Deepen Comprehension Through Storytelling

Deepening Comprehension Through Storytelling

The following post is based from research and ideas presented in the article below by Dr. Jane Gangi

While the read-aloud is standard practice in most literacy classrooms, storytelling is not.  Research has shown that students will deepen the comprehension when they are engaged in storytelling.  When Dr. Gangi asked a fifth grade class how storytelling differs from the read - aloud experience, students had the following responses:

Storytelling makes visualizing images easier and makes one’s own creativity more possible; it also fosters a deeper relationship between the teller and the listener.

Dr. Gangi shared her Storytelling Workshop in the above article.  She stated that from day one of the workshop, she wanted her students to see themselves as storytellers.  Dr. Gangi suggested that the below activities serve as prewriting activities as well.  I have selected a few strategies from Dr. Gangi’s article that I would like to use in my fourth grade classroom to strengthen my students storytelling skills.  

After reading all the activities, I thought the above activity would be a great one to introduce storytelling!  I believe the students will have a lot of fun sharing stories and especially coming up with made- up stories!  The activity below requires a little more time and work, but I believe students will also enjoy this one.  This activity would be a good one to use in the beginning of the school year, so that students can get to know each other better.

The above activity is a great quick activity.  It can be used in any grades, but thought it was simple enough to use even in kindergarten and first grade.

I do a similar activity as the one above but I am excited to try this version.