ORAL STORYTELLING AND STUDENT LEARNING: ONCE UPON A CLASSROOM. . .

Hilary Dawn Munn

A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for t h e degree of Master of Arts

Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning The O n t a r i o I n s t i t u t e for Studies in Education of the

U n i v e r s i t y of Toronto

O Copyright by Hi l a ry Dawn Munn 1999

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Oral Storytelling and Student Learning: Once Upon a Classroom ... Degree of Master of Arts, 1999

Hilary Dawn Munn Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning

The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto

This study explores oral storytelling learning in t h e

elementary school setting. The specific focus was on nine grade

four classrooms at two urban public elementary schools. One

hundred and eighty two students were involved in the study. As

part of a comrnunity based arts program, a professional

storyteller worked with each class over a three session period.

The effect of oral storytelling on the students and the teachers

is examined.

Although, students engage in personal oral storytelling in

their daily interactions with others , being exposed to and

learning how to tell oral t a l e s is an experience not readily

available. Students often are only exposed to s to ry reading.

Being examined are the children, their teachers and the

storyteller.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

1 . INTRODUCTION ................................................ 1 In the Beginning ............................................ I

................................................. The Question 2

The Sub-Question ............................................. 3

What is Being Studied and Why? ............................... 3 II . LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................ 4

................................ Benefits of Oral Storytelling 4

......................... Bond Between the Teller and the Told 8

............................ Universality of Oral Storytelling 13

................................. III. REE'LECTIVE RESEARCH METHODS 17

How 1 Came to be a Teller ................................... -17 ................................... Methodology and Procedures 19

IV . ANALYSIS OF SESSIONS ........................................ 23 The Sto ry t e l l e r ......................o...................... -23 Background ................................................... 24

.................... Cornmunity Based Arts Integration Prograrn -24

Support Material ................................O............ 25 .................................... Structure of the Sessions 26

............................. S t o r y Selection and Presentation 27

Cultural Significance ........................................ 28 Literature Connection ........................................ 32 Genre ........................................................ 36

Techniques ................................................... 39

V . STUDENTS .................................................... 44

AS L i s t e n e r s ................................................. 44 Physical ..................................................... 45 Verbal ....................................................... 48 \\ .............................................. . . . * . * * 4 9

Emotional .................................................... 50

AS Tellers ................................................... 50

....................................................... Recall 53

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gesture and Expression 55

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eye Contact 57

Surpr i ses .................................................... 59

Inside t h e Story ............................................. 61 Visualization ............................................... -68

V I . TEACHERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1

Q u e s t i o n n a i r e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .m . . . . . . . . 76

Cornfort Level ................................................. 78 Evaiuation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *...80

VIII. PERSONAL AND EDUCATIONAL IMPLI-TIONS ...................... 82

Pe r sona1 Lea rn ing ............................................ 02

As A Resea rche r .............................................. 82

Questions Remaining .......................................... 84 .............................. As a Storyteller and Teacher . . * 8 5

................. Next Research S t e p .......................... 85

Educational Implications ..................................... 87

C u r r i c u l wn ................................................... 87

Research Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .m . . . . . . . . *.91

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Endnotes ..................................................... 94

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ . . . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ C ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . . . . . . . . . . . ~ . . ~ ~ ~ . l O l

Appendix A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Appendix B .................................................. 105

Appendix C .........................................*........ 106

Appendix D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Appendix E.. ................................................ 109

Appendix F .................................................. 110

In the R e g a m 1 na . ,, Once long ago in the Ukrainian region of Bukovinia in the

small village of Zadubrivka there lived a man. This man was no

ordinary man; he was the village storyteller. People came from

f a r and near to listen to his enchanted words tell of

extraordinary and ordinary events. His stories helped the

listeners make sense of the world around them. Todorr s stories

strengthened the community.

The storyteller had nine children and he bestowed upon them

al1 the gift of storying. In the end, however, it was only his

daughter, Mary, who t r u l y nurtured her gift . With great devotion

and care Mary tended her gift. She treated it like a flower. Her

father began by planting the seed and Mary helped it corne to full

bloom. Always she worked to maintain the fruits of her labour.

Her story garden was always full and she was forever willing to

share the best blooms with everyone.

In the not so small Canadian city of Hamilton, Mary would

gather her grandchildren, grandnieces and grandnephew around her.

For them she would use her enchanted words to tell of

extraordinary and ordinary events. They listened in awe and

wonder. Favourite tales were requested again and again. Each

telling seemed fresh to the Young, eager listeners. Mary told

stories until the day she died.

In the srnaller Canadian town of Oakville, Maryrs gift lived

on in her grandniece. The niece treasured the gift she had been

willed. She ga thered family tales and tales from al1 over the

world. Sharing stories was her way of passing on her g i f t t o

others. Before each story she told she thought of her great

grandfather and of her great aunt

her priceless inheritance.

Eventually, the niece became

br ing her stories t o so many

s t o r i e s from the same children.

fact t h a t oral storying seemed

and s i l e n t l y thanked them

a teacher and was excited

children and to g a t h e r many

She was soon disappointed i n

for

to

new

the

to be missing from h e r studentsr

lives. She set out on a q u e s t t o learn more about storytelling

the schools.

This is t h e beginning of my s tory . I am Maryr s niece.

he Ouestj on

What do children gain from oral storytelling in the classroom

The Sub - Ouestj on What are the roles of the storyteller and classroom teacher

in providing an oral rich classroom environment?

d Whv?

This study will explore oral storytelling learning in the

elementary school setting. The specific focus was on nine grade

four classroorns at two urban public elementary schools. One

hundred and eighty two students were involved in the study. As

part of a cornmunity based arts program, a professional

storyteller worked with each class over a three session period.

The effect of oral storytelling on the students and the teachers

will be exarnined.

Although, students engage in personal oral storytelling in

their daily interactions with o t h e r s , being exposed to and

learning how to tell oral tales is an experience not readily

available. Students often are only exposed to story reading.

Being examined are the children, their teachers and t h e

storyteller.

JmtTERATURE R N I E W

Once upon a t i m e i n a village far, f a r away, the people had on ly one t h i n g t o do, and that was t o tell s t o r i e s .

There was a 'Once upon a time. . . " here .

And a "Once upon a t h e . . . " t he re .

There was no t e l e v i s i o n i n the v i l l a g e , j u s t g r e a t rain storms, and g r e a t s t o r i e s to t e l l . Beaut i fu l s t o r i e s , s t o r i e s s h o r t and long, ta11 tales and s t o r i e s s o funny they made you want t o w e t your pants . [Il

I n such a village as t h i s one one would be a b l e t o witness t h e

benefits o f storying f i r s t h a n d .

A t Fayerweather S t r e e t School i n Cambridge, Massachusetts,

o r a l s t o r y t e l l i n g is used i n evesy grade. The Di rec tor of

Development, Claire Ryan, b r i e f l y expla ins how oral s t o r y t e l l i n g

can be such a d ive r se tool f o r l ea rn ing . orvQll ing magazine

featured an a r t i c l e on t h e school in which Ryan states:

I n t h e e a r l y years , w e use s t o r i e s f o r learning, s o c i a l i z a t i o n . La te r on , it ( s t o r y t e l l i n g ) becomes a veh ic l e f o r se l f -discovery and for l ea rn ing about o t h e r people, p laces , and c u l t u r e s . W e use it as a t o o l for awareness of self, of community, and of i s s u e s i n contemporary s o c i e t y . [2]

The benefits Ryan a l l u d e s to can easily be brought i n t o any

classroom through oral s to ry ing . The benefits of o r a l

s t o r y t e l l i n g a r e as d i v e r s e as t h e s t o r i e s w e chose t o t e l l .

Bob Baldwin i n h i s article, "The Lost Art of S t o r y t e l l i n g -

t o raise happy ch i ldren , tel l them tales" writes t h a t " s t o r i e s are

perhaps t h e most e f f e c t i v e teaching t o o l ever used. A l 1 of t h e

wor ld f s g r e a t r e l i g i o n s use tales and parables t o preserve and

t ransmi t beliefs and values". [3] What b e t t e r way is t h e r e t o

teach about a c u l t u r e r s belief system? The s i x t h cen tury G r e e k

s lave , Aesop, has lef t us with numerous f a b l e s each with a strong

moral. For ins tance , his f a b l e "Hercules and t h e Waggoner"

espoused t h e moral, "Heaven he lps those who he lp themselves".[l]

Joseph Bruchac writes of the power of sacred s t o r i e s i n h i s

work, Tell M e a T a l e :

One of t h e powers of s t o r y is t o l ead t h e l i s t e n e r o r reader t o d i scover new worlds. S t o r i e s of t h e divine always have t o do with t h a t which w e cannot see with our everyday eyes. These a r e stories i n which w e can look wi th in and f ind deeper rneanings that i n s p i r e u s . Every r e l i g i o n has such s t o r i e s and such holy books; t h e Hebrew Talmud, t h e Ramayana and the Bhagarad G i t a of Ind ia , t h e Chr i s t i an Bible, and t h e Muslim Koran are f i l l ed with sacred s t o r i e s . [5]

What is the b e n e f i t of sharing sacred s t o r i e s wi th o u r c h i l d r e n ?

Take f o r example a c r e a t i o n s to ry such as t h e tale of Adam and E v e

found i n t h e Bible. I t tells Christians how o u r world and we,

mankind, came i n t o being. Crea t ion s t o r i e s from many cultures

serve t h i s same purpose. According t o Joseph Bruchac sacred

s t o r i e s a l s o he lp u s t o understand both the "mysteries o f lice" and t h e d iv ine . [6]

In al1 schools educators must j u s t i f y what they teach and

often their teaching methods. An example of how teaching methods

are called into question can be found in the whole language versus

phonics debate. Oral storying has multiple benefits for the

learners which enables thern to strengthen various areas of

learning and growth.

Dr. Margaret Read MacDonald believes oral stovelling is a

justifiable teaching rnethod and tool . In her book, The

, - .. * ~ ~ t o ~ e m S s Sta r t Book F J ~ ~ u F Le na and

Usina Fol k t a l ~ , she lists the following benefits which can be

used to j u s t i f y the place of oral storytelling in the school

curriculum:

storytelling teaches listening;

.storytelling rnodels fine use of oral language; and

storytelling models plot, sequencing, characterization (the

many literacy devices you wish to convey).[7]

1 would also add to the foregoing list that oral storytelling is

an essential part of the human fabric; it is an activity that we

engage in daily whether we realize it or not.

Catharine Farrell also addresses the benefits of oral

storying in her book, -.na: a Guide for Teachem. She

writes,

The many advantages that storytelling has for our young students include reading motivation, and active lis tening cornprehension, a modeling of oral language, bonding, providing a safe environment for oral and written language sharingM . [8 ]

The author also cites the importance of storytelling in teaching

visualization:

Visualizing is as much a foundation for literacy as hearing voice in words: students must be able to see what the words say. Storytelling mentally stimulates students as they naturally begin to imagine and make sense of the story while they listen. [9 ]

Television and film provide images, but oral storying by its very

nature forces listeners to create their own images. Oral storying

forces use of imagination.

Oral storytelling allows students to strengthen their

communication skills; thus providing them the tools with which

they may successfully negotiate through life's daily interactions.

This idea is presented in the following passage front Kerry

Communication through storytelling results in the use of paralinguistic features (gesture, facial expressions) as well as linguistic features (use of tense, linking devices, clarification of ambiguity) . [IO]

In the same book, Mallon addresses one of storytellingr s

greatest benefits, that of fostering and enhancing childrensr

self-esteem :

An important byproduct of storytelling is a new level of confidence, and self- esteem for the teller. Even the shyest child, when given the opportunity tu share a story with another person, finds acceptance of both story and self a rewarding experience . Indeed, an

7

important a h of nurturing children as storytellers is to help them develop confidence in themselves as communicators, a sense of self-worth in their ability to share stories with their peers. [ll]

Children who lack self-esteem are not risk takers nor leaders;

they are self doubters. Therefore, a lack of confidence hinders

learning. Teaching students to be confident communicators is

indeed one of the most fundamental functions of oral storytelling

as a teaching methodology.

The use of oral storytelling in the classroom enriches

childrenr s learning experience. They learn about themselves and

others; values and beliefs are easily transmitted in an

understandable and mernorable way to students via oral storying.

Sacred stories are given voice in a respectful and soulful way.

Oral language, listening and visualizing skills are further

developed. Children are invited to use their imaginations when

hearing or telling stories. Through the practice of oral

storytelling, children becorne more confident and their sense of

self-esteem is further developed. Learners develop an

understanding of literary techniques which, in turn, strengthens

their writing skills. Finally, a strong sense of community is

created through oral storytelling as a special bond forms between

the teller and the told.

Bond between the Teller and the ToJd

There is something special that develops between the teller

and t h e t o l d , t hose t h a t n o t o n l y l i s t e n but who hear . As t h e

renowned s t o r y t e l l e r , Joseph Bruchac, states i n h i s book, T e l l Me

a Tale, "al1 t h a t is needed f o r s t o r y t e l l i n g is a s t o r y t e l l e r , a

l i s t e n e r , a sha red language, and t h e memory o f a story". [12]

Bruchac acknowledges t h e bond sha r ing a s t o r y creates, "Te l l ing a

s t o r y t o someone else is a ve ry s p e c i a l , persona1 exper ience.

Having t h a t s t o r y to ld t o you is j u s t as special and

personal".[13] S t o r y t e l l i n g is simple. It needs no stage, no

s p o t l i g h t s , no props. Al1 t h a t is r equ i r ed is two human beings

and a s to ry .

Bob Barton and David Booth w r i t e i n t h e i r book, $tories in

fie Cl assroom, about t h e connect ive force of s t o r y t e l l i n g . They

state;

S t o r i e s do th ings t o people, W e know t h a t t h i n g s happen t o people when they read o r hear s t o r i e s , t h a t any t h e o r y about t h e p l ace o f s t o r y i n schools has t o begin wi th t h i s fact. S t o r y is n o t an exercise i n explana t ion o r persuas ion b u t an experience between t h e teller and t h e t o l d . [14]

The importance o f any s t o r y is t h e connect ion between t h o s e

sha r ing t h e story. That is t h e bond that lies a t t h e h e a r t of al1

s t o r y t e l l i n g . Not al1 s t o r i e s will affect t h e l i s t e n e r i n t h e

sarne way, b u t each t e l l i n g is guaranteed t o be a shared

experience. One o f t h e reasons 1 am a s t o r y t e l l e r is t h e bond I

feel connecting m e t o my audience whether it cons i s t s o f one

person o r one hundred people. There is something s p e c i a l about

being a p r a c t i t i o n e r o f an a r t f o m t h a t reminds us t h a t w e are

a l1 bound t o each other i n some small way.

E l l i n Greene i n h e r book, ,StorvtelIing Art; and lechniaus, rn -

also addresses t h e connection between s t o r y t e l l e r and l i s t e n e r :

S t o r y t e l l i n g is a s h a r i n g experience. When w e tel l , w e show Our wi l l ingness t o be vulnerable, t o expose our deepes t f e e l i n g s , ou r va lues . That kind o f nakedness t h a t says w e care about what w e are r e l a t i n g invites c h i l d r e n t o l i s t e n wi th open minds and h e a r t s . Enjoying a s t o r y toge ther creates a sense o f community. I t e s t a b l i s h e s a happy r e l a t i o n s h i p between t e l le r and l i s t e n e r , drawing people c l o s e r t o one another , adult t o c h i l d , chi ld t o child". 1151

There was a n Emperor who w a s g r e a t l y embarrassed t o d i scove r he

was naked, that he had revea led his body (as w e l l as his true

n a t u r e ) t o o t h e m . Storytellers share themselves with their

audience. They a r e f i g u r a t i v e l y naked, t e l l i n g s t o r i e s t h a t nean

something t o them; s t o r i e s t h a t r e v e a l something about them. A

listener who t r u l y hears feels p r i v i l e g e d to be a p a r t of t h e

t e l l i n g . They f e e l connected and a bond is formed. They may only

encounter t h e teller one t h e , bu t t h e impact and exper ience can

l a s t f o r a lifetime. It is through t h i s intimate exper ience t h a t

classroom t eache r s can and should use s t o r y t e l l i n g t o help create

a s t r o n g classroom c o m n i t y .

Bruno Bettelheim i n his classic work, m m , -ent, recounts a s t o r y about Goether s bond with his rnother.

H e comments:

T h e account of how Goethe gained some of t h i s ability and sel f -conf idence through

10

his motherrs t e l l i n g him fairy tales i l l u s t r a t e s how fairy tales ought t o be t o l d , and how t h e y can b ind pa ren t and c h i l d toge the r by each making h i s own cont r ibu t ions . [ 161

1 would like t o extend Bettelheim's thought t o include t h e bond

between a teacher ( t h e te l ler) and t h e s t u d e n t ( t h e t o l d ) . Addi t iona l ly , t he s t o r i e s t o l d do not have t o be s t r i c t l y what w e

c l a s s i f y f a i r y t a l e s . the p o t e n t i a l connect wi th

another human being? Telling as many t y p e s of s t o r i e s as

poss ib l e , including persona1 s t o r i e s , can expand the audience of

l i s t e n e r s .

Oral s t o r y t e l l i n g is enjoying a resurgence as of late. 1

found evidence of t h i s phenomena i n t h e form of a r ecen t a r t i c l e

l oca t ed i n t h e Career Sect ion o f The To~onto Star newspaper. The

au thor of t h i s a r t i c l e observes that persona l s t o s y t e l l i n g i s a

t r a i t of e f f e c t i v e l eade r sh ip i n t h e workplace. The writer

addressed t h e i s sue of bonding:

I n these information-crazed t imes, it i s increas ing ly d i f f i c u l t t o s u s t a i n anyoner s a t t e n t i o n f o r more than a f e w seconds o r minutes. Y e t s t o r y t e l l i n g has t h e effect o f a l lowing an audience t o e n t e r your i nne r world and share i n your persona1 hardships and achievements. Your story o f t e n r e s u l t s i n an emotional connection between you and o t h e r s . [ l 7 ]

The author f u r t h e r states t h a t "... s t o r y t e l l i n g

reconnect ing with people". [18] Reconnecting is e s s e n t i a l i n

t o d a y r s s o c i e t y where the simple act of s i t t i n g d o m t o eat d i n n e r

wi th your family has t o be organized around everyoners hectic I I

schedules. Oral storytelling prevents isolation.

to Literatuse

The written and spoken word need to be utilized equally in

the classroom. They are both distinct and yet similas . There is

an undeniable connection that exists between the two. Sharing

stories orally first and then presenting the same story in a

literary form is advocated by Dr. Margaret Read MacDonald: "use

tales [also] to lead students into the glorious world of

literature and editions of your tale; share literary pieces

drawing on themes related to your story". [l9]

In Kerry Mallon states that,

"through storytelling, children will corne to the printed text with

a degree of familiarity and certain expectations of s to ry

structure, language and patternsN.[20] With the conventions of

the printed words no longer foreign, reading becomes an easier

ski11 to master. Similarly, Bob Barton and David Booth write,

"Oral storytelling which invites chiming in draws children

naturally into an awareness of patterns. In composing together or

alone, these patterns can lead to much experimenting with

writing". [21] The o r a l and the written narrative work together

in the classroom to aid in the teaching of literary devices.

structures and language appreciation. The challenge becomes

balancing the two narratives in the everyday curriculum.

Stories have been to ld as long as speech has existed, and sans s to r i e s the human race would have perished, as it would have perished sans water.[22]

- Isak Dineson-

Anne Pellowski i n her work, The Worid of S t o r v t . e l m I

laments t h a t s to r i e s a re no t l i ke ly t o be passed on o ra l ly through

the generations anymore. However, on a positive note she says,

" . . . there is universal i ty of s toryte l l ing, i n that it continues t o

be used as a form of human expression i n v i r tua l ly a l 1 pa r t s of

the world". [23] A l 1 of us need t o do our part t o preserve and

pass through ora l communications personal s to r ies , h i s tory and

s to r i e s t h a t teach u s about ourselves and others.

