Tips to Read Aloud Picture Books

I have a lot of request for this one. So here goes:

1. Make it engaging

There are many ways to do this. Here are some of the techniques that I would use:
a) The tone of your voice. Read softly or read loudly or in between!
b) The pace. When necessary, go slow or go fast and most importantly normal too.
c) Funny voices. Well, this is not for everyone but I suggest you give it a go. Come on people, they are small kids and won't judge you hard! I would like to give you examples but it is not possible in words. You need to see and hear me doing it.
d) Facial expressions. We all have emotions and have expressed our feelings through our facial look. This is the time for you to do it!
e) Gestures. You can raise your hands or throw them into the air. You can use your legs, head or use the whole body if you need to. This will get their attention.
Notice or not, all of the above will also help you to teach through modelling and show the students how to do things.

2. Prep yourself.
If you want to make it good, you need to prepare in advance.
a) It would be nice if the classroom has a copy of the book. After they are eager to read right after your wonderful performance, you don't want to disappoint them by saying that they cannot read it by themselves.
b) Check to see whether the content is appropriate.
c) See any points where you want to do point no-1 and take note of them. I usually use post-its and rehearse until I get the 'feel'.

3. Make it interactive.
a) Engage the brain. You can have post-its distributed to students and ask them to record their thoughts. Ask one or two to share. You can do pair-share as well. Facilitate it but not too long.
b) Engage the brain. Ask thinking questions.
c) Engage the brain. Make a prediction.
d) Engage the eyes. Make their eyes see and notice things.
e) Engage the nose. Is there any smell to arouse their interest?
f)  Engage the ears. What sound can they imagine? Can they make a sound?
g) Engage the hands. Engage with kinesthetic activities.
h) Engage the hearts. Check their feelings about some parts of the whole story at the end.
There is a little caution here. Overdoing this may disrupt the flow and possible the vividness of the 'story world' that they are in. Doing it less may lose their attention span. So do it not too much yet not too little.

To be continued:

How to tell a story–Sean Buvala’s technique

Storyteller and coach of storytelling techniques, Sean Buvala, takes us on a quick journey into storytelling tips and learning!

I find his quick technique is quite easy to use, and is practical too. Below is his method to learn a new story:

1. Decide on the story you want to tell.
2. Hand write an outline of the story, episode by episode.
3. Using your own words and the outline you made in #2, write out the complete story by hand or create a storyboard as shown in the video.
4. Use the tool you made in #3 to practice your story aloud and by yourself.
5. Cut out parts of the story that slow the story down.
6. Repeat the story with the new parts and pieces. Don't memorize. See the action in your head.
7. Tell your story to a trusted friend or associate. Ask for *genuine* advice.
8. Add more emotion to your story.
9. Tell your story to an audience. Be confident!

You've just learned your brand-new story. Congrats! Awesome!

For even more coaching on storytelling, please visit www.seantells.com and http://www.storytelling101.com

Here’s the link to the video detailing points above:

http://youtu.be/mOA8mUflH-Q

Photo and video credit:

www.seantells.com

Teaching through Storytelling

There are many creative ways that teachers can do to motivate their students. One of them is through learning by storytelling technique.

Storyteller Roger Jenkins who has provided storytelling courses for teachers since 1998 says “Storytelling is a powerful tool. Besides learning language, it also allows bonding between children and educators.”

When asked how stories can be used to teach other subjects besides English, he gave an example of a teacher who used a story to teach her students about the rainforest ecosystem in Science class.

The story was about a girl trapped in the rainforest. While she was walking, she noticed the different flora and fauna and even noticed the insects that the animals ate.

The teacher included all the details that she wanted to teach in the story. “The students aced the exam,” Jenkins shares.

“Teachers can use stories to ensure greater retention and understanding because a story gives context to the information rather than just isolated bulletpoints.”

In this 10 minute demo video, one of my favourite storyteller, Roger Jenkins shows how he tell using puppets, cut-outs, pictures (in this case via powerpoint), masks, props, mime, magic, sounds and audience interaction.

http://youtu.be/MOHN1NteQ_M

Photo credit:

chinadaily.com.cn

bookcouncil.sg

ais.com.sg

The Power of Telling Stories

Whats YOUR Story?