Storytelling in Second Grade

"Storytelling is the oldest form of education. People from around the world have always told tales as a way of passing down their cultural beliefs, traditions, and history to future generations. Why? Stories are at the core of all that makes us human." This quote is from Children Tell Stories by professional storytellers, Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss. Their book guides some of our most recent work with the second grade students as they learn to become storytellers! Over the past few weeks, to introduce this project, the students have heard wonderful stories told by Betsy and Alicia.

They then began to read from a wide assortment of short tales from around the world, and chose three favorites, because loving a story is the first step to telling it well. Now, each second grader has their own story that they are practicing at home and at school. Telling a story is not the same as reading it, and creating a story map enables them to remember the big ideas of their story, rather than trying to memorize it word for word.

Each time a story is told, it should vary according to the teller in that moment and the audience that is listening to it. Over these last few weeks, the students will add gestures and voices to their story to make it come to life. The second grade storytellers will share their tales with their families at our Pioneer Picnic on Tuesday, June 9th.