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Erin
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| Posted: Oct 24 2006 at 8:17am | IP Logged
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Today as I sat at the pool with dd5 waiting for her siblings to finish swimming training I made an interesting discovery. I can't narrate very well  Here I am expecting great feats from my dc and I can't achieve this excercise myself.
I was trying to distracte dd who was cold and wet and wanted to go home NOW. As I didn't have any books to read with me  I decided to tell her stories. Somehow I managed to stumble through David and Goliath, however I did have to keep going back adding in the bits I forgot. After stumbling through an imperfect rendition of the Gingerbread Man I came home tonight to 'study up'.  Tonight we read Snow White. I'll do better next time (I hope)
Narrating is a very difficult task, telling a story is certainly a different art then reading. Many cultures hand stories down from generation to generation. It is an important and talented skill. Certainly one that I don't have.
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Erin
Faith Filled Days
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Mary G
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| Posted: Oct 24 2006 at 8:19am | IP Logged
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Erin,
Thanks so much for reminding ME that I need to work on this too -- how can I expect the littles to do something that I stumble through too!
One of those "walk a day in my shoes" kind of whacks I need every so often.... 
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MaryG
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Oct 24 2006 at 11:22am | IP Logged
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I am also not a great story teller. I can explain non-fiction extemely well, complete with details, examples and enlightening analogies (as I have a logical and orderly sort of mind). But to tell a "story" that flows from catchy beginning to logical and satisfying end? Forget it!
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Theresa
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MacBeth
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| Posted: Oct 24 2006 at 11:40am | IP Logged
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Erin, I have always been a great proponent of modeling narration, both for the sake of my kids' understanding, and for developing story-telling skills. To that end, as I read aloud, I have always stopped, and retold small sections as I see necessary.
Storytelling is such a great skill to have, too, and I think it's great that you narrated those stories! I think it comes more naturally to some than to others, like any skill. I do recommend a book for those interested in building such skills. I have found Ruth Sawyer's The Way of the Storyteller to be a great reference book for young narrators...and those not so young aspiring storytellers and writers.
I recall a similar situation...we were in traffic, and there were no books on tape (my kids were young, and I was clueless), so I retold The Three Little Pigs. The kids loved it, but I found that I could only do it once, despite repeated requests for an encore performance. It is hard, but it's totally worth doing...for both the kids and the adults!
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stefoodie
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I think one way I've gotten over the storytelling hurdle was to start when my kids were little -- I'd just make up stuff as I go along and sometimes the story made sense at the end, but sometimes it didn't, and we'd all go -- huh? But since they were small they didn't care much . Now that at least 2 of them are pretty logical they're constantly finding the holes in my story or asking questions, then I'd have to make new things up.
On trips the kids and I (and sometimes even Dad joins us) often do a "round" -- someone starts a story, then stops after a sentence or two. The next person makes up what happens next. We do this while in the car, or late at night at the hotel when the lights are out. We've come up with some pretty outrageous -- and often funny -- stories.
Storytelling is another way I get out of reading to the kids at night. When I've got a headache or I've read a book or two and they still want more, I tell them it's time to turn out the light as its improvisation time. Sometimes I make things up from scratch -- e.g., the most recent one was about a girl named "Ticcy-Taccy" inspired by the Tic-Tac container my 4-yo was playing with right before bed. They were mini-stories, not more than 5 sentences each, and just plain silly, but they loved it!
Other times I ask each kid to give me the name of a person, place or thing, then I make up a story incorporating each one. Or we'll take turns and supply the volunteer storyteller with a list.
I guess over the years I've learned to relax about storytelling because it doesn't have to be perfect all the time. In the morning, they'll often say, mom, that was one weird story you told last night! Sometimes though, they'll say, that was really good mom, you should tell it again. And then I can't, because I don't remember every detail (they do though, and it's amazing what they remember -- so then THEY get practice narrating what they heard from me). We've talked about putting a tape recorder or something by the bed so we have it in case the story that comes out of our mouths is a good one, but we still haven't done it. We really should.
Hope some of that helps.
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stef
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JennGM
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| Posted: Oct 24 2006 at 1:17pm | IP Logged
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My dh is great at telling stories to our son. He's terrible at retelling the real fairy tales (gets them all mixed up ) but the stories are fantastic. Ds loves them, and always asks him "to tell me a story." But he likes repetition, so dh has to remember the story, or he'll be corrected!
One way we practice storytelling is telling stories of our childhood. My son and all the cousins love to hear the stories of Mommy and Daddy when they were little. And we try to keep the memory alive of deceased family members by retelling the stories.
But some of the fairy tales I've had to refresh my memory before I can give an accurate tale...and then there's the decision on what version to use. Red Riding Hood, for instance. Do I give the ending that the woodcutter opened up the wolf and out stepped Grandma unharmed? Or that she died? Did the wolf run away, or was he killed?
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Jennifer G. Miller
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Mummy doing oral narration.
