From the beginning of time, storytelling has been the means by which cultures and societies have preserved and celebrated their memories, passed on their values and belief systems, entertained, instructed and reported. Long before there were written records, storytellers taught through the oral tradition.

Brain-based
Today, teachers can employ this age-old educational tool with the assurance that it still works. In fact, recent brain-based research supports intuitive belief in storytelling with empirical evidence. In Making Connections, Teaching and the Human Brain (Addison-Wesley, 1994), Renate and Geoffery Caine state, "There is strong reason to believe that organization of information in story form is a natural brain process... We suggest that the brain research confirms that evidence and begins to explain why stories are important."

In a nutshell, neuroscience is discovering that the brain is wired to organize, retain and access information through story. If that is true, then teaching through story means that students will be able to remember what is taught, access that information, and apply it more readily.

Memory
Story aids memory because it puts information into a meaningful context, to which other information can be "attached." Story also puts information into an emotional context, and research indicates that emotions play an essential role in both memory and motivation. When emotions are present, hormones released to the brain act as a memory fixative.

Reading & Writing
Storytelling is indeed powerful. It provides the foundation for learning. Storytelling teaches students to listen actively and analytically, improves verbalization skills, increases imagination and visualization skills, and increases comprehension and retention skills. As educators know, listening is the basis for all language skills: talking is learned by listening, reading is based on verbal language, writing is based on reading. Without the building block of listening, you are building without a firm foundation. And once students have listened to a story and used that story to create their own, they become anxious to write them down.

Problem-Solving
Imagination and visualization are also essential to literacy, since these are the tools that allow a reader to give meaning to the words being decoded. These skills, in turn, lead to comprehension and retention. Imagination and visualization are also essential life skills: They are the primary tools we use for successful problem-solving in science, math, and daily conflicts. Storytelling builds all of these skills while motivating students to explore the wealth of folktales and stories found in books.

Storytelling is also a gentle way to guide childrentoward constructive personal values by vicariously placing the listener in situations in which the outcome of both wise and unwise actions and decisions can be experienced from the safe distance of the imagination.

That's why we TELL stories. And when students learn to tell stories, they practice the art of organizing and retaining information. They reinforce the wiring.
Cooperation & Disciplilne

Storytellers frequently report that they go into a room filled with unruly children and wonder how they will ever get their attention, especially when the students think they are too sophisticated for stories. Almost like magic, they're constantly amazed at how quickly the class settles down once they begin to tell their tales. Teachers also note the change in the room as the children are drawn into the events of the story, and the voices, motions, and rhythms created by the teller.

Additionally, students learn to support and respect one another as they all work through tasks associated with telling their own stories. They cooperate as they take turns listening to one another. Sometimes they even work cooperatively if they attempt to tell a story in pairs or a small group.

Learning Skills
As they learn to tell stories, students strengthen important learning skills. They

• Learn how to listen actively and analytically
• Improve verbalization skills
• Increase attention spans
• Increase imagination and visualization skills
• Increase comprehension and retention skills
• Explore folktales, myths and legends from around the world
• Learn how to employ focusing techniques to tell stories without memorization.

They also build important communication skills. They

• Explore the use of body language, gesture, facial expression and vocal expression to bring a story to life
• Learn how to feel comfortable in front of an audience
• Increase poise and enhance self-esteem.

Children also develop and practice important universal character traits by

• Exploring and celebrating each individual's full range of creativity
• Broadening an understanding of their own and others' heritages and cultures
• Learning to accept and appreciate their own creative efforts.
• Shining Moments/Small Miracles

Shining Moments/Small Miracles
An important by-product of teaching children to tell is what the teacher learns from listening to the students. Over and over again, teachers report that they are astounded by the results. A second grade teacher observed a student who had been classified as "educable mentally retarded" retell a story fluidly and confidently in perfect sequence. Tears streamed down the teacher's face as she said, "I had given up on him. He has never responded successfully to anything in the classroom. But now I see that I was wrong. Thank you for helping me recognizes how to reach him!" That's not an isolated incident. It has occurred in various forms in classroom after classroom. Some storytellers call these incidents "small miracles," and so do the teachers. Recently, in a mini-workshop for a fourth-grade class in the Atlanta area, another "small miracle" occurred. The class had been told a simple story and led through a visualization exercise in order to help them "make the story their own." They were then sent off in pairs to retell their new story to partners. The classroom teacher and the instructor circulated among the pairs, observing and encouraging participation. When the storyteller noticed that the classroom teacher was repeatedly drawn to one particular child, she asked if anything was wrong.

"Oh, no," the teacher whispered, her eyes never leaving that child. "It's just that I've never heard his voice before. He has never spoken in class, not since Kindergarten! But the child was talking, animatedly and enthusiastically telling his story to his partner. When the class reassembled, the storyteller called for a volunteer to tell in front of the entire class, and that child put his hand up first. As he walked to the front of the room, his classmates cheered and his teacher wept a few tears. But he didn't seem to notice. He told his story fluently and composedly, as if this were the most natural thing in the world to him, and then he returned to his seat to wild applause.

The teacher said it was a miracle, as did the principal and several other teachers who had had that child in class. And the effect was a lasting one. He continued to talk in class and participate fully from that day on. It certainly has motivated that teacher to teach her students to tell stories.

Telling to an Audience
Not only do students gain from the process of learning to tell, but they gain from the experience of telling to others. In California, teacher Kevin Cordi has formed a storytelling troupe called Voices of Illusion, which sponsors storytelling events and performs for young and old alike. They have told for small groups of senior citizens, for large-scale conferences, for preschoolers and for their peers.

"However, I believe the most important audience that my students tell for is themselves," reports Kevin. "I have watched how quickly a sense of group cohesion builds from not only youth telling stories, but youth listening to stories, and from this exchange other youth build ideas for stories, and youth begin loving stories. In this environment, a real sense of community grows: a community that cares about each other and a community that shares with one another. This community creates a positive sense of value; the value for the growth of not only a person's story, but the person. My students truly care about the nature and nurture of the other student tellers. They are helpful and create a non-threatening environment to grow; a place for which I am truly thankful."

These young storytellers have a deep understanding of the power of story, both in their lives and in the lives of their listeners. Kevin collected comments from the troupe about their experience of storytelling. Here are some of the responses:
"Storytelling can tell and teach many things, from the use of drugs to a crazy aunt of the family. People don't really know that storytelling has the power to make someone cry of sadness or cry from laughter and Voices of Illusion is one of the many ways to show that power." Maurice Arola

"Stories open up new windows for thinking for the teller and the listener." Lacy Craffin

"I learned that our stories teach us how to be more creative, peaceful and especially how to use words with more care. With stories you can see from all sides and not just one. It also gives you more chance to know and see the background of other people and see where they come from." Nicole Durkin