Stories connect people from di f fe ren t cultures. This l i nk is

exemplified by corrunon s t o r i e s which bridge cul tural divides, such

as the perennial Cinderella story. El l in Greene addresses t h i s

link as follows: "Folklore i s l iv ing proof o f the kinship of

human beings. Among various nations, s imilar s to r i e s are found,

but t hey assume a var ie ty of forrns according t o t h e cul ture i n

which they developed" . [24] If 1 close my eyes 1 can s t i l l hear t h e heavily accented

voice of my l a t e great aunt t e l l i n g t h e Ukrainian folkta le , "The

Sled". She to ld t h i s s to ry t o teach us the need t o respect and

care for our elders. In Aunt Maryr s version a man gives his son

the task of t a k i n g h i s grandfather i n t o the fo res t through the

deep snow on a sled and then leaving h i m there t o perish. The

orders are given because the old man is no longer able t o be a

13

produc t ive p a r t of the family. The c h i l d complies wi th h i s

f a t h e r f s wishes and carries o u t the h e a r t l e s s job he has been

ass igned. However, t h e boy is clever and r e t u r n s home w i t h the

sled he had been i n s t r u c t e d t o leave wi th h i s grandfather . When

ques t ioned t h e boy tel ls his f a t h e r that when it is h i s t u m t o be

abandoned t h e sled w i l l be wai t ing . A t las t t h e f a t h e r sees the

error of h i s ways and he himself goes t o rescue the father he

c r u e l l y cast aside. 1 grew up hear ing t h i s tale t h e and tirne

aga in crying at each t e l l i n g .

T t was n o t u n t i l years la ter t h a t 1 came ac ros s ano the r

vers ion . Joseph Bruchac relates a North Arnerican Mohawk v e r s i o n

called, "Sha-Tewahsiri: Hen" which t r a n s l a t e d is, 'Half a Blanket".

I n Bnichacf s t a l e , there was a man whose e l d e r l y f a t h e r l i v e d wi th

him, h i s w i f e and h i s son. The grandfa the r was unable t u t a k e

case of himself and his son grew weary a t t end ing t o h i s f a t h e r ' s

needs. The o l d man was t o o frai1 t o work. How annoying it is t o

have him c l u t t e r up our small lodge, thought t h e man, he needs t o

be s e n t away. The man called his eight year o l d son t o him.

The c h i l d came as c a l l e d and h i s f a t h e r spoke t o him and

said, 'It is t h e t o t a k e your grandfather i n t o t h e f o r e s t and

l e a v e him thererr . Before t h e child lef t h i s f a t h e r gave him a

blanket and t o l d him t o place it around his g r a n d f a t h e r f s

shoulders once he was i n the f o r e s t .

The son did not t a l k t o his father. D u t i f u l l y he t o o k t h e

b lanke t and then l e d h i s g randfa the r far away from t h e i r lodge.

Once i n the f o r e s t t h e c h i l d def t ly ripped t h e blanket i n half,

Around his grandfa the r r s slight body he g e n t l y p laced h a l f of t h e

b l anke t and he re turned home with the o t h e r h a l f .

When he a r r i v e d home h i s f a t h e r s a w that he w a s c a r r y i n g h a l f

o f t h e b lanke t . H e inquired, "Why did you r e t u r n wi th h a l f of t h e

blanket?" P a t i e n t l y t h e boy explained t h a t he had saved h a l f o f

the b lanke t t o wrap around h i s f a t h e r r s shoulders when h i s t h e

came t o be abandoned i n the forest. A t first t h e f a t h e r was

speechless ; how could my own son abandon me h e thought; then h e

was humbled. "Now, 1 understand" he said, "My son Eorgive m e , I

was wrong. Bring your g randfa the r back t o h i s home where h e

belongs" . [25 ]

I n Tell M e a Tale , Bruchac notes t h i s s t o r y r s u n i v e r s a l i t y

' . . . [ t h i s ] s t o r y is one that seerns t o be popular al1 over t h e

world. 1 have heard it told i n many places. I r v e heard vers ions

of it to ld i n c e n t r a l Europe, i n Africa and A s i a , and among Native

Arnerican people. Maggie Pierce of Northern I r e l a n d tells t h i s

s t o q i n Ready-to-Tell-Tales a s "The S t o r y o f t h e Half

Blanketfr. [26] Bruce Lansky i n , G i r l s to the Rescue, presents a

feminine vers ion o f t h e tale he calls, "Grandma Rosat s Bowlrr. H i s

ve r s ion is an adapta t ion from a s t o r y penned by t h e German

Brothers Grimm. This lesser known ta le from many c u l t u r e s has a t

t h e the c o r e t h e same lesson, t h e same message.

I n t h e in t roduc t ion t o h e r compilat ion, Pest - Loved F o l k t a i e s

of t h e W 0 r l . L Joanna Cole provides two theories as an explanat ion

f o r the u n i v e r s a l i t y of certain tales. H e r first theo ry s t a t e s as

f ollows :

To account fo r the existence of similar s t o r i e s everywhere, some s c h o l a r s bel ieved t h a t t h e worldrs tales originally spread from one source by d i f fu s ion ; that is, t h e plots were thought t o have o r i g i n a t e d i n India and t r a v e l e d via pilgrims, merchants and immigrants t o l o c a l s t o r y t e l l e r s elsewhere, who adopted the s t o r i e s as t h e i r own, changing details i n the telling, but keeping the bones o f t he ta les i n t a c t . [27]

The second theory i s ". . . t h a t s t o r i e s sprang up s imul taneously i n

different coun t r i e s because t he m a t e r i a l o f the f o l k t a l e s is

un ive r sa l . The themes were said t o be those concerning human

be ings everywhere and t h e s t o r i e s were bound t o be inven ted

wherever comrnunities developed" . [28]

For Anne Pellowski' s book, me Woud of %nrvte3li na, a group

of c h i l d r e n were asked the ques t ion , "What would happen i f t h e r e

were no s t o r i e s i n t h e world?" The reply from one chi ld which

t ru ly speaks t o t h e g l o b a l need f o r s t o r i e s w a s t h a t , 'There

wouldnr t be a world, because s t o r i e s made the world". [29] Out o f

t h e mouths of babes....

to Be a T u

I n o rde r t o f u l l y understand my i n t e r e s t i n o r a l s t o r y t e l l i n g

i n t h e classroom, one needs t o understand my own involvement with

s to ry ing . Growing up 1 was not only read s t o r i e s b u t 1 was a l s o

p r iv i l eged t o hear o r a l renderings of t a l e s from var ious a d u l t s i n

my l i f e . My mother c rea ted s t o r i e s about my t r easured s t u f f e d

yellow r a b b i t t h a t 1 s l e p t with. Every g ian t s t o r y imaginable was

provided by my f a t h e r who used a whole r e p e r t o i r e of voices t o

portray each g ian t d i f f e r e n t l y . My older b ro the r favoured ghost

s t o r i e s and urban legends. H e had me convinced t h a t a ghost l i v e d

under my bed and t h a t I had t o feed it oreo cookies so it wouldn't

b i t e my feet. One can only guess who came t o c o l l e c t t h e cookie

off e r ings . M y pa te rna l grandparents both shared s t o r i e s o r a l l y . Nan

t o l d tales about growing up i n England, cour t ing my Papa and about

t he count less adventures my f a t h e r and his twin bro the r shared

w h i l e growing up. Papa shared s t o r i e s about t h e backstage l i fe of

t he various t h e a t r e s where he worked. H e t o l d m e wonderful

s t o r i e s which 1 grew up t o l e a r n were adapted from Shakespeare.

M y g r e a t Aunt Olga loves nothing more than t o have tea w i t h

my cousins and myself. During our v i s i t s she l i k e s t o be caught

up on Our l i v e s ; s o sometimes w e are t h e tellers. What w e crave,

however, are h e r s t o r i e s about her f a s c i n a t i n g l ife. We ask h e r

ques t ions t o lead h e r i n t o t h e stories t h a t w e never grow tired o f

hear ing. Her immigration story is s o i n c r e d i b l e t h a t it has

become sornewhat of a family legend. Equally i n c r e d i b l e are h e r

s t o r i e s of England dur ing World War II where she waited f o r

communications from m y g r e a t uncle who was a radar e x p e r t involved

i n top secret operat ions .

And, of course, my g r e a t Aunt Mary who bequeathed t h e g i f t o f

s t o r y i n g t o me. "Once upon a t h e t h e r e l i v e d a man and a woman

who had two daughters. . ." Aunt Mary would begin and my cousins and

I would squeal with d e l i g h t . "The Mare's Head" was one of ou r

f a v o u r i t e tales. She had learned t h a t s t o r y on t h e knee of h e r

f a t h e r , who, i n tu rn , had learned it from h i s f a t h e r be fo re him.

Who knows how many fami ly tellers be fo re my grea t -grandfa ther had

given voice t o t h a t same tale.

A t t h e dinner t a b l e and a t family ga ther ings , f a v o u r i t e

family s t o r i e s are r e v i s i t e d and new ones shared. M y e n t i r e

farnily l i k e s nothing more than hear ing o r pass ing on a new tale.

A couple o f family s t o r i e s have grown t o e p i c propor t ions . These

s t o r i e s have even reached t h e e a r s of s t r ange r s . A new fr iend I

made during my first y e a r a t university had heard t h e purple

donkey s t o r y v i a my cousinr s boyfriendr s sisterr s f r i e n d f s f r i e n d

o r some such confusing r e l a y system. The p o i n t is the s t o r y was

shared.

M y c l o s e group of f r i e n d s whom 1 have known p r a c t i c a l l y rny

whole l i f e have lived through many tales with me . In addi t ion ,

they have a l s o partaken i n t h e crea t ion of new tales by t he way o f

shared experiences. It sometimes amazes us how of ten w e r e v i s i t

f avour i t e s t o r i e s . It seems w e never grow t ired of c e r t a i n tales.

W e always joke about t e l l i n g Our ch i ld ren one day about t h e

'Cayman inc ident r o r t h e 'wedding disaster' and o the r choice

tales. There a r e o f course some t a l e s t h a t w e w i l l always keep

among only those who were d i r e c t l y involved.

I am honoured and g r a t e f u l t o have been brought up and

surrounded by people who have taught m e t h e importance of the o r a l

t r a d i t i o n . Reading and sharing o r a l l y were considered of equal

importance a s I was growing up. It is no wonder that today I am a

s t o r y t e l l e r and an educator; 1 corne by it honest ly .

During my years of drama t ra in ing , o r a l s to ry ing always was

an area of p a r t i c u l a r s t r eng th and fondness f o r me. My desire is

f o r as many people as poss ib le t o experience t h e joy and t h e power

of o r a l nar ra t ive . There is a place for the persona1 and learned

tale i n a l 1 of Our lives. This b e l i e f is what led m e ou t of my

own classroom t o become an observer of a master s t o r y t e l l e r

engaged i n bringing s t o r y t o t h e l i v e s of grade four s tudents .

thodoj oav and Procedures

A s p a r t of my study of o r a l s tory ing i n t h e classroom, I

removed myself front my r egu la r ro les as s t o r y t e l l i n g guide and

classroom teacher. 1 felt t h a t my study would be more p r o d i ~ c t i v e

i f 1 observed and questioned, r a t h e r than pa r t i c ipa ted . The

journey w a s led by a master s t o r y t e l l e r . She w a s r e spons ib l e f o r

l ead ing t h e s tuden t s and their teachers i n t o the world o f o r a l

s t o r y t e l l i n g . Thi s s tudy looked a t o r a l s t o r y t e l l i n g and s t u d e n t l e a r n i n g .

The s tudy exc lus ive ly focussed on my obse rva t ions from n i n e urban

grade f o u r classrooms . My a reas o f examination inc luded

documenting the effects of oral storytelling on the fo l lowing

p a r t i c i p a n t s :

t h e s t o r y t e l l e r ;

t h e s tudents ; and

*the t eachers .

The s t o r y t e l l e r was par t o f a n e x i s t i n g community based a r t s

i n t e g r a t i o n program. I n t h i s program, a r t i s t s r ep re sen t ing

va r ious d i s c i p l i n e s are p laced i n t o teams of t h r e e . The teams are

then ass igned placement i n p a r t i c i p a t i n g primary and secondary

schoo l s i n s e l e c t e d urban c e n t r e s . Each artist conducts three

s e s s i o n s w i t h the s t u d e n t s and t h e i r t e a c h e r s i n o r d e r t h a t they

man i n s t r u c t the s tuden t s i n t h e i r persona1 area o f p r a c t i c e and

e x p e r t i s e . The u l t ima te g o a l of t h e program is t h a t t h e t e a c h e r s

will become s u f f i c i e n t l y capable i n each area, and t h e s t u d e n t s

enthused enough, t o extend the a r t l e a r n i n g long after t h e ar t is t

has gone.

As t h e program w a s already i n operation, my p a r t i c i p a t i o n had

t o be secured from t h e admin i s t r a to r s of t h e program, school

officiais and the p a r e n t s o f t h e c h i l d r e n involved. L e t t e r s

r eques t ing consent were drafted f o r t h e p a r e n t s / guard ians of t h e

students outlining the study 1 was about to undertake and

informing them of their ability to withdraw their children if and

when desired [See Appendix A]. Oral storytelling was to be

explored as a methodology and, therefore, there was no attempt to

evaluate students on an individual basis.

The two schools involved in the study were located within a

close proximity. ~0th schools were located in large urban areas.

The main housing structures in the immediate surrounding areas

were large apartment buildings. Econo~cally they could be

described as lower income housing. At each of the schools, a

large percentage of the students were visible minorities.

Specifically, there were large numbers of students of Asian and

East Indian descent. In addition, there were many English as a

Second Language (W.S.L.") students in the nine classroorns I

visited. The largest population of the E.S.L. students were

Russian-speaking. Finally, both schools contained large numbers

of students who had been identified as having learning

disabilities ( "identif ied children") . At one school (hereinafter

"School A"), two classes that participated in my study consisted

entirely of identified students. Several teachers had informed

the storyteller about the needs of their class so that the

sessions could be structured to focus on the studentsr unique

strengths and weaknesses. The other school (hereinafter 'School

B") had fewer identified children, but they also had many more

students with stronger behavioural di f f icu l t ies .

As previously stated, I was strictly an observer during these

sessions. The bulk of my data collection, therefore, was in the

form of field notes. 1 openly observed each classr interaction

with the oral storyteller and recorded notes. Outside of rare

exceptions when 1 was called upon by the storyteller, teachers and

students to become involved in the sessions, 1 remained an

external non-participant. The field notes that 1 prepared at the

time were subsequently expanded upon to incorporate further

reflection and exploration of the data collected.

Three sessions were spent in each of the nine grade four

classrooms that participated in the comrnunity based arts

integration program [See Appendix B for Observation Schedule] . The sessions lasteci approximately forty five minutes in length.

Due to the preexisting structure of the arts program, my

observations were conducted on a short term basis. For a three

week period 1 spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at School A,

while my Fridayrs were spent at School B.

In addition to my classroom observations, 1 conducted open-

ended interviews with the storyteller and the educators, whenever

possible. I also created a structured questionnaire to be filled

out by the participating teachers after the completion of the oral

storytelling sessions with the artist [See Appendix C for

Questionnaire]

c The individual oral storytelling sessions are not being

examined on an individual basis. As previously mentioned, the

findings were divided into the following groups: (a) the

storyteller, (b) the students and (c) the teachers. Each group

will be discussed separately; with the proviso that given the very

nature of the study, they cannot be examined in total isolation

from one another. AL1 names have been changed to ensure the

anonymity of the study participants. Al1 direct quotes in this

text are taken from my field notes.

"What will you give me ?" asked Tiger, stroking his mustache and looking hard at Anansi. He was beginning to be a little suspicious of this Anansi. [30]

- These lines from the Jamaican stoq, Tickv Pickv Room Aoqm, ran

through my head as Nancy faced the first class of children. They

looked at her with excitement, recognition and like Tiger with

suspicion. Donrt worry I wanted to assure them, Nancy is not here

to trick you unlike Anansi; she is here to give you a g i f t . As if

echoing my thoughts, Nancy began by telling the students, '1 am

not here to embarrass anyone. My job is to tell you stories and

to teach you to tell stories". The children smiled.

Backaround

The oral s t o r y t e l l e r h i r e d through t h e c o m u n i t y Gased arts

i n t e g r a t i o n program t o work with t h e grade four s tudents has a

varied background. Nancy is a s t o r y t e l l e r , educa tor , a c t r e s s and

au thor . She has had numerous years of experience working with

ch i ld ren , teenagers and a d u l t s i n a wide variety of l e a r n i n g

s i t u a t i o n s . She tells t r a d i t i o n a l and original tales and o f t e n

inco rpo ra t e s song . Nancy a l s o appears i n r o l e as l i t e r a r y

c h a r a c t e r s such as Mother Goose and h i s t o r i c a l cha rac t e r s such as

Laura Secord. I n add i t i on , she o f f e r s a s t o r y t e l l e r i n res idence

program i n which s h e t a i l o r s a l1 o f h e r work t o conform wi th

c u r r e n t Minis t ry of Education gu ide l ines . As w e l l as being a

literacy i n s t r u c t o r a t York Univers i ty , Facul ty of Education,

Nancy has guest l e c t u r e d a t over a dozen o t h e r post-secondary

i n s t i t u t i o n s . Recently, she was invited t o Japan and t r a v e l e d

t h e r e with he r husband and two ch i ld ren t o s h a r e h e r s t o r y t e l l i n g

t a l e n t s . That exper ience left h e r wi th a memorable inc iden t which

she t u rned i n t o a h i l a r i o u s persona1 t e l l i n g performed a t t h e

Toronto Festival of S t o r y t e l l i n g . Nancy has a l s o created a

t o u r i n g production wi th s t o r y t e l l i n g guru Bob Barton. She has

w r i t t e n a book on how t o be an o r a l s t o r y t e l l e r and has just

publ i shed h e r f irst ch i ld ren ' s novel.

ased Arts Inte

As prev ious ly rnentioned, Nancy was hired t o b r ing oral

s t o r y t e l l i n g t o a l1 t h e grade four s t u d e n t s a t participating

schools. This program has been running f o r four years, with next

yeâr being t h e f i n a l year of study. Before 1 became involved w i t h

t h e program, Nancy had p a r t i c i p a t e d i n a ses s ion with t h e grade

four teachers i n Septernber. During t h i s sess ion , the artists and

t h e educators discussed t h e i r agendas and expectat ions f o r t he

classroom v i s i t s . Concerns, needs and d e s i r e s were addressed a t

t h i s

teams

f o u r

tirne. Also preceding my involvement, t he a r t i s t s i n t h e i r

of t h r e e held an o r i e n t a t i o n sess ion with al1 of t h e grade

ch i ld ren a t each school. T h i s was Nancy's f i r s t

direct involvement with t h e program.

i t s exis tence and i s a s soc ia t ed w i t h

been previously involved.

She did, however,

some o f t h e a r t i s t s

year of

know of

who had

u ~ ~ o r t Matenal

Drawing on her background a s an educator, Nancy had prepared

s e v e r a l rub r i c s f o r the teachers which addressed t h e following:

a s sess ing non verbal communication skills;

use of words and o r a l s t ruc tu res ; and

r o l e playing.

The t eache r s were a lao provided with ma te r i a l s t h a t included

s t o r y t e l l i n g games t o r e i n f o r c e the s k i l l s Nancy would be working

on i n he r sessions. These exesc ises were t o be undertaken by the

teachers with t h e s tudents as preparat ion f o r Nancy's v i s i t s .

Creat ing and providing t h i s rnaterial was done on t h e s t o r y t e l l e r r s

own initiative. Nancy was helping t o support the l earn ing t h a t

would be tak ing place i n o r a l s t o r y t e l l i n g and a s s i s t i n g t h e

teacherrs to evaluate an unfamiliar area.

The sessions were structured around technique. Each lesson

built on skills and techniques learned the previous session.

During her initial meeting with the educators, Nancy's and the

teacherrs expectations were set for the three session period. The

material to be covered was explained to me as follows:

ession #l Viewing and Analyzing the Art of Storytelling Developing the Use of Imagery and Imagination Experiencing Storytelling Techniques and Skills (Use of Memory, Eye contact, Body Language, Gesturing, Facial Expression) En j oying Literature

3 - s ~ OR Viewing and Analysing Different Foms of the Art of Storytelling Advanced Developrnent of Storytelling Techniques and Skills (Stance, Sweep, Openings and Closings, Audience Participation, Movement, Props, Working with an Audience) Enjoying Literature

Exploring Story and Story Characters through Role Play and Story Drama

When I first saw the above outline for the sessions, 1 admit 1

thought it was very ambitious, particularly given the t i m e f rame.

1 also feared that the children would not have much oral

storytelling experience which the draw . addit ion,

classes irmnediately followed each other and, therefore, it was

virtually impossible for any class to have extra time, if

required However, my f ie ld n o t e s i n d i c a t e tha t a l1 areas

o u t l i n e d above w e r e addressed. Obviously evz ry s k i 1 1 and

techn ique t augh t needs t o be f u r t h e r developed be fo re one can

becorne t r u l y f l u e n t and versed i n t h e a r t of o r a l s t o r y t e l l i n g .

