Why Storytelling?

(A printable PDF version of the following text is available here.)

The "If the walls could talk" storytelling project at LEEP Elementary will allow students to grow academically, socially, and as a community.  The following four overarching goals have been established for the project: 

  1. To create and foster a sense of community for staff and students
  2. To involve the local community as a vital member of the school
  3. To preserve local history
  4. To instill a love of literacy in our students as lifelong learners

The following will outline in greater detail the four goals of the storytelling project along with the specific benchmarks and objectives we hope to achieve.  We believe the project will have many positive effects of our students, staff, and community.  By having data to validate our beliefs at the end of the year, it is our hope to continue to include the joys of storytelling in our school for many years to come. 

Goals for the project and specific benchmarks and objectives:

1. To create and foster a sense of community for staff and students

By partaking in a collaborative working environment with both other staff members and other students in storytelling, students and staff will be able to develop respect and tolerance for others. 

For students:

  • Behavior issues:
    Look at the discipline referrals written during the year:
    - Was there an overall decline in the number of office referrals this year?
    - In particular, were there fewer office referrals due to student conflict?
    - Were there fewer referrals for physical aggression?
  • Feelings toward institution:
    Have students complete a written personal survey at the beginning and end of the year project (Note-with younger grades give orally with pictures cues for answers such as smiley faces versus sad faces)
    - Ask questions about the effect the storytelling project had on:

    -Their relationship with their classmates
    -Their relationship with other peers
    -Their relationship with other grades
    -Their connection to their teacher

For staff:

  • Work environment
    Have staff complete a written personal survey at the beginning and end of the year
    - Ask questions about the effect the storytelling project had on:

    -Their relationship with coworkers
    -The quality and quantity of collaboration between staff members outside of the storytelling project
    -Their relationship with their students
    -Their relationship with other students in the school
    -Their relationship with administrators
    -Their relationship with parents/community members

2. To involve the local community as a vital member of the school

By encouraging the community to be an active member in the school through various storytelling events, the community will feel both welcomed and needed in the school atmosphere.

For the general community and families:

  • Track the number of visitors to classroom and family events this year versus past
    - In particular look at how many family members attend storytelling events
    - What percentage of students’ families attended events?
    - Also look at how many local politicians, business members, and district personnel attended storytelling related activities
  • Create a brief summary of any local organizations that helped in the project
    - In particular look for connections between the public library and school, funding sources, and local press coverage
    - Look to develop further connections or projects with these organizations
  • Have a parent/family survey at the beginning and end of the year that asks questions about their feelings toward:
    - Their relationship with their student
    - Their relationship with other students
    - Their relationship with their student’s teacher
    - Their relationship with other teachers
    - Their relationship with school administrators
    - Their level of comfort in the school
    - Their knowledge of school resources
    - Their knowledge of community resources

3. To preserve local history

History will come to life for the students as they share the stories the wall only once knew.  Storytelling will allow students to move beyond seeing history as a vague concept.  Students will be able to see how they are a part of a vibrant, productive community.  Staff, students, and the local community will be able to take a sense of pride in recording their history for generations to come to learn from.

  • Importance of documenting history
    Students and staff will be able to actively become a part of preserving local history.  With the concept of history often being troublesome for students to understand, this project will help them visualize what history is and how it can be recorded.  The project will also hopefully help instill students with a sense of pride in their school and local community through the many shared experiences that come to light in the many storytelling venues. 
  • A resource for generations to come
    Through the creation of both podcasts and print materials, the project’s culmination will provide a variety of resources for many generations to come.  The library in the school will be able to keep the past stories as a motivator for students to visit the library.  In addition to students who created the story wanting to reread their own stories as well as checking out their classmates’ stories, it is hoped that the stories will be of use for future generations.  For these future students, the stories can serve as a source of advice and wisdom from students past.  Lessons are often learned through the experiences of others.  The stories from the school may help others who are struggling with similar issues or conflicts.  Furthermore, again the stories will help students better understand the idea of history, especially local history. 

