Not Just Another Story
When I was planning this article I was thinking, ‘What is the best way to engage and inform people who are busy?’ after a quick Google on article writing tips I found the answer... “Tell a story, people love stories”!
Why do stories from more than 4000 years ago still captivate modern audiences? There is something innately human about engaging in storytelling. As teachers we can tap into that for our advantage.
As Catholic New Zealanders we have the best stories to tell. When you think like a Storyteller, suddenly you see the archetypes and structures everywhere. Jesus was a storyteller. The gospel is full of his parables. Even the Bible is a narrative structure of God’s plan with a beginning, middle, and end…It literally starts “In the beginning”. The oral tradition is at the core of Maori culture and we are continuing that tradition by sharing Maori stories.
Our journey through storytelling started from small beginnings, one student who struggled with writing, processing and sequencing. We also noticed there was a need in our school data to lift literacy achievement. Storytelling was the approach that suited the needs of the individual and the whole school. From there we have seen benefits for everyone of our students, especially ESOL and struggling writers.
We have found a range of benefits to our schools teaching programme through Storytelling. It simplifies teacher planning, while also simplifying writing for the student. Although the approach is simple, the room for extension and differentiation is built into the system. We have been successful at using it for support and extension groups alike. Because it is based in oral language to begin with, it is accessible to almost all students. I’m sure you have similar cases where the students who struggle with writing, also happen to have made up for that by being funny, checky, chatty, and TELLING the stories orally. It also happens that ESOL students pick up listening and copying faster than independently creating from scratch. Storytelling takes this oral language ability and turns it into great writing.
The benefits for Storytelling have ensured its continued use at St Anne’s. Most importantly we have seen excitement for writing. Storytelling is one amongst several powerful tools we are using and we have seen steady improvement in our literacy data since its implementation. Our students love the stories they learn and the way it helps their writing.
And that one student who struggled as a Yr4, reluctantly writing at well below standard, now he a Yr 7 and loves writing.
If you have any questions or would like any help in this area, feel free to contact Josh Halkett at St Anne’s.
Further reading and resources:
Josh Halkett is a within school leader from St Anne's School in Woolston.