Seminar #2
Stories Bring Lessons to Life
Storytelling—An Integral Teaching Tool in All Learning Environments
The story comes alive in the ears and eyes of the listener. The story can illuminate, inform,
and inspire or the story can be an invitation; an invitation to explore and question; an invitation
to contemplate and reflect. Sometimes the story can open a window through which
we can see another’s perspective and there are those stories that make us weep or laugh;
we walk away wiping our eyes either from pain or joy with the subtle realization that we
have just learned a familiar lesson or that we have just been entertained.
—Momma Tee
StoryTalk recognizes that storytelling is an important tool in all learning environments and builds the capacity of individuals from all walks of life to share stories. All instructors and lecturers have a toolbox of stories. But how many really use the story as a teaching strategy to reach that student who falls asleep or whose mind wanders during a presentation full of numbers, facts, or dates or for those who are unresponsive to “his-story” told without the story.
The story is useful for sharing history and illustrating a particular point; extending or reinforcing learning in a subject area; or integrating several subject areas. The story can also be used to entertain and to delight. Bring lessons to life by using stories in all subject areas.
Join this conversation about stories in learning environments. Participants will:
- Identify and practice using the elements of storytelling
- Learn how the story can extend or reinforce learning academic subject areas
- Discuss how the story can bring lessons to life
- Practice using stories to illuminate a variety of subject areas
- Explore the benefits to children of telling stories and reading aloud