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Talking Storytelling

Classroom Storytelling Texts

Betty Rosen, an experienced classroom teacher and storyteller, has a tale to tell. In an original and compelling style the author recounts her experiences of storytelling with infant and junior children. By drawing on the workshops she has run, she shows how any teacher can develop the confidence to become a successful storyteller and how storytelling can become a central part of any primary classroom.

Shapers and Polishers: Teachers as Storytellers

Betty Rosen

'In his successful Creative Storytelling, Jack Zipes showed how storytelling is a rich and powerful tool for self-expression and for building children's imaginations. In Speaking Out, this master storyteller goes further, speaking out against rote learning and testing and for the positive force within storytelling and creative drama during the K-12 years.'

Speaking Out: Storytelling and Creative Drama for Children

Jack Zipes

Stories in the Multilingual Primary Classroom

Hilary Hester

'Read the stories from ""Dragonory and Other Stories for 7-9 Year Olds"" (ISBN 9781407100654) then use this teacher resource book of inspiring activities to help children enjoy stories more fully and become storytellers themselves, supporting oral storytelling, reading and writing stories. It also supports Pie Corbett’s Talk for Writing

The teacher's notes provides for each story in the anthology:

about the story – explains the origins of the story and where the author came across it, showing stories can come from anywhere!
activities for reading the story and getting to know it well including speaking and listening, reading, writing, drama, art, dance, music, research
techniques for telling it and re-telling it out loud including flowcharts to break the story down into key component parts
From telling to writing – activities that encourage the children to write their own versions.
The CD-ROM contains

Videos of nine of the stories read aloud by professional storytellers Pie Corbett, Xanthe Gresham and Taffy Thomas.
Five tips for Storytelling, videos to help support you in your teaching.'

Storyteller: Traditional Tales to read, tell and write

Pie Corbett

'Starting from the question ‘what is a story?’ Storytelling Across the Primary Curriculum leads the reader through the theory and practise of storytelling as an educational method – a method taught by the author over the last ten years through Primary English teaching programmes.

This practical book gives teachers the skills and confidence to use storytelling and the spoken word in new and exciting ways in the classroom. It will also give teachers the confidence to ‘put down the book’ and trust themselves to tell, rather than read, a story. '

Storytelling Across the Primary Curriculum

Alastair K. Daniel

'This dynamic approach to developing literacy helps children improve their writing, listening, empathy, speaking, reading, comprehension, performance, memory, imagination and confidence. It shows teachers the stages for learning how to tell stories, how to use stories in their teaching and how to teach children to tell their own stories with easy to use methods. In a storytelling school, all children learn how to be storytellers as a way to improve literacy and learning subjects across the curriculum.'

Storytelling School, The Handbook for Teachers

Chris Smith and Adam Guillain

'Storytelling With Our Students invites you on a fascinating and personal journey in the company of David Heathfield - an experienced teacher and dedicated storyteller. He introduces you to the art of telling an unscripted story, and provides you with the opportunity to bring stories from many cultures to
vibrant life in your language teaching.'

You can find information about more David's publications, and access recordings of his webinars through his website: https://davidheathfieldblog.wordpress.com/publications/

Storytelling With Our Students

David Heathfield

'Storytelling and Imagination: Beyond Basic Literacy 8-14 is the complete guide to using creative storytelling in the primary school classroom and for transitions to Key Stage 3 at secondary school. Taking a holistic approach incorporating reading, writing, speaking and listening, this book covers the skills of developing stories from conceiving a tale through to performance and the oral tradition. Tried and tested by the author and by teachers in hundreds of workshops, this book provides:

- ideas for sparking children’s imaginations and harnessing creativity
- information on using storytelling in cross-curricular contexts with examples and ideas
- games and practical activities in each chapter
- a range of original and traditional stories for use in the classroom
- different stages of work to suit all abilities
- joined up thinking about stories and storytelling.'

Storytelling and Imagination: Beyond Basic Literacy 8-14

Rob Parkinson

'A fully-revised edition of a popular Resource Book, with many new ideas and stories. Stories are an ideal way of motivating children, improving listening skills, and teaching vocabulary and structures. Stories develop awareness of the sound and feel of English, and an understanding of language in context.'

Storytelling with Children

Andrew Wright

'In this chapter we shall explore the role that storytelling can play in fostering a creative classroom culture for spoken language. The familiar ‘performance mode’ of classroom storytelling will be presented alongside a more process-orientated model, and they will both be considered in relation to creativity. We will identify some key competences that children need in order to create and shape their own narratives. We will also consider how we can support children in development of these competences and explore opportunities for storytelling across the EYFS and the National Curriculum.'
(From the introduction to the chapter)

Storytelling: the Social Art of Language in 'Teaching the Arts in the Primary Curriculum' edited by Susan Ogier and Suzy Tutchell (Sage, 2021), pp57-66

Alastair K Daniel

'This book presents storytelling in mathematics as a medium for creating a classroom in which mathematics is appreciated, understood, and enjoyed. The authors demonstrate how students' mathematical activity can be engaged via storytelling. Readers are introduced to many mathematical stories of different kinds, such as stories that provide a frame or a background to mathematical problems, stories that deeply intertwine with the content, and stories that explain concepts or ideas. Moreover, the authors present a framework for creating new stories, ideas for using and enriching existing stories, as well as several techniques for storytelling that make telling more interactive and more appealing to the learner. This book is of interest for those who teach mathematics, or teach teachers to teach mathematics. It may be of interest to those who like stories or like mathematics, or those who dislike either mathematics or stories, but are ready to reconsider their position'

Teaching Mathematics as Storytelling

Rina Zazkis and Peter Liljedahl

'This invaluable resource book includes everything teachers and librarians need to know for using storytelling in their classrooms. It covers a range of topics known as the 7Cs including recommendations for using storytelling to enliven the curriculum, ways to develop literacy and language skills, models for building character, techniques for learning to tell stories, tips for teaching creativity and ways to build community. It even includes ready to tell tales with useful tips for "tellers" along with valuable references for teachers. It also correlates storytelling activities with the Common Core Standards. Award-winning author, Margaret Read MacDonald offers multiple storytelling resources. Teaching with Story is the perfect handbook to incorporate storytelling into any lesson.'

Teaching with Story: Classroom Connections to Storytelling

Margaret Read MacDonald, Jennifer MacDonald Whitman and Nathaniel Forrest Whitman

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