There is nothing better than a good story. How often have I seen even the most challenging of students sitting completely engrossed by a tale, eagerly awaiting what happens next…? I remember listening to a professional storyteller, whilst on a field trip in Wales, telling tales of mythical creatures called boggarts. He was brilliant. The sixty children were sitting transfixed, listening to the spooky story as they hung on to each other- it was terrifying, but they loved it!
National Story Telling Week begins on 26 Saturday 2013 January and runs until 2 February 2013. Apart from the obvious literacy links, why not try linking stories to mathematics, science and D&T?
In mathematics when teaching about worded problems encourage children to act out the story or draw a picture of the problem to help understanding. Design and make pop-up cards or puppets to tell traditional or imaginary stories. Look at graphs of a kettle boiling or ice-melting and act out what happens and ask children to tell the story of the graph. Ask children to make up songs to explain science ideas and concepts such as condensation or germination. Use traditional characters such as Jack Frost to learn about freezing or read The Giant Turnip as an introduction to forces.
If you are looking for ideas, visit the Primary Resources group for a list of resources to support learning across the curriculum.
