using iMovie. [Note: iMovie is a readily available app provided with Apple products (Macs and iPads) and both authors and their students have found that the steps are quite easy to follow. The key is to begin with a series of good photos.]
- Finally, invite students to present their self-portraits to the whole class. Celebrate! Possible extension: Post photos and excerpts from the videos on classroom and/or school bulletin boards.
(Other possible read alouds: I AM HENRY FINCH, by Alexis Deacon & Viviane Schwarz; The Museum of Me, by Emma Lewis).
Hi. My name is Chris. I love the planets, and I am going to tell you about how I live on this planet called Earth . . .
Self-Portrait Stories: Questions and Prompts
Overarching question: What is it like to be ME?
For my iMovie:
How did I get my name?
What is important about me?
What is it like to walk in my shoes?
What am I going to do to make a difference in the world?
How am I going to leave my mark?
Anchor Chart co-constructed with learners
What the learners said about self-portrait storytelling
‘What I liked about telling our stories was getting to know more about the other kids in my class.’
‘I found out that there were other kids who were like me in ways I didn’t know before. Like we had the same dreams for the future, like helping people and animals by becoming a vet.”’
‘I liked telling my own story to the class. Lots of kids helped me by asking questions, like, “If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?”’
‘What I liked best about using the frames and making the iMovie was that I made new friends in our class. Both Nikko and I want to be construction workers. I didn’t know that before!’
Storytelling is a powerful oral communication skill to pass on to a new generation of students. Considering its many benefits, from the academic to the emotional, it is worth infusing into our classroom life as part of our dynamic everyday speaking and listening activities. Self-portrait storytelling begins with who we are —a perfect place to begin.
References
Campbell, T. & Hlusek, M. (2009). Storytelling and Story Writing: Using a Different Kind of Pencil. What Works? Research into Practice, Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, Ontario Ministry of Education. www.edu.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/WhatWorks.html.
Campbell, T. A. & McMartin, M. E. (2017). Literacy out loud: Creating vibrant classrooms where ‘talk’ is the springboard for all learning. Pembroke.
Children’s books
Shapiro, E. (2016). Ooko. Tundra Books. IBSN 978-1101918449
Deacon, A. (2015, illus. Viviane Schwarz). I am Henry Finch. Walker; Candlewick. IBSN 9780763678128
Lewis, E. (2016). The Museum of Me. Tate. IBSN 978-1849764148
(This article was first published in English 4–11 (71) Spring, 2021 pp. 4–6.)
(Copyright material from [Bearne, Eve & Reedy, David (2024), Teaching Primary English, imprint])
Stegosaurus story
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Helen Bromley article: Storyboxes
Helen Bromley describes her starting point:
The arrival of a set of toy woodland animals had caused great excitement in my class of four and five year olds. Looking across the classroom on one particular occasion, I noticed that, on the fourth day in a row, Paul James and Rees were playing with these toys. They were very involved with their play, showing signs of concentration and involvement that were not typical of their behaviour in class. They were working collaboratively and remained on task for long periods of time.
I decided to spend time observing their play more closely. I made several important discoveries. Not only were the children making up exciting stories, they also knew a great deal about the natural history of the animals they used, far more than I would have thought. This play deserved to be given high status and a regular routine developed in class. At the end of each day, children who had worked with small animals would be invited to retell their story. After the stories were told there was always an opportunity to reflect on them, and it was through this activity that I came to realise the potential of story for looking at children’s own knowledge of a wide variety of subjects.
I introduced a variety of activities in the classroom. Miniature worlds were set up in the sandpit and the water tray, for example. Pirate figures, mermaids and rocks were added to the water. Dinosaurs and fossils were put in the sand with a set of tools including a soft-bristled brush and a magnifying glass. On each occasion the results were the same – a wonderful selection of stories combined with children’s knowledge about a whole range of topics being made explicit to me. It was becoming apparent that certain situations showed how children (including those as young as four) are aware, not just of scientific facts, but also of the culture associated with being a scientist, historian, or whatever. Watching the children examining the fossils and discussing the rights and wrongs of removing the fossils from the ‘site’ was enough to convince me of this. Analysing children’s stories to look at where they had gained this knowledge was also revealing. Obviously, books provide some information, but interests of particular families were reflected, as were TV and DVDs.
