Storytelling Schools Archives - Page 4 of 4

Ongoing Book Review: The Storytelling School Handbook for Teachers (part 1)

Posted on 9 March, 201531 August, 2021 by Hawthorn Staff

This is an ongoing review that is being posted in sections – so very exciting. Here is the first part, reviewed by adventureswithmonster on the 18th February.

The Storytelling School Handbook for Teachers by Chris Smith PhD and Adam Guillian (with foreword by Pie Corbett)

Following my expressed interest, the lovely people at Hawthorn Press sent us this for review… The Storytelling School Handbook for Teachers

Here at Monster House we are most definitely story enthusiasts and, with the book being written as a handbook for teachers, I was particularly interested to find out how this approach could work for us as an autonomously home educating family. I was not disappointed, this book is nothing short of a treasure and I am very excited to share our review with you.

Due to the nature of the book, this review will be published in installments, I feel this is the only way to truly give my opinion while thoroughly exploring it’s concept from our home ed perspective. One of the things I am most hopeful for is to learn to apply storytelling to learning across a broad ‘curriculum’ as Bundle Number One (who for the purpose of this review will be my ‘class’) is showing a tendency to learn far more effectively in this way.

The book itself is attractive and intriguing. Spiral bound (which i find enhances the reading experience by enabling your current page to be kept open so that you can be working on an idea and checking back as you do so) with a colourful cover and plenty of information on the back cover, along with the quote ‘a picture paints a thousand words; a story paints a thousand pictures’

An initial flick through the book showed it to include include diagrams, tables and timelines and i was interested to read all about the authors, Chris Smith PhD and Adam Guillian. Consequently visiting their websites (which are well worth a click!) Storytelling Schools is introduced as

‘…a group of educationalists who are passionate about the power of storytelling to transform education and learning’

The Storytelling School was founded in 2013 by Chris Smith, Adam Guillain, Pie Corbett and Nanette Stormont.

Buy the book here…

Read the original review here…

Storytelling Schools Video

Posted on 20 January, 201531 August, 2021 by Hawthorn Staff

The Storytelling Schools team have made this gorgeous video featuring children and teachers from a storytelling school. It’s wonderful to see the enthusiasm, and to hear some of the reasoning behind this innovative model. Let us know what you think!

Buy The Storytelling School: Handbook for Teachers here…

Buy 147 Traditional Stories for Primary School Children to Retell here…

Tell us what you think on facebook or on twitter.

Book Review: 147 Traditional Stories for Primary School Children to Retell

Posted on 27 October, 201431 August, 2021 by Hawthorn Staff

This is an extract from a review due to appear in Facts & Fiction Magazine, which can be bought here…

147 Traditional Stories for Primary School Children to Retell by Chris Smith – review by Adam Guillain

I love this book! I have a copy at my desk, one by my bed and another in my work bag. For me, it’s always my first book of reference when looking for stories that I can learn to tell quickly and then, in turn, teach others to retell. In this wonderfully diverse collection, we not only get to raid the mighty and impressive repertoire of stories that Chris Smith has performed as a storyteller over his distinguished career, but we are handed his storyteller’s voice on a plate. I enjoy literary versions of traditional stories as much as anyone, but to be told a story in a storyteller’s voice has a directness and power that cuts right to the core of the human condition. It’s the voice that has somehow seeped into our DNA – the one passed down through the generations – the voice we somehow know and feel an instant connection with.

That’s what makes Smith’s tellings so accessible and quick to learn, enabling us when we do so to find our own storyteller’s voice. The economy of language is tight and cutting – sometimes even brutally so – while at the same time, the lyricism and rhythm embedded within poignant moments within the narratives have a richness that sings out to us and draws us in. The collection kicks off with the playful and hilarious Monkey and Hats from India, and then takes us on a joyful journey around the cultures of the world.

…This book is a gift to the world. A treasure filled with joy and the implicit desire of the storyteller within us all to pass on our story.

