This was a story told by the second graders during a recent morning meeting. This new storytelling activity has been a big hit with the class. Tell Me a Story is a deck of creative story cards with just pictures. Students are given between 2-3 cards that they will need to play in turn to contribute to our collective story. Students take turns playing one card at a time and adding one sentence to help create the collaborative story.
This is a great activity for several reasons. First of all, it is inclusive and everyone has a turn to be creative and add to the story in their own way, while simultaneously building upon a collective storyline.
Secondly, the second graders really have to listen and pay attention to each other in order to follow the previously played card to continue a coherent story. They communicate ideas and suggestions to each other easily, while still respecting each student’s contribution to the plot, no matter how crazy it might be.
The third opportunity students have when we play this game is to practice using transition words or phrases to continue events in the story. Things like “Meanwhile…, Suddenly…, However…, But little did they know on the other side of the world…” are now being naturally used not only in this activity, but also in the student’s writing as well.
Oral storytelling has been a part of human history since there has been oral language. Research suggests that oral storytelling not only provides an opportunity for strengthening vocabulary, creativity and interpersonal skills, but that it also supports the improvement of critical thinking skills, active engagement in learning and narrative thinking abilities.
These are all great skills that are reinforced in a quick seven minute game! You can find these games online if you wanted to have a deck or two for a quick educational time-filler!