It occurred to me that there must be other ways to promote the use of children’s storytelling across the whole curriculum. I had heard of something called Storyboxes from a colleague. These were boxes which contained a small number of objects for children to make stories with. This seemed a good away forward for all sorts of practical reasons. Children would easily be able to find space to work with the contents of a box, whatever the size of the classroom, and whatever else was going on at the same time. It also occurred to me that it would be possible to alter the boxes in some way so that they, too, would be part of the story. Initially, I set up a geography box, music box, a history box, a maths box, a science box and an RE box. As I have continued to work with children, the nature and content of these boxes has changed: the insides of the boxes have been used to form dragons’ caves, villages and even a polar landscape. Two examples are:
The geography box: the lid of the box is covered with wrapping paper which has an old-fashioned map of the world on it. Inside are some sheets of material, blue and green, a couple of passports and a toy aeroplane.
The Egyptian box: the lid of the box is covered with wrapping paper depicting Egyptian figures. The box itself is lined with sandpaper and cut so that it folds out flat when the lid is taken off. It also contains two toy palm trees and several small Egyptian figures (the sort available for museum shops).
(This is an extract from a longer chapter: Bromley, H. (1998) In which we are introduced to the boxes. In E. Bearne (Ed.) Use of Language Across the Primary Curriculum (pp. 156–171). London: Routledge.)
Drama conventions
Drama conventions are not rigid structures but should be adapted for specific teaching purposes. The conventions listed here are not the only approaches that can be used but are perhaps the most familiar ones.
Decision alley (sometimes called ‘conscience alley’): useful for comparing conflicting interests or dilemmas. Two lines of children (facing each other) act as an ‘alley’ through which the in-role character walks slowly. As the character passes each child, they voice their thoughts for or against a particular course of action.
Forum theatre: a key situation (in a novel, picturebook, play or poem) is improvised by a group of children in the ‘forum’ of the classroom, which is watched by the class whose comments, mediated by the teacher if necessary, are discussed, and the situation re-presented in the light of the comments.
Freeze frame: sometimes known as creating tableaux, still images or making statues. Individually, in small groups or as a whole class, the children create a moment, event or idea. The frames can be unfrozen, have subtitles added to them or sound effects. In addition, the words or inner thoughts of members of the freeze frame can be voiced when the teacher touches a child on the shoulder.
Hot seating: this is a very useful approach to getting under the skin of an event, particularly revealing a character’s motives. The teacher or other adult and/or an individual child or small group of children take on the role of one or more individuals from the drama and are questioned by the remainder of the class. (It is worth helping the children to think of questions beforehand.)
Improvisation: small group: in small groups, children discuss, plan and create a piece of prepared improvisation. In spontaneous improvisation, the group can let the action unfold as they create the drama. Prepared improvisations will have some discussion about the content or intention of the piece.
Improvisation: whole class: this also can be planned or spontaneous. Whole class role play can take the heat off being watched because the whole class is engaged together.
Mantle of the expert: this approach was first developed by Dorothy Heathcote (Heathcote & Bolton, 1995). Cremin and Pickard (2009) explain that it:
involves children being given, or adopting, roles which necessarily include the expertise, authority, knowledge and skills of specialists. This knowledge may be recently acquired from classroom research, or may be bestowed imaginatively by the teacher in role, welcoming them as e.g. nurses or scientists. The status it gives the children allows them to significantly influence the drama. The teacher honours their expertise and ensures they can use it in the drama. (Cremin and Pickard, 2009: 40)
Role on the wall: this is a means of exploring characters’ motivations or their role at a particular point in a drama/narrative but can be added to as the narrative proceeds. An outline is drawn around a child in role as a key character as they lie on a large piece of paper. Comments about the character (perceptions, feelings, opinions, facts) are written into the shape by class members. For example, the space outside the shape may have comments about the character as others see her/him and inside the shape could have the character’s own feelings and views.
