Exaggeration Station: Interactive Storytelling Game

The Studio
by
Sophie Anderson 1823-1903

I created a new storytelling game over the Thanksgiving holiday and yesterday was the first time I tried it out with my fourth and fifth grade storytelling students. We are in the fifth week of this storytelling residency and we have been working on voice, characterization and images. Before we played the game they completed the Story Snapshot exercise (found in my book, Story by Story) so they could flesh out details on setting, characters, and sensory details. This exercise would help them prepare for the new, interactive game, Exaggeration Station. © 2015

Details of Exaggeration Station:

I prepared a handout for the students to complete before the game. The sheet mirrored the poster boards that were placed around the room. This gave them a chance to think through their choices, rather than being put on the spot.

 

Since I was in a school library I used the book stands to hold up the poster boards on the book shelves, which were no higher than eye level. They were organized in a pattern that wove them up and down the aisles so the children were able to move through the game. The students were allowed to bring the paper they completed with them. At each station they were instructed to exaggerate the gesture, dialogue, word, etc. listed on each individual poster. The goal was to help them step out of their comfort zone and in doing so, perhaps find a new voice or vocal range, confident gestures for their stories, and of course, to have fun!

I stood at the front of the line to ensure the students didn’t bunch up in one spot, giving each storyteller a measure of privacy. Tandem tellers moved through each station separately so they could work on their own voice.

Below are the posters I designed for the game.

 

The game went well and I was surprised that any chaos was kept to a minimum. They had a great time and commented that it was fun to raise their voice in the library! One of my students is particularly shy so I let her go last, walking with her, encouraging her along the way. She began to relax and was able to accomplish each task as we moved through the stations.

A few student reflections after we finished Exaggeration Station:

• I found a new voice for the old woman when she transformed into the fairy.
• I decided to use a stronger gesture for the king.
• It was fun making the mouse sound really loud!
• I always have trouble being loud but this helped me find my voice.

Afterwards, we followed up with the exercise, Walk the Talk, also found in Story by Story, and they were able to incorporate some of the new tools they discovered in Exaggeration Station. After they have worked on their stories a bit longer I will repeat the game and see what new ideas bubble to the surface.
You are free to try this game with your students in your work, however, you may not publish this in any form without permission or attribution. If you do use it I would be delighted if you would let me know how it worked for you.

Karen Chace 2015 ©

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.

Dicing Up Your Story: New Storytelling Activity

Song Dynasty
by
Su Hanchen, mid 12th Century

Yesterday I met with my sixth and seventh grade storytelling troupe. They have already selected their stories so we spent some time identifying where they could add gestures as they told their tales.

I began by asking them to tell aloud, separately, and simultaneously. As I walked around the room, listening and watching, I noticed many natural movements coming to life.  One student, Soraya, was completely immersed in the story; her body bent forward, arms outstretched, her face displaying all the hallmarks of an intense conversation as she spoke some of the dialogue. So convincing was her body language I had to look twice to see if she was actually speaking with another student. When I remarked on it later during our discussion, she was surprised by my description. She truly didn’t realize what she was doing; it was a natural extension of stepping into her story.

After everyone finished I asked them to complete the written exercise, Giant Gestures, then called everyone into a circle. Using a large, foam dice each student took turns tossing it. Whatever number came up they performed that number of gestures from their story, while explaining the part of the story the gesture complemented. Since the numbers went from one to six, and the written exercise only asked for five gestures, if six came up they shared five gestures and one facial expression.

They had a great time and didn’t want to stop. Luke, another student asked, “Do you know the Wonder Ball song?” He suggested we pass the dice as we sang the song, and the student left holding the dice would share a gesture. I liked the idea and added, “Since three is the magic number in fairytales let’s share two gestures and one facial expression.” Once a student was ‘out’ they sat in the middle of the circle urging their friends on.

I can easily imagine this dice being used for other story parts as well. Perhaps you might attach something specific to each number. For example:
#1 = gesture

#2 = two lines of dialogue
#3 = three facial expressions
#4 = four adjectives to describe someone in your story

#5 = use your five senses to describe the setting of your story

#6 = share six (major or minor) events that happen in your story

* These games are free for you to use in your work. However, I  do ask that you respect copyright and offer attribution.

 

After both games they completed a second written exercise, Story Snapshot. I was delighted to read the highly descriptive and detailed answers they gave for the questions. The combination of telling their stories aloud, completing Giant Gestures first, transitioning to activities that engaged the entire body, and back to one last written exercise, Story Snapshot, worked! The entire process complemented and reinforced their gestures, facial expression, story sequence, imagination, and team spirit, and they had fun in the process!

Next week I will try out a new activity, based on another childhood game. I will let you know how it turns out! * Both exercises, Giant Gestures and Story Snapshot can be found in my book, Story by Story: Creating a Student Storytelling Troupe.

