Storytelling and Community: A Tale of Middle School

Image by Arthur Rackham

A great, great experience at Frelinghuysen Middle School this fall. Sixth grade ELA teacher, Sarah Satkowski, is a joy to work with, an amazing teacher. I loved watching her extend the discussions and writings to fit the needs of her different classroom communities. She really knows sixth graders.  Sarah took lessons from the stories, characters from the stories, and words from the students and expertly wove them into mini-lessons of respect, character, language building and community formation.

As a storyteller hired by an ARTS council, I wanted to emphasize the ‘art’ part of storytelling in all three sessions. (Paula subbed for me on day 2, but we were in conversation). I researched storytelling performance and culture from Haiti and Africa. Paula spoke to the same in the Artic. Because the underlying theme was community I wanted to stress how storytelling brought (brings) communities together, and how storytellers are responsible for keeping the traditions and cultures viable in these communities.

Another underlying conceit was that of storytelling as a form of communication in all forms, oral, physical and written.

In discussion via email Sarah and I developed the following plan of attack.

Day 1: What is storytelling? What is community? Listening and oral response were the focus.

We started with blank chart paper titled “What is storytelling?” The students worked in groups with post-it notes and developed ideas of what they thought was going to happen. These were put on the chart and added to or subtracted from as the students got to hear stories. A few of their ideas were: Storytelling is  the art of creating a story, suspenseful, entertaining with creativity and imagination, beautiful language, connect to audience, magical, stories explain the unexplainable.

I told a story from Haiti. We discussed briefly answering such questions as “Why did so and so do this?” “What happened to so and so?”  Then another post-it note session for students to generate ideas to answer, “What is Community?” Some of what they wrote: Community is working together to solve a problem, to be respectful and responsible, rules and laws, connecting to each other, a civilized group.

I spoke about storytelling in Haiti and then told more Haitian tales from The Magic Orange Tree. Deep oral discussion followed. Inevitably the question arose, “Are these stories true?” Staying quiet, I waited to hear how they would respond. One girl said,” It could be true without the magic in it.”

Day 2:  Exploring stories and characters through movement

Paula told The Girl Who Dreamed Geese and led the class in movement exercises.  Sarah and students told me all about it. As you will see in her response (below) Sarah honed in on the aspect of empathy. She brought this up as we listened to stories on Day 3. I believe it’s true. We feel empathy for the characters as we listen. Even if it is only for those 6-10 minutes of the story, we have at least experienced empathy.

Day 3: Exploring storytelling and community through writing

Sarah came up with some great questions to be used as writing prompts. These were written on chart paper. Before we even talked about what students were going to write, stories were told and discussed. This time stories came from countries in Africa. Again, we explored storytelling traditions and cultural values.

At this point students wrote. Sarah lets them chose from different writing prompts. 

These were posted.

1)    How are storytelling and community connected?

2)     Chose one story and explain what it tells us about community.

3)    How has the storytelling experience changed our classroom community?

The students chose one prompt,wrote and then shared a bit. We made sure to save enough time for a short wrap up story.  Here are some of the students’ writings. Sarah’s is here as well.

Excerpts from student’s writings:

·       “The community and storytelling are both alike because the stories that a storyteller tell (sic) can be true.”

·      “Storytelling is time when you need a community to talk and discuss about storytelling People participating is a sign of community.”

·      “The story I chose was Anansi’s Six Sons. This story tells us that to have a good community everyone has to do their part. All of Anansi’s sons helped him in their own way...”

·      “A story that involved community was Tipingee. When the girls teamed up and saved Tipingee from becoming a servant, they worked together as one little community.”

·      “Most storys (sic) or folk-tales are about a community coming together or working together just like a community would. The things we need to have to have a successful community is another thing we learned from storytelling. Story telling helped us learn more about communitys (sic) work and how important it is to have a successful community.”

·       “I think we have changed in a happy way because we enjoy storytelling and love hearing the fun stories and activities we do. That’s why I think storytelling has changed our classroom and also we learned about different cultures.”

·     

Sarah Satkowski (teacher) This was written in the time, at the same time, allotted to students.

     “Over the three storytelling sessions with Julie and Paula I think that our classroom community has changed dramatically. To begin, I feel that listening to stories leveled the playing field and really allowed everyone equal access to understanding and engagement. The content of the stories we heard facilitated conversations around many of the pillars of community and allowed us to examine our roles in communities. I believe the most challenging aspect of this experience has been our willingness to share, increased comfort level with one another and our ability to empathize. (Something that is often sorely missed in middle school.)

     Overall--- I think we are all better community members because of storytelling.”

Post by Julie Della Torre

It's All About Community

It’s the beginning of a new school year. Classroom teachers  are considering the building of healthy classroom communities, a spaces that works for everyone. A number of us here at SAI have been hired to work at a school that is welcoming a whole new sixth grade student body along with a few new sixth grade teachers. Everyone is talking about forging strong communities in the school as well as the classroom.