Teacher in role: Cremin and Pickard explain that:
This is the most powerful convention and involves the teacher engaging fully in the drama by taking various roles, e.g. leader, infiltrator, collaborator, messenger, vulnerable individual and so on. Through these, the teacher can support, extend and challenge the children's thinking from inside the drama. Every role has its own social status which gives access to different degrees of influence and power. (Cremin and Pickard, 2009: 41)
Thought tracking: the private thoughts of individuals are shared publicly, during a freeze-frame, forum theatre or improvisation. The teacher touches individuals on the shoulder, asking them to voice their thoughts or the class could simultaneously speak aloud their thoughts and fears in a particular situation.
For a fuller set of conventions, see Cremin, T. and Pickard, A. (2009) Drama: Reading, Writing and Speaking Our Way Forward. Leicester: United Kingdom Literacy Association.
Reference
Heathcote, D. and Bolton, G. (1995) Drama for Learning: Dorothy Heathcote’s Mantle of the Expert Approach to Education (Dimensions of Drama series). London: Heinemann.
Role play scenarios
Case study: Using a picturebook as a basis for drama
Roger McDonald suggests:
With children aged seven to nine, try the excellent Rose Meets Mr Wintergarten by Bob Graham. Children’s imaginative interpretation can be sparked by looking at the first double page picture which shows a house for sale and people either moving in or out. Next door is a large, grey, unkempt house which looks particularly out of character for the area. In pairs, the children can discuss what might be happening in the picture and come up with one question they want answered.
The book then introduces us to the Summers family who are moving in to the street. The author has created a contrast between the two houses and states that:
‘The sun never touched the house next door. Next door, everything bristled. Next door lived Mr Wintergarten.’
This was the first mention of the occupier’s name and is an opportunity to explore who this person might be. The children might draw their visual interpretation of who this person might be, what he might look like and the type of character he might have.
Following their pictures, children can be introduced by teacher in role (TIR) to the various stories and rumours that were being whispered about Mr Wintergarten in the village: ‘Well there were stories all over the village about Mr Wintergarten. After church on Sunday whilst sipping coffee people would turn to each other and whisper “Have you heard?, Did you know? You will never guess what I saw…” Even at the greengrocer’s as people waited in the queue, snippets of information would be shared.’ After this, the children take on the roles of different people in the village. They move around the classroom to share a rumour or gossip about Mr Wintergarten and on the signal of a hand clap move on to the next person.
The problem in the story occurs when Rose, one of the Summers family children, accidentally kicks her ball over into Mr Wintergarten’s garden. She of course has a dilemma of whether to try to get the ball back or to leave it, which can be explored through a decision alley. Eventually Rose decides to go up the pathway towards Mr Wintergarten’s door. Here there are many opportunities for writing and drama. Children could be invited to write a description of Rose’s thoughts and feelings as she makes her way up the pathway drawing on previous ideas from the drama conventions. When Rose arrives at the door a group sculpture can be made where two people are chosen to depict Rose and Mr Wintergarten and the rest of the class decide how they should be standing, what they should be looking like and what words they speak.
Rose goes into the house and presents Mr Wintergarten with a gift as well as asking for her ball back however the response she gets is ‘No… Clear off’. In the pages leading up to Rose leaving we are given some information about Mr Wintergarten’s life style but this could at this point be expanded through hot seating Mr Wintergarten. The children could take on different roles and the teacher and possibly two children take the role of Mr Wintergarten. By doing this the teacher can ensure that the narrative nature of the work continues and can support what the children, in role as Mr Wintergarten, say as well.
Finally Mr Wintergarten does something that he has not done in years and opens his curtains. He ventures into his garden and triumphantly kicks the ball back over the fence for Rose and her friends. The future relationship between Mr Wintergarten and the village can be explored by showing the final double page spread which depicts a scene of renovation for his house and cooperation with the villagers. Children could at this point project their thoughts forward and predict what the scene may show in one, five or ten years. Would the house still be there? Has it turned into a community centre run by Mr Wintergarten? The possibilities, as imagination is, are endless.
(Adapted from Roger McDonald ‘Windows to the imagination: the power of drama in developing children’s imagination, Part 2’ in English 4–11, Spring, 2007.)
Children’s books
Bob Graham (2003) Rose Meets Mr Wintergarten. Walker Books. ISBN 9780744598292.