Never theless , t h e s t u d e n t s were s u c c e s s f u l i n exp lo r ing and

a t t emp t ing v i r t u a l l y a l1 e lements needed t o become a n o r a l

s t o r y t e l l e r .

If time had permi t t ed , 1 feel it would have been b e n e f i c i a l

a l s o t o explore diaphragmatic, o r whole c h e s t , b r e a t h i n g w i t h t h e

s t u d e n t s . T t i s v i t a l t o know how t o c o n t r o l and main ta in p roper

b r e a t h suppor t for engaging i n any form of o r a t i o n . Diaphragmatic

b r ea th ing a l lows one t o loosen t h e c h e s t and as a r e s u l t a richer

and f u l l e r speaking vo i ce is achieved. A t r a i n e d vo i ce is a

powerful voice . The p r a c t i c e of whole c h e s t b r e a t h i n g takes years

t o p e r f e c t p roper ly , but beginning when c h i l d r e n are young it can

become second n a t u r e t o them.

on and f r e s e n t a t m

The same s t o r i e s were not

To enab l e t h i s flexibility,

n e c e s s a r i l y hea rd i n

no s p e c i f i c s t o r i e s

each class.

w e r e set.

In s t ead , Nancy matched t h e s t o r i e s t o what s h e observed t o be t h e

i n d i v i d u a l classr mood, needs, desires and s k i l l l e v e l s S t o r i e s

from a v a r i e t y o f c u l t u r e s were shared, i n c l u d i n g Jamaican, E a s t

Indian, I r i s h , B r i t i s h , I t a l i a n , Greek, Japanese , North

Nat ive American, and German stories.

Every s e s s i o n began wi th Nancy warmly g r e e t i n g t h e

American,

s t u d e n t s ,

engaging them i n d i scus s ion and then sharing an un in t e r rup ted

tale. After t h i s first s to ry , Nancy aga in engaged t h e class i n

conversa t ion which was then followed by ano the r s t o r y t o l d i n

segments. During t h e numerous pauses i n between the segments,

Nancy asked t h e s tuden t s t o re te l l t h e segment t hey had just

heard. T t was t h e i r turn t o be t h e tellers. Nancy t aught and

a s s igned s p e c i f i c s k i l l s t o be worked on d u r i n g each s t a g e o f t h e

r e t e l l i n g . I n t h e last sess ion , the s t u d e n t s were asked t o

explore being i n r o l e f r o m within t h e oral s t o r y t o l d .

As p rev ious ly mentioned, t h e stories were v a r i e d by Nancy

when needed. This flexibility enabled Nancy t o u t i l i z e t h e

c u l t u r a l background of the s t u d e n t s i n h e r s e l e c t i o n . Several

times Nancy t o l d me t h a t she had chosen a s t o r y r e f l e c t i n g a

p a r t i c u l a r c u l t u r e i n o r d e r t o reach o u t to a s tuden t . E l l i n

Greene writes, " S t o r y t e l l e r s f i n d t h a t whenever t hey t e l l a story

from t h e c u l t u r a l background o f t h e i r l i s t e n e r s , there is an

immediate excitement". [31]

Not on ly did Nancy t e l l s t o r i e s t o reflect t h e c u l t u r a l

d i v e r s i t y of her audience, but she a l s o s u r p r i s e d and d e l i g h t e d a

number of s tuden t s when she chose t o t e l l her s t o r i e s i n ano the r

language. One s t o r y i n p a r t i c u l a r was a mere t w o sentences i n

l eng th , but it never the less elicited a great deal of excitement.

"Does anyone speak Pun j abi?" Nancy as ked. Three c h i l d r e n

raised t h e i r hands. Nancy told t h e short s t o r y i n Punjabi. She

had the t h r e e s t u d e n t s act as t r a n s l a t o r s . They f u l f i l l e d this

r o l e w i th ease. 1 wrote i n my field no te s a t t h e t h e , "The t h r e e

Punjabi speaking c h i l d r e n were grinning from ear t o ear as were

several o t h e r E a s t Ind ian ch i ld ren . There was a n e x c i t e d buzz

heard a l 1 around t h e roorn". The e n t i r e class apprec i a t ed h e r

e f f o r t and were a l s o amused by t h e t a l e . A l 1 were s i l e n t du r ing

t h e t e l l i n g , a s i f amazed by Nancy's a b i l i t y t o speak Punjabi . On

a micro scale, f o r t h e t h r e e ch i ld ren who acted as t r a n s l a t o r ,

Nancy's brief t a l e created a s p e c i a l bond. On a macro scale, the

fact t h a t Nancy had l ea rned a s t o r y i n Punjabi a t t e s t e d t o her

gene ra l r e spec t o f o t h e r c u l t u r e s and, t h e r e f o r e , t h e i r

l eg i t imacy . During another session a t School A w i t h a d i f f e r e n t c l a s s

Nancy aga in inqui red , "Does anyone spea k Fun jabi?" A boy

answered, '1 speak Urdu, but 1 understand Punjab i . " Nancy asked

him t o translate her s t o r y . The class laughed upon hear ing t h e

t h i r t y second story. During t h e t e l l i n g , a n o t h e r boy called o u t

'1 know what it rneans." The first child translated t h e story as

follows: "There once was one King and one Queen and they both

died. The end. rr Nancy thanked he r t r a n s l a t o r and inc redu lous ly

he s a i d , "Thatr s it?"

When Nancy t o l d a Bengali story, "The Woman and t h e R i c e

Thief", s h e said one word, "Acha", repea ted ly . Upon completion of

t h e tale, one o f the Punjabi speaking s t u d e n t s raised h e r hand and

said, " M i s s , she wants t o t e l l you what t h e word Acha meant." She

po in ted t o h e r neighbour. Nancy asked t he c h i l d i n d i c a t e d t o

share her d e f i n i t i o n wi th t h e class. The g i r l r e p l i e d , 'It means

yes". Nancy confirmed t h e meaning and thanked h e r f o r sharing.

The c h i l d was lef t smi l ing broadly.

For t h e many children from t h e West Indies, she told t h e

Jamaican tale, "Gull and Wife". She prefaced t h i s s t o r y i n t w o

ways by asking, "1s anyone from Jamaica?" o r by say ing "This i s a

s t o r y from Jamaica." She a l s o used a t r a d i t i o n a l Bahamian and

West Ind ian opening,

Once upon a t h e , a ve ry good t h e ' Monkey chewed tobacco and spit whi t e l i m e . . . Once upon a tirne, a very good tirne Not my t h e , nor your tirne, o l d peoples r t h e . . . [321

I n a d d i t i o n s h e used a cal1 and response method. Nancy said t h e

word \cricf a t var ious tirnes and ways throughout the s t o r y and the

s t u d e n t s responded with \ c r ac r i n t h e same way. T h i s shows t h e

teller t h a t t h e l i s t e n e r s

s t o r y .

The initial response

are following along and a r e inside the

upon hear ing t h e taler s o r i g i n was two-

fold. E i t h e r s tuden t s announced aloud t o Nancy t h a t t h e y o r a

relative were from Jamaica o r nearby, o r t hey e x c i t e d l y whispered

t h e same t h i n g s amongst themselves. The i r smiles were undeniable

marks of t h e i r pleasure a t hear ing a Jamaican story . These smiles

could also have been engendered from t h e i r f a m i l i a r i t y w i th t h e

f o m :

. . , black ch i ld ren may be more receptive t o learning that a l lows them t o use t h e i r s k i l l s i n t he o r a l t r a d i t i o n (a trait

30

Barwell [1981] a l s o r e p o r t s arnong n a t i v e Arnericans), a l though mainstream chi ldren are thought t o have a s t r o n g e r o r i e n t a t i o n t o t h e w r i t t e n word as a major source o f ga ther ing information. B r e t t (1983), f o r exarnple, cites Smitherman: "The crucial d i f f e r e n c e i n American c u l t u r e l ies i n t h e c o n t r a s t i n g modes i n which black and white Americans have shaped t h e i r language . . . a w r i t t e n mode for whites, having corne from a European, p r in t -o r i en ted c u l t u r e ; a spoken mode f o r blacks, having corne from a n Alfrican, o r a l l y o r i e n t e d background. [ 3 3 ]

Incorpora t ing t h e o r a l t r a d i t i o n of s o c i e t a l groups such as n a t i v e

Arnericans and Afr ican Americans a l s o works towards t h e c r e a t i o n of

t o l e rance i n o u r classrooms: " o u world i s as r i c h as it is,

because w e have shared ou r s t o r i e s across c u l t u r e s , and wi th them

Our hopes, o u r b e l i e f s , our ways o f seeing."[34]

Not on ly did Nancy te l l a s t o r y t h a t reflected some of t h e

s tudents ' c u l t u r a l he r i t age , bu t she placed some of those same

s tuden t s i n t o t h e s t o r y . During the first s e s s i o n at School A,

Nancy p u t a Jamaican s tuden t i n t o t h e s t o r y i n a risk-free manner.

The c h i l d had shared t h e fact t h a t he was born i n Jamaica- Nancy

said that the boy t h e man h i r e d t o watch h i s w i f e looked a l o t

l i k e you, and she pointed a t t h e s tudent . Then she asked, "What

is your name?" "Jasontr, he r ep l i ed . Upon hearing t h e c h i l d f s

name Nancy fe igned s u r p r i s e and asked, "Have you heard t h i s

before? T h e boy's name i s Jason too , can you believe it?" Jason

gr inned happ i ly and shook h i s head. Nancy continued the s t o r y

c a l l i n g t h e boy, Jason. A t var ious p o i n t s she stopped and asked 31

t h e husband Jason?" The s tuden t r s classrnates a l s o

p l ea sed by hear ing their f r i e n d r s narne i n the s t o q

and exchanged glances every t ime Nancy used it*

done i n s e v e r a l o the r classes where t h e r e were boys

h e r i t a g e . How proud they were t o be i n t h e s t o r y .

appeared t o be

as they smiled

This was a l s o

of West Ind ian

Nancy: "Where do you t h i n k I ge t my s t o r i e s from?"

Boy 1 : "Your imagination". Boy 2 : "Another s t o r y t e l l e r " . Boy 3: "Books".

Nancy no t only brought i n t e r e s t ing and c u l t u r a l l y d i v e r s e

s t o r i e s to t h e s tudents , but s h e a l s o made the l i t e r a t u r e

connection. A t some point dur ing t h e t h r e e s e s s i o n s a t both

schools , Nancy made a po in t o f sha r ing a w r i t t e n version of a

number o f t h e s t o r i e s s h e had t o l d . Shar ing t h i s l i n k wi th

c h i l d r e n is v i ta l :

By making a connect ion between s t o r y t e l l i n g and books- by t e l l i n g a s t o r y and ind ica t ing the book from which it cornes and poin t ing out that hundreds of other wonderful tales can be found i n books- the s t o r y t e l l e r i s in t roduc ing reading as a source of enjoyment throughout life . [35]

T t was a t t h e last session a t School A when Nancy shared t h e

oral and w r i t t e n connection wi th the s tuden t s . She began as usua l

by t e l l i n g a s to ry , i n t h i s case, one about an ape who became a 32

supply teacher. Upon completion o f her tale, she he ld up t h e

book, The Teacher Went R a n a w . Smiles and looks were exchanged

between classmates. I n my f ie ld notes 1 asked, "Do t h e y know this

book? , o r are they j u s t e x c i t e d t o see how Nancy has t o l d an oral

s t o r y t h a t she has l ea rned from a book, something t h e y could a l s o

do?" Nextr she shared h e r f a v o u r i t e volume o f f a i r y tales and

explained, "It doesn r t have many pictures, but t h a t is good,

because it al lows you t o use your imagination. 1 d o n r t get my own

p i c t u r e s i n my head, when I r m busy looking at t h e i r s . "

Las t ly , s h e shared a p i c t u r e book and an anthology ve r s ion of

t h e s t o r y Tailvpo. The class erupted i n t o conversa t ion a t t h e

s i g h t o f t h e two l i t e r a r y ve r s ions of t h i s s t o r y . Many c h i l d r e n

called ou t i n recogni t ion. Judging from t h e i r e x c i t e d r e a c t i o n s ,

i f t hey had not heard this story orally before , they had

d e f i n i t e l y heard it read aloud.

In al1 the classes where Nancy int roduced t h e books h e r oral

stories were based on, t h e c h i l d r e n were excited. The s t o r y of

'Tailyporr, i n p a r t i c u l a r , caused an e n t h u s i a s t i c response. I n

School A, Nancy opened t h i s book t o r e v e a l a p i c t u r e o f Old

Thomas. Upon seeing t h e a r t i s t r s r ep re sen ta t ion , one boy called

o u t "Mine was a little b i t younger," r e f e r r i n g t o t h e way t h a t he

had v i s u a l i z e d Thomas. Nancy cont inued t h e d i s c u s s i o n by showing

a picture o f t h e t a i l and ask ing , " D i d your t a i l look l i k e t ha t ? "

Th i s gave t h e ch i ld ren a chance t o discuss t h e p i c t u r e s i n t h e i r

head and compare t h e i r v i s u a l i z a t i o n s w i th t h e i l l u s t r a t e d

version. If the s tuden t s had been read the s torybook only, they

would not have had the chance to create their own mind pictures,

The book provides you with the pictures, leaving less room for

imagination. Nancy brought the conversation to a close by saying,

Y 1 m an artist with my words" . Two significant moments dealing with a connection between

literature and oral storying stand out. The first was at School

B. Nancy had been telling a story in which the father, a coal

miner, is coughing up blood. The students were asked to provide

possible explanations for his ailment. A boy suggested, "He mignt

have a dry cough." Then a girl responded, "The cough is dry,

because 1 read in a book called RQny, that when you work in a

mine, the dust cornes off the coal and makes your cough dry." This

child made an intertextual reference of a written work to help her

understand an oral text. It is vital for children t o be able to

draw on al1 forms of literacy when needed.

The second moment also occurred at School B in another class.

After Nancy had finished the same story, she was asked, "Can you

show us the book?" (Earlier she had told the class that the story

was based upon a book). The children wanted to see what the main

character, Meena, looked l i k e . Nancy warned, "1'11 show you the

picture, but it rnay be disappointing. If you don1 t want your

picture disturbed, donr t look a t it . " Several children covered

their face, t u r n e d away, or shut their eyes.

The oral story created such a strong vision in some

childrenls imaginations, that they did not want it changed. In

any illustrated book, the c h i l d r e n need to learn that just because

an illustrator has drawn their version

only valid representat ion. Individual

valid.

of the story, it is not the

representations are equally

The children needed to see the connection between the oral

stories they were hearing and the books that some of them were

derived from. At School A, Nancy was telling the story, "The

Porcelain Man", and she casually commented, "Sometimes when I

retell a story, 1 donrt remember everything in the book. I change

it." A boy questioned in utter disbelief, "Itr s a book?" This

comment sternmed from his belief that the story was born full grown

like Athena from Zeusr head. His question was followed by a

classmate asking, 'Do you memorize it?" Nancy used the childrenrs

curiosity as a springboard for teaching them about her craft. She

said, "A poem is set, a script is set, but storytelling is not

set. '*

By presenting the bridge between the two worlds of written

and oral stories, Nancy was able to show the importance of both.

Her introduction to the connectedness between the two formats will

act as encouragement for students to seek out other stories to

read and to tell. She also encouraged them to revisit the ones

she had told in both formats and showed them where they could find

endless stories to retell orally.

It is through the retelling that the students make stories

their own. Nancy enforced the importance of both types of

storying. As Bette Bosma writes, "children who hear and read many

traditional tales gain structural i n s i g h t s that help develop their

intuitive ability to understand narration."[36] Story listening

and story reading both allow for a greater understanding of story

structure and of language in general. The written and oral story

should be accessed equally in the classroom.

Genre

Sometimes Nancy allowed the children to select the type of

story they would like to hear. Sometimes she selected what gen re

was best to be used based on the mood of the class at the time of

the telling and on what story would help her accomplish the

sessionrs goals. 1 classified the stories Nancy shared with the

students into the following categories:

mystery,

supernatural,

humour, and

drama.

Most of her stories could also be classified as being Folktales.

It was beneficial for Nancy as a teller to be able to share a

type of story that the children were enthused about hearing. The

most requested genre was the supernatural or the ghost story,

which was often referred to by the students as 'scaryf stories.

Given the popularity of this genre with middle school children,

Nancy made sure that she was prepared to tell some. As Ellin

Greene writes, "children in the middle grades also seem to have an

affinity for scary ghost stories- the grosser the bet ter !" . [37]

Nancy's ghost stories were not the typical kind heard

around campfires. She told a Japanese folktale about a horr ible

egg creature, a southern story about Death coming to cal1 on a

woman named Ellie Mitchell and the popular "Tailypo". My persona1

favouri te was an Irish story cal led "Black Blood Pudding," about a

g i r l named Mary MacGregor and h e r dealings with a newly buried

corpse. The following are short interchanges which serve t o

illustrate the childrents desire f o r scary s to r i e s :

Nancy: 1 am going t o take you inside one of my favourite s to r i e s .

Boy : 1s it scary?

Nancy: f f m going t o tell you my favourite story.

G i r l : 1s it scary?

Nancy : I f m going t o t e l l you a s tory now .

Boy: 1s it a ghost story?

Nancy : I t f s time t o t e l l a s tory. Girl : Scary?

Boy:

G i r l :

Boy :

Nancy:

Can w e have a scary story?

Can you t e l l u s a short scary s to ry?

Will you te l l the same scary s t o r y you told t h e other c l a s s? I f I l t e l l you another one and then you can share it with them.

Nancy: What kind of story do you want? Class : Scary. Boy 1: Castles Boy 2: Haunted cast les . Girl : The scariest story i n your

head

Nancy:

Girl :

Whatrs t h e most i n t e r e s t i n g t h i n g you have done with me so far? The part where you t o l d t h e s c a r y s t o r i e s .

The ch i ld ren knew what kind of s t o r y t h e y wanted t o hea r front

Nancy, even though they had never b e f o r e experienced a

p ro fe s s iona l oral storyteller. Scary s t o r i e s were popular w i t h

t h e grade fours i n bo th schools.

Why are t h e c h i l d r e n s o i n t e r e s t e d i n t h i s p a r t i c u l a r genre?

A conversat ion between Nancy and two s t u d e n t s helps to shed light

on this question:

Nancy: I ' m going t o t e l l you my favour i t e s t o r y .

Boy 1: Stephen King? Nancy : Better. Boy 2: R.L. Stine? Nancy: He's tame.

This interchange attests to t h e fact t h a t some s tuden t s have a

knowledge of the h o r r o r genre i n t h e written format. R.L. S t i n e

is the author o f the extremely popular Goosebumps series of h o r r o r

books aimed a t t h e middle grade reader . Given h i s l a r g e l y a d u l t

audience, 1 can o n l y p o s t u l a t e t h a t t h e mention of au thor Stephen

King may be i n reference to t h e movies based on his books. Movies

and t e l e v i s i o n shows are a way i n which c h i l d r e n have been

f a m i l i a r i z e d with the h o r r o r o r ghos t (scary) s t o r y .

I n d i scuss ing t h e man a t E l l i e M i t c h e l l 9 door be fo re he was

let in a c h i l d speculated, " H e r l l probably have a hook i n h i s

hand". A g i r l s i t t i n g near him then said, "Yeah, like 1 know what

you did last summer".

Storytelling is an art that you cannot really learn from books. Books t e l l you about it. They can o f f e r suggestions on how to do it. But s t o r y t e l l i n g i s something you can only learn by doing. The real l e a r n i n g cornes when you start t e l l ing stories. [38]

Nancy's belief that c h i l d r e n l e a r n by doing is evidenced in her

storytelling methodology. If s t o r y t e l l i n g is an art ,

then, " . . . like al1 arts, it requires t r a i n i n g and experience". [39]

Nancy's job was t o teach t h e c h i l d r e n how t o become s t o r y t e l l e r s

by us ing proper techniques.

I n t h e course of the t h r e e s e s s i o n s Nancy covered a wide

range o f techniques wi th the children. The areas taught included:

memory s t r a t e g i e s ,

eye contact ,

gesture,

s t a n c e (pos ture ) , evocal expression,

facial expression,

awareness of audience,

audience p a r t i c i p a t i o n ,

opening/ c los ing ,

t e l l i n g i n chair/ s tanding ,

composure, a n d

affective listening.

These s t o r y t e l l i n g s k i l l s , which i n a broader sense are e f f e c t i v e

communication skills, were taught by Nancy in a variety of ways.

In the written version of a lecture/ storytelling she presented,

Nancy said, "Modeling storytelling for children and then

instructing them in how to tell a good story gives them the

foundation of effective communication techniques they will rely on

the rest of their livesf'. To the children she said, "The best way

to learn to be a storyteller is to watch one and then do what they

do".

