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Nancy Self: Using the Art of Storytelling in the Classroom

3/3/08

The storyteller's eyes twinkle with firelight as he leans forward and speaks to the youngsters seated around the camp fire. The old man's voice is gravely and deep, but the words are clear: "I've got a little story for ya, Ags."

From the start of humanity storytellers have used masterfully magnified words, pictures and sounds to entertain, preserve culture, confirm values and morals, and perhaps more importantly, to educate. Far before the concept of cell phone texting, instant messaging, e-mail, and the printing press, humans used cave paintings, tree carvings, pottery, clay tablets and spoken word to tell stories. As American society moved into a more digital and technological era, the art of oral storytelling diminished. We had new things to occupy our minds. First there was the radio, then television, color television, cable, VHS and beta tapes, satellite dishes, DVDs, cell phones and so on. In recent years, society has come to rely on short-hand text and instant messages to relay the stories of our lives.

Dr. Nancy Self, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Culture, a division of the College of Education and Human Development, is reintroducing oral storytelling and other expressive arts in her classroom. Students enrolled in Self's Creative Inquiry through the Arts for the Young Child course learn the importance of oral storytelling.

"Storytelling is an oral tradition that is part of our history and culture," Self says. "We have always learned through story. The students in my classes will learn skills to become effective storytellers and will use storytelling in their classrooms to help enhance their students' reading abilities."

Storytelling, says Self, is not to be added to the already full curriculum so as to burden teachers, but is to be integrated with math, science, social studies and reading to help children retain information. For example, Self uses the Indian folk story One Grain of Rice to enhance the teaching of math concepts and Stone Soup to teach children cooperation in social studies.

It is important to note that storytelling is very different from reading to children from a book, Self says. Storytelling involves an audience of children and the storyteller in a more personal and interactive way.

"As a storyteller, one wants to involve the child in the telling of the story by using eye contact, emotions, and motions," says Self. "When telling a story, it's easy to grab the students' attention through voice inflections and the use of props such as puppets, pictures or real objects. To be an effective storyteller one must know the story well, speak with enthusiasm, use facial expressions and get students involved in the story through repetition of phrases or body movements."

Students who take Self's class also can enroll in her "Planning and Curriculum Development for Early Childhood Education" course, where they are able to put their storytelling skills to use in a K-4 classroom. Students in this course create storytelling boxes and donate them to be used by teachers as center activities or as "creative" homework to engage parents and children. With storytelling boxes, bonding occurs through parent-child interaction and listening skills are enhanced.

Self's interest in storytelling began seven years ago when a professional storyteller was brought to Texas A&M as part of the Multicultural Storytelling Project sponsored by Evans Library. It was at this time that she became interested in the tremendous impact of storytelling on children in the classroom and at home. "Families can bond, parents can assist in helping teach their children how to read and comprehension skills go up," she says.

Although she doesn't consider herself a professional, Self is highly involved in storytelling organizations, such as the National Storytelling Network and the Texas State Storytelling Association. She also helped start two local storytelling guilds: Children's Museum of the Brazos Valley Storytelling Guild and the Aggie Storytelling Association at Texas A&M where she is the group's current advisor.

The importance of storytelling is universal and can be an important enhancement to the curriculum presented in today's classroom.

Self says, "It is through oral storytelling that students from many cultures may become aware of their common life experiences and emotions while learning to appreciate and respect differences. Oral storytelling unites us as human beings."