Fran Stallings & Jeff Cauthen
March 26, 2022

Jeff Cauthen's Process

  1. Note vocabulary words with phonetic patterns that students need to know.
     
  2. Establish a “callback” attention signal (something in the story that you can say the first part of the phrase and the kids immediately say the second part). This brings their attention to teacher to be silent while giving information, but also reminds them of the story.
     
  3. Find the Science, Technology, Engineering, Math elements in the story that overlap curriculum requirements. What can the students design to help a character get to their goal or overcome the problem? Brainstorm, envision, discuss, make paper prototypes or drawings/plans. Find online videos and pictures to help with science, history, geographical topics. Look at and sometimes draw maps of the area the story was from (sometimes Google Earth). Math can be word problems, measurement, interpretation of graphs to symmetry depending on grade level.
     
  4. Outline with students: plot, characters, "actions" that go with the story.
     
  5. Performing arts: re-enact the story in small groups or make masks, puppets, finger puppets, stick puppets from paper. Goal: retell at least 3 more times that week.
     
  6. Student writing: beginning, middle and end, discussing role of capitalization, apostrophes, quotation marks.

 

Suggested Resources

  • https://tejasstorytelling.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TSA-SchoolExtensionActivities.pdf  Compiled by the Storytellers of the Tejas Storytelling Association for the Tellers in the Schools Program, 2017
     
  • Figures, Facts, and Fables: Telling Tales In Science and Math - Barbara Lipke., Heinemann, 1996
     
  • Educational Development - Egan, Kieran, Oxford Univ Press, 1979. Stages of emotional development which motivate learning; appropriate use of stories in all curriculum areas.
     
  • Teaching as Story Telling - Kieran Egan, University of Chicago Press 1986. Explains how to “story” a whole lesson or unit of lessons.
     
  • Imagination In Teaching and Learning: The Middle School Years - Kieran Egan, University of Chicago Press, 1992
     
  • Bloom's Taxonomy https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/  

Questions? Experiences you'd like to share? We would like to hear from you.

Fran <fran.stallings [at] icloud.com (fran[dot]stallings[at]icloud[dot]com)>  Jeff <cauthenjd [at] bps-ok.org (cauthenjd[at]bps-ok[dot]org)>

Woman & Pig map (164.4 KB)
Flying Turtle map (86.39 KB)
downloadable handout (71.84 KB)