What is National Storytelling week?
Over the past 24 years, The Society For Storytelling has achieved so much in its mission to promote the oral tradition of storytelling, the very first way of communicating life experiences and the creative imagination.
At High View, we are huge advocates of reading in general and promote it every day! However, this week gave us, and the children, the opportunity to show off our expression, imagination and incredible speaking and listening skills!
Telling stories to children enables them to learn the art of listening, in an age when many are lacking this skill. Encourage them to tell stories and they will gain confidence, improve their vocabulary and their literary skills.
Year 1
“Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world.”
– Robert McKee
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In year 1, they used the story, 'How the Bear Lost His Tail,' as a hook for the lessons that week. The children read half of the story up to the point that the bear got his tail stuck in the ice, this wintery tale immersed the children in a frosty setting, oozing with cute characters, fun and adventure. The children then had to think of a creative solution to the bears problem.
How could he possibly get his tail out of the ice?
To record their conclusions to the story, the children used their drawing skills, drama techniques and beautiful ideas to construct some incredible sentences!
I think you will agree they are pretty stupendous!
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Year 2
“Tell me the facts and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in heart forever.”
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In year 2, they brought in their own stories that both the teachers and the children read. Following on from this, they were then given the challenge of changing that story which stimulated their own imagination and ignited their creative flare for story writing.
Once they had written the introduction to their story, they then videoed themselves on the iPads reading their stories to a partner with expression.
To mark the finale of National Storytelling week, they watched the videos together and talked about how they could make them even better... although they were pretty amazing already if you ask me!
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Year 3
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
— Dr. Seuss
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In Miss Williams' class, the children were given a fun character named 'Arthur the Alligator'. The children were asked to sit in a circle and contribute a little section of the tale to progressively build up an adventure story for Arthur.
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In Miss Berry's class, the children were asked to write a fictional story. This young lady, Skye, decided to write hers about a naughty class! Her language choices and ideas are amazing!! They then designed front covers and wrote blurbs ready to be laminated and shared with their friends in the classroom reading area!
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Year 4
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.”
– Walt Disney
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In Year 4, during National Story Telling Week, not only have they spent a lot of time reading their favourite stories to each other, but they have also been writing their own science fiction stories about the Invasion of Triton! The children then told their stories to their friends and then they worked together to make some improvements to their writing!
(See the other post for videos of their Invasion of Triton lesson)
Year 5
“Great stories happen to those who can tell them.”
– Ira Glass
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During National Storytelling Week, Year 5 built a den!
We decided that we wanted to create a cozy, warm environment to enjoy our stories in, whilst listening to calming music and sitting with our friends. We were also lucky enough to listen to a story read to us in Polish by the newest member of our class, Maria!
It was great fun to hear the difference in language, pitch and tone and we were so impressed with her expression and intonation whilst reading.
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