Storytelling and Story-making
Presented by
Lancashire Leading Literacy Teachers
Talk for Writing
DCSF Publications Tel: 0845 60 222 60
Booklet: 00467-2008BKT-EN
DVD: 00761-2008DVD-EN
Aims
To explore the use of storytelling as a tool
for helping children build a bank of
narrative patterns they can use when
creating their own stories.
“The same images, with very little variation, have served
all the authors who have ever written”
Samuel Johnson
Talk for writing includes…
•
•
•
•
•
Book-talk
Writer-talk
Storytelling and story-making
Word and language games
Role-play and drama
Storytelling and storymaking…
• involves the learning and repeating of oral
stories
• builds children’s confidence in storytelling
• extends storytelling into writing
• results in new stories being prepared and
rehearsed prior to writing
Why storytelling is important –
words of wisdom!
Story-making has to be a daily
routine – it is as important as
phonics.
What is the point of segmentation
becoming a skill without a story to
write!
You cannot create out of nothing!
So how do we do it?
• The stories are taught in a multi-sensory
way.
• Actions are used to make the story, and
key connectives memorable.
• Each story has a story map as a visual
reminder.
• Puppets, role-play, hot-seating and acting
out can make the story memorable and
bring it alive.
Children internalise…
• basic plots
• the building blocks of narrative (common
characters, settings, events narrative
patterning)
• the flow of language/sentences
• the vocabulary – especially connectives
e.g. so, next, but
Transcripts
Reception boy in September – 4 yrs old.
Same pupil in Summer – 5yrs old.
Y2 Communal storytelling
The story-making process
imitate
innovate
invent
From dependence to
independence
1. Whole class – dependence
2. Groups – interdependence
3. Partners - independence
Story Map ‘The Little Green
Dinosaur’
Imitate, innovate, invent…
Innovation
• substitution
• additions
• alterations
• change of viewpoint
Innovation
“The Little Green Dinosaur”
Make the story your own…
You can substitute and add to it.
Refer to the story map initially.
Invention
This should be:
• oral
• guided by the teacher;
• reusing familiar characters;
• reusing story language;
• an opportunity for new ideas,
drawing on a range of stories.
The story innovation process
from telling into writing
1. Tell the story with actions and create a
story map.
2. Retell the story daily and internalise.
3. Move onto story groups or pairs.
4. Begin a class innovation – make a new
story map.
5. Class and teacher retell the new version
in groups and pairs.
The story innovation process
from telling into writing
6. Teacher conducts shared writing of class
innovation using modelling and scribing.
7. Children write their own innovations –
some may be simply substituting and
others will be embellishing or altering.
8. Children polish and publish stories.
Writing strands
• Strand 9 Creating and shaping texts.
• Strand 10 Text structure and organisation.
• Strand 11 Sentence structure and
punctuation.
Remember!
“The more you retell aloud or in your head,
the better you get to know the story, the
more it can be improved”.
“As you write the story, retell it again in
your head, tweaking it where necessary”
Pie Corbett 2008
Resources
DCSF Publications Tel: 0845 60 222 60
Talk for Writing
Booklet: 00467-2008BKT-EN
DVD: 00761-2008DVD-EN
Pie Corbett – Scholastic
publications
Storyteller 4-7
ISBN 978-1-407-10067-8
Storyteller 7-9
ISBN 978-1-407-10068-5
Storyteller 9-11
ISBN 978-1-407-10069-2
The Gingerbread Man and other stories for 4-7 year olds
ISBN 978-1-407100-64-7
Clown publications
The Bumper Book of Storytelling into Writing
– Key Stage 1
Pie Corbett
ISBN 0-9553008-0-0
That’s all folks!!