As I finished reading this paper, my mind reflected back onto my own childhood experiences of storytelling. I can remember crawling up on my grandpa’s lap and listening to a story that always had a moral to it. My dad told me a make-believe story every night before I went to bed. I cherished these times as a child and value them even more as an adult. I not only had the opportunity to learn about literacy and enjoy stories, but I had the chance to share special time with my family. Traditional storytelling was a major part of the “Lost Boys” lives. I think Perry summed up the importance of traditional storytelling in the following statement (pg 340): …”families are about storytelling, and that stories are a badge of family membership, and that becoming part of the family involves learning the family’s stories.” This statement really made me realize how much value the “Lost Boys” and their families placed on storytelling. It was their connection to their past and their means of learning about their future.
Throughout the reading of this text, one question kept coming to my mind: Why is storytelling a “lost art” in today’s schools and communities? I am not really sure of all the reasons but I did come up with a few.
1.Technology: We live in such a technology driven world that people do not take the time or do not think they have the time to listen to a story. We want everything instantly and storytelling takes time and interest.
2.Not knowledgeable about cultures: We do not have knowledge of the cultures that represent our schools and communities. We also probably need to take time to discover more about our own culture (family heritage).
3.Teachers do most of the talking: This may not be the case in every classroom, but I am sure many teachers could agree to this. We need to give the students time to talk and open up.
4.Viewing/valuing storytelling as a form of literacy: I think many people view storytelling as something young children do, but it is important for all ages of children and even adults.
5.Unsure of how to teach students how to take their verbal stories and convert them into written stories: I personally struggle with teaching students how to write. I need to develop better skills on helping students write their own stories.
**The reasons I mentioned above may not apply to you or your school, but they apply to me and I feel like many teachers can agree to at least one of these reasons. Please let me know if you can think of anymore.
After I thought of the reasons why storytelling is not an active part in schools and communities, I began to think of ways that I could help my school and community incorporate more storytelling. Here are a few of my ideas. Again, please suggest any other ideas.
1.Hosting a community culture/storytelling night: Each culture would have someone tell a story and have a booth set up that show some of their customs.
2.Tell a story every day in the classroom: Have the students take turns verbally telling stories. The stories can be from a variety of genres.
3.Give students time to talk: This one sounds easy but is hard because as teachers we like to talk; instead, we need to facilitate out student’s learning.
4.Set up a cultural blog or story telling blog: Students could share culture events or even post up stories to share with their classmates.
5.Make a memory book: Have students reflect weekly on the most exciting or sad thing that happened. At the end of the year allow the students to share their memory books with their parents or classmates.
We all have a story to tell no matter our age, race, or gender. It’s time that we start listening and learning from those stories.
Emily Rhoney
Comments (6)
Emily-
I LOVE your ideas for creating more storytelling opportunities through cultural development. I am fortunate enough to be in a school with a "Multicultural Night" each year put on by our staff and PTA. I was a newbie this year, so I did lots of observations as I walked around.
Each grade level sponsored a region or country of the world. In each room that sponsored a country, I found that those who participated brought samples of foods from that culture, different clothing pieces, photos, literature, websites and shared personal stories. I sat in on one session from the country of Jordan, where a parent of mine shared how he came to the US as a refugee much like the Lost Boys of Sudan. Had we not had a
chance to experience multicultural night, I would have never learned this about him or his family's history.
I think I will mention some of your ideas to our committee next year to beef up the experience!
Thanks for sharing =)
Renee Hennings June 17 2010
Posted by Renee Hennings | June 17, 2010 9:37 AM
Posted on June 17, 2010 09:37
I think you have said a mouthful! Your list of reasons why we do not allow time for our students to open up was so right. It hit home for me. I believe I will try some of your suggestions for helping students share their memories, especially the memory book.
I think with the fast pace and busy lifestyles of today, many of our students do not get the special times with their parents sharing any kind of stories. I find that to be so sad that we have a whole generation of children that are not getting read to or hearing stories unless they hear them at school. This may not be the case for all schools but this is true for the majority of the students at my school. We can change in our classrooms to allow for more time to share and listen to stories but we have no power to make parents see they need to step up.
