Using storytelling method to help children learn more effectively
BY ADMIN PUBLISHED November 22, 2023, UPDATED January 1, 1970
Children love listening to stories. While growing up, they listen to folk tales and fairy tales that provide a simple way to communicate important messages. Young children tend to connect fairy tales with real-life situations, which enables them to develop problem-solving skills. The potential of stories to spark interest among the little ones has motivated many schools to adopt the story telling method of teaching. This method makes it seamless for students to process and receive information.
Parents generally want their children to get the best education; thus, many put their faith in DPSGS International. This is an International Baccalaureate school that helps young minds learn through storytelling and other intriguing methods. In the curriculum, DPSGS also embedded communication in English and personal development.
Storytelling methods of teachers
The early socialisation of children and storytelling go hand-in-hand. As per research, storytelling improves cognitive development, establishes emotional, psychological, and linguistic foundations, and nurtures empathy. Teachers and parents can learn effective storytelling methods to instil honesty, compassion, empathy, and kindness in them. Here are a few storytelling techniques for teachers that will help students enhance their communication skills. Also, they can learn about metaphors, diversified vocabulary, and diction.
Stories should be short and crisp
Long stories often lose a child’s attention. Since kids don’t have a long attention span, telling them long stories will automatically bore them. Keeping the stories brief is one of the most effective ways to keep the listener hooked. The storyteller’s objective is to deliver relevant knowledge and information to the audience in a brief time to assist them in recalling the moral of the story for longer periods of time.
Build characters around conflict
Teachers can create their stories around obstacles and conflicts. This strong storytelling technique draws the audience’s attention to the narrative. Teachers can craft obstacles in the protagonist’s life in a way that young minds get inspired by them. This technique helps students understand how difficult it is to achieve something in life. Through this storytelling method, they are also taught to value hard work.
Craft a “looking forward to” moment
Children who like storytelling get completely immersed in the stories. Hence suspense is an important part of storytelling as it takes the spectator to the “looking forward to” moment. Suspense keeps children focused on the story and storyteller. They get increasingly intrigued as the story progresses. So as a storyteller, the teacher must create an interesting narrative to engage young minds, bring an element of suspense and then explain how it all happened. Furthermore, suspense is a great option for broadening a child’s cognitive abilities. Because of this vital component, children consider alternate outcomes, generate ideas, build concepts, and comprehend the distinction between good and bad behaviour.
Bring characters to life
Lively characters’ fortunes and misfortunes move people. Teachers can tell about the character’s physical appearance and some other facts with which children can relate and connect to. It is one of the most successful storytelling methods since it evokes sentiments in young minds like compassion and empathy. They are also connected with characters that activate identical neurons. Identical neurons are essential if teachers want their students to relate to other emotions like melancholy, grief, rage, happiness and others.
Take children to another world
A good story should have a visual effect on people, so much so that it will take them to a fantasy place. Instead of relying on difficult phrases, teachers can use simple words that they can imagine easily. The most successful method is to employ phrases that will transport children to another world, stimulate their creativity and arouse curiosity. When teachers employ visual storytelling tactics, students may recall and retain greater chunks of information for longer periods of time.
Advantages and disadvantages of storytelling method of teaching
The method of storytelling also has some merits and demerits. So let’s get into the advantages and disadvantages of story telling method of teaching.
Advantages
- This method of teaching helps develop a positive learning attitude among children when they are acquiring a new language.
- Stories have global appeal since they are extremely engaging for students.
- The technique creates a realistic setting in which learners may experiment with language.
- Stories assist instructors in captivating and maintaining the attention and motivation of their students.
- Stories may be used to teach a variety of linguistic concepts.
Disadvantages
- This technique does not include any hands-on learning.
- Excessive usage of this strategy might make the lecture boring and tiresome.
- Children might not be able to ask many questions and, hence will not comprehend the lesson.
Read Also: Strategies to Provide Equal Opportunity to All Students to Grow Holistically
Conclusion
Storytelling is an excellent method for triggering emotional response in children. Children get information and moral values through tales which are necessary for them to live in this world. It is an effective tool for a child’s mental, emotional, and psychological development.
As parents, it is your responsibility to admit your ward to schools that provide a progressive learning environment and where teachers use different teaching-learning solutions aligned with the 21st-century education system. One such school is DPSG Ghaziabad. With an International Baccalaureate (IB PYP), this school provide opportunities for self-expression through rhythmic art, dance, music, and theatre in the district’s most elite Art & Cultural Centre - Kala Prabodhini. It also has interactive academic classroom sessions, maintaining international standards of teaching.
