Storytelling in the Classroom (for teachers of 5-8 yr olds)

In this course, you will learn essential storytelling skills by working on a new story in each of the five sections. The stories are supplied within the course, plus tips to find more of your own. They are traditional, but not very well-known stories, that work really well with 5-8 year old children (Katy has been using them in the classroom for over 20 years with great success).

In the first section, Katy introduces the basic techniques of remembering a story: working on plot structure and visualisation of the story world. The second section focuses on interaction, which is a key element of good storytelling with children. The third and fourth sections focus on using voice and gesture effectively to tell the story: these are important, but not essential for a beginner storyteller, so are treated at an introductory level. Each section also builds on the previous ones, by repeating the basic techniques until they are second nature. The fifth section is a recap of all techniques applied to a new story.

Many of the lectures are designed for you to pause the video and have a go yourself at exercises that Katy has demonstrated within the lecture, so you are not passively listening, but actively engaging with the material.  So while the length of the video content is just over 3 hours, the course will take considerably longer, if you do all the exercises (allow 7-10 hours in total). Much of the course is suitable for learning to tell stories to any age group, but the stories have been chosen with younger children in mind and is excellent CPD for primary/elementary school teachers.

You are encouraged to complete a Storytelling Diary as you try out the stories with your class, and the final assignment is a self-assessment of your progress. The course would work well, completed over 5 weeks with you telling a new story to your class every week, but of course you can go at whatever pace suits you best. You are welcome to contact Katy with questions during the course and she will do her best to respond quickly.