Oral Storytelling Project

Snacks and Stories

Amber Kraus
August 2015

ECUR 898
Debbie Pushor
University of Saskatchewan

One of my favourite places to spend time is at McNally Robinson in Saskatoon. To me

there is no better place to be, especially on a rainy day and it was this exact situation that led me
to choose this as my oral storytelling project. I was wandering around the childrens area of the
store, with the smell of warm food drifting in the air while the rain poured steadily outside. There
is some magic that both rain and books have always held for me. Perhaps it is from the memories
of my mom reading to us as kids, especially our pop up version of The Night Before Christmas; a
special book that only got brought out once a year. Or maybe it is memories of curling up in the
tiny corners of my middle school library reading babysitters club books. Somehow in those days
I felt like I spent hours in the library each day, even though I know that wasnt the case. As an
adult its the feeling of coming across a story that speaks to your soul and mirrors some
unexplainable part of yourself or the long chats you have with your Baba while working in the
garden about what life used to be like for her. No matter what the cause, books and stories hold a
special place for me. All too often I find students in my class view reading and writing as a
chore, but who can blame them? They have just finished grade two where much of their reading
consists of leveled books that are anything but inspiring, and have often been asked to write on
specific topics. For these reasons I am choosing to use Snacks and Stories as my oral storytelling
project.
I wanted to do Snacks and Stories for a couple key reasons. The first being that having
parents be a part of my classroom is important. While this situation may certainly be more
involvement than engagement, I still think it is important to have. Its still an invitation to be a
part of the classroom, and for some parents it will feel like a safe place. I also think it is
important that students see models of student reading and storytelling, and while that is
something I try to do for them, I think sometimes they believe their teachers are an anomaly.

Originally I was playing with the idea of Breakfast with a Book but I found a fault in this. The
name implies there is no space for oral stories or other forms of media, and not only does that not
create a space for those mediums and the people who hold that knowledge, but my ELA
curriculum specifically mentions that students should comprehend and respond to a variety of
texts. In my school culture, there is certainly a hegemonic notion that stories are told through
books and writing. There is much more value placed on a written story a child presents than on
one they are telling us in person. What space does this leave for our students who struggle to
write? I think this is another valuable reason to show students that stories can take many forms.
The snacks part of this is tied to the idea of hospitality and comfort. There is nothing I love more
than curling up with a fresh muffin and a new book, or sharing stories around the table during
dinner at my grandparents house. In many cultures, food provides a gathering place for people to
share and learn from one another. Additionally, in respect to the community in which I teach and
the lives that the majority of the parents and students lead, I would still hold this event in the
morning. Most of my students come from homes with two working parents and therefore
planning events in the afternoon often causes conflict for parents in terms of scheduling. Nearly
all families have out of school commitments such as sports and dance, which makes it difficult to
host evening events. I think it is important however, that I keep a space open for situations that
arise. For example, if a grandparent from out of town expresses interest and they are only able to
attend on a specific day at a certain time. I would never want to limit the opportunity due to a
rigid schedule.
In terms of how I will frame this with my students and their families, I think the best way
to start would be modeling. I would send out the invitation for the first Snacks and Stories time
and I would provide the snacks myself. My hope is that eventually I am able to find parents in

the classroom to help with this part so that it is feasible in terms of my time and costs. I would
want to be the leader for the first two sessions to help alleviate any discomfort and sense of
apprehension in sharing that both the students and parents may feel. I would invite any parents
who wish to attend feel welcome to do so. I imagine myself sitting on the floor with my class
with parents sitting on the floor mixed in with the students. Id have the fireplace video playing
on my projector in the background. For the first event I would use a book as my platform to
share a story. I think that is a natural place for students to start. The book I would use for my
modeling is called If Youre Not from the Prairie by David Bouchard. This is a book I have only
discovered recently but one that pulls a string deep down in my soul. Having grown up on the
prairie in a farming family, many of the pages are the story of my life. There are many personal
stories that I would be able to tie in as I read the book. Stories of summer spent with my younger
cousins going for walks through the grain fields and the friendships we built on those long
summer days. After sharing my story, I would invite students to help me act out one of the
memories and take on the role of characters in my story. The idea of this is something that I am
still unsure of with my age group, because I have found that it really depends on the group of
students whether play acting is something the group embraces or not. However, while reading
The Classrooms All Young Children Need (Cooper, 2009) it was interesting to see how well it
worked with younger children and I think it is a skill that would be useful in other areas of
teaching, so it is something I would want to facilitate as much as possible. I do believe there
would need to be some drama lessons leading up to that point, which is something I would plan
to do alongside this project in my drama class time.
For the second event I would again invite parents in. Instead of using a book this time, I
would bring in an artifact. While students are familiar with the idea of show and tell, I want to

model that it isnt about showing off the latest toy, but rather bringing in an object that holds
memories. As these events continue, I would step back and allow parents to be the story tellers. I
picture days where there are two parents who are interested in telling a story and students split
into smaller groups. I also picture bringing in guests who may have unique stories to tell. For
example, my neighbor is from Jamaica and has many stories that compare how life is in Canada
compared to there. It would fit nicely with many of my social studies outcomes. Someone like
my grandparents would be able to share stories of the time before television when people got
together on Sundays to visit and how hard work was, but how happy people were. Perhaps I
would have an offer from a member of the community who is raising her family on her own or a
sister who has travelled the world. While I would certainly be diligent in making sure the stories
are suitable for the group I teach, I think there is great potential for endless perspectives.
As the year went on and the students were given an opportunity to observe storytelling, I
would encourage them to participate as storyteller on one of the mornings. In every group I am
sure there are students who would be more than ready and students who would prefer to stay in
the role of listener. I think that is something that needs to be honored, as I know from my own
experience, some of us are meant to be the listeners of the world. To gather the knowledge and
hold it for special occasions. Something I need to consider is that some students may not be able
to participate in this due to it being before school. While this does cause me some tension, it is
also something that can be resolved within the classroom. As mentioned above, I would certainly
welcome storytelling during the day if it worked out with guests which would provide
opportunities for students to hear stories from someone other than me. As well, there are many
places I feel I would like to include this in my year. Every year we do a Shakespeare Unit which
would lend itself well to storytelling. With any new skill that I teach my students, I feel it is

important to have them understand why the skill is important to develop. For example, in my
class we do poem of the week where students learn (and sometimes memorize a poem) and
present it in front of the class on Fridays. While this is certainly a general lesson in public
speaking, I always point out that part of why we do this is so we can present on our special
biography day later in the year where parents and family members are invited in and the students
share their reports in front of 60+ people. For the storytelling project, I would make plans with
my colleague who teaches grade one and arrange a time where we would be able to enter the
room and share stories with their class. The opportunity to share with younger students is
something that is always exciting for my class. It is my hope that as the project progresses,
students are able to tell stories without the support of books or artifacts, but I feel it is an
important scaffolding piece.
The final part of my plan is to create a storytellers shelf in the classroom. There is a
bookcase in my room that is tucked in the corner of my reading space. This is a student space. I
would like to reserve one of the shelves for students to place artifacts on. If a student places an
artifact on the shelf, they put their nametag up beside it. They would also be given the option of
simply placing their nametag up on the shelf The idea is that by putting an item or your name on
the shelf, you are indicating that you have a story you would like to share with your classmates.
My vision is that a student can pick a name or an artifact off the shelf, take it to the person and
the two of them (or possibly more) would sit down and share the story. Students would be
allowed to access this during their morning routine time as well as during silent reading after
lunch. My hope is that this will create a space for students to share who they are and hopefully
share stories of importance to them. While it would not be required, I would monitor who has

placed artifacts and try to encourage those who have not placed something as those are often the
students who need their stories heard the most.

Storytelling Year Plan ( Until December )

Month
September

Activity
-drama games including telephone, one word stories, etc
-readers theatre to practice using our voices to make stories interesting

October

-modeling of storytelling within the classroom by teacher and other in school

guests (principal, librarian, older student, etc)

November

-students have an opportunity to sit down on a regular basis with a partner and
practice telling stories. Teacher will act as facilitator and will model how to
improve stories

-first Snacks and Stories event modeled by teacher using book

-invitations sent to parents (and others) inviting them to share

-Storyteller shelf set up in classroom

December

-second model by teacher using artifact

-first guest storyteller

Details:

The first guest speaker will be in early December. The timing of this is intentional as before school sports such
as football are done and people are more likely to be inside. I would schedule the event for the later part of the
work so that reminders could be sent to students and their families to help encourage attendance
Future Plans:

My hope is that this would continue on a regular basis throughout the year, but at minimum until the warmer
days of spring. However, it is something that would need to be evaluated to determine if the project is working
or if it needs modifying. Storytelling from students would continue until the end of the year within the
classroom, with a final project of pairing up with a younger class and sharing stories with them.

If I found success in this, eventually I would like to partner up with a younger class (K or grade 1) and have the
students work with younger partners. I think valuable lessons could be learned from the younger students and
the younger students would have strong models in the older students
Curriculum Outcomes:

Outcome: CR3.1
Comprehend and respond to a variety of grade-level texts (including contemporary and traditional visual, oral,
written, and multimedia) that address: identity (e.g., Spreading My Wings) community (e.g., Hand in Hand)
social responsibility (e.g., All Together) and make comparison with personal experiences.

My hope is that this is just one of many storytelling projects I will attempt this year in my
classroom. I think there is foundation work that needs to be in place to make something like this
successful. Things like routines, establishing trust, and giving a place to imaginations in a grade
where imagination is usually squeezed out. My hope is that through storytelling, my students will
be able to see beyond their very non diverse community and see all the amazing experiences that
exist in the world around us.