Storytelling has always been with us...

Before there were written words, there was oral tradition. Oral tradition is the art of telling a story to pass along information. Many cultures still practice and preserve their oral tradition. Think about the fairy tales you remember or some creation myth you may have heard. Those all started out as oral traditions. Telling stories to young children and having them tell you their own stories is a great way to promote oral language skills, help children learn English, and build creativity and imagination.

Types of stories that are perfect for storytelling are classic tale (fairy tales), fables (like Aesop's), and traditional cultural stories. Stories that you know well are great too because you can animate them and use expressions since you know when certain parts of the story require certain expressions and voice changes, etc.

Teachers should rehearse and practice telling the stories several times so that they become comfortable with it.

Using props like instruments, puppets, costumes, music, other sounds, etc can also enhance the story telling experience. But beware not to get too flashy because too many things can become a distraction and take away from the story experience for young listeners.

Engaging Children in Oral Storytelling (6:50)

This video will help you describe how storytelling can help language growth. Take notes during the entire video. Pay attention to the practice of listening for "doing stories."

Visual Storytelling Demo: Aesop's Fable (7:14)

Watch how these storytellers bring the story to life through their voice, hand gestures, and facial expressions.

Traditional Storytellers Compilation (4:04)

Glenn Caldwell, Storyteller (4:00)

Baba the Storyteller (8 min)

Story Adaptations (acting out a story)

Having children act out stories further develops children’s concepts about storytelling. There are many wonderful stories and nursery rhymes that can be acted out by children. Children engage in language development, increased vocabulary and narrative understanding. These are skills needed for later reading success and basis for comprehension. Children learn about sequences and the elements of the story. There are basic skills and concepts for effective read aloud for children. Read the following articles to discover those ideas and strategies.

How to read aloud to a group: effective strategies and techniques for reading aloud to children.

Flannel boards: Guilderland Public Library resource on Flannel board strategies, techniques, tips and detailed ideas for flannel board stories.