Situation:
We were approached by the Literacy Coordinator of a secondary school as they were having real difficulty getting their year 7s and 8s to write complex sentences, paragraphs and stories. They felt that a workshop with a storyteller, at the start of the school year, might inspire their young writers, and help the new ones get a feel for the library and resource centre.
Solution:
Through discussions, we decided the best approach would be our storytelling workshop ‘What Is A Book?’ Here we started with a discussion of all the different people required in making a book, and what their roles entailed. This was followed by an exploration of the differences between written and spoken English, by hearing a story both read and then told as storytelling performance. The sessions were ended with an unfinished story, which each child had to end in their own way.
Results:
Over the course of 1-hour sessions, groups of 30 children were inspired to write their own endings to a story. They were encouraged to use a great breadth of descriptive language and to consider including all 5 senses within their work. It was a delight to see both girls and boys knuckling down to the task, and the results were spectacular. A selection of them were so proud of their endings, they volunteered to read them to their classmates.