Nancy instructed the students to, "Watch how 1 use my arms.

My whole a m gestures. Imitate me". On another occasion, Nancy

instructed, "Next the 1 want you to add gesture, watch me. Use

your hands and arrns to express your story to make it interesting".

Each time, she asked the children to focus on a specific s k i l l

which, in turn, she would invite them to use. By presenting each

skill in isolation, Nancy was able to focus on how well the

students were able to accomplish the technique. Once they were

secure in the execution of a specific skill, Nancy then felt free

to move on to the next. If the students needed further work, she

accommodated them.

By first demonstrating the skills for the students Nancy

allowed them to see what they were expected to try. This gave the

students the confidence needed to attempt the unfamiliar skills

themselves. Some students are visual learners and as such they

especially benefited frorn the demonstration. Nancy did not ask

students to duplicate her every word and gesture when retelling as

this would 1Mt their creativity. She did tell the students

repeatedly that, 'there is not one way to tell a story.

Sometimes Nancy would ask the students to look for t h e ways

in which she conducted a certain skill, "Watch and see how rnany

ways 1 show you the end of the story". As a result, the students

would have to be more observant as they knew that she would

question them on their findings.

Other times Nancy would tell a section of the story to the

students and then ask them to retell the section, often focussing

on a specific skill. This was an excellent technique, in that, it

only required t h e students to remember a small piece of the story

at a time. This technique made their recall of the story more

successful and, therefore, encouraged them as tellers. The

students were eager to retell and then return to the story. Every

t h e Nancy stopped a story after only sharing a small section, the

students became qu i t e verbal. "Ir 11 stop there" Nancy would Say

and the studentst voices would rise in protest: "Nooo", "You' re

toment ing us", "You always stop", and "Finish it now". Sighing

was often used to signal the students' dispLeasure at having the

story interrupted. At the beginning of one session Nancy asked,

"What do you want today?" "You not to stop in the middle" a boy

quickly responded. After the students had retold t h e section they

were always excited to return to the story; a collective "Yesss"

was often the way they expressed their pleasure.

During her telling, Nancy would also ask the students to

"showw her things. "Wait or thought are the action words, how do

you show it?" "Like this" a boy responded and he assurneci the

p o s i t i o n o f T h e Thinker. Nancy was no t a s k i n g t h e students t o

h i t a t e , but t o create. "It is not enough t o Say it, 1 have t o

see it," Nancy would o f t e n Say dur ing h e r t e l l i n g . Next she would

r e p e a t t h e

tiredrr . Nancy

amount o f

l i n e she wanted t h e c h i l d r e n t o "show", i.e. "He g o t

was a ve ry suppor t ive t e a c h e r and o f f e r e d a g r e a t

encouragement t o t h e s tuden t s . This is v i t a l when

t each ing oral s t o r y t e l l i n g , as people of a l1 ages may become

afraid o r embarrassed assuming t h e r o l e o f teller. Nancy o f f e r e d

encouragement by walking around t o address c h i l d r e n i n d i v i d u a l l y

and i n t h e i r small groups. She would o f t e n adjust t h e te l ler ' s

p o s i t i o n q u i e t l y and a t t h e same t h e o f f e r a smile o r a p o s i t i v e

comment. Nancy did not s i n g l e ou t any c h i l d r e n i n a negative

fashion. Verbally she o f f e r ed many encouraging comrnents, '1 saw

some wonderful s t o r y t e l l i n g going on and I was amazed a t your

mernories. " "You are a l1 working w e l l , you are making n a t u r a l

g e s t u r e s not j u s t p u t t i n g them i n . You are r e l a t i n g w e l l t o your

audience". Although t h e s e comrnents were directed towards t h e

whole c l a s s , Nancy a l s o made encouraging r e m a r k s t o i n d i v i d u a l

s tuden t s . For example, "Good, keep going, us ing your hands t o

show and tellrr, "You were very brave t o t a k e t h a t role" and "Good

job" . Nancyr s suppor t ive and encouraging manner let t h e s t u d e n t s

know t h a t it was safe t o make mistakes. Through h e r a c t i o n s , t h e

c h i l d r e n understood that s h e wanted them to succeed.

Last ly , one o f t h e major s t r a t e g i e s Nancy used i n t each ing

the s tuden t s t h e techniques of o r a l s t o r y t e l l i n g was o f f e r i n g

advice throughout her sharing. One boy who was having trouble

remembering parts of the story was told, "You can ask fcr help or

listeners can add it in [anything rnissed] when it is their turn".

If the children took a few minutes to settle into her story, Nancy

would wait then offer the t i p , 'When 1 have complete silence as a

teller t h en 1 begin my story". Audience behaviour was often used

as a teaching tool for Nancy who took the opportunity to make

helpful comments tu the students.

Paramount to becoming a good oral storyteller is having a

good teacher. Thrcugh the use of the various oral storytelling

techniques, Nancy was able to verse the students in the many

skills required for oral storytelling in a n understandable and non

int imidating manner. Nancyr 3 instruction techniques were designed

to promote student success. It is impossible to achieve success

as an oral storyteller if one does not ascribe t o the idea tha t ,

"storytelling as an art form, involves a whole lot of wonderful

skills and techniques". [40] The techniques in conjunction with

the story structure are the bones of any telling.

STUDENTS

The focal point of rny study were the students. The program

they were participants in was designed expressly to broaden their

arts experience. They were taught to be oral storytellers and 1

was there to witness and to record the process.

Children are natural storytellers. They engage in personal

storying everyday of their lives, on the playground, in the

classroom and at the dinner table. Unfortunately, in the

classroom, 'we have generally neglected the two important language

arts s k i l l s of speaking and listening- discouraging the former in

our classrooms and assuming the latter". [4l] Oral storytelling is

the way to rectify this practice; as one child said, "We can

listen to be a good storyteller".

Intrinsic to learning is the ability to listen. What is

listening?

To listen is to do more than hear. Hearing is a physiological function and involves receiving a message; listening is a mental function that involves perceiving a message. [42]

Storytelling by its very nature encourages listening . The

students demonstrated their ability to listen, nct j u s t hear, in

numeruus ways. They reacted to Nancy and their fellow tellers

physically, verbally and ernotionally .

hvsi cal

In al1 the sessions that formed part of this study, students

either moved or leaned forward during the tellings. This movement

indicated that the students were interested and involved in

listening to the story. In trying to move closer to the teller,

the students were in actuality attempting to get closer to the

story. When frightened by a story, the students often repealed

back.

Nancy asked the students to be aware of and demonstrate to

their student tellers that they were listening and interested

through their body language. The students' body language was an

important indicator of their listening. When scared by something

Fn a story, for example, the children reacted physically in

nwnerous ways. 1 noted, ". . .the boy shivered as he said, T t was

scaryr". 1 watched a girl pull her shirt up over her face to just

under her eyes during a telling of "Black Blood Pudding". She

rernained hidden for most of the story, occasionally pulling her

shirt dom, and then immediately pulling it up again. During a

telling of the same tale in a different class, a boy reacted to

the image of the corpse digging his nailrs into Mary MacGregorrs

back. He said, "Owtr and then leaned back and began to bite his

nails. Many students leaned back when Nancy delivered the liner

"He crunched it [his finger] right offrr. Many students shuddered,

covered

plugged

At the

their face or moved back, Another boy in the same class

his ears and cringed when Nancy said the word \screamr.

end of "TailyPo" the creature shouts, "Mine" and the

s t u d e n t s l i s t e n i n g jumped. I n another class many s t u d e n t s covered

t h e i r rnouths with t h e i r hands when Death came t o f i n d E l l i e

Mi tche l l .

The c h i l d r e n did not on ly phys i ca l ly demonstra te their

l i s t e n i n g when f r igh tened by a s t o r y . I n one sad s t o r y , Nancy

said, "Clemmy i s rny l i t t l e brother" and a boy near he r leaned

forward and pretended t o p a t t h e imagined c h i l d on t h e head. It

was a very touching image and s u r p r i s i n g as the c h i l d had been

c h a t t i n g through most of t h e s t o r y and 1 assumed he was not

fol lowing along. I n ano the r sess ion, Nancy was s ing ing the

Coyoters song. Nancy had t o l d t h e s tuden t s t h a t t h e Song was a

powerful song, so powerful t h a t it would t r ans fo rm you forever .

I n r e a c t i o n t o t h e song, a boy s a t up on his knees, pu t both

hands on h i s stomach and c l o s e d h i s eyes. When ano the r group o f

c h i l d r e n heard Nancy s i n g a d i f f e r e n t song, t h e y swayed a long t o

t h e bea t , some with t h e i r eyes closed. Upon hea r ing that Oj i san

was t o have t h e tree growing i n h i s head c u t down, a g i r l

v igorous ly began shaking h e r head i s disbelief. When the

cha rac t e r , Porcela in Man said t o Angelha , "1 l o v e you," a group

of t h e s t u d e n t s responded i n a v a r i e t y o f p h y s i c a l ways inc lud ing

smil ing, clapping, covering t h e i r ears and p l a c i n g a hand over

t h e i r hea r t . I n a l1 t h e s e s s ions , nodding was a cornmon form of

expression f o r t h e l i s t e n e r s .

The s tuden t s a l s o responded phys i ca l ly t o what t h e y heard by

t u r n i n g t o o t h e r s t o c o n f i m t h e s t o r i e s r even t s . They exchanged

g lances when f ind ing something humorous, u p s e t t i n g , scary and/or

p leas ing . Often c h i l d r e n would look around be fo re they settled on

a p a r t i c u l a r f r i e n d t o share this exchange. 1 witnessed c o u n t l e s s

nudges between neighbours f o r a variety o f reasons . Ail these

man i f e s t a t i ons by t h e s tudents were phys i ca l responses t o

something they had heard and understood.

A s a r e s u l t o f t h e s tudents r responding p h y s i c a l l y t o what

t h e y had heard, Nancy w a s quickly able t o gauge t h e i r i n t e r e s t and

a b i l i t y t o s u s t a i n l i s t e n i n g . If needed, she was t h e n able t o a c t

accord ing ly t o secure a t t e n t i o n by u t i l i z i n g va r ious techniques

inc lud ing quest ioning, cal1 and response and lowering of t h e

vo ice . When a number of ch i ld ren i n any class had t r o u b l e

s u s t a i n i n g t h e i r a t t e n t i o n t o t h e s t o r y , Nancy would use a

p a r t i c i p a t o r y s t o r y i n which t h e c h i l d r e n were r equ i r ed to respond

as a group voca l ly o r phys ica l ly and/or be i n v i t e d up to be worked

i n t o t h e t e l l i n g . Authors Judy Sierra and Robert Kaminski

advocate the use of p a r t i c i p a t o r y tales f o r t h i s reason i n t h e i r

book,

P a r t i c i p a t i o n s t o r i e s a r e an important p a r t of every s t o r y t e l l e r f s r e p e r t o i r e . They provide an o u t l e t f o r restless ch i ld ren who have t roub le s i t t i n g s t i l l and l i s t e n i n g . [43]

Involving t h e audience i s almost always guaranteed t o make an

audience l i s t e n t o a s t o r y .

Some o f the ways 1 witnessed s t u d e n t s demonstrate a l a c k o f

a t t e n t i o n included loo king around the roorn i n s t e a d of f ocuss ing on

t h e teller; playing with other s t u d e n t s r h a i r , shoes etc.;

touching other students ; playing with pencils, pistachio nuts or

other objects; and lying down and turning away from t h e speaker.

Admittedly, students who were engaged in any of the aforementioned

activities would sometimes surprise me and demonstrate that

through through their actions or words that they were, in fact,

listening.

JmbaL

The students laughed, gasped and cried in reaction to the

various stories they heard. In addition, they participated in

what 1 refer to as murmurings. In reaction to the stories, they

would add their voice to others in saying, "Oh'", "No", "Yesssrr,

"1 told you sorr, "Coolw, "Yuck" and other similar words. When a

large portion of the class was saying different words at the same

time it created a rnumuring or a buzzing sound.

The students also demonstrated that they were listening by

responding in ways requested by Nancy. For the story "That Pig",

Nancy asked the students to Say as a group, "No, it would not" at

certain points during the story. Similarly , as a class the students were asked to become the voice for the freedom bird

saying, "Na, na, na, na,na,naU and clapping three times. As

previously mentioned, for the Jamaican story the students were

asked to show that they were listening by responding \cracf to

Nancy's cal1 of \cricN and imitating the way she said the call.

If Nancy called, "cric, cric" the children would reply "crac,

crac" . One class at School A liked this idea of cal1 and response

so much that they created their own calls and responses. During

the second session with t h e class, Nancy called out "cric" and the

children quickly responded 'crac". T h e i r teacher then yelled out,

'We have a better one, Shesh-kabobf'. Then he proceeded to cal1 on

a group of students to share their versions wi th Nancy. "Hot

dogM, "Maple Leafs", and 'Space ship" were the ideas shared. One

boy was too shy to share his; he j us t giggled and shook his head

no when it was his t u rn . The teacher did not force the issue.

The children also demonstrated their ' li3 cening by as king

questions or making comrnents during or after the telling. When

Nancy said, "The seal wriggled out of its skin" a boy whispered in

awe, "A mermaid". During another telling of the story mentioned

above Nancy said, 'If you marry me and live with me for seven

years then 1'11 give it [her seal skin] back". One boy responded

with, "What a rat". Another said, "He steals". A final example

is as follows, Nancy ended by saying "Ojisan became very, very,

very, very. . ." and several students f i l l e d in "richrr.

YooYr was the word most often repeated by the students

during the course of my study. Both girls and boys utilized it

freely. Frorn the way in which the students were using the word, 1

was able to ascertain its meaning to be, 'the ultimater. It was

used as a means of expressing pleasure and admiration. Nancy,

upon hearing the word, understood that the students were listening

and they liked what they were hearing. There was not a session

that went by without \coolr being said. I never heard it used

fewer than ten times. After one session 1 wrote:

'Cool" said a voice to my right. "Cool" piped up a voice from the front. "Cool" whispered a girl. "Cool" f rom behind. "Cool said a voice to my left. "Cool" said a boy to his buddy."CooYt said a child in the front. "Cool" said a boy in a hushed tone . "Coolrt, "Coolft, "Cooool" . This one word created a munnured symphony. It was an immediate reaction over in fewer than thirty seconds this the. "Cool" 1 thought to myself smiling as 1 furiously attempted to record.

The studentsr emotional response to the stories they were

hearing was evidenced by their outward displays of expression.

Whether they were crying, laughing, smiling, frowning or

surprised, the students showed this in their face or body or by

their words. The teller or any observer could see and hear what

the students were feeling. They could understand the studentsr

emotional involvement to the story and this in turn demonstrated

that they were indeed listening and understanding.

Knowing a s to r y is only half of what makes someone a storyteller. Telling the story, being able to effectively share it, is the other half, [ 4 4 ]

Unlike most professional oral storytellers, Nancy was not in the

schools strictly to entertain the students. She was there to

teach the students the art of oral storytelling, which rneant

teaching them to tell.

The students learned quickly; a testament to Nancy's teaching

methods and to the fact that they were interested and wanted to

become oral storytellers. The intent of the program was not tu

turn every student into a professional oral storyteller, but to

allow them to experience some success with this art form. Were

they successful? Yes! Did they view themselves to be successful?

Judging from their own words, Yes:

Nancy : Did you discover anything about yourself today?

Girl : 1% a good storyteller. Boy: 1% not shy. Girl : 1 donrt have stage fright. Boy: 1 thought it would be hard to

be a storyteller but it was O kay . At first 1 thought 1 wouldn' t want to be a storyteller but then if you tried 1 knew you could do it.

[School A, Session One]

G i r l :

Nancy: What did you discover this morning?

Boy: That 1 storytelled. Girl : That I could tell a story back

to other people easily. You should never be nervous telling a story because it was fun.

[School A, Session One]

Boy:

Nancy : What did you discover about storytelling?

G i r l : Once you are relaxed your audience is focussed on you

G i r l : and itr s l i k e much eas i e r . When 1 s a w t h e i r ... my

G i r l :

groups ... eyes t h e words were i n t h e i r eyes. If you try you can be a s to ry t e l l e r . If you r e a l l y put your head t o it you can be a good s to ry t e l l e r .

[School B, Session Two]

Nancy : What did you discover about s to ry te l l ing?

Girl : 1 can do it. Boy : P m good a t being a

s t o r y t e l l e r , Boy : Itr s cool, S to ry te l l ing is , Boy: 1 can make people laugh when 1

s t o r y t e l l . [School 8, Session Two]

Another ind ica to r of success as tel lers was evidenced i n the

fact tha t the students shared what they learned. They to ld t o

students from o ther classes and t o people outside of school.

Nancy had encouraged the students t o share both a t school and with

farnily. She t o l d one c lass t ha t she would t e l l them a d i f fe ren t

ghost s tory so they could share it w i t h another c lass . After

teaching one class "Henny Penny" Nancy asked, "How many of you

have young brothers and sisters?" There was a show of hands.

\%ood", Nancy said, "Now you have a s t o ry t o t e l l themf8.

"Did any of you t r y t o t e l l any stories?", Nancy asked one

class. A boy ra i sed h i s hand and Nancy inv i ted him t o share h i s

t e l l i n g experience.

Nancy: Who did you t e l l ? Boy: My sister, Nancy: D i d she I i k e it? Boy: She ran around f l y ing l i k e a

b i r d because she wasnr t 52

Nancy : Boy : Nancy:

l i s t e n i n g . How o l d is she? Five. [smiling] That means she heard, cong ra tu l a t i ons . She w a s p lay ing with t h e s t o r y you t o l d .

Nancy began by ask ing ano ther group o f s t u d e n t s , "Have you been

t e l l i n g stories?" Seve ra l of t h e s t u d e n t s answered p o s i t i v e l y ;

G i r l : I did. Nancy : Who did you t e l l ? G i r l : My sister. Nancy : How o l d is she? G i r l : Fourteen, s h e laughed s o h a r d

when she heard Oj h a n .

Boy: 1 told my f o u r year o l d b r o t h e r and my three yea r old sister.

G i r l : 1 t o l d the s t o r y t o my b r o t h e r .

G i r l : 1 told f o u r a d u l t s my mom, dad, my unc le and aun t .

Nancy: How did you f i n i s h it when you d idnr t know t h e ending y e t ?

G i r l : 1 asked them what do you think w i l l happen next.

Sharing the s t o r i e s they learned with o t h e r s showed that the

students saw themselves as tellers. They had t h e conf idence i n

t h e i r a b i l i t y t o te l l . Their t e l l i n g o u t s i d e o f the s e s s i o n s wi th

Nancy a l s o demonstrated their enthusiasm f o r o r a l s t o r y t e l l i n g .

The s k i l l of remembering a completely o r a l text is f o r e i g n t o

most s t u d e n t s . Nancy made t h i s area v i r t u a l l y risk-free. I f t h e

s t u d e n t s were unable t o retell t h e t a l e s t h a t Nancy presented fo r 53

them, they were not made t o feel a s i f they had failed. Nancy

lead t h e students back through the segments they were to re te l l

af ter she had t o l d them. She asked t h e s t u d e n t s to f i l 1 i n the

words she would l eave ou t . As well, v i s u a l suppor t was o f f e r e d i n

the way o f prop p i c t u r e cards and key words w r i t t e n up on the

board. I n add i t i on , Nancy made accommodations for s t u d e n t s wi th

special needs. As a mernory aid fo r one s t u d e n t , she developed a

persona1 set of v i s u a l reminder cards. Once t h e first sen tence

was provided fo r John, he then proved capable of c a r q i n g on

without any visaal reminders.

The groups were i n s t r u c t e d t o be suppor t ive of t h e i r tel ler

and when necessary, t o assist them by provid ing a memory jog.

Although, Nancy t o l d the s tuden t s t h a t t hey had t o mainta in t h e

same events, setting and cha rac t e r s , they were not t o mimic every

word she had said. The students al1 proved very capable a t

r e t e l l i n g . They used t h e s t r a t e g i e s t aught t o them by Nancy t o

assist them w i t h r e c a l l .

Knowing i n advance that they would be called on t o retell the

s t o r i e s a l s o helped t o s u s t a i n the s tuden t s r a t t e n t i o n .

Although mernory and a t t e n t i o n a r e no t t h e same th ing, it is t m e t h a t things are no t l i k e l y t o be remembered i f they are not a t tended t o i n t h e first p lace . [45]

Several teachers had commented t o m e du r ing t h e course of t h e

s e s s i o n s t h a t many o f t h e i r s tuden t s are weak readers and w r i t e r s .

