Getting children to tell stories

Last week was National Storytelling Week, and there are many ways to explore telling stories. I was involved in a wonderful project at Gospal Oak Primary School, with Apples and Snakes. The project encouraged the whole school to tell stories. The school had devised an exciting structure for their project which can easily be adapted and used in different settings.

The project began with me giving a storytelling performance to the whole school. Then the whole school was challenged to find, and tell, a three minute story. I gave some practical workshops to help children explore how bringing a story to life involves the body,  the voice, and the imagination. Then over the coming week each class held their own storytelling event, and chose their best storyteller. The result was eight finalists. I returned to the school and worked with the eight finalists, helping them develop their performance skills. The finalists then told their stories to the whole school, who listened, laughed, clapped and cheered. A winner was chosen. But the eight finalists were already winners, and are going to be taken to a West End Show!

If you want to hold your own competition, here are some thoughts:

 To work on your story:

Find a story you love.

Be sure of the plot, but DONT learn it by rote.

Develop the characters and dialogue.

Explore gestures, movement, and voices.

Build your relationship with the audience using eye-contact.

Practise, practise, practise, but don’t fix!

Judging a storytelling performance:

Is the narrative clear?

How did the teller use voice, gesture, character, dialogue?

Was the text fixed and learned by heart, or was it something the teller was finding and bringing alive in the moment?

Was the teller able to keep the pace and energy throughout the telling?

How did the audience listen and respond?

Was the teller able to respond to the audience?