Why you Should Share the Joys of Oral Storytelling with Children
Take a deep breath, put your book to one side and step into the world of oral narrative. You’ll be surprised by children’s reactions, says Mary Medlicott
The boy was about five years old. As I’d learn later, he had special needs and rarely spoke, certainly not in the classroom.
At this point, sitting by himself, he seemed completely absorbed in his work. When I approached, I saw he’d drawn the two houses in the story I’d told to his class and in between were about nine hills.
In the story I’d told there are only three. But, hey, children love drawing hills and what this boy was eager to tell me was that he’d used white crayon on the top of some of his hills and green on all the others.
“You see, it’s been snowing,” the boy said with great pride. “These hills are where the snow has melted. And those are where it hasn’t.”
For my part, I felt enormously touched. Making pictures of a story I’ve told is something I’ve invited children to do on innumerable occasions. It generally produces good results. But never before had I seen the idea this particular boy produced.
Afterwards, talking to the classroom staff, I knew he’d given me valuable evidence for how oral storytelling and follow-up activities can bring us new information about a child’s potential.
What makes it different?
First, there has to be a story. In my experience both as storyteller and storytelling trainer, I know that an orally told story can bring about a completely different kind of attention from one that is read aloud. Partly this can be attributed to the fact that an oral story visibly does not belong to an author or illustrator.
It comes out of a teller’s mouth, goes into listeners’ ears and, inside their heads, is open to the imaginations of those who’ve heard it to make of it what they will.
Stories change as listeners absorb them. Hearing how and why is both fascinating and instructive.
Unfortunately, telling a story without a book is often a terrifying prospect to those who’ve never tried it before. This was a major reason why I was pleased to undertake my new publication, Storytelling and Story-Reading in Early Years – it offered the chance to help.
The first step on the path to oral storytelling is to accept the fears (we all have them). Then it’s a matter of choosing and preparing a story, and trying it. After only the first time of doing this, most people are amazed at the difference it makes – the different quality of attention it produces.
When novice storytellers then take the chance to think about the emotional dynamics of a story as well as such practical matters as props and tones of voice, they are well on their way to becoming able to exploit the full potential of oral telling.
Getting children involved
Take the example of Mrs Wiggle and Mrs Waggle, the story I referred to above. Making use throughout of the teller’s hands and thumbs, this is so active a story that children can’t help joining in; the teller’s hands become doors, opening and shutting as their owners leave or enter.
They then change into pointers on the journeys they take. On day one of the story, Mrs Wiggle travels those three hills to go and visit Mrs Waggle who, alas, appears to be out when her friend arrives.
The second day, it’s Mrs Waggle that makes the trip, again without success. The third day – and how amazing this is! – the two women meet on top of the middle hill.
The story is simple but engaging and the words in which it’s told are so rhythmic and so often repeated – ‘Up the hill and down the hill, up the hill and down the hill, up the hill and down the hill’ – that children can’t help but join in.
Shy children, noisy children, learners of English – all naturally become a chorus which learns the story as it proceeds without consciously realising what’s being achieved.
Where’s the learning?
To introduce follow-up activities for the Mrs Wiggle story, a simple approach can be first to demonstrate on the whiteboard how the two houses in the story might appear, one on each side of the picture. Next, offer children large pieces of paper and crayons and invite them to draw the whole scene.
As they progress, go round to observe what they’re doing. You’ll often discover new characters emerging. Mrs Wiggle’s daughter (did you think she had one?) is taking a bunch of flowers to Mrs Waggle because the latter is sick. The postman is delivering a letter from one woman to the other. The two women together are pushing a cherry (a cherry?) up one of the hills.
Such ideas create opportunities for the children producing them also to consider what the characters might be thinking or saying. A natural path for you as adult is to scribe what transpires, or for the children to write it themselves.
The process so far described – oral telling followed by the opportunity either to draw one scene of a story or create a storyboard template or story-map of it all – works just as well with every year group in the primary age range.
In my view, it can – and does – lead to three major gains for the participants. The first is the acquisition of complete stories that can remain in their minds. How many times have I returned to a school where children spontaneously remind me of whole stories I’ve told them on a previous occasion?
Retelling a story in your head involves visualisation and language. Educationally, this can’t be bad.
A second major gain is the acquisition of a sense of authorship and a third arises from the sense of communal achievement to which oral storytelling typically gives rise.
Children who hear stories love to share their ideas about them. Children who make pictures of stories love to have these pictures displayed.
Then they’ll not only be seen by their peers but when words have been included, perhaps in speech-bubbles, perhaps below, their peers will notice these too. Besides, such pictures can be made into books.
In sum, I feel I want to say that oral storytelling gives so much that it’s a crying shame it isn’t a normal part of all schools. My advice – or is it my plea? – is ‘Try it!’
Mary Medlicott is a professional storyteller, storytelling trainer and storytelling workshop leader. She is also author of Storytelling and Story-Reading in Early Years (£14.99, Jessica Kingsley Publishers).
