Group stories

This lesson begins with storytelling as a whole group, and is followed by a discussion on what makes a good story. Small groups are then formed to rehearse storytelling, and students are asked to identify five key moments in the story. After the rehearsal, the whole group reconvenes to retell the story in sections.

Objectives

• To understand what makes a good story structure.
• To identify key moments in a drama.
• To work in a variety of groupings on a collective idea.

Starter

The whole group is to create a story. The teacher should provide the first line, for example: ‘Sarah never believed in ghosts until the night she went camping.’ Brainstorm ideas and so build the story line by line, asking for contributions around the group. Emphasise the idea of creating a story with sense and meaning, explaining that students should listen to each other so that the story makes sense.

Where could this story go?

Response

Initiate a group discussion on the technique of telling a story. Use the guide below as a starting point:

Storytelling: Guide to storytelling

Emphasise the criteria on the handout above – you could leave them on display throughout the lesson, using the following presentation:

Storytelling: Storytelling criteria

Ask a selection of students to retell the story from the starter to the whole class, bearing these criteria in mind.

Did the story have a structure (ie beginning, middle and end)? Could the story have been improved? Mention the characters, tension, plot, etc.

Development

Organise the class into small groups. Ask students to retell the story in their groups, writing down the relevant lines. They should identify (at the most) five key moments in the story. They could use the following handout to record these:

Storytelling: Key moments

How can you use the information on the ‘Guide to storytelling’ handout to make your story more interesting and dramatic?

Explain that each group in the class is to retell a section of the story. You should record the sections of the story so that groups do not overlap. Allow some time for rehearsal, and then bring the students back together as a whole class to retell their section. You may wish to stipulate the order in which the sections are told, to avoid overlap.

Plenary

Conduct a whole group discussion, looking at sequencing the story and choosing the five key moments.

How was the telling of the story different in its final stages? What are the key elements of a good story and of the ways of telling it?

Homework

Ask students to complete the following handout:

Storytelling: Sequencing