HOW TO TELL A STORY.

Stories are a great resource for Pre-primary children, we can use them to learn vocabulary, morals or just entertain them. But if we want use them properly we have to known some steps and advices to do it.

TELLING TECHNIQUES.

1.- Have an interesting story to tell. The key os storytelling is to provide listeners with a good story, so it has to be interesting and appropriate for them, taking into account: the age and the theme. 

2.- Memorize the basic story. If your story has dialogue, you don't need to memorize the exact dialogue, just the basics. Make the children repeat the essential lines after you or with you.

3.- Use body motions to emphasize the story. Doing so will catch a listener's attention plus make the storytelling exciting. Hand motions should be incorporated when the tale calls for it. Moreover, children have fun if they copy your movements while you tell a story or a rhyme, sing a song, and demonstrate.

4.- Use facial expressions. If a character in the story is happy, a smile would work. Pay attention to the mood of the story as well. Let the mood flow into your expressions.

5.- Allow your voice to be expressive. Give the characters different voices.

6.- Stimulate their senses so they feel, smell, touch and listen. Physical responses that are simple ways to have learners engaged. Also, game like movements reduce learner stress, and create a positive mood in the learner, which facilitates learning.

7.- Add details. A girl with brown hair and blue eyes could be described in your story as a young girl with golden brown hair and eyes as blue as a river. Exaggerating small things in a story can give a wow effect. You can also disguise yourself.

8.- Find a suitable place to tell the story, if possible. A story corner places the learners in the story situation. They then know they have to pay attention and respect the set of rules you've worked on during the course.

9.- Practice in advance. Before you tell your story, give it a try. You may want videotape yourself or do it in front of a mirror so you can see the flaws in your telling. After you watch the video of your telling, mute the sound so you can only pay attention to the visual aspects. Check if you use hand motions, expressions, etc. Then close your eyes and just listen your voice to check your articulation.

A perfect example of all this is showed in the following video:

ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE VIDEO - "WE ARE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT"

Here we have the help of background images, but in the next video we can see that if we tell the story properly we wouldn't need any support:

TELLING SEQUENCE.

Pre-telling.

We use the "Pre-telling" to situate the children in the story, to catch their attention and engaged them. For that we can use:

- Sounds.

- Pictures, flashcards.

- Toys.

- Pre-teaching vocabulary before telling the story. Vocabulary best learned through games (guessing games, hidden surprises, repetition, chants, etc.)

Actual teaching.

Here we will put into practice what we saw in Telling techniques section.

Post-telling.

Post-telling time is for make sure that the children have understood the story and reinforce some aspects of it. We can use:

- Music (songs).

- Art craft.

- Worksheets.

- Rhymes, chants.

- Competition games.