NARRATION: Bringing out the Storyteller in Every Student
Lorna A. Billanes (English Department)
Introduction
Stories are a valuable learning tool in a language-learning classroom. Not only do they provide opportunities for students to articulate their thoughts and feelings; they also provide a visual framework in the learning of language skills.
Students have a wealth of ideas waiting to be tapped, and teachers wishing to foster communicative competence among students can utilize stories for maximum benefits. Because storytelling is an invaluable learning tool which lends itself well to any topic—whether narration, description or other expository techniques, it can be incorporated in most E-101 classes.
A common setback that often manifests itself is the students’ limited vocabulary and unwillingness to share their thoughts with the class—often stemming from a lack of confidence. But when the activity is done in an unthreatening way, and when they are made to understand that their contribution, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is their first baby step toward conquering their fear of public speaking, then they respond with enthusiasm.
Objectives
At the end of the session, the students are expected to:
- demonstrate competence of the language by using correct English
- create a logical story using the various elements of narration
- present the stories they have created, and answer the questions raised about them
Expected Student Output
- collaborative storytelling and pieced-together story done in collaboration with other students
- a creative re-creation of the picture using correct English
- a reading log which summarizes important aspects of the story
Motivation
Most of my students start with an ice breaker.
Option 1. A black and white photo is presented on OHP to elicit the students’ response. Students are asked to give their reaction about any aspect of the picture. It helps a lot if the chosen picture has a bearing on the essay to be discussed, so the teacher can establish a link.
Option 2. Students are asked to tell a story of their choice. The assigning of topics is usually done during the first week of the semester—usually after the “house keeping” has been done. I give out a list of topics and the students signify their interest by choosing one which she feels she is an expert on. The topics are clustered around certain themes such as: Interesting Hobbies, Favorite Characters, Unusual Traits, Embarrassing Moments, Grand Dreams, etc. I ask them to draw lots to determine the date of presentation. They are encouraged to be creative, and to bring appropriate visual aids during their talk. I often rely on the more assertive and proficient students to start the activity to set the trend for the more timid students to follow. This activity is best done on an individual basis—a prelude to the more serious task, and should not displace the other more extensive, though similar storytelling activities.
After the initial response from the class, a mini-lecture on the narrative elements such as character, setting, theme, conflict, etc. are discussed. Depending on the teacher’s preference and the students’ level of proficiency, this topic could be assigned for students to report on; or a freewheeling discussion, with several point persons taking the lead as discussion leaders may be done, instead. The discussion could later segue into an overview of the essay or article to be taken up.
A viable activity that logically springs from the initial discussion is the collaborative storytelling. I allow the students to create their own plot from the randomly selected pieces of paper which I pass around in brown envelopes. This kind of activity is best suited for small groups consisting of at most, six students. It’s amazing what surprising twists they are capable of creating. Most often, the output is diverse—at times, lacking in depth. What is important is how they are able to piece together the various elements to make a logical and coherent story.
A number of elements can make up the “repertoire”. For instance:
WHO – student, father, an old woman
WHAT – a broken guitar, an old rosary, a tattered notebook
WHEN – a rainy day in August, vesper hour
WHERE – an old hut in Pampanga
It is best, of course, to include as many combinations of these elements as possible to make for a more varied pieced-together story.
I try as best as I can to incorporate the four skills in every lesson I present. Ideally, each session should allow students to engage in meaningful reading, writing, listening and speaking activities, with springboard activities made available for them. After having taken care of the speaking component, I now proceed to test the students’ listening skill by assigning some students to raise a few thought-provoking questions about any aspects of the story created, and narrated, by their classmates.
Another possible alternative is to ask the students to listen to an interesting story. Halfway through the story, I stop and assign one student to supply a possible continuation to it. Other students are given the same chance to suggest a logical re-creation of the story. When a satisfactory conclusion has been reached, students are grouped into small units, and they are asked to write down as much as they can remember of the pieced-together story. Copies of their collaborative stories are then given to other groups for evaluation.
The students are instructed that as they read, they should do so in the context of the questions presented on OHP. Usually these are guide questions to wade them through the reading process. They are also encouraged to identify the passages they love best by drawing a smiling face or a star opposite to it.
Prior to the evaluation of the group stories, guidelines must have been set to clarify how the assessment should be done. Among the guide questions included are: Are the tenses of the verbs consistent? Do the paragraphs express a unified thought? What is the most beautifully crafted sentence? This activity prepares them for the task of creating a group magazine, which will showcase all the writings they have done in class.
0 comments:
Post a Comment