Storytelling Adventures

Ever since I had started teaching kids, one formula that never fails to catch the attention of the whole class is animated, spontaneous storytelling. Kids have a natural love for stories, especially those that they can easily relate to and those that involve them. Good thing I like inventing on-the-spot fantasy stories in which the students are the main characters engaging in different adventures. When I do this, everybody stays very quiet, hanging on to every word. Their eyes are all on me. Of course the "musts" are: exciting and action-packed scenes which you have to describe well, dynamic voice intonation, shifting volume, interesting dialogue, and energetic movements.

This morning, the first graders were clinging on to each other with wide eyes as they listened with suspense to my story. "Amy waited...and waited...and waited...but nobody came. All her classmates were nowhere to be found. The bell rang, but still there was no one. She went to the library but it was closed. The hallway lights were flickering. She hurried on to the other classrooms, but they were all empty. All of a sudden, the lights went out. It was dark and there was no one in the whole school... She went back to her classroom. Suddenly, there was a sound from the back of the classroom. Psssssttt! Pssssttt! 'Who's that?' she said. Her voice was filled with fear. 'It's me! Kevin!' a voice answered." At that point, everybody laughed. The story went on to include the other students, describing how they had gotten sucked into the faucet or were stuck in the trash can or were trapped inside a book. Towards the end, as I was narrating the mystery of the "black man" who seemed to be behind the disappearance of the students and teachers in the whole school, some kids were covering their eyes. Others were merely silent with expectation. It was fun for me too, as a lover of stories myself.

Once in a while, in the middle of a story, someone would interrupt with eager questions. There are times when others would suddenly shout out a suggestion on what will happen next, which I try to accommodate and integrate into the story as much as possible. It stimulates their creativity and improves their listening skills. It is also very good for second language learners in English because you can widen their vocabulary and model the use of the language in different ways. After a story, you can discuss the elements of the story or have them accomplish a story map. There was even a time when we recorded the entire thing to make it appear like a radio play and then I gave all the students opportunities to say lines as voice talents. In that way, we were able to listen to it over and over, as we tried to work on our speaking skills. In other instances, you could also ask them to write their own dialogues or continue the story or change the ending. Depending on the theme of the story, you could even use it as a springboard for lessons in Science, Social Studies, and other subject matters. There are endless possibilities.

Up to now, even my students from two years ago would remember the stories when I have chats with them. One of them even retold the story in a writing assignment for his club. Well...I'm not really sure if it works for all kids, but so far I have tried it with students from pre-school to the fourth grade and they have responded the same way. After one story, they were begging for more. It was truly gratifying.