Learning an oral t a l e from ano the r teller e l i m i n a t e s t h e

d i f f i c u l t y t h o s e s tuden t s have wi th the decoding o f w r i t t e n t ex t .

Thi s is e s p e c i a l l y impor tan t i n t h e c o n t e x t o f t h e E.S.L. s t u d e n t s

who lack familiarity with t h e Engl i sh language:

A s c h i l d r e n l i s t e n to stories, verse, p ro se o f a l 1 kinds, t h e y unconscious ly become f a r n i l i a r w i th t h e r h y t h m and t h e s t r u c t u r e , t h e cadences and convent ions o f t h e va r i ous forms o f w r i t t e n language. They are l e a r n i n g how p r i n t ' soundsf , how t o \ hea r t it i n t h e i r i n n e r ear. [46]

Oral s t o r y t e l l i n g , t h e r e f o r e , cou ld i n s t i l l i n E.S.L. l e a r n e r s t h e

conf idence needed t o e x c e l i n o t h e r areas o f ' l e a r n i n g .

re and E x ~ r e s s m n

Ges tu re p l a y s an impor tant p a r t i n oral s t o r y t e l l i n g . By

using g e s t u r e s , the s t u d e n t s becarne more e x p r e s s i v e . Ges tu r e is

a n o t h e r way t o h e l p recall a s t o r y . Gai1 Myers and Michele T o l e l a

Myers w r i t e on t h e importance of g e s t u r e i n t h e i r book, The

: "Gestures h e l p i n many ways to

i n t e r p r e t t h e con t en t of communication". [ 47 ] Timothy Gura and

C h a r l o t t e L e e d e f i n e gesture i n t h e i r book, Oral Intemretation,

as beingn. .any movement t h a t h e l p s t o express or emphasize an idea

o r emot ional response". [48] Vocal exp re s s ion is paramount t o any

oral i n t e r p r e t a t i o n . I n any o r a l r ender ing , t h e voice is your

primary instrument. F a c i a l expression shou ld be ref l e c t i v e of t he

i n t e r p r e t a t i o n as w e l l . Ges ture , v o c a l and facial e x p r e s s i o n need

to be combined i n order t o produce a s u c c e s s f u l o r a l t e l l i n g .

The more relaxed a speaker is, t h e less t e n s i o n will effect

t h e i r vo ice . Tension i n the vo i ce is marked by a pinched, o f t e n

higher vocal quality than normal , a rapid Pace or a monotone

delivery. When a teller is not as confident or cornfortable they

tend to gesture less a n d use less facial expressions. The arms

are generally kept t i g h t l y against the body sometimes only moving

from the elbow down. Often the posture is rigid. When

experiencing tension the face of the unconfident speaker can take

on a tight controlled, mask-like expression.

When students are more confident, or are really excited about

the material they are orally rendering, they become freer with

their gestures. They no longer l o o k as if t h e y are af ra id that

large gestures will cal1 unwanted attention to them. When relaxed

facial expression takes on a natural appearance and w i l l change

accordingly to reflect the content and rneaning of what is being

shared. When confident in oners orality, the voice becomes more

expressive, warmer, freer, more melodious and often louder.

The students in my study exhibited various levels of

confidence which were reflected in their gestures and expressions.

A s t h e sessions went on, I noticed that an increasing number of

students became more confident in their oral storytelling

capabilities. When Nancy asked, 'Did you discover anything

today?" a boy replied, "Using hands and face for expression makes

storytelling more interesting".

When Nancy was telling "The Persimmon Tree" a student offered

a gesture and sound to use when Ojisan was thinking. She raised

her r ight index f i nge r and said, "Bingtf. The other students

laughed at her addition, Nancy incorporated the studentrs idea

i n t o t h e s t o r y . T h i s action g r e a t l y p leased

when the s t u d e n t s were r e t e l l i n g the s t o r y

classmaters g e s t u r e and sound.

t h e student. L a t e r

t h e y t o o used their

oral

t h a t

Nancy r e i n f o r c e d i n the s t u d e n t s t h a t t h e t echn iques used i n

s t o r y t e l l i n g t a k e t h e t o p e r f e c t . She t o l d t h e s t u d e n t s

t h e y would j u s t work on a f e w a t a time, a s k i n g V a n you t e l l

a s t o r y w i t h a l1 o f t h i s ? as she p o i n t e d t o a l ist of t echn iques .

S e v e r a l s t u d e n t s r e p l i e d , "No". 'Of course not" said Nancy, "But

w e can one a t a tirne. It takes m e t e n weeks with a d u l t s t o t r a i n

them". I n add i t i on , s h e cau t ioned , t h e r e are

can occur t h a t may have a nega t i ve impact

p r o f e s s i o n a l , po l i shed o r a l s t o r y t e l l e r .

always t h i n g s

on even the

t h a t

most

Before Nancy began h e r s e s s i o n s s h e provided t h e teachers

w i t h a handout on s t o r y t e l l i n g games a t their initial planning

p e r i o d . Al1 t h e games were t o work on t h e s k i l l s she would be

emphasizing du r ing h e r w o r k w i th the s tuden t s . The one t h a t Nancy

t o l d m e she reques ted t h e t e a c h e r s do be fo r e any o t h e r s was t h e

e y e c o n t a c t game. T h i s is o u t l i n e d on t h e handout as follows:

mCBNIQUE-EYE CONTACT GAMZ- EYE SEE - s i t i n a circle, 4-6 s t u d e n t s - s t a r t e r says a sen t ence look ing directly at each member of t h e group on each word - l a s t person to get a look and a word must Say the nex t s en t ence using the word that was g iven t o them

She had requested t h a t the t e a c h e r s work on this p a r t i c u l a r s k i l l 57

because it i s a vi ta l i f n o t t h e most v i t a l a s p e c t o f o r a l

s t o r y t e l l i n g . By n a t u r e o r a l s t o r y t e l l i n g promotes t h e connec t ion

between the tel ler and t he t o l d . This is almost impossible t o

a ch i eve i f t h e teller does no t look a t t h e i r audience o r i f t h e

audience i n return does no t look a t t h e te l ler . O f course , i n a

large audience it is hard t o make direct eye con t ac t ; however; t h e

tel ler does turn his/her head t o address d i f f e r e n t areas of the

audience s o that t h e members w i l l g a i n a s e n s e o f the bond t h a t

eye c o n t a c t helps c r e a t e . The te l ler a l s o needs t o look a t

h i s / h e r audience t o gauge t h e i r r e a c t i o n s .

Only a f e w of t h e teachers had managed t o play the r eques t ed

game and most o n l y did it once or twice. Th i s was one area i n

which t h e s t u d e n t s had t h e most d i f f i c u l t y . Two classes who had

worked on the t echn ique v i a t h e game were a b l e t o e f f i c i e n t l y p l a y

t h e game for Nancy. Throughout my field n o t e s are comments such

as, "...net al1 tellers were able t o rnaintain eye c o n t a c t with

their l i s t e n e r s " , and \'..the tellers seemed t o have a b i t more

difficulty i n this area". However, a f e w tellers 1 o r i g i n a l l y

cited as having trouble maintaining eye c o n t a c t I later r e a l i z e d

were a c t u a l l y look ing away a t times when they were t r y i n g t o

recall a detaiï of t h e story.

Often t h i s t echn ique r equ i r ed for s t o r y t e l l i n g i s one o f t h e

l as t t o perfect. It is the very intimate n a t u r e o f direct eye

c o n t a c t that can u n s e t t l e sorne students. It shou ld also be

mentioned that i n some c u l t u r e s it is d i s r e s p e c t f u l t o maintain

eye c o n t a c t .

S u r ~ r i s e s

When walking i n t o a new classroom and meeting i ts occupants

f o r t h e first tirne, t h e r e is no way of knowing who w i l l e x c e l a t

oral s t o r y t e l l i n g . I n f a c t , it is counterproduct ive t o l e a r n i n g

i n gene ra l t o make such presumptions. A11 s t u d e n t s can exper ience

success as o r a l s t o r y t e l l e r s , e s p e c i a l l y when t h e y a r e t augh t t o

believe i n t h e i r own a b i l i t y . Some of t h e t e a c h e r s involved t o l d

m e t h a t they had been s u r p r i s e d a t s eve ra l of thei r s tuden t s . A t

School Br one teacher came ove r to m e dur ing t h e second session.

She po in ted a t two girls who were par tnered and expressed t o m e

that al though they are very b r i g h t s tudents , t h e y were extrernely

shy. The one g i r l who was t h e t e l l e r was s i t t i n g i n h e r c h a i r i n

perfect pos i t i on . She was very express ive and animated and the

l i s t e n e r was acting o u t alongside. E a r l i e r i n the same se s s ion ,

t h e s e g i r l s were working wi th other s tudents . A t t h a t t i m e , I had

observed t h a t they were much more subdued. The t e a c h e r informed

m e t h a t t h e y were good f r i e n d s , which expla ined their increased

comfort level . On Nancy's l a s t day working w i t h t h e i r class, t h e s e t w o g i r l s

approached m e on their own i n i t i a t i v e . They t o l d m e t h a t t hey are

going t o share a story with t h e i r grade one buddies today and t h a t

they had been p rac t i c ing . 1 w a s pleased t o see how e x c i t e d they

were about pass ing on a n o r a l s t o r y .

M y biggest surprise, however, occurred at School A after a

s e s s i o n wi th the two classes of mostly i d e n t i f i e d students ( t h e y

jo ined for Nancy's s e s s i o n s ) . 1 had been watching one g i r l , who

had such a commanding presence when s t o r y t e l l i n g . She s t o o d t o

t e l l b e f o r e any other s t u d e n t s i n t h e class. When I asked h e r why

s h e told me, "It f e l t r igh t" . Her voice was deep and r a t h e r

r aspy . She w a s r e l axed and h e r exp re s s ive voice showed no s i g n s

o f strain. H e r am g e s t u r e s t o i n d i c a t e t h e g u i 1 w i f e were wide

and sweeping. She i n c o r p o r a t e d every t e chn ique t a u g h t by Nancy

i n t o h e r t e l l i n g . T h i s s t u d e n t had h e r aud i ence spel lbound. One

of h e r l i s t e n e r s was s i t t i n g w i t h wide eyes and h i s mouth open.

Th i s s t u d e n t was e n t i r e l y caught up inside- her s t o r y . I wrote

l a t e r t h a t n igh t , '1 had t r o u b l e t ak ing my eyes off t h e g i r l with

t h e braids, she is mesmerizing. Her s t o r y t e l l i n g s k i l l s are

i n c r e d i b l e , is she a n a t u r a l . 1s she a product of a mostly o r a l

c u l t u r e ? N o rnat ter t h i s c h i l d h a s it!"

I expressed t o t h e teacher how wonderful and focussed 1 found

t h i s g i r l t o be and how impressed 1 was by the power o f h e r oral

s t o r y t e l l i n g . The teacher agreed t h a t she was do ing extremely

well, but she sadly informed me tha t s h e w a s being cons ide red for

a s p e c i a l behaviour class, because she had become s o o u t o f

c o n t r o l as of late. 1 found t h i s i n fo rma t ion very hard t o

reconcile with my image of t h e chi ld.

The saine t e ache r motioned t o a s t u d e n t and whispered, "She is

m y shyest child i n t h i s class". 1 looked o v e r a t the area she

i n d i c a t e d and noted t h a t t h e g i r l was f u l l y p a r t i c i p a t i n g as a

rnember of t h e audience i n h e r t e l l i n g group. When 1 looked over 1

caught her eye and she looked away quick ly . She t h e n i m e d i a t e l y

became less animated. Thereafter, 1 made sure t o be more

discreet.

Another t e ache r approached me dur ing t h e se s s ion t o say how

p leased and s u r p r i s e d she was t o see t h a t Nancy had reached o u t t o

t h e d i f f i c u l t s t uden t s i n h e r class. She i n d i c a t e d a group o f

f o u r boys. Amongst them w a s t h e boy who t o l d Nancy i n t h e morning

t h a t he had been embarrassed by a teller before . The teacher said

normally t h e boys would have said t hey were "too cool" t o tell

s t o r i e s . This group o f boys, however, were genuine ly caught up i n

Nancyfs s to ry . I n my f i e l d notes 1 had i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h i s

teacher had previously singled out t h e same group of boys by

saying, "Too bad t h e r e i s a group of boys t h a t t h i n k they are j u s t

t o o coo l t o r e l a x and enjoy it".

Several t e ache r s sha red with m e t h a t t h e y were s u r p r i s e d at

who amongst t h e i r s t u d e n t s were t he best te l lers . They expla ined

t h a t some of the ch i ld ren they thought would exce l , due t o their

confidence and outgoing na tu re s were very quiet and subdued

tellers. Perhaps when these s tudents became more accomplished

p r a c t i t i o n e r s of o r a l s t o r y t e l l i n g and, t he re fo re , more

cornfortable wi th the forum, their true n a t u r e s would be revealed

i n t h e i r telling.

6 s ~ d e the S t o r v

Being " ins ide a story" means more than hearing T t ; it means

more than r e a c t i n g t o it; it means t r u l y feeling it. Being i n s i d e

t h e story allows t h e listeners t o becorne participants; t hey have a

Say i n t h e a c t i o n and, i n addi t ion , are able t o t a k e on and

explore the story through role playing. In the third and final

session the students exploreci an oral story via role play. Nancy

guided the children inside the story.

The students were asked to explore the story by being

questioned in role as one of the characters. Nancy had the

students work alone at developing role through movement and

expression. In addition, Nancy invited several students up to t h e

front of the class to adopt the characterf s persona and be

questioned by the other students. Both .rnethods invited the

students into the s t o r y . An example of the first method occurred

while Nancy told the story, "Seal Mother". She asked the class,

"If you were Andrew and you found the seal skin what would you

do?" The students then had time to discuss with their neighbours

the action they would undertake. Then Nancy addressed the entire

class and said "Andrew, Andrew what are you going to do? Stand up

and tell them what you are going to do". Various Andrews came

forth and Nancy invited the class to ask them questions.

Girl : Ir m going to give it back to my mother .

Boy: Will you cry when she leaves? Girl : Yes. Boy: What if she took you with her? Girl: Ir d be happy [said

determinedly] .

Boy 1: I r L 1 get the seal skin and run home and give it to her and set her free.

Boy 2: Are you going to go with your mother?

Boy 1: Yeah . Boy 2: What will you do when he comes

back from t h e beach and sees you w i t h t h e seal s k i n and b e a t s you?

Boy 1: 1 would h i d e it. [mimed placing down h i s s h i r t )

Boy 2: What i f he asked you why you were late?

Boy 1: 1 would tell him 1 fe l l and broke my leg a l i t t l e .

G i r l : How can you b r e a t h e underwater? Boy 2: I r l l ask her for a p i e c e o f

seal s k i n for me. Boy 2: I r d get her mother [Andrewrs

grandrnother] t o make one f o r me.

Demonstrating t h e i r a b i l i t y and w i l l i n g n e s s t o s tep i n t o s o l e , the

first t w o s t u d e n t s t o corne up and becorne Andrew were g i r l s .

I n a n o t h e r class a boy assumed t h e role of Henny Penny. A s

he wa lked up t o t h e f r o n t of t h e room a boy exclaimed, "It has t o

be a g i r l " . Nancy r e t o r t e d with, "Why, h a v e n r t you ever heard of

ac t ing?" A g i r l t hen said, "He d o e s n r t have t o be a girl". The

boy r s w i l l i n g n e s s t o step i n t o role as Henny Penny is a t e s t amen t

t o t h e power o f s t o r y t e l l i n g .

The exchange which occur red between Boy One and Boy Two

documented above is s i g n i f i c a n t for several reasons . F i r s t , by

way o f exp l ana t i on , it appeared t o m e that Boy One had s p e n t much

of the s e s s i o n p r i o r t o becoming Andrew n o t l i s t e n i n g . H e had

brought back a piece of s t r i n g to t he carpet when Nancy had asked

them t o be t h e mom f i nd ing her s k i n and he had made a big joke o u t

of it. H e earlier sugges ted that the father be called, "ML

Pencilhead Buddha". However, he had a logical answer for every

question put to him as Andrew. As ev idenced by these answers, he

63

was t a k i n g t h e r o l e s e r i o u s l y . T h e q u e s t i o n e r o f Andrew was a boy

who had a great deal o f trouble c o n c e n t r a t i n g d u r i n g a previous

s e s s i o n . When ques t ion ing Andrew, he w a s v e r y i n t e n t and s e r i o u s .

Both boys were th ink ing i n role. Although Boy Two was no t i n

c h a r a c t e r , he behaved as i f h i s classrnate was Andrew dur ing t h e

ques t i on ing . Boy Two was not t r y i n g t o make Boy One break o u t of

role. Unfor tunate ly , t h i s was a behav iour t h a t I had wi tnessed

w i t h o t h e r q u e s t i o n e r s i n p r ev ious r o l e p l a y i n g s i t u a t i o n s . From

Boy Twors ques t i ons , it appeared as i f h e , was t r y i n g t o r e a l l y

unders tand Andrew and h i s a c t i o n s .

" I t f s t i m e t o exp lo r e a s t o r y , really get i n s i d e , climb

i n s i d e o f it, become the s t o r y " Nancy told a group of s t u d e n t s a t

School B. Then Nancy began to t e l l them one o f her f a v o u r i t e

s t o r i e s , "The Rag Coat". A f t e r t e l l i n g a segment s h e s topped and

said, '1 want to see what you heard , l e a r n e d and felt". After

s o l i c i t i n g the s t u d e n t r s sugges t i ons , Nancy t h en announced, "Todd

Widdock is going t o corne i n he r e . What is one t h i n g you want t o

know?" T h i s tirne it was Nancy's t u r n t o be i n role. Through

t h e i r ques t i ons , t h e s t u d e n t s demonst ra ted t h a t t h e y too were

inside t h e s t o r y :

G i r l :

G i r l : Boy:

Boy:

Do you feel sad because you had t o s t o p work and your family h a s t o work so hard? How did you get s i c k ? Do you t h i n k thatrs t h e case t h a t you just have t o r e s t ? ( i n response t o Nancy s a y i n g t h e Doctor said 'her j u s t needs to rest) How do you t h i n k your family w i l l l i ve on after you d i e ?

64

These questions asked by the students showed their sensitivity

towards Nancy's character and their understanding of 'h i s r fate,

L e . death. Nancy divided the class in half and had one half t a k e

on the role of Tom Widdock. The other half of the students were

to act as the questioners. Some of the questions that were asked

included, "Donft you care about your daughter a lot?", "Are you

poor?", and "How do you feel right now?". Again the questions

showed the childrenrs willingness to accept others in role.

Questions asked by another class of Nancy while portraying

Tom Widdock were as follows:

Boy : Boy : Boy: Girl:

G i r l :

Boy : Girl:

Boy : What caused your cough? Girl: Has there ever been a time when

you came home? How old is your daughter? M a t r s your wife' s name? How old is your son? Why did you choose coal mining

for work? Can you describe what your daughter wears? Would Meena steal? Can you describe your daughter in her looks?

In this class, as well as in others, there were some students who

had more trouble than others playing along and stepping into role.

When Nancy returned into the classroom as herself, a boy

exclaimed, '1 know it was you for a fact because you had your

earrings on and a braid on the back". Nancy replied, "Yourre

absolutely right" . she as ked the students, "What was

doing?" They responded in chorus, "Acting". "Yes" Nancy

confimed, '1 was playing a role". 65

Nancy a l s o asked t h e s t u d e n t s t o p h y s i c a l l y become a

character. Of ten she would a s s i g n them a t a s k t o do i n r o l e , such

as sea rch ing f o r t h e i r seal s k i n . When exp lo r ing t he s t o r y , "The

P o r c e l a i n Man" w i t h a class Nancy said, "In twenty seconds you

have a n o t h e r assignment, t o w a l k as J.T. and s i t i n your own c h a i r

as J.T. and t h i n k about a l1 you have t o do today". I observed and

recorded, "Nancy counted and t h e c h i l d r e n moved i n role t o t h e i r

desk. Many stomped t h e i r feet and shoved t h e i r c h a i r back. S i x

c h i l d r e n t u rned t h e i r c h a i r around backwardsand sat as Nancy had.