Note: Yes, I know that normally the singular for dice is die. However, when I double checked before posting the blog this is what I read: “The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Judy Pearsall, Patrick Hanks (1998) states that “In modern standard English, the singular die (rather than dice) is uncommon. Dice is used for both the singular and the plural.”

Karen Chace 2014 ©

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.

Following the Breadcrumbs V: Stor e Telling January February 2003

Hansel and Gretel
by
Anton Pieck, 1903

I am traveling back in time and updating all of my Stor e Telling columns for Storytelling Magazine since 2002 I have checked all of the links, updated those that have new URL's and deleted others that have found their way to the Internet graveyard. Through the summer and beyond I will continue to update the columns and post them on my blog until all of the breadcrumbs lead to the end of 2006. At the end of the blog you will find links to the columns from 2007 – 2013.

I continue to write for Storytelling Magazine but will not be adding current columns until the following year. If you want immediate access to the newest websites, consider becoming a member of the National Storytelling Network. Please feel free to comment on the blog and let me know if you find this useful. 

African Folktales

Eight unique folktales from the Dark Continent and the home page offers an array of elementary resources.
http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/africa.html

Arthur’s Classic Novels

Books of fairytales ripe for the reading, and when you are done with Lang, Ashliman, Baum and Kipling, you will find the literary works of Twain, Tolstoy, Dickens, Dean, Defoe and more. A literary feast for the serious bibliophile!
http://arthursnovels.bravepages.com/

Borneo Legends and Myths
Would you like to know the _Origin of Rice_ or meet _The Girl Who Longed to see the Moon_? Then stop off in Borneo and read these and other legends and myths of this magical land.
http://www.e-borneo.com/insideborneo/legend.shtml

The Moonlit Road

Read ghost stories and strange folktales of the American South; it’s never too late to get ready for next Halloween.
http://www.themoonlitroad.com/

North by Northwest
Reminiscent of the Alfred Hitchcock movie this site is worthy of the same mystique librarians at the Vancouver Library will take on the “Case of the Forgotten Book.” Let them unearth that childhood story you can only recall in bits and pieces.
http://www.cbc.ca/nxnw/childhoodbooks/

Norwegian Folk Tales

Eighty folktales to warm our hearts through the winter.
http://oaks.nvg.org/norwegian-folktales.html

Parabola
Each issue of this award winning journal offers a central theme devoted to the “exploration of the quest for meaning as it is expressed in the world’s myths, symbols, and religious traditions.”
http://www.parabola.org/

Storytelling Arts of Indiana

Teaching Guides, games, activities and resources from such quality tellers as Heather Forest, Doug Lipman, Rex Ellis, Doug Elliott, Janice Harrington and Ed Stivender. You can’t go wrong taking advice from this group!
http://www.storytellingarts.org/teacher-guide.html

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

If you missed the beginning of this new series the links are below:

January February 2002 - Folktales, myths, legends and pourquoi stories from around the world and a few other sites to whet your appetite.

http://www.karenchace.blogspot.com/2014/06/stor-e-telling-january-february-2002.html

May June 2002 - American Life Histories from the WPA Project, Mayan and Philippine folktale's, public domain tales dating back to the 1880's, seasonal stories of forests, frogs, moons and maidens, solar folklore and more.

http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2014/06/following-breadcrumbs-stor-e-telling.html

July August 2002 - Trickster tales, Kenyan folktales, flower fables and participation stories to put some fun in your summer storytelling.

http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2014/06/following-breadcrumbs-ii-stor-e-telling.html 

September October 2002 – Included is a guide to collecting family folklore, folktales from Britain, Russia, Kashmir, fables from the Panchatantra, Jataka stories, and Native American legends ready to be explored.

http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2014/06/following-breadcrumbs-iii-stor-e.html

November December 2002 - Resources for Jack Tales, puppets, ghost stories, educational resources and activities, Australian storytelling, traditions and folklore from the Orkney Islands. For extra fun the Book Hive link will lead you to stories by the amazing Jackie Torrence and other well-known tellers. Next stop, 2003!

http://www.karenchace.blogspot.com/2014/06/following-breadcrumbs-iv-stor-e-telling.html

Below are the previous blog posts offering additional columns from 2007-2013.

Stor e Telling Columns 2007-2012 
All 31 blog posts, along with a brief synopsis for each one, in an easy to access post at the link below.

http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2013/12/stor-e-telling-columns-2007-to-2012.html 

Stor e Telling Columns 2013
From 1001 Night to 2001 Story Resources – This link will lead to you one blog post with all of my columns from 2013.
http://www.karenchace.blogspot.com/2014/06/from-1001-nights-to-2001-story.html

Karen Chace 2014 ©
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.