Posted by Tracy Icenhour | June 17, 2010 10:04 AM
Posted on June 17, 2010 10:04
Emily,
Your point about students telling a story in class is brilliant. As I read that I thought about how I could change writing instruction in my room. Giving the students the opportunity to tell a story first THEN write it down could be powerful. They could even tell the story to the class, have the class ask questions for clarification, and then edit their story and tell again. After all this, they could then write.
Storytelling being a lost art does have a lot to do with teachers. We tend to be in control too much in our rooms trying to maintain order, but for our very verbal students, it hinders their learning. Finding a balance is necessary. I have never had my class do a storytelling project,but after reading this I can see how literacy could greatly impacted by it, not too mention the cultural connection being made.
Thanks for sharing,
Michael Lemke
Posted by Michael Lemke | June 17, 2010 11:00 AM
Posted on June 17, 2010 11:00
Emily,
Your listed reasons why story telling is not an integral part of our classrooms is dead on. I also think that we are limited with our time having to teach the mandated course of study. Finding time in the day is difficult. Finding ways to include storytelling within the standard course of study is the the challenge.And yes, we do love to hear our own voices and with that said we need to remember, so do our students. I like your idea of having the students do a memory book of their year. This would be a good way for the students to reflect and have school connect with their lives. It can give us insight into our students and what is important to them.
Susan Hines
Posted by Susan Hines | June 17, 2010 12:38 PM
Posted on June 17, 2010 12:38
That is wonderful that your grandfather and father shared storytelling with you as a child. I am sure it gave you a jump start in school because of its influence on literacy. Also you were able to bond with your grandfather and father during this time. Yes, storytelling was a huge part of the Lost Boys of Sudan’s lives. It was time they could spend with family and also learn from the stories. Their storytelling was their connection to their past. It was a connection to the good times in their lives. I was talking to Clyde on this blog the other day about why storytelling is becoming a lost art. I was thinking like you. I thought that technology had a lot to do with it. Technology has a huge impact on the way our society is today. In fact I wonder if it is what is killing some good old fashion storytelling. If you ask young students what they do when they get home it usually involves, T.V., Wii, PSP, the internet, facebook, a bunch of technology and a little bit of engaging in a conversation with a family member. Therefore hardly any storytelling can be going on. It is such a shame. If children and families engaged in more conversations then maybe they would also share more storytelling with their families. Thus they would spend more quality time together. A lot of good could come out of sharing stories. Relationships might grow. I like your suggestions for ways that teachers can add storytelling into their classroom curriculum. I especially like allowing the children to share stories. Maybe they could even have homework on going home and having a family member tell them a story and then they retell it in the classroom the next day. This would encourage storytelling at home and at school.
Posted by Maria Blevins | June 17, 2010 1:57 PM
Posted on June 17, 2010 13:57
…”families are about storytelling, and that stories are a badge of family membership, and that becoming part of the family involves learning the family’s stories.”
This is such a powerful quote and you and your family share a lot of the same qualities as mine. I never got to sit on my grandfathers lap and hear him tell of the “good ole days,” but I did get to listen to many people growing up tell me about my grandfather and those days. Parents today do not take the time to talk to their children about their pasts because they are always TOO busy. I love to go out in public and see people talking to their children about the different things in the world and why things happened. As I work my other job on weekends, my boss’s children come into the restaurant a lot and they always have a lot of questions to ask me. They first begin by asking their mother, and their mother always answers with one or two words, then they come to me. I answer to the best of my ability without offending their parents, but I try to give them a true reason for the answer they are given. If parents, grandparents, etc. would just take the time to sit down with their children and talk to them, then maybe some of the stories from previous generations would not be lost. I am going to write down things about my father and the stories he told me, so that I can share them with my children one day! Maybe you should do the same thing. Hopefully people will be around to orally tell the stories of the past, but just in case, maybe would should take a moment and write them down!
I think you did a great job on your list of reasons that storytelling is a lost art!
Meredith
Posted by Meredith Bromley | June 17, 2010 5:13 PM
Posted on June 17, 2010 17:13