Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Adding Actions and Adjectives: Storytelling Worksheet

For the past 15 years I have been working with students, teaching them the art of Oral Tradition. They choose their own folktales and through a number of written assignment and interactive games they add their own voice to the tale. Our final goal is an end of year Storytelling Festival for their families, friends and community members.

Last week I used a new worksheet I created with my fourth and fifth grade storytelling students to help their stories come alive. 




Below are some of the changes/additions the students made in their stories; they are capitalized and in bold font.


  • They walked down the path and found a SHALLOW stone well.
  • They QUICKLY tumbled down the shallow well.
  • Once there was a GRAND Chinese ruler who had a cat he treasured above all other animals.
  • The ruler gave a BROAD smile as he realized that his children were his wisest advisers of all. 
  • She FIRMLY held out her needle
  • “I see how fast you DEVOURED my mother’s butter.”
  • It told the boy about strange, VICIOUS stone giants and GHOSTLY flying heads
  • “I really should not say,” said the SNEAKY clam.
  • Beaver thought of a plan, a very BRILLIANT plan!
  • The oldest brother PROUDLY counted his bothers.
  • The youngest brother had a CREATIVE idea.
  • There once was a COLORFUL garden, filled with flowers STRETCHING toward the sun.
  • The girls SWIFTLY ran off.
  • They SLOWLY TIPTOED towards her.

I give you permission to use the worksheet in your storytelling work, however, I respectfully ask that you do not remove the copyright information and credit the source. Permission does not include using it in any other print material, i.e. books, workshop handouts, blogs, e-books, etc. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. 

If you would like the worksheet in a .doc file I will be happy to email it to you. You may reach me at storybug@aol.com If you do use it I would be delighted to know how it worked for your students. You will find additional handouts and games I created for my storytelling troupes in my award-winning book, Story by Story: Creating a Student Storytelling Troupe .

Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think about this new worksheet. *Note: I monitor blog comments to avoid spam so you will not immediately see your note until I approve it. 



Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

Karen Chace 2017 ©
This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.

Monday, January 2, 2017

Stor e Telling: January February March 2016: Humor

The Golden Goose
Leslie Brooke, 1905
“Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.”  - Mark Twain

The New Year is here and it is time to begin sharing my Storytelling Magazine columns from 2016. The magazine is a membership benefit of the National Storytelling Network. If you are interested in getting fabulous articles from world-renowned storytellers and educators, along with my most recent column, join us at www.storynet.org.  I will not be sharing any 2017 publications until 2018 rolls around.

Since the theme for this issue is humor I rounded up some noodleheads and simpletons to add to the fun!

STORIES

The Book of Noodles: Stories of Simpletons; or, Fools and Their Follies by W.A. Clouston, 1888.  A wide variety of noodlehead stories are found within; tales from Greece, Turkey, China, Japan, Kashmir…enough tales to keep you laughing and scratching your head for days!
http://tinyurl.com/pzelzst

Capturing the Moon - Poland
http://tinyurl.com/nugbajc

Fool of the King - Africa

The Golden Goose - Germany

Jack Tales and Folklore - United States 
Sixteen stories of our favorite fool, Jack.
http://tinyurl.com/q76p8mr

Kookaburras Laughter - Australia

Candlemas is February 2; I offer you some bright tales to light the way.

The Bearded Fool - India
http://tinyurl.com/pa6qlgh

The Candles of Life - Czechoslovakia

Christmas Eve Light - Europe
http://tinyurl.com/pdahbyc

The Flame of a Candle - Turkey
http://tinyurl.com/onyk3xz

Gaffer Death – Germany

The Hand of Glory - England
http://tinyurl.com/qhogv8v

The Red Candles and the Mermaid - Japan    
http://tinyurl.com/ofpauf2

The Rose Tree – England
http://tinyurl.com/qdpwh53

The Three Princes and the Maiden - Portugal
http://tinyurl.com/nb34ggg

The Twist Mouth Family - United States
http://tinyurl.com/p42zjqr


March 1 is National Pig Day, below are some tales to celebrate these clever, intelligent animals.

The Dog and the Pig - India

The Pig That Went to Church - United States

The Old Woman and Her Pig - England
http://tinyurl.com/8yagce3

The Three Green Men of Glen Nevis - Scotland


A few Irish tales to celebrate St. Patricks Day.

Irish Myths and Legends - Stories from the Ulster and Fennian Cycle, The Tuatha Dé Danaan, and later traditions. My thanks to Simon Brooks for passing this site along.
http://tinyurl.com/qzmwgpe

Something Extra

Read Write Think - Fractured fairy tales; classroom resources and more. “Whether it's The Princess and the Rutabaga or Big Blue Riding Hood, invite your students to turn familiar fairy tales upside down and inside out—and to have fun.”
http://tinyurl.com/ybohlo7

Writing Noodlehead StoriesA Unit for Second Through Sixth Grade 
From the amazing storytelling team of Hamilton and Weiss, a guide to help your students understand and craft their own Noodlehead tales.
http://tinyurl.com/ckbfmvf

Verve - While this is foremost an ecommerce business, scroll down for a list of 27 royalty free stock images for commercial use.

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and web links may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

Karen Chace 2017 ©
This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.