Once t h e s t u d e n t s were i n p o s i t i o n Nancy said, "Those of you who 1

tap become your se l f aga in and f i n d a J.T.". One ques t i on 1 heard

r e p e a t e d l y was, "Why are you so mean t o your daughter?" The

children did no t l i k e t h e c h a r a c t e r o f J .T. , because t hey f e l t he

was c r u e l to h i s daughte r as he kept h e r a v i r t u a l p r i s o n e r i n her

own house. Some c h i l d r e n were able t o maintain t h e i r r o l e bet tes :

t h a n o t h e r s wh i l e being quest ioned. I recorded a n example o f a

child who e x c e l l e d a t s t a y i n g i n s i d e the s t o r y as follows:

(Ques t i one r sat down s n i f f i n g t h e air and making faces, a l l u d i n g t o J . t f s occupat ion as garbage p i c k e r )

J.T. : What? (growled J.T. ) Ques t ioner : (S i l ence ) J .T . : What do you want dimwit? Ques t ioner : Why are you so grouchy? J.T. : I r m no t grouchy, scram.

I was impressed w i th t h i s J . T . ' s a b i l i t y t o ma in t a in h i s angry and

imposing p o s t u r e and express ion throughout the ques t ion ing . H e

looked away i n between ques t i ons as in disgust. H i s concen t r a t i on

was maintained even when the q u e s t i o n e r l o s t control and began to

66

h y s t e r i c a l l y g igg le .

I n the same s e s s i o n as quoted above Nancy said, '1s anybody

w i l l i n g t o be t h e Porce la in Man?" A c h i l d s tood up. Nancy i n v i t e d

him t o corne up and s i t i n t h e 'hot seat' t o be a s k e d ques t ions

whi le i n r o l e . The boy sat down and before a l lowing t h e

ques t ion ing t o commence Nancy said, "Give him a chance t o sit l i k e

t h e Porcela in Man". The child adjusted himself and ended up

s i t t i n g s t i f f l y wi th h i s legs a p a r t , his back p e r f e c t l y s t r a i g h t ,

h i s elbows on h i s knees and his bottom l i p tucked i n t o h i s mouth.

A g i r l c a l l e d out , "Since when does po rce l a in t a l k ? " . "1 d o n r t

know," t h e boy r e p l i e d . Another girl s a i d , "Why do you have g l a s s

eyebal ls?" H e answered l o g i c a l l y , "1 was born t h a t way". After a

few more quest ions , Nancy thanked t h e c h i l d and s e n t him to join

t h e class on the carpet. He w a l k e d back with s t i ff legs, but then

sat down and crossed h i s l egs . When 1 looked over a t him a f e w

minutes later he was l y i n g on h i s back with a l 1 of h i s appendages

s t r a i g h t up i n t h e a i r . A t first 1 dismissed him as not paying

a t t e n t i o n . It was my error. He then proceeded t o a s k a ques t ion

o f Nancy, and when I looked over, 1 was s t r u c k by t h e f a c t that h e

did n o t bend h i s legs o r arms t o sit. H e w a s back i n r o l e as t h e

Porcelain Man. The s tuden t s r a b i l i t y t o be i n s i d e t h e s t o r i e s was

a product of t h e i r a b i l i t y t o v i s u a l i z e s t o r y c h a r a c t e r s and

events. Thei r n a t u r a l a b i l i t y t o imagine was encouraged by Nancy

and f u r t h e r e d through he r teaching techniques d i scussed below.

When Nancy said, 'We are going t o explore t h e s t o r y , go i n s i d e it"

a boy called out , "1 was i n s i d e them all".

Visualization

'Close your eyes", said Frederick, as he climbed on a big stone. "Now I send you the rays of the sun. Do you feel now their golden glow ..." And as Frederick spoke of the sun the four little mice began to feel warmer. Was it Frederickr s voice? Was it magic? [49]

No, it was not magic. It was Frederick the mousers ability to

capture the imagination of the other mice. , His words gave them

the ability to visualize what he spoke about. Donald Davis writes

in his book, Tellina Your Own Stories: "If we, when we are

listeners, can visualize, the story, then the tellerr s descriptive

skills are being used effectively". [50 ] Tellers must choose their

stories wisely; they must ask, 'Can I really see this story when I

tell it?"[51] If tellers are not able to feel the story, to

visualize it themselves then it is virtually impossible and

unrealistic to expect an audience to see it. At the end of a

session one boy said, "1 learned what theatre I should always go

to?" Nancy inquired, "What do you mean by that?" "My

imagination" he replied with a smile.

Nancy often asked the students questions for which she had

provided no answer for such as, "What colour was her hair?" This

question in particular was in reference to the character Ellie

Mitchell. Many students called out enthusiastically in response

blond, red, black and brown. Only one girl said, white and Nancy

asked her the reason for her colour choice. The girl replied in a

matter of fact manner, "Because she's old". Nancy had never 68

mentioned Ellie's age at all. Once the student voiced her

opinion, the other students began sharing the age they had

visualized E l l i e to be. Nancy stopped the discussion by asking,

"What in the story made her a certain age?" The room became

silent and 1 imagined the students had al1 begun to worry that

their answer was wrong. Nancy assured the class that they were a l 1

correct and she added, "You pay attention to tne story P m telling

you and the story going on in your head".

One group of students in particular excelled at

visualization. The images they shared in response to Nancyrs

questions were very vivid and detailed. When describing a

character from a Japanese folktale one girl said,

1 imagine in my head that he is bald here [pointed to the top of her head] but he has a black ponytail to [indicated shoulders ] and is wearing work clothes, sandals and gloves.

Another girl offered the following description,

He has brown hair, dirty hands and face and dirty ripped clothes. He is not very old and he is missing teeth.

So many students wanted to share their descriptions that Nancy was

forced to have everyone turn and tell a neighbour. After which

she asked them, "Whors right?" A girl said, "Ail of us because

everyone has their own Imagination".

Joseph Bruchac writes, ". . . when you experience a story, you

will understand it better if you can see it in your mindm.[52]

This notion of seeing a story in your mind was also put fo r th by a

student . Nancy as ked the students, "Did anyone see anything?"

after telling a story segment- The girl exclaimed, '1 saw two

stories. 1 saw you telling the story and I saw the story in my

head". At the end of the session Nancy posed the question, 'Did

you discover anything today?". In response the same student said,

" I t r s like watching two movies when you are watching a story, one

is inside your head".

and hearing stories therefore using

imagination and powers of visualization. I t should be kept in

mind that:

During the next decade we will be witness to a new emphasis on an old theme- the use of the imagination and its value in educating t h e individual towards persona1 empowerment. It is the most important component of a childf s rnind, a component which is often neglected and not even considered worth rnentioning.[53]

With the advent of the first printed book, oral storytelling

began to decline. This generation of children can be a part of

the revival. They j u s t need guidance, lessons and support in

order to become t r u e practitioners of this lost art. As t h e Ompa-

Lompasr warn :

The most important thing werve learned, So far as children are concerned, 1s never,never,NEVER,let Them near your television set Or better still, j u s t donrt install The idiotic thing at al1 ... IT ROTS THE SENSES IN THE HEAD IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEÂD. , . [54 f

Teachers, the workbook will be forgotten by tomorrow, but the sound, the feel, the senses, the heart of that story may stay

* with t h e child as long as he lives.[55]

The last group involved in this study are the teachers. The

nine teachers in the program demonstrated varying degrees of

participation and involvernent in the oral storytelling sessions

being conducted in their classroorns. It is important to note that

the teachers had no choice but be involved in Nancy's oral

storytelling sessions, as the schools were committed to the

cornrnunity based arts integration program.

There was the highly involved teacher who participated

alongside the children, not only monitoring behaviour and

assessing but joining in by doing the actions and the words. In

the course of my study I only encountered three teachers who I

determined showed such enthusiasm, One teacher was particularly

outstanding in regards to her involvement. When the students were

pretending to pull a persimmon out of their head, she did too.

When the students responded vocally as a group h e r voice was loud

and clear. This teacher was motivated to learn about oral

storytelling and to incorporate it into her curriculum. The

teacher had also carried out the activities with her class Nancy

had requested be done prior to her arrival. The suggested games

were played several times and a chart had been prepared to

indicate what elements an oral storyteller needs to use when

77

telling. The chart read as follows:

Communication (Storytelling) 1. Make eye contact 2 . Talk in an indoor voice 3. Could touch the person 4. Gesture with your hand 5. Change the tone of your voice 6. Loud, s o f t , high, low 7 . Get into a role character voice 8. Voice, face is alive 9. Eyes light up

1 was informed by the teacher that the chart was completely

student generated. She also had handful dif Eicult behaviour

identified students that she was diligent about monitoring. By

keeping those students focussed, she was better able to ensure a

more positive experience for al1 students in her classroom.

During student retellings she circulated and offered advice and

encouragement. this classroom, writing activity

was displayed that also had an oral language component attached to

it. A picture of an elephant was posted with the instruction,

'Write a humorous story about what happened here?" Additional

information was added and the following suggestion, "Ma k e

outrageous storytelling story!" At the end of the three session

period with Nancy this teacher indicated that she would continue

to use and promote oral storytelling in her classroom.

1 did note her handling of a new studentf s oral storytelling

experience. The student had just arrived frorn Russia and he had

no knowledge of English. At first he sat and watched Nancy as she

told; but then the teacher removed him £rom the group and gave him

paper t o draw on a t h i s desk. There was a l s o a n o t h e r Russian

E.S.L. s t uden t engaged i n t h e same a c t i v i t y . 1 s a w the one boy,

i n p a r t i c u l a r , keep s t e a l i n g g lances a t what was happening. H e

appeared i n t e r e s t e d i n bo th Nancy' s and his classmates' s t o r i e s . Nei ther boy had t o be removed from t h e group. They both could

have benef i ted from watching t h e non-verbal cues, g e s t u r e s and

facial expressions, and from hearing the Engl i sh language

expres s ive ly spoken especially i n a program t h a t uses the ar ts t o

develop l i t e r a c y .

The two o the r t eache r s 1 prev ious ly a l l u d e d t o were a t a

dif ferent school . These teachers who team taught mos t ly i d e n t i f i e d

s t u d e n t s jo ined t h e i r classes t o g e t h e r for t h e s e s s i o n s . They

were very keen and h igh ly mot ivated t o use o r a l s t o r y t e l l i n g i n

t h e classroom as a t o o l f o r l ea rn ing . As so many o f their

s t u d e n t s had d i f f i c u l t i e s wi th written text, t h e y recognized and

valued t h e special benefits o r a l communication a f f o r d e d t h e i r

s t u d e n t s . Both teachers p a r t i c i p a t e d vocally, of fered suppor t t o

s t u d e n t s and used t h e assessrnent r u b r i c s provided by Nancy. The

teachers a l s o borrowed e x t r a resources from Nancy and had bo th

prepared t h e i r s tudents well f o r Nancyrs sessions by record ing

what m a k e s a good o r a l s t o r y t e l l e r and doing the provided

exercises as asked. One of t h e t eache r s t o l d m e she had s t a r t e d

t o t e l l o r a l stories t o her own t w o young ch i ld ren .

F i v e o f t h e s i x rernaining teachers seemed enthusiastic and

involved i n the program. What d i f f e r e n t i a t e s them from t h e o t h e r

t h r e e teachers is t h e amount o f p repa ra t ion done f o r Nancyrs

sessions. Some had prepared the requested chart; others had not,

Some had done a few exercises on the morning of the first session;

sorne had not. For the most part the five teachers offered support

to their students by way of advice and encouragement but did not

participate themselves. Occasionally, however, Nancy called on a

f e w of them to take a role in a story. 1 had no evidence that

Nancy's teachings would becorne a regular part of their classesr

learning, or if they would be elaborated on once the sessions were

compieted. Many of these teachers seemed uncornfortable with the

idea of telling orally.

One of the five seemed to me at first to belong to the first

category. He stated that his class contained twelve students with

identified behavioural problems and he initially tried his best to

make sure they were successful. However, in the end he failed to

understand what was being taught by Nancy. His agenda for the

sessions emphasized dramatic activities over learning to tell

stories orally. When Nancy asked this teacher if the rubrics she

prepared were helpful he answered, "Not for anything wefve done

yet". 1 was confused by his response because the rubrics were set

to follow through with the s k i l l s Nancy was teaching his class.

As this teacher spent a fair amount of time discussing things

with Nancy (and indirectly me as 1 was always with her) 1 heard

several comments he made and his prevailing attitude disturbed me

greatly. The coments were, "1 think it was worthwhile, except

for sorne kids. They will continue to be challenging throughout the

yearfr and '1 felt it went better [yesterdayj. The kids who

deserve to have a better experience out of it got it with less

distraction". As the intention of rny study was not to evaluate or

critique the teachers, 1 will not delve into this issue further.

On a positive note this teacher was pleased when the children

experienced success, '1 was pleased with the boy who got up as

Meena it gave others confidence". Also, this teacher has

previously told oral stories to his students. Lastly he

acknowledged, "Yourre [Nancy] a neat fun thing for three days but

it depends where the teacher will take it". .

Another teacher in this category was admittedly very shy and

was not always one hundred percent involved with the oral

storytelling. When he was not at the back of his room, sitting at

the round table doing work, however, he was involved with the

students and he did carry out the suggested exercises before

Nancy's first visit. Also, he had asked Nancy questions to

further his understanding of the form he acknowledged he had

Little previous experience with. He did want to continue with

what Nancy had started.

Finally one teacher stood apart from the others. She did not

seem to express any interest in what her students were learning

with Nancy. She often left the room during the sessions and on

the first day spent half of Nancy's visit writing up a lesson on

the chalkboard and sitting at her desk working. My field notes

indicate that this teacher became defensive when asked by Nancy to

work on visualization with her students, and as a result, Nancy

did not make many more suggestions to this teacher.

uestlonnaire

I had a great deal o f d i f f i c u l t y t r y i n g t o a r r a n g e f o r

informa1 in terviews/meet ings with the t e a c h e r s involved. The

teachers were e i t h e r t o o busy t o meet w i th me , o r did n o t appear

f o r scheduled appointments . One teacher, i n p a r t i c u l a r ,

rescheduled t h r e e times with m e but did n o t manage t o keep one

appointment. Being an educa to r myself and unders tanding t h e t h e

c o n s t r a i n t s t h e t e a c h e r s faced, 1 developed a ques t i onna i r e . I

o f f e r e d the t e a c h e r s a free workshop, t h i s y e a r o r next, and my

S t o r y t e l l i n g A c t i v i t y document t o t hank them f o r t a k i n g the tirne

t o f i l 1 i n my q u e s t i o n n a i r e . 1 made it c l e a r that al1 t h e

t e a c h e r s knew t h i s q u e s t i o n n a i r e was o p t i o n a l . The q u e s t i o n s were

cons t ruc t ed o u t of i n q u i r y n o t judgment. 1 wanted t o p rov ide t h e

t e a c h e r s with a vo ice . Every t e ache r , w i th t h e except ion of one

who went on leave, said t h e y would g l a d l y complete one f o r m e . 1

left self-addressed and stamped envelopes a t both schoo ls with t h e

lead t e a c h e r . I n t h e end, 1 o n l y received t h r e e responses .

S u r p r i s i n g l y t h e t eache r 1 placed i n t h e ca tegory o f lowes t

involvement and i n t e r e s t level was one of t h e t h r e e .

The g e n e r a l consensus of t h e t h r e e t e a c h e r s who answered t he

q u e s t i o n n a i r e was t h a t o r a l s t o r y t e l l i n g i s impor tan t i n t h e

c lassroom because of t h e many b e n e f i t s it offers t o students.

Among t h e benef its h i g h l i g h t e d i n t h e i r r e sponses were; i n c r e a s e d

se l f -conf idence , mo t iva t i on , imaginat ion r a b i l i t y for a t r i s k

students t o ach ieve success , improved w r i t i n g and l i s t e n i n g

s k i l l s .

Question number twelve read as follows: "What has been the

most beneficial aspect of Nancy's work for you and your students?"

The highly involved teachers responded as follows:

-the storytelling develops their confidence and imagination -they can see and h e a r how to present an oral story

-seeing the students especially those who were not u s u a l l y engaged have their chance to "shine" -realizing the importance of oral telling and seeing the reality of it working for the students

The teacher who demonstrated the lowest level of involvement

wrote:

-1earning to express themselves, communication (and for me as teaching tool )

The answers from the two highly involved t eache r s reflected the

attitude t h e y exhibited in their classrooms during the sessions

and what 1 had observed, The answer provided by t h e teacher with

t h e low level of involvement both pleased and confused me. It was

reassuring to see t h a t she had witnessed the benefits of her

childrenrs involvement with oral storytelling. If this teacher

had valued oral storytelling as a teaching tool why had she not

been an active participant in the instructional sessions? Her

answers made me question the validity of the questionnaire format.

Did the participants answer honestly or in the way they felt they

should? In general, 1 was very frustrated by the teachersr lack

of response to the questionnaire. Through this questionnaire, the

teachers were given t h e opportuni ty t o v o i c e t h e i r opinions and/or

concerns about t h e community based a r t s i n t e g r a t i o n program t h e y

were p a r t i c i p a n t s i n . Most of thern chose t o ignore t h i s

opportuni ty . A s a r e s u l t , they a l s o l o s t t h e oppor tun i ty t o

reflect on t h e i r own teaching methodology with r e spec t t o o r a l

s t o r y t e l l i n g i n t h e classroom. It i s o n l y through such r e f l e c t i o n

and se l f -eva lua t ion t h a t educators can improve their t each ing

p r a c t i c e s .

Comfwt Levea

The t e a c h e r r s own comfort l e v e l is what determines t h e way

o r a l s t o r y t e l l i n g is used, or not used, i n t h e classroom. Many o f

t h e t eache r s 1 encountered i n t h e course o f t h i s s tudy t o g e t h e r

w i t h those with whom 1 had previously worked, express concern

about no t being comfortable sharing stories ora l l y with t h e i r

s t u d e n t s . Some teachers felt erroneously t h a t reading a loud from

a book was t h e same a s t e l l i n g a s t o r y o r a l l y . A s Kerry Mallon

asserts :

The important diff erence between s t o r y t e l l i n g and s toryreading lies i n t h e i n t e r a c t i o n t h a t occurs between teller and audience with s t o r y t e l l i n g , t h e i n t e r a c t i o n is c rea t ive , as both teller and l i s t e n e r create t h e s to ry . Words a r e used t o create mental p i c t u r e s of t h e s t o r y . T h e s t o r y t e l l e r r s face, voice, body and p e r s o n a l i t y help t o convey t h e meaning and mood. 1561

S t o r y t e l l i n g is f a r more personal.

I n o rde r t o support a t r u l y r i ch o r a l l i t e r a c y environment,

t eache r s m u t ve r se themselves i n t h e d i f f e r e n t methods o f oral

s t o r y t e l l i n g . I n math rooms there a r e text books and coun t l e s s

manipulatives; i n Engl ish rooms t h e r e are books from al1 d i f f e r e n t

genres, pens, markers and paper. I n s t rong o r a l classrooms there

should be story t apes , blank c a s s e t t e s f o r recording, s t o r i e s

reflective o f a wide v a r i e t y of c u l t u r e s and a t eache r who i s a

tel ler o f s t o r i e s and a teacher o f technique.

It is my a s s e r t i o n t eache r s should be taught about t h e

advantages of and t h e techniques o f o r a l s t o r y t e l l i n g i n Teacher t s

Col leges so t h a t they would u t i l i z e t h e power o f o r a l s t o r y t e l l i n g

on a r egu la r basis. When I shared t h i s idea w i t h Nancy she said,

'1 t h i n k you a r e r i g h t about having people l e a r n t o t e l l s t o r i e s

i n Teacherrs College". Many years ago Marie L.Shedlock wrote i n

h e r book, The A r t of the Sto ry - Te-:

One of t h e s u r e s t signs of a belief i n t h e educa t iona l power of t h e s t o r y is i ts in t roduc t ion i n t o t h e curriculum o f t h e t ra in ing-co l lege and t he c l a s s e s of t h e elementary and secondary schools.[57]

1 b ~ l i e v e t h a t a l 1 s tudent t eachers should have t o te l l a minimum

of five learned tales and t h r e e personal tales i n o rde r t o

gradua te from t h e i r education program. Teachers who are

p r a c t i t i o n e r s of o r a l s t o r y t e l l i n g and have learned how t o p a s s

t h e i r knowledge ont0 o t h e r s w i l l not have a problem wi th

confidence and t h e y w i l l never confuse story reading and

s t o r y t e l l i n g . As t eache r s are charged w i t h f a c i l i t a t i n g s tuden t

l e a r n i n g they should use al1 a v a i l a b l e methods of car ry ing o u t

t h i s func t ion ,

The process o f eva lua t ion i s e s s e n t i a l l y t h e process of determining t o what e x t e n t t h e educa t iona l o b j e c t i v e s are a c t u a l l y being r e a l i z e d by t h e program of curr iculum and i n s t r u c t i o n . However, s i n c e educa t iona l ob j ec t ives are e s s e n t i a l l y changes i n hurnan beings, t h a t is, t h e ob jec t ives aimed a t are t o produce c e r t a i n d e s i r a b l e changes i n t h e behavior p a t t e r n s o f t h e s tudent , then eva lua t ion i s the process f o r determining t h e degree t o which t h e s e changes i n behavior are a c t u a l l y t a k i n g place: [ 58 ]

Not on ly should t eache r s be exposed t o oral s t o r y t e l l i n g but ,

a l so t h e methods through which i t is be assessed i n t h e classroom.

