5.2 Story and place: lessons from australian aboriginal storytelling  (Page 3/4)

Preparation: decide -

1. Story length
2. Story subject - Some possibilities: a retelling of a familiar story, such as a fairy tale, in a setting familiar to the student (the local town); a story in the same vein as those read in class, but in a local setting; an incident that happened to the student.
3. What each story must include. Besides your usual requirements, the story should take place in a setting that will be familiar to most of the students, and should include both place names that help the listener picture the story setting, and descriptives that inspire the imagination.

Procedure

1. Hold an introductory discussion. You may use The Place of Place discussion above, or something more in line with you class goals.
2. Give the students the writing assignment. Explain specifics of the assignment (length, subject, etc.)
3. When describing the requirement for place names, include some familiar examples. Did the story take place on Elm St., at Grandma's house just outside of Centerville? On the bluff above the Salt River?
4. When describing the requirement for descriptives, suggest that they decide when the story took place (a spring evening, a summer afternoon?) and then include clues in the story that remind the reader what a spring evening or summer afternoon in that spot is like. Did the characters hear lawnmowers, step over daffodils, walk across a dusty baseball diamond, get rained on, see people walking dogs?
5. The writing can be an in-class or take-home assignment.
6. After you have collected and graded the assignment, consider sharing some of the stories with the class. Discuss how the place descriptions help the reader imagine the story, particular if it took place in a familiar spot.

Sound and gesture in storytelling

Objectives and standards

• Objectives - In small groups, students will prepare and perform a story that includes sound and gesture mimicry. This can (but does not have to) include the use of musical instruments to mimic familiar sounds.
• Subject Standards Addressed - National Standards for the English Language Arts standards 4 (Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.), 5 (Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.), and 6 (Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.).
• Evaluation - Grade the presentations according to your usual oral-presentation rubric as well as on success in fulfilling the specific assignment and imaginative use of mimicry.
• Adaptations - If younger or LD students would find the small-group assignment too challenging, you can prepare the story as a class, and perform it for another class, or for parents or a visiting audience. The activity can also be adapted for students with visual or hearing impairments by leaving out either the sound or gesture component of the performance, and emphasizing the other component.