EducationPrimary

Story-telling: learning to engage an audience

Talking in front of a crowd can be challenging for anyone. And actually engaging that crowd, even more so. However, as with anything, practice can help.

Branko tells a story to Preschool and Year 1 students about his Mayan mask creation.

As part of their unit, students from year 3 are studying Ancient Civilizations, specifically the Mayans. They learned about the importance of different types of Gods in the Mayan culture and the masks that were used to represent these Gods.

Arnika puts the final touches onto her Mayan mask.

As part of the mask creation they needed to keep track of the materials they used and the process they followed. They then listened to different types of Mayan stories, learning how archaeologists found them and how the writing was deciphered. Then students wrote their own stories.

Olivia typed up the her story on a computer.

They practiced telling them first in their own classroom and then visited the Preschool/Year 1 students as story-tellers. Preschool is a hard age to keep engaged, but the students showed that they could sit and listen appropriately and even gifted the story-tellers with a nice round of applause and lovely greetings. It was very clear to us that the teachers in Preschool/Year 1 have made great progress with their students regarding courtesy. Thank you!

Amir explains how he made his mask.
Robert engaged his audience by changing the tone of his voice.
Veronica chose to use props and a background to make her story more engaging.
Greta pointed to all parts of the masks as she explained what materials she used and the process she followed.
Students were delighted and listened attentively.
Sofia engaged her audience by making frequent eye-contact.
Janko practiced reading his story so that he would remember it.

Arnika’s final product.
Some students chose to leave their masks in school as part of a display. They will make their way home soon!
What a great audience! Thank you Preschool/Year 1.
Even teachers get to practice. Here Miss Beata shows off her mask.
Miss Karo explains how she made her mask. More eye contact next time please! ?

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