Nancy, as prev ious ly rnentioned, provided t h e n i n e p a r t i c i p a t i ng

grade f o u r t eache r s with r u b r i c s f o r eva lua t ion . The s k i l l s f o r

assessrnent were, non ve rba l communication [See Appendix Dl, and

use of words and o r a l s t r u c t u r e s [See Appendix El. I n a d d i t i o n

Nancy created a s t o r y t e l l i n g s k i l l c h e c k l i s t for t h e t eache r s

[See Appendix F I .

Five of t h e n ine p a r t i c i p a t i n g t eache r s eva lua ted t h e i r

s t uden t s dur ing one o r more o f t h e three s e s s i o n s . I n my f i e l d

no tes 1 observed that two teachers used the forms provided by

Nancy, whi le the o t h e r t eachers used c h e c k l i s t s and made anecdota l

comments . A t one school a conference between Nancy and t h e t eache r s

occurred t h e day she arrived t o l e a d the first session. 1 noted

t h a t t h e t e a c h e r s were unhappy about t h e tirne i n which t h e a r t i s t

w a s scheduled t o be i n t h e i r school. One teacher i n p a r t i c u l a r

i n d i c a t e d t h a t she felt t h e tirneframe f o r the sessions was

convenient f o r her, as she had o t h e r material t o s t i l l cover

the impending report cards. Nancy reminded t h e t e a c h e r s t ha t

work w i t h t h e students was structured to be used as a basis

drama evaluation for the upcoming r e p o r t card. I n the end,

n o t

f o r

her

f o r

t h e

t e a c h e r who had f e l t inconvenienced was h ighly suppor t ive of Nancy

and of her s tudents f learning; this teacher used the evaluation

rubrics provided by Nancy.

sonal, f e a r n ~ na

Stories are l i k e growing living things.[59]

My own learning during the process of conducting this study

occurred in three areas. 1 grew as a researcher, as a storyteller

and as a teacher. - "What factors [do] we take into consideration when making our

decisions about how to participate and how to observe in a school

setting?". [60] In deciding how to conduct my study 1 first asked

myself this question: Should I look at the effects of oral

storytelling in my own classroom? As 1 had previously conducted a

brief action research study based on oral storytelling in the

classroom 1 decided another approach would perhaps afford me with

a dif f e r e n t perspective. When the opportunity to research in

another school setting presented itself 1 accepted the challenge.

The community based arts program already in place at the schools

in which 1 was to carry out my observations established the form

of my research as it precluded me from being a participant. The

professional oral storyteller would be the facilitator of the

studentsr learning in the area of oral storytelling. This time I

would be able to observe unobtrusively from the sidelines.

82

I n t h e end 1 asked myself: What would 1 do d i f f e r e n t l y i n

t h e course of conducting similar research? 1 arrived at no

d e f i n i t i v e answer. For me , r esearch is a l e a r n i n g experience t o

c o n s t a n t l y be improved and b u i l t upon. 1 knew t h a t when

conducting a s i m i l a r s tudy 1 would go i n t o the schools before and

a f t e r t h e s tudents had p a r t i c i p a t e d in t h e i r s t o r y t e l l i n g l e a r n i n g

with the vis i t ing ar t is t . In add i t i on , 1 would t ry o t h e r rnethods

t o engage t h e involved t eache r s i n f u r t h e r d i s cou r se .

I n my readings on t h e r o l e of t h e r e s e a r c h e r I came across

t h e following s ta tement ; "A researcher ' s in tended presence does

not always match how others perceive a n o u t s i d e r r s presence". 1611

In t h e course of conducting my research 1 found t h i s t o be t r u e .

When a t tend ing t h e first two se s s ions a t both p a r t i c i p a t i n g

schools 1 wore c l o t h e s t h a t 1 would as i f teach ing i n my own

classroom. A t t h e schools w h i l e observing 1 had intended t o be

unobtrusive and t o basically fade i n t o t h e background. I d i d n o t

want my presence t o impinge upon t h e s t u d e n t s i n anyway. During

t h e first few s e s s i o n s 1 not iced t h a t t h e s t u d e n t s 1-ooked ove r a t

m e q u i t e f requent ly . As they did know who I w a s and why 1 was

t h e r e 1 fe l t t h e i r looks were more than c u r i o s i t y concerning rny

func t ion . Later, through s tuden t comrnents I carne t o t h e

r e a l i z a t i o n t h a t t hey were sometimes distracted by rny appearance.

One s tuden t came over tu m e and sa id , "You have r e a l l y n i c e

clothes". On another occasion a c h i l d commented, "You Wear p r e t t y

th ings" as she touched my necklace. She added, '1 l i k e your

jacket". A boy said, "Itf s nice when you W e a r long s k i r t s " .

T h e reason rny appearance caused sorne i n t e r e s t amongst t h e

students 1 fe l t was because t h e i r t e ache r s , mostly wore what 1

deem c a s u a l c lo thes , jeans, s w e a t s h i r t s , leggings etc. 1 dress i n

a f a sh ion which many would cal1 consema t ive . Typ ica l ly whi le

t each ing 1 W e a r s u i t s , b l a z e r s wi th long s k i r t s o r dress pants .

The school where I teach has an unwr i t t en bu t a c t i v e l y practiced

dress code. I n the end 1 dres sed t o b e t t e r blend i n , as the

s t o r y t e l l e r did from t h e beginning. I was left wondering i n how

many o t h e r ways did 1 unknowingly impact on t h e classroom dynamics

and i n t e r a c t i o n by i - y presence as a researcher .

An educa t iona l researcher wrote i n her journa l :

What are t h e imp l i ca t ions of my movement? Even If 1 c a n r t see o r hear as w e l l i f s tudents s t a r t moving, 1 should s t a y s e a t e d i n the same p l a c e un le s s my i n t e n t is t o i n t e r a c t . [62]

I t o o had considered t h i s question dur ing t h e course of m y

research. 1 d i d debate whether o r not t o c i r c u l a t e amongst t h e

s tuden t s . I n t h e end 1 decided 1 would move around on ly a s long

as 1 could see that 1 was not i n t e r f e r i n g o r becoming an obvious

d i s t r a c t i o n t o any p a r t i c i p a n t . During the study 1 l e a rned t o

trust my n a t u r a l i n s t i n c t s . T r e a l i z e now that 1 would have

missed hear ing s o much had 1 remained i n one p o s i t i o n throughout.

. + uestions R e m a m

1 wondered how my research would have been altered had I been

able t o watch a profess iona l s t o r y t e l l e r work with students ove r a

more prolonged per iod o f time. Also, 1 wondered what would have

84

happened had 1 worked alongside the oral storyteller. I would

still like t o explore the question of the impact of the oral

storytellerrs work on any of the teaching practices of the grade

four teachers. There are always more questions, seemingly an

endless list, as 1 hold t r u e to the belief that al1 research

begets more questions.

teller and T e a c h e r

1 learned new stories to pass on which excites me as a

storyteller and as a teacher. As well, 1 learned new ways of

instructing children in the a r t of oral storytelling. As an

educator I was reminded to always incorporate as many different

teaching strategies as 1 can into each lesson. 1 saw firsthand

the effects of telling a story in another language and the

excitement and the sense of validation it creates in the

listeners. 1 grew stronger in my resolve to bring oral

storytelling to as many educators and students as 1 possibly can.

Who 1 am now is best shown by the stories 1 can now tell and who 1 am to becorne is best determined by the stories 1 can learn to tell. [63]

The completion of this study by no means signals the end of

my research into various areas of oral storytelling in the school.

The area of personal oral storytelling is of great i n t e r e s t to me

both as practiced by educators and students. Also, there is the

idea of studying a specific type of oral story, for example Ta11

Tales, and its use in the classroom.

A logical continuation to this study would be to explore

schools where storytelling is a main feature if not the driving

force behind their curriculum, such schools as Fayerweather,

previously mentioned, or a Waldorf School. Storyteller and

educator Nancy Mellon describes her entry into Waldorf education

her book, follows :

At long last 1 discovered Waldorf Education, and this was my true e n t r y into an old cause. To tell a great story well, 1 learned in my education classes as I prepared to teach in a Waldorf School, is my duty. Not to know the story as part of my mental collection but to feel it, as the liveliest child might, al1 the way down to my toes. Not to think of imagination as a historical activity but as a daily necessity. Soon I would have to make up and tell stories every day to maintain the high standards of the best Waldorf School teachers. According to this creative method, 1 began to strengthen and to regulate my own sporadic imagination in new ways to meet the needs of the children 1 was teaching. 1 began to believe in earnest that storytellers have as profound a purpose as any who are charged to guide and transform h m a n lives. 1 knew it as an ancient discipline and vocation to which everyone is called. [64]

American educator, Kevin Cordi has established three youth

storytelling troupes, called Voices of Illusion, in California.

His goal is to, "have storytelling in al1 the high schools and

middle schools across California and then across the country".

[65] Research into the effectiveness of his award winning program

would no doubt prove t o be f r u i t f u l . Cordi says,

Students have told me tirne and the again that they want to join in the renaissance of storytelling, 1 know there is a place fo r them. Let's open our doors, invite them in, and set the table for another generation of tellers. There is room enough for everybody . [66]

ducat ional I m l i c a t ions

Does oral storytelling belong in the daily curriculum of o u r

schools? There is only one answer to this question, a resounding

yes. Justification for this reply lies in the examination of the

results gained by the students who formed the nine grade four

classes in this study. If students can gain so many rewards from

oral storytelling in such a short period of t h e , just think about

the impact oral storytelling could have on students lives if it

formed a central part of their everyday learning.

What kind of preparation does including oral storytelling in

the classroom entail? It does require knowledge of technique,

stories and audience. It does r e q u i r e teachers to learn how to be

effective tellers through practice. It does require putting the

storyreading books dom occasionally. Tt does require a love and

appreciation for the stories you are sharing and those your

students will share in return. It does not r e q u i r e countless

photocopies to be made. It does not require purchasing special

materials on an already strained budget.

Oral storytelling should not only be utilized in the drama or

language arts program. Oral storytelling needs to be used in al1

areas of the curriculum. Student interest in any topic of study

can be fostered though oral storytelling. Educators can use oral

storytelling to:

introduce units or concepts;

draw students in;

involve them;

instruct, entertain and challenge their ways of thinking;

explore and celebrate various cultures;

get to know their students as individuals; and

to allow their students to get to know them.

Oral storytelling is easily integrated into al1 areas of the

elementary school curriculum. In the math classroom oral tales

can be used to enforce or introduce a number,"...the number 3 (and

its multiples) is the most cornmon". (45 Mallon) Nurnerous stories

can be found to explore this number. Among them are; 'The Three

Little Pigsf , 'The Three Little Bearsr , 'The Three Billy Goats

Gruffr , 'Bastionellor , 'Three Magic Orangesr, The Stranger and the Three Wishesr, and 'Clever Mankar . For science utilize a

mythJegend or folktale that offers explanation for something in

the natural world such as , 'Why the Sea is saltr,'How Platypuses Came to Australiar or \The Hungry Goddessr. The possibilities are

endless. Use stories about dancing such as the Haitian story

'Bouki Dances t h e Kokioko' and 'Seven Dancing P r ince s se s r i n

p h y s i c a l educa t ion . There are c o u n t l e s s s t o r i e s t o f i t any

s u b j e c t you are t each ing . S t o r i e s can be used t o t e a c h just about

anything. T h e adventure is i n s e a r c h i n g f o r the r i g h t story.

Teachers o f t e n Say t h e r e is n o t enough t h e t o l e a r n o r t e l l

stories. Educators cannot afford no t t o t a k e t h e t ime t o l e a r n

and t e l l oral s t o r i e s .

I n the On ta r i o Curriculum for v a r i o u s s u b j e c t areas t h e

M i n i s t r y of Education ha s e s t a b l i s h e d e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r s t u d e n t

l e a r n i n g . On ta r i o t e a c h e r s are r e s p o n s i b l e f o r en su r ing t h e i r

s t u d e n t s meet these set e x p e c t a t i o n s . Educators teach t h e

r e q u i r e d s k i l l s i n a v a r i e t y of ways. I t is my a s s e r t i o n t h a t

oral s t o r y t e l l i n g a f f o r d s t e a c h e r s w i t h an e x c i t i n g and s u c c e s s f u l

way t o h e l p their students t o l e a r n . 1 have h i g h l i g h t e d one g r ade

f o u r e x p e c t a t i o n from the Onta r i o Curriculum i n a l 1 s u b j e c t areas

f o r which ora l s t o r y t e l l i n g can be used as a t e a c h i n g methodology

o r as a means of demons t ra t ing s t u d e n t l e a rn ing ;

[Science And Technology]

-desc r ibe ways i n which hurnans can affect t h e n a t u r a l world (e.g. , urban development forces some species t o go e lsewhere and e n a b l e s o t h e r s p e c i e s t o m u l t i p l y t o o r a p i d l y ; conse rva t i on areas can be e s t a b l i s h e d t o p r o t e c t specific h a b i t a t s ) ; [67 1

[Health And Phys i ca l Education]

- i d e n t i f y t h e c h a l l e n g e s ( e , g , , c o n f l i c t i n g op in ions ) r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s i n t h e i r r e l a t i o n s h i p s with fanuly and f r i e n d s ; [68]

89

[Mathematics]

-describe patterns encountered in any context (e. g., quilt patterns, money) , make models of the patterns, and create charts to display the patterns;[69]

(Social Studies]

-communicate information (e-g., about the roles of wornen and children in medieval society), using media works, oral presentations, written notes and descriptions, a n d drawings; [70]

[The Arts]

-demonstrate control of voice and movement by using appropriate techniques (e. g., pro j ection and enunciation i n choral speaking) ; [71]

[Language Arts ]

-use effective openings and closings in oral presentations (e.g., begin by asking questions of listeners; conclude by summarizing key points) [72]

The oral stories to be used when teaching or learning the material

required in the aforementioned expectations may take the f o m of

either learned or persona1 stories.

Oral stories have always been used to explain the world

around us, to teach. They belong in the classrooms of today. As

educators oral storytelling strengthens our teaching and therefore

our studentsf learning. Oral stories speak a universal language.

Through oral storytelling we explore not only our own culture and

the culture of others but also our cornmunities, our families and

m o s t impor t an t l y

the world.

There is no

t h e classroom.

l e a r n i n g is the

d a i l y l i v e s bu t

ou r se lve s , Oral stories

d i s p u t i n g t h e impor tance

help us

of o r a l

t o make sense o f

s t o r y t e l l i n g i n

O f utmost importance i n t h i s methodology of

t eacher . Pe rsona l s t o r y t e l l i n g is a p a r t of ou r

l e a rned ta les s h a r e d o r a l l y are o f equal

importance. Teachers are required t o provide i n s t r u c t i o n i n

technique and t o exp lore ways i n which t o extend t h e s t o r y

l e a r n i n g .

The benefits of oral s t o r y t e l l i n g in the classroom are

numerous. Both t h e s t u d e n t s and t e a c h e r s ga ined from being

invo lved i n t h e process o f l e a r n i n g t o become oral s t o r y t e l l e r s .

The c h i l d r e n involved i n t h e s t u d y ga ined important communication

s k i l l s that w i l l s t a y with them much l o n g e r t h a n Nancy did. The

skills l e a r n e d w i l l h e l p gu ide t h e s t u d e n t s through l i fe .

I borrow Kevin C o r d i r s q u e s t i o n and ask, "What b e t t e r

e d u c a t i o n a l g i f t can we give o u r you th t h a n t h e a b i l i t y t o

s t o r y t e l l ? " [ 7 3 ] Nancy gave t h e grade f o u r s t u d e n t s t h i s g i f t .

From Nancy t h e s t u d e n t s l e a r n e d how t o c o m u n i c a t e o r a l n a r r a t i v e

e x p r e s s i v e l y by u t i l i z i n g voca l and facial exp re s s ion i n

conjunction with gesture. They had the a l1 impor tan t s k i 1 1 o f

l i s t e n i n g r e in fo r ced . L i s t e n i n g is c e n t r a l t o al1 communication.

They learned tales from other culture and something of t h e c u l t u r e

itself. They heard a w h i t e Anglo Saxon woman te l l a s t o r y t h a t

she had made the effort to learn in Punjabi. S t o r i e s v a l i d a t e al1

cultures. They worked on cooperation skills with a partner and

then in small groups. With Nancyfs guidance they learned to see

the stories and to trust the pictures they created i n their mind.

Hearing stories allows students to create their own stories. They

explored imagination. They role played story characters, trying

on other people's character traits and problems. They empathized;

they expressed feeling. They learned about the important

connections between the spoken and written word. They learned

about story structure. They learned that they can tell stories,

they learned that people will want t o listen. They gained

confidence.

Conclusio~

The implications of this study are obvious :children need

stories; we al1 do. As Harold Rosen wrote, "The impulse to story

is present in every child; a storytelling culture in the classroom

refines and enlarges upon that impulse".[74] The power of oral

narrative is in every student; it just needs to be explored and

more importantly validated. Oral storytelling needs to be seen as

vi ta l t o our survival as human beings not just as a frill of an

arts education. It beiongs in al1 areas of the school curriculum

and in al1 areas of our lives, Educators, and parents, have the

important job of making sure that the children of today know the

value of the spoken word and continue to practice oral

storytelling.

The grade four students of t h i s study only needed t h r e e

s e s s i o n s for t h e seed of o r a l s t o r y t e l l i n g t o be p l a n t e d bu t it

w i l l t a k e a l i f e t i m e t o mature. They i n t u r n w i l l c o n t i n u a l l y

share the bounty o f their h a r v e s t wi th o t h e r s . Oral s t o r y t e l l i n g

is c i r c u l a r by n a t u r e . Each teller makes a s t o r y h i d h e r own when

s /he tells t o others ; each listener m a k e s a s t o r y t h e i r own when

they hear .

S tudents who are o r a l s t o r y t e l l i n g p r a c t i t i o n e r s exper ience

the m u l t i p l e b e n e f i t s from t h i s a r t fom. They exper ience growth

i n t e l l e c t u a l l y , s o c i a l l y , s p i r i t u a l l y , and emotional ly . Through

o r a l s t o r y i n g s tudents connect w i t h o t h e r s both l i v i n g and dead

and exper ience t h e power of cornrnunity. Oral s t o r y t e l l i n g a l lows

even t h e shyest s tudent t o g a i n t h e confidence which is needed t o

succeed a t I i f e .

There is an o l d Korean folktale i n which a young man

c o l l e c t e d s t o r i e s from everyone he m e t b u t he never shared i n

r e t u r n . Ins tead he placed what he ga thered i n t o a bag which he

secreted away i n h i s c l o s e t . Eventually, t h e s t o r i e s conspired t o

harm t h e i r collecter f o r keeping them t o himself . Luckily, for

t h e s e l f i s h young man a f a i t h f u l servant proved t o be h i s

s a l v a t i o n . I n t h e end, "...he realized t h a t he could n o t be

greedy and h ide away the s t o r i e s he heard. S t o r i e s are meant t o

be shared and passed on t o others". [75] What b e t t e r p l ace t o be

shared but i n t h e classroom?

1 - - - Remy S h r d , vister Once mon a tirne, Annick Press, Canada,

Canada, 1998. p 1.

2 Angela Wampler, 'Storytelling Focus of Curriculum at

Fayerweather", Storvtellin-aazine, May, Volume 9, No. 3, 1997. p 8.

3 Bob Baldwin, "The Lost Art of Storytelling: To raise happy

children, tell them tales", Better Homes and Gardens, August 1995. p 32.

V. S .Vernon Jones, trans. Aeso~' s Fables, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England. 1995. p 28..

5 Joseph Bruchac, Tel1 Me a T&, Harcourt Brace and Company,

San Diego, U.S.A., 1997.p 51.

6 Ibid p 52.

Margaret Read MacDonald, The Storvtel lerr s Start UD Book, - August House Inc., Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.A., 1993. p 4 3 .

8 Catharine Farrell, $tonte3 l i ng a Guide for Teacherg,

Scholastic, New York, U.S.A., 1991. p 10.

9 Ibid p 13,

10 Kerry Mallon, çhi ldrnn as Storvte13 erg, Heineman,

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U. S .A., 1991. p 1 4 .

