Storytelling in Schools
What's New
We've finished the first release of this web site. Please share your comments with us.
Jackie Baldwin jackie@story-lovers.com
Kate Dudding kate@katedudding.com
Stories Tame the “Drama Class from Hell”
by Mary Garrett
Francis Howell North High School, St. Charles, Missouri - Fall semester 2004
Keywords: Language arts, oral presentation, dramatic art, writing, classroom behavior, student/teacher relationships, secondary education
ABSTRACT
What does a teacher do when confronted with a “drama class from hell”? — a large, undisciplined group of talkative, resistant and disruptive students, with a minority group looking for any excuse to claim racial bias. This seasoned teacher used her storytelling skills first to entertain the students and then to inspire them to learn to tell stories themselves, using folktales that emphasized positive character traits. Breaking the class up into groups of two, the students first told to each other, then in small groups and eventually to the whole class. Positive results were exhibited by every student in the class, including those who were very shy, as they were encouraged in their growing storytelling skills by their enthusiastic peers.