Teachers seldom have the luxury of working with kids one-on-one to develop storytelling skills. Most work with their students in groups—large and small. Story Theatre to the rescue! Media specialist and storyteller Barbara McBride-Smith calls this art form a “near perfect vehicle for teaching folks of all ages how to tell stories.”
In addition to encouragement and advice, McBride-Smith provides eighteen entertaining, tellable stories scripted for groups of performers to tell together. The scripts ....
call for five to fifteen cast members and are designed for third- to sixth-grade students, though many are appropriate for older students. Kids will love these fun and funny stories, including “Bill Eraphon and his Horse Peggy Sue” (McBride's Texas-style retelling of the myth of Bellerophon and Pegasus); many familiar trickster stories and tall tales, some with refreshingly non-traditional twists; fractured fairy tales; and scripted adaptations of contemporary favorites.
McBride-Smith says learning to tell stories should be active, energizing, open-ended, and painless for the learner and teacher. Here's how.
AWARDS Anne Izard Storytellers' Choice Award
Storytelling World Award