11 Ibid p 15.

12 Joseph Bruchac, T e l l M e a Tale,

San Diego, U.S.A., 1997. p 4 . Harcourt Brace and Company,

13 Ibid,

Bob Barton, David Booth, S to r ies i n the Classroom, Pembroke Publ ishers Limited, Markham, Ontario, 1990. p 13.

15 E l l i n Greene, Storyte l l ino Art and Techniaue, Reed R e f e r e n c e

Publ i sh ing Co., New Providence, New Jersey, 1996. p 32.

16 Bruno Bettelheim, T h e Uses of Enchantment, Vintage Books,

New York, U.S.A., 1989. p 153.

17 Flavian DeLima, "Storytelling connects people t o t h e i r

purpose", T h e Toronto Star, 28 Auguust 1999, Hl.

Ibid.

19 Margaret Read MacDonald, The S torv te l l e r ' s Start Ua Roo k, -

August House Inc . , Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.A., 1993.p 4 4 .

20 Kerry Mallon, C h i 1 dren a s S torv te l l e r s , Heineman,

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S.A., 1991. p 7.

21 Bob Barton, David Booth, S t o r i . ~ jn the C ~ ~ S ~ O O I ~ , Pembroke

Pub l i she r s Limited, Markham, Ontario, 1990. p 27.

E l l i n Greene, Storytell in? A r t and T e c h n i a u e , Reed Reference Publishing Co., New Providence, New Jersey,

23 Anne Pellowski, Wor'Ld of Storvtelling, H.W.

95

Co., New York, U.S.A., 1990. p 230.

24 E l l i n Greene, StoryteJ J j ng Art and Technj aua, Reed Reference

Publishing Co., New Providence, New J e r s e y , 1996. p 39

25 J o s e p h Bruchac, T e l l M e a Tale, Harcourt Brace and Company,

San Diego, U.S.A., 1997. pp 114-115.

26 I b i d p 1 4 .

27 Joanna Cole, [ed. ] . , Best - Tmved F o l k t a l e s of t h e Worl r

Doubleday, N e w York, U.S.A., 1983. p xix.

28 Ibid.

29 World of S t o r v t e l l i n q Anne Pe l lowsk i , The , H.W. W i l l s o n

Co., New York, U.S.A., 1990. p 223.

30 Judy S i e r r a Robe r t Kaminski, T w i c ~ U ~ ~ u r n e , The H.W.

Wilson Company, New York, U.S.A., 1989. p 35.

Ellin Greene, Storvtel bina Art and Techniaue, Reed R e f e r e n c e Publishing Co., New Providence, New Jersey, 1996. p 38.

32 Anne P e l l o w s k i , The World o f S t o r v t e l l j nar H. W. Willson

Co, , New York, U.S.A., 1990. p 136.

33 James A-Vasquez, "Teaching t o the Distinctive Traits of

Minority Students", The C l e a r i n a House, Vol . 63, No. 7, March 1990- p 300.

34 Margaret Read MacDonald, The S t o r v t e l l e r r s Start - UD Boo k t

August House Inc . , L i t t l e Rock, Arkansas , U.S .A., 1993. p 92..

35 Ellin Greene,

P u b l i s h i n g Co., New S t o r v t e l l i n a A r t and Technj.aue, Reed Refe rence P rov idence , New J e r s e y , 1996. p 3.

Gloria T. B l a t t , [ed. ] , , x m u o l k t a l e ; : a a t u r i n a t h e olklore Process With Ch l d r e ~ , T e a c h e r s C o l l e g e P r e s s , Columbia

U n i v e r s i t y , New York, 1993. p 113.

37 E l l i n Greene, Ç t o r v t e l l i n a Art and Technique, Reed Refe rence

Publishing Co., New Prov idence , New J e r s e y , 1996. p 52.

38 Joseph Bruchac, T e l 1 M e a T a l e , Harcour t Brace and Company,

San Diego, U.S.A., 1997. p 99.

39 E l l i n Greene, Storvtellina Art and Techniaue, Reed Reference

P u b l i s h i n g Co., New Prov idence , New J e r s e y , 1996.

40 David Sidwell, "DEM BONES Back-to-the-Basics Thoughts on

S t o r y Structuref', Storvtell ina Maaazm, March/Apr i l , 1999, V o l . II, I s s u e 2. p 27.

41 Robert D.Hilliard, John W.Myers, "Holistic Language Lea rn ing

a t the Middle Level : Our L a s t , Best Chance", Childhood Educati o n Annual Theme 1997. p 286.

42 Harold Barrett, pract ical Uses of S~eech Comrnunica t io~ , 5 t h

[ed.], Holt, R i n e h a r t and Winston, New York, U.S.A., 1981. p 206.

43 Judy Sierra , R o b e r t Kaminski, T w i ç e Uoon a Tfrne, The H.W.

Wi lson Company, New York, U. S .A., 1989. p 7.

44 Joseph Bruchac, T e l l M e a T a l e , Harcourt Brace and Company,

San Diego, U.S .A*, 1997. p 94,

45 Margo A. Mastropieri, Thomas E-Scruggs, "Rernembering the

Forgotten Art of Memory", meriean Educator, Winter 1992. p 32.

46 Ellin Greene, S t o r v t e l l j n a Art and T e c h n i m g , Reed Reference

Publishing Co., New Providence, New Jersey, 1996. p xviii.

47 Gai1 Myers, Michele Tolela , T h e m a n

Comunicat ioq, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, U.S.A., 1985. p 226.

48 Timothy Gura, C h a r l o t t e Lee, Oral Inter~retation, 6th [ed.],

Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A., 1982. p 66.

49 Leo Lionni, Frederick, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, U.S.A.,

1987.p 21.

50 Donald Davis, TelJin

House Publishers, Inc., L i t t l e Rock, U.S.A., 1993. p 26.

51 Joseph Bruchac, ,TellMe, Harcourt Brace and Company,

San Diego, U.S.A., 1997. p 94 .

52 Ibid p 36.

53 Anne Forsythe-MoorernThe neglected part of the minci

Imagination", mTAO Newsletter, Septernber/October 1994. p 38 .

54 Roald Dahl, -lie and t h e Chocolate Fac to rv , ~enguin,

London, England, 1973. p 121.

55 Margaret Read MacDonald, The Storvtallerrs Sta r t - Boa ,

August House Inc., Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.A., 1993. p 43.

98

56 Kerry Mallon, C h i l d r e n e l S t o s , Heineman,

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1991. p 5.

57 Marie LShedlock,

Publications, Inc., New The A r t o f the Storv - Tel ler , Dover York, N.Y., 1951. p xvii.

Ralph W. T y l e r , Basic P r i n ~ ~ l e s of Curriculum and ion, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, U. S .A.,

1969. pp 105-106.

59 Joseph

San Diego, U. Bruchac, Tel 1 Me a Ta1 e, Harcourt Brace a n d Company, S.A., 1997. p 5.

Jeffrey W.Cornett, "The Importance of Systematic Reflection: I m p l i c a t i o n s of a Naturalistic Mode1 of Research", )4nthroaologv and Educat on Oliarterlv, Vo1.26, Issue 1, 1995. p 124.

61 Suzanne McGinty, Shelley Roberts, 'Awareness of

Presence:Developing the Researcher Self", &W~opoJogv and rly, Vo1.26, Issue 1, 1995. p 116.

62 Ibid.

63 Morag Styles, Eve Bearne, Victor Watson, [ed. ] . ,lifter A l icn

, Cassell, New York, U.S.A., 1992. p 148.

64 Nancy Mellon, Storytellina and the Art of Imaqination,

Element Books Inc., Shaftesbury, Dorset, England, 1992. F 4 .

65 Kara Carden, "Forming a New Generat ion of Tellers",

Ju ly , 1998, Vol.ï.0, N0.3. p 2.

Ibid.

M i n i s t r y Educat i o n a n d T r a i n i n g , The O n t a r i o Curricul um rades 1 - 8 Sc ence and Tech-av , Queen's P r i n t e r , Toronto , 1998.

p 22.

68 M i n i s t r y of Educa t ion and T r a i n i n g , The O n t a r i o Curr&glurn

des 1. - 8 Healt h and P h v s c i a l E d u c a u , Queenr s F r i n t e r , Toronto , 1998. p 15.

69 M i n i s t r y of Educa t ion and T r a i n i n g , The O n t a r i o C u v i c u l um

rades 1 - 8 Mathematlcs , Queenr s P r i n t e r , Toronto , 1997. p 56.

70 M i n i s t r y of Educa t ion and T r a i n i n g , The O n t a r i o Curriculum

Social S t u d i e s Grades 1 to 6 Historv and Geogra~hv Gracies 7 and 8, Queenr s P r i n t e r , Toronto 1998. p 21.

Ministry Educat i o n and T r a i n i n g , The O n t a r i o Curriculum - Grades 1 8 t h e A r t s , Queenr s P r i n t e r , Toronto, 1998. p 53.

72 M i n i s t r y o f Educa t ion and Tra in ing , The O n t a r i o C u r r i c u h m

Grades 3 - 8 J,an- Q u e e n r s P r i n t e r , Toronto 1997. p 4 3 .

7 3 Kevin D. Cordi, "Bu i ld ing a Legacy:Youth S t o r y t e l l i n g " ,

Storvtellina Maaaxine, Ju ly /Augus t , Volume II, Issue 4, 1999. p 20.

74 Bob Barton, David Booth, Stories in the Classrooq, Pembroke

Publishers Limited, Markham, O n t a r i o , 1990. p 8.

75 Judy S i e r r a , Robert Kaminski, Twice U ~ o n a Time, The H.W.

Wilson Company, New York, U.S.A., 1989. p 119.

Baldwin, Bob, "The L o s t A r t of Storytelling: t o raise happy chi ldren" , Batter Homes and Garde=, August 1995.

Barrett, Harold, P r a c t j cal Uses of S ~ e e c h Communicatio~, 5 t h [ed.] ., Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York, U.S.A., 1981.

Barton, B. , Booth, D., Stories i n t h e Classroom, Pembroke Publishers Limited, Markharn, Ontar io , 1990

Bettelheim, Bruno, The U s e s of Enchantment, Vintage Books, New York, 1989.

Blatt , G l o r i a , T., [ed. 1, Qnce U ~ o n a FQlkta le : C ~ t u r i n a t h e F o l k l o r e Process With Children, Teachers Col lege P re s s , Columbia Univers i ty , New York, 1993.

Bruchac, Joseph, T e l l M e a Ta le , Harcourt Brace & Company, San Diego, U.S.A., 1997.

Carden, Kara, "Foming a New Generat ion of Te l l e r s " , Storvtell i n q aaazine, July, V o l . 10, No.3, 1998.

Cole, Joanna, [ed. ] , Best - Loved Fol k W a s of the , Doubleday, New York, U.S.A., 1983.

Cordi, Kevin, D., "Building a Legacy:Youth Sto ry t e l l i ng" , to rv te l2 i .n~ Mawxim, July/August, Vol. Il, Issue 4, 1999.

Co rne t t , Jef f rey, W . , "The Importance o f Systematic R e f l e c t i o n : Imp l i ca t i ons of a N a t u r a l i s t i c Mode1 of Research", Nand Vol.26, I s s u e 1, 1995.

Dahl, Roald, Çharlie and t h e Chocolate Facto-, Penguin, London, 1973.

Davis, Donald, Your Own Storf e s f o r Fmilv and Classxoom no. and Persona l JournaL.ug,

August Bouse Pub l i she r s , Inc., L i t t l e Rock, Arkansas, 1993.

DeLima, Flavian , 'Storytelling connects peop l e t o t h e i r purpose", The Toronto Sta r , 28 August, 1999.

Farrell, Catharine, Storvtel ling a Gujde for Teachers, Scholast ic, New York, U.S.A., 1991.

Forsythe, Anne, Moore, "The neglected part of the mind Imagination", mTAO Newsletter, September/October, 1994.

Greene, Ellin, Storvtelling A r t and Techni- Reed Reference Publishing Co., New Providence, New Jersey, 1996.

Gura, Timothy, Lee, Charlotte,&al I n t e r ~ r e t a t ion, 6th [ed. ] , Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A., 1982.

Hilliard, Robert, D. , Myers, John, "Holistic Language Learning at the Middle School Leve1:Our Best Chance'', Educauon Annual Theme, 1997.

Lionni, Leo, Frederick, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, U.S.A., 1987.

Mallon, Kerry, Children as Storv te l l e r s , Heineman, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1991.

Mastropieri, Margo, A., Scruggs, Thomas, E., "Remembering the Forgotten Art of Memory", merj can Educatoc, Winter, 1992.

McDonald, Margaret, Read, n e StorvtelJ err s St art - Un Book , August House, Inc,, Little Rock, Arkansas, 1993.

McGinty, Suzanne, Robert, Shelley, "Awareness of Presence: Developing the Researcher Self", Anthropoloav and Educat ion O u ~ t w l v , Vol. 26, Issue 1, 1995.

Mellon, Nancy, Storytell ing and the Art of Imaainatjon, Element Books Inc., Shaftesbury, , England, 1992.

Ministry of Education and Training, The Ontario Curriculum Grades - he Arts, Queen, s P r i n t e r , Toronto, 1998.

Ministry of Education and Training, rhe Ontario Curricu h m Grades - 1, Queenr s Printer, Toronto,

Ministry of Education and Training, d uaae, Queenr s Printer,

he Ont-arf o C u r r j çu lum Grades Toronto, 1997.

M i n i s t r y o f Education and Tra in ing , The O n t a r i o Curriculum Grades - Mathemat ics, Queenr s P r i n t e r , Toronto, 1997.

M i n i s t r y o f Education and Tra in ing , T h e O n t a r j o Curriculum Grades - Science and Technoloav, Queenrs P r i n t e r , Toronto, 1998.

M i n i s t r y o f Education and Tra in ing , me Ontario Curriculum S o c i a l Studies Grade 1 t o 6 and G e o ~ a r a n h v Grades 7 and 8, Queen's P r i n t e r , Toronto, 1998.

Myers, Gail, Tolela, Michele, Qvnamics o f Human Communicat ion, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, U.S.A., 1985.

Pel lowski , Anne, The World of S t o r v t e l l i n a , H M . Wilson Co., New York, U.S.A., 1990.

Shedlock, Marie, L . , T h e A r t of the Storv - Teller , Dover Pub l i c a t i ons , I nc . , New York, N.Y., 1951.

S idwel l , David, "Dem Bones Back-to-the-Basics-Thoughts on Story S t ruc tu re" , StorvteJJina Magazine, March/April , V o l . 11, I s s u e 2, 1999.

Sierra, Judy, Kaminski, Robert, Twicn Uaon a Tmr The H.W. Wilson Company, U.S.A., 1989.

d - Simard, Remy, Mister Once-umn a tirne, Annick Press Ltd., Toronto, Canada, 1998.

S t y l e s , Morag, Bearne, Eve, Watson, Vico te , [eds. ] . , =ter Alicw ture, Cassell, New York, U.S.A.,

1992 . . . Tyle r , Ralph, W., Bagic P r l n c @ e s o f C~rrjculum and I n s t r u c t i o q ,

The U n i v e r s i t y of Chicago Press , Chicago, U.S.A., 1969.

Vasquez, James, "Teaching t o t h e D i s t i n c t i v e Traits of Minority Students", me Clmri na House, v o l . 63, No. 7, March, 1990.

Vernon, Jones, V. S. , A e s o ~ ' s Fables, Penguin Books, Hamondsworth, Middlesex, England, 1995.

Wampler, Angela, " S t o r y t e l l i n g Focus of Curriculum a t Fayerweatherffr Storvtelling Maaazine, May, VOL 9, No.3,1997.

703

Consent Fom

Dear Parent (s ) /Guardian (s ) ,

1 am a graduate student a OISE/UT working on my thesis in the area of oral storytelling. I am looking at how storytelling impacts on student l e a r n i n g in the classroom. 1 hope to observe in your childrs classroom during the storytelling session with the **** program your child is already participating in.

1 have no intention of assessing any child on an individual basis, rather 1 am looking at the impact of storytelling in general. No identifying names will be used in my final paper. The school, teacher and student names will be replaced with a pseudonym when/if necessary.

If you do not wish to have your child be a part of my observations you may opt to not have your child participate or withdraw your child frorn this study at any tirne by writing me of your intent.

Sincerely,

Hilary Munn

My son/daughter maY or may not be a part of the research project being conducteci,

. - - . . - - - - . --

(Parent/Guardian Signature)

Observation Schedule

8:45-11:30 (approximately forty minute sessions)

rotated between six grade four classrooms

February; 1,2,3,8,9,10,15,16,17

a 2 h i x L B

8:4S-11:30

12:30-2:00

rotated between t h r e e grade four classrooms

February; 5,12,19

Teacher Ouest ionnaire

How much preparat ion did you do before Nancy's initial visit?

What were you able to do between Nancy's v i s i t s ?

How f r equen t ly do the c h i l d r e n w r i t e i n their **** journals?

Do you keep a **** journal? If so what type of things do you record?

What'if anything, surpr i sed you about t h e . sess ions with ****?

What were your expectat ions from t h e artist sessions? Were they met? If s o how did you f e e l they were met?

How did you th ink things went with your class during * * * * l s ses s ions?

Was there any discussion about t h e sess ions after **** left between the s tudents o r the o t h e r teachers involved?

Does t h e s t r u c t u r e of t h e **** program o f f e r you enough t o work with as an educator a f t e r t h e artists leave? What did * * * * 's ses s ions o f f e r you?

What have you learned about oral s t o r y t e l l i n g persona l ly? Do you feel that oral s t o r y t e l l i n g should be a part of your classroom on a d a i l y bas i s?

Are you cornfortable shar ing oral stories with your students now as a result of what was learned in **** 's sessions?

What has been t h e most b e n e f i c i a l aspec t of ***** s work f o r you and your s tudents?

How many years have you per sona l ly been involved with ****?

How many years have you taught grade four?

Do you have any p r i o r exper ience with storytelling? If so can you p l ease e laborate?

16. What do you see your role in the class as when the artists are there?

17. What are your suggestions for improvement and change in regards to the storytelling component? How would you implement your ideas?

18. How do you think we can get al1 of the teachers involved in storytelling in an equitable and responsive way?

19. How did the storytelling sessions work in relation to the other sessions you have had thus far?

c For Non Verbal Communicatjo~

EXCELLENT G O 0 0 SATlSFACTORY NEûS MPROVEMENT

You used full You used hand You used some Your hands did not USE OF natural hand gestures hand gestures express the story EXPRESSION gaures and consistently

.movements

You consistently Your face reffeded Y O U ~ face changed Your face did not ,,d =*aggeratd the S~OW most of in WaY to - change d u a W the yet appropriate the time reflect the stow story

facial expression

USE OF VOlCE Yourvoiwv&d Youused3/5 Your V O ~ C ~ stayed Your audience in pitch techniques the same through couid not hear Your voice v a r M s u g g a d h me most of the stocy your story in volume excellent category Your voice vded in pace Your voice conveyed a variety of emotions during the story You used silence for ernphasis

c For Use o f Words and Oral S t r u c t u r e s

EXCELLENT GOOD SATISFACTORY NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

CO M MU NICAT- You used words ING THE STORY and sentences

your audience could understand yet you challenged them with new vocabulary You rernembered the entire stor-y in sequence without fumbling

You used proper sentence structure ail the way through the S m '

You pronounced all of your words clearly and properly

COMPOSURE You lookedcalrn and secure and appeared to enjoy the experience

You held your spine erect, your shoulders open and you displayed enthusiasm

You were aware of your audiences' reactions at ail tirnesand responded to their involvement in your story

You used words Your audience and sentences understood most your audience of what you said muid understand easil y

You left out part of your story but couected yourself during the telling

You used proper sentences most of the tirne with only a couple of repeated words.

You rnispmoounced two words

You looked d m

You held yourself up tall

You reacted to your audience at tirnes

You forgot some of your stoty

You used several incomplete sentences and repeateû words more than 4 tirnes

You mispronounced 3 words

At times your newousness detracted from your presentation

You held up your head but crouched over

You appeared aware of your audiences' reaction to your story but did not react or relate to them

- -

Your audience did not understand most of your story

You dici not complete your story

You consistently used incomplete sentences and repeated the words 'and', 'then' or 'u h' You mispronounced several words

You appeared nervous andfor flustered most of the time

You slouched and hid your face

You ignored your audience

Storvtel lina Check J l j st

Not At All Seldom Frequentfy All the time

Memory

Eye Contact

Facial Expression -

Arm Movements

Hand Gestures

Body Movement

Appropriate Posture

Vocal Expression - Pace

- Pitch

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Clear Speaking

Composure

Positive Attitude

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