Curated OER
Oral Stories
Legends are stories that have been retold as they have been passed down through the generations. Learners orally retell The Legend of the Bluebonnet in their own unique way after discussing the importance of oral traditions and...
Curated OER
Introduction to Traditional Oral Narratives
Students are introduced to the idea of traditional oral narratives and divide them into genres. They explore the genres of context, motifs and variants. Each student finds oral narratives in their own lives and practice retelling them in...
Curated OER
Harvesting the River Lesson Plan: Taking an Oral History
Young scholars practice researching history through oral traditions. In this U.S. History lesson, students examine an online exhibit titled Harvesting the River, in which young scholars interview someone from the story. ...
Curated OER
Effective Storytelling
Learners read an article and discuss it for comprehension. They practice storytelling.
Curated OER
Folktales: Oral Traditions as a Basis for Instruction in our Schools
Middle schoolers visit their school library to read a variety of folