Light Up the Season with Storytelling

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Long, long before there were movies, radios, or even books, there were storytellers! The holidays are the perfect time to rekindle this tradition. Using both read-alouds and storytelling techniques, you can pull even your reluctant readers into a tale.

The first step to making storytelling work in your classroom is to feel comfortable telling tales yourself.

Perfect Your Craft: Teachers as Storytellers
See quick tips to help you find your storytelling style.

 

Like read-alouds, storytelling supports listening, vocabulary, prediction, sequencing, and memory skills. It teaches students about the use of language, narrative form, and values.

Use these activities to incorporate oral stories into your holiday-time curriculum.

Make the Story Personal: A Big Book About Us
Capture the holiday spirit with a hand-on activity that teaches young students about the elements of telling a story.
Grades Prek-2

Share What You Know: Family Stories
Encourage beginning storytellers to find inspiration in their own lives and in tales from relatives.
Grades 2-3

Tell Us a Tale: Teaching Students to Be Storytellers
Follow a step-by-step lesson to help even shy students find their voice and make a story their own.
Grades 3-Up

Collect a Story Treasure: The Gift of a Story
Celebrate the true meaning of gift-giving by helping students gather personal memories into a story book.
Grades 4-8

Books from the Best Storytellers
Celebrate December holidays while introducing students to multicultural stories or classic books that are perfect any time of the year.

Recommended Books
Find must-reads for the season — storytelling inspiration, read-alouds, and suggestions for exploring holiday tales from around the world.

Share What You Know: Family Stories
Encourage beginning storytellers to find inspiration in their own lives and in tales from relatives.

The Gift of a Story
Celebrate the true meaning of gift-giving by helping students gather personal memories into a story book.

Tell Us a Tale: Teaching Students to Be Storytellers
Follow a step-by-step lesson to help even shy students find their voice and make a story their own.

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