Buy the book here…

Book Review: The Storytelling School Handbook For Teachers

Posted on 27 October, 201431 August, 2021 by Hawthorn Staff

This is an extract from a review due to appear in Facts & Fiction Magazine, which can be bought here…

The Storytelling School Handbook For Teachers by Chris Smith and Adam Guillain – review by Martin Maudsley

I particularly liked the book’s simple, but high potential, idea for Storytelling Schools to use six different stories, one each half-term, through the year so that by the end of a six year primary education all their pupils would leave with a precious 36-piece story hoard firmly lodged in their memories! From beginning to end the book recognises that empowering teachers to become storytellers is a vital element, and suggests practical ways that the teacher can step into the storytelling role and in so doing develop both their confidence and repertoire.

Perhaps, if anything, there is another ‘I’ in storytelling that is less well represented here: imagination. Whilst the chapters on innovation and invention cover how new story settings, characters and plots can be successfully created, in my experience as a storyteller in schools it’s the vivid mental imagery that arises when children hear good stories, well told, that has the biggest impact. Subsequently, when children explore and express their own imagination, incredibly powerful oral storytelling comes to life in a way that doesn’t always fit (or need to do so) within a rigid story structure. This is probably more a reflection on the limitations of the book’s scope rather than a criticism of its content and it’s heartening to note that the book implores the valuable, additional role of hiring professional storytellers within the classroom…

…having had a chance to read this inspiring and informative book, I would very happily buy another copy to present to my own children’s school in the hope that they too would be inspired to take the first steps in becoming a Storytelling School, which undoubtedly would be of great benefit (and enjoyment) to pupils, staff and parents alike.

Buy The Storytelling School: Handbook for Teachers here…

Book Review: The Storytelling School Handbook for Teachers and 147 Traditional Stories for Primary School Children to Retell

Posted on 7 October, 201431 August, 2021 by Hawthorn Staff

This review appeared in Volume 62 of the School Librarian journal, the quarterly newsletter of the School Librarian Association, Autumn 2014. Reviewed by Janet Dowling.

If you have been inspired to use stories in your Schools curriculum, but not sure how to start, these are the resources you need.

The first is volume 1 of a developing series of eight volumes to support the Storytelling Schools initiative to encourage and develop students to learn storytelling skills to build their confidence and fluency in spoken languages, and raise standards of reading and writing. Pie Corbett’s foreword emphasises that children need to first develop the story on an oral basis that can lead to a more structured and richer experience when the student eventually writes upon the page.

This exceptional manual enables the classroom teacher to work by themselves, or with the school as a whole, to develop skills using the retelling of stories, drama techniques and creative writing. It takes you step by step from learning a story, and telling it in class, to use of games, to teaching the class how to learn a story, and ways to develop and make up stories. It has clear instructions and is full of examples and helpful suggestions of how to maximise student thinking and input. The final chapter has methods for storytelling to be integrated throughout the curriculum and become the heart of the educational process, with advice on how to become a storytelling school. There are even taster school timetables!

Some sample stories are included but the main story resource is in volume 2: the 147 stories are grouped by year group from 1 to 6, with the language getting progressively more complicated. The introduction explains how to use the book, and all the stories come with tips on how to approach telling them using Pie Corbett’s Imitation, Innovation, Invention model.

The appendices include school topics such as growing up or transitions, ‘values’ (e.g. cleverness or honesty), basic plot types (comedy, monster, quest), country of origin, as well as a simple alphabetical listing. It is designed to be easily accessible by the teacher to identify and demonstrate the skills, and relate the class topic with an appropriate story. They also introduce story genre (anecdote, fable, myth etc.) and the ‘Ladder to the Moon’ as a way of progressively raising the level of language and imaginative immersion during a storytelling session. A second appendix on the sources and resources gives the background sources for the stories, plus links to websites with written texts and videos of stories being told. Together or separately these are a useful resource and development tool.

Buy The Storytelling School: Handbook for Teachers here…

Buy 147 Traditional Stories for Primary School Children to Retell here…

Visit the SLA website here…