Each storyteller will be paired with an individual teacher for three storytelling sessions. The purpose and goals of these workshops are to introduce students to the art of storytelling, the structures and components of storytelling and how stories are conveyed in a myriad of ways. We will be telling stories and demonstrating how comprehension and emotion are conveyed through such things as voice, facial expression, body movement, specific vocabulary, sentence construction, etc. At the conclusion of the workshops, the students will produce a piece of writing which the classroom teacher and the storyteller will develop collaboratively.

We have been asked to frame our workshops around the concept of community. Hmmm. Personally, I can’t wait to talk with my teacher to find out how she defines, discusses and works with ‘community’. Will she focus on community values, community rules, community support, and individual responsibilitiesin a community? There are so many ways to contemplate community.

Of course stories are the perfect vehicle to look at community. All stories have come out of community. Storytelling is a community event. I've spent the summer trying to find a way to narrow my list of stories in order to choose the perfect few ‘community’ stories I will tell.

As it happens, one of my summer reads was Radiance of Tomorrow by Ishmael Beah. One theme the book explores is ways of rebuilding a community devastated and dispersed by war. One of the ways evoked is through storytelling and keeping the stories of the community. An elder woman, Mama Kadie, the community's story keeper, mentors Oumu, a young girl.  “It isn’t about knowing the most stories, child, it is about carrying the ones that are most important and passing them along. I have already decided to tell you all the stories I carry.” (p35)

A powerful scene in the book occurs when the children of the village find a dead body in the river... the river where they go to bathe and get drinking water. That night all gather as Mama Kadie tells a story of the water spirits and how they behave. All listening are trying to make sense of the horror of the day.

Another book I read this summer was Heroes and Heroines by Mary Beck. This is a collection of Tinglit Haida legends. Beck writes in her Forward:

"The myths and legends were told and retold at potlatches, less formal gatherings, as family pastimes, even as bedtime stories. But their entertainment value was secondary. Here, as elsewhere, the important function of myth and legend was to pass the knowledge and traditions, morals and mores from the old to the young, maintain social cohesion and continuity, keep the culture alive and flourishing... In their parallels to the myths and legends of other cultures, they reinforce the one-world concept. Through them we see that human needs, reactions and values are essentially the same everywhere, and that human beings, wherever they live, have found similar ways of explaining life and transmitting their concepts." (Ix, x)

So, in the service of building a narrative community, which stories will I pass on? Which stories will best illustrate the benefits and difficulties of living in a community? Which stories will provoke engaged discussions around the various aspects of community?

We storytellers must keep in mind that we are NOT teaching ‘community.’ That is the role of the teachers. We are teaching the communication skills inherent in the oral art of storytelling. However, as professional storytellers we can search out and choose stories that complement, enhance and extend  the work of the teachers.

Two stories come to mind right away. One is ‘Stone Soup’ and all of its variants. Here is a story that reveals the deliciousness of collaboration and working together in community. The other is Aesop’s ‘The Ant and the Grasshopper’ or it’s literary cousin, Fredrick by Lionni.  What are an individual’s responsibilities in society? What is equal pay for equal work? How do we handle those who may not  be ideal community members?

Excellent discussions of both Stone Soup and Fredrick can be found at the site TeachingChildrenPhilosophy.org.

I would love to hear what others are thinking about ‘community’ and what stories are rolling around in their minds. Please respond.

Julie Della Torre

Follow Up: Teachers Reflect on Their Experiences

About three weeks ago, Julie and I were finally able to schedule the final workshop with the teachers we have been mentoring since December. This workshop was postponed for over a month because of weather and other scheduling problems in the school. When we came together, teachers were clearly enjoying their down time, talking about personal issues, illnesses, car trouble, etc. It reminded me of the very first workshop we taught at the school, except with no teacher nerves. Everyone seemed relaxed. We began by asking teachers if there had been any connection to the storytelling lessons since our last student workshops. SM, the fifth grade social studies teacher, said that she is currently teaching about slavery and the Underground Railroad and her students continuously refer to The People Could Fly. DM, the 5^th grade ELA teacher, said that she thinks her students are more aware of descriptive language in everything the read and write. Other teachers commented on positive changes in their students that they attribute to the Storytelling Program. Many of them also mentioned that they believed they had changed as a result of their storytelling experiences.

After the discussion, Julie and I did some storytelling. I told The Three Languages and Julie told Juan Bobo and the Pig. These stories, as we hoped they would, invoked a discussion about learning styles and the fact that students who don’t excel academically are usually capable of learning and, even, excelling in other areas.

Next, we asked teachers to write a detailed assessment of the program. What follows are some excerpts from my teachers’ assessments.

SP (Special Ed, push-in support in Grade 6 ELA)

Storytelling Arts – or how I learned to get over myself and bring whimsy and critical thinking to my classroom. I wasn’t sure what to make of a workshop called “Storytelling Arts” and I wasn’t sure if it would really apply to the older grades. I was sure that I would never be able to do it, myself. I have avoided the stage since I bombed that drama audition my freshman year in high school…

The biggest surprise – no, relief – was how these two great storytellers managed to create a safe space and encouraging environment that allayed my stage fright and made me feel comfortable in taking on the storyteller role myself… I appreciated the careful progression of support, how the steps of the workshop unfolded slowly and with a great deal of encouragement and support with helpful feedback. I did not think I could do this, but I’m now actually excited to try it in other classes.

The students in my class were challenging listeners and have difficulty focusing, even for Storytelling Arts, but they really seemed to enjoy having the stories and responding to them. They could hardly wait to talk about the various story elements and to make connections to their lives and stories and movies they know. When there was a comprehension issue in storytelling, questions could be addressed immediately. There is no flipping back to page 82 or rewinding a video or audio, and the story action could be rephrased immediately. The story is dynamic, no static.

A surprising and exciting development was how, unprompted, some of the students became storytellers, themselves. They wanted to share narratives or anecdotes, even students who are shy and/or reluctant writers wanted to share something. It also provides an outlet for outgoing, “look at me” students.

MW (Grade 6 ELA)

The Storytelling Arts program has brought joy to my LAL classroom in several ways. My students have voiced individual feelings in a warm and caring environment, enjoyed mesmerizing stories told by Paula and myself, and showed pride in making connections with their new found knowledge. The ability to “hear” each child’s voice and to address everyone’s needs in an accountable talk wrap-up was a valuable time to learn about each other, as well as hone communication skills. The stories we told were a part of a larger thematic unit and students’ knowledge was apparent as the unit progressed.

Students were constantly writing and speaking about the universal themes in our Dream/Sleep unit. I found it interesting that words and phrases which were only used during oral time, later appeared in students’ writing.

I now tell stories with ease, almost daily. I feel comfortable telling a short, symbolic tale to start off a lesson and my students love to hear me tell them.

SM (Grade 5 Social Studies)

I was pleasantly surprised by how much the students learned through storytelling… Through storytelling, we were able to connect it to what we were learning in Social Studies. It is a way for the students to be able to visualize examples of what was going on during the times of slavery. For example, the story, The People Could Fly, helped students get an idea of how slaves were treated. It also helped them to hear figurative language, use context clues, and determine the meaning of phrases. I thought it was wonderful how one story could cover many aspects of learning.

Not only is storytelling a great way to connect content, but it also helped with teaching the students about being good and doing good for others. This is so important with students at this age and teaching them through storytelling helps them to remember and apply it into their everyday lives.

DM (Grade 5 ELA)

The Storytelling Arts program opens a door to learning that benefit the students in several ways. It helps them improve their listening skills, it allows them to build visualization skills, and it encourages creative thinking. All of these aspects of learning are extremely important in the development of well-rounded children.

As the storytelling program began, I admit I was skeptical as to the success of its implementation. Many of the children find it difficult to listen for any length of time, so how would they react when asked to sit still and absorb a story? I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed that the kid who usually have the worst time with these activities paid the most attention to the stories, and easily remembered the details and concepts from the narrative! I will definitely use storytelling in my curriculum to improve listening skills.

Also I found that the students had an easier time visualizing aspects of the stories they heard when compared to just reading text. They remembered details and important content without much reinforcement. Finally, I was most encouraged by how much my children’s’ creativity was enhanced by the stories. They were eager to include similar elements and details in their own writing and they were more confident in their own storytelling.

EZ (resource, special education in grades 4 and 5 ELA)

Storytelling was a magical experience for me, both as a listener and a teller. It has touched my inner spirit and has led me on a path toward something I may want to do in the future as I venture towards retirement from thirty-four years of teaching. As a listener, I was impressed by how engaging the stories were… I was skeptical that students would relate to stories or find them “hokey.” Their receptive engagement, however, was heart warming. It seems they were even better engaged when the stories were told to them rather than read aloud. (As a support teacher, I do a lot of reading of the passages aloud.

The lessons that correlated with the stories were amazing. Writing a “stop action” description piece really helped the students with writing descriptively, with rich details that gave a clearer picture of the tale.

Teachers also made suggestions for improving the program

SP: In retrospect, if I could ask for anything more, I think I would, perhaps, have only requested a packet. Perhaps it is ironic that I am asking for print … but I sometimes regretted the quality of my own notes and could no find the title of the story, book, or resource I remembered mentioned.

SM: The only criticism I have is the way it ended. I felt there was not an exact closure for the students… a small project, or if they could create or learn a story to tell to the class groups.         

DM: There is one aspect of the program I would change and that is having the (teacher) workshop sessions scheduled during class time. Although I thoroughly enjoyed those meetings, the disruption to the classes I teach was a major challenge to address. Overall, I would recommend this program because I believe the benefits far outweigh the scheduling issues. When my most reluctant learners are excited about language arts, then I know my time is invested well.

We ended the workshop with stories about storytelling. Although this was our last teacher workshop of the year, it was not the program’s culminating event. That will take place in June when these focus teachers present ‘fishbowl’ sessions in which their peers will observe as they model storytelling lessons with their students. We are also in the process of planning a follow-up program for next year.