Ever want to mesmerize and keep the attention of a group of kids? Tell a story! But … there’s a lot more going on with the kids than just listening to the story.
In a previous post, I wrote about storytelling with children from Kindergarten to grade 2. My second session that day was with children in grades 3 to 5. I started with the story, “The Shoemaker’s Dream.” It’s a wonderful story about a shoemaker who dreams he finds his fortune. I choose to tell this story with no audience participation. Doesn’t really sound as fun as the first session with the younger children, does it? But the listeners are participating more than you could ever imagine.
Storytelling is so powerful, the participation by the children is in their minds. They listen, they think, they hear sentence structure and good grammar, and understand story sense. They anticipate, they make predictions, and they see pictures in their minds. Their eyes were on me, but those pictures were in their minds … their mind’s eye, that is.
After telling the story, we chatted. The kids told about the pictures in their minds, how they thought about what was happening, and some came up with different endings for the story.
And guess what? Those thinking activities they were engaged in as they listened? Same thinking happens when reading.
So, tell a story. Have fun, entertain some children, and even develop their thinking skills!