In the classroom
Class oral storymaking (cont.)
This immediately begins to make the story unique!
And if you can’t remember all these additions when
you re-tell the story, then the class can help you!
Brilliant! They have to listen carefully in order to
make sure you tell and re-tell the story correctly!
to remember it all when you do the re-telling. If you
are working with a creative class above elementary
level then I suggest you have two ‘secretaries’ to
write down key phrases denoting special details
suggested.
7 Don’t ask the students to re-tell the story while
Another key tip for this technique: you re-tell making it… this is worthy but damaging to the
the story not them! dramatic pace necessary for making the story
Of course, we all know that the students must be
as active as possible! But in this technique you
must not lose the momentum of the storymaking
by
getting
them
to
re-tell
it!
Your
driving
momentum will keep all the class listening even if
many do not actually call out any answers. That is
come alive.
8 Remember: you are the story collector not a
guide to higher qualities (at least, not on the
surface!)
9 From beginners be happy with single word
suggestions and from more advanced students
expect phrases or occasionally full sentences.
already a massive achievement!
10 The questions given above are not sacrosanct
in choice nor in sequence! Begin with the weather
Lots of mini tips for doing it well!
1 Ask the questions but try not to have in your
mind a good answer… be open to any ideas even
or with a woman crying or a box. See below.
Some variations on Question Storymaking
those which seem silly at the time.
2 Don’t add ideas to make it better from your point
texts, sound recordings, objects
of view.
3
Don’t
Pictures, fortune telling cards, word cards,
show
special
enthusiasm
for
one
suggestion and none for another because this
suggests that you have a hidden storyline which
you want them to confirm instead of letting them
feel it is THEIR story.
4 Don’t ask closed questions: Is it a boy? Give lots
of alternatives so it is a genuine choice. Is it a boy,
a girl, a man, a woman or an animal, etc.?
5 Don’t correct mistakes but in your re-telling give
the correct version.
6 Every so often re-tell the whole story. If you have
been using questioning to drive the class towards
detailed characterisation, then you will not be able
You can have any of these things to stimulate the
next part of the story. In our classrooms the walls
are covered with pictures and with the question
and answer technique the entire story can be
illustrated by the pictures on the wall. You might
write on the board, ‘walking’. Then you might ask,
‘Who is walking?’ ‘Where… When… How…
Why…?
You might write on the board, ‘nobody likes the
cat’. Then ask questions about the cat and what
the situation might be, might have been, etc.
Class plus group making
You can establish who the key protagonist(s) is or
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