4.  To instill a love of literacy in our students as lifelong learners

This storytelling project works on developing holistic learners in LEEP Elementary.  While program meets the state and local standards for learning, it also manages to meet the unique learning characteristics and needs of each of our students.  Staff and students alike will be able to show off their best talents through the interdisciplinary project.  With such a multifaceted project, each person will have the joy of having success.   By creating a nurturing and intellectually stimulating atmosphere, students and staff will become truly invested in the learning process.

  • Relation to ISBE standards
    The main standard addressed in the storytelling project is the State Goal 3: write to communicate for a variety of purposes.  Through the project, students will be able to experience a wide range of opportunities to develop their communications through writing, reading, and speaking.

The following link is a PDF file that was created by professional storyteller Sue Black.  She created an outline indicating how using storytelling with elementary students directly correlate with the ISBE performance descriptors set out by the state to help teachers justify using storytelling in their classroom.  Our project would follow the state learning standards for both early and late elementary outlined in her document: http://www.sue-black.com/pdfs/STSW%20curricular%20connection.pdf

  • Relation to ISBE performance descriptors
    The ISBE performance descriptors are a set of descriptors that can help teachers better understand and align their teaching to the Illinois Learning Standards.  The performance descriptors focus on actual assessment cues that teachers can use to measure student learning. 

The following link is a PDF file that was created in collaboration by a professional storyteller Sue Black and an LMC director Beverly Frett from Naperville, IL.  The two created an outline describing how using storytelling with elementary students directly correlate with the ISBE performance descriptors set out by the state. http://clow.ipsd.org/documents/lmc_pdfs_rms/st_guides/Descriptors1_5.pdf

  • Relation to multiple intelligences
    The multiple intelligence theory of learning was developed by psychologist Howard Gardner.  It suggests that each person is made up of a variety of intelligence styles and thus to reach each learner one must vary their learning style opportunities.   Storytelling will reach the following intelligences: 
    1. Linguistic learners: Naturally, those students who are linguistic learners will benefit from all aspects of storytelling including listening, reading, writing, and speaking.
    2. Logical /Mathematical learners: These students can use problem solving in their stories or help others put their stories in order both grammatical and sequentially.
    3. Spatial learners: These learners can use visualization in their stories told in class and aid others with this tool.  They will also be able to use their spatial skills in the cover design contest.
    4. Bodily-Kinesthetic: These students can involve learning hand motions or gestures to aid their telling they could also act out the stories in plays.
    5. Musical: These learners can use rhythm and song as a tool to draw in audiences in their stories.
    6. Interpersonal: Storytelling allows students many opportunities to connect with other students through acting out the stories, students tell stories to partners, and students mentoring each other in the project.
    7. Intrapersonal: The stories students tell are going to be a self reflection of themselves.  They will be able to reflect on their memories, personalities experiences.
    8. Naturalist: Students can include stories with nature themes.
  • Relation to Bloom’s Taxonomy
    Bloom’s Taxonomy is a tiered level of cognitive levels.  It classifies thinking into six different levels of complexity.  Storytelling will allow students to work at each of the six levels progressively:
    1. Knowledge: Students will be able to arrange their story, recall events from their lives, recognize the important events in their story, and memorize their story for retelling.
    2. Comprehension: Students will be able to describe events in their story, identify themes in their story, express emotion, and review what they have written/told.
    3. Application: Students will be able to dramatize, write, and practice their story.
    4. Analysis: Students will be able to compare, contrast, and analyze both their own and others’ stories.
    5. Synthesis: Students will be able to help arrange a story telling event, formulate questions about their own stories meanings, and help manage story telling events.
    6. Evaluation: Students will be able to assess their successes, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and find value in their experiences.
  • Student survey towards learning
    Have students complete a written personal survey at the beginning and end of the year project (Note-with younger grades give orally with pictures cues for answers such as smiley faces versus sad faces)
    - Ask questions about the effect the storytelling project had on:

    - Their enjoyment of school
    - Their motivation in school
    - Their confidence in different areas of academics
    - Reading
    - Writing
    - Organization
    - Presenting
    - Their understanding of assessment
    - Their collaborative skills with others
    - Their overall feeling of security in school

 

Neha Dhruv
Megan Ower
Katie Rios
Janet Vogel (webmaster)

Graduate School of Library and Information Science
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
LIS 409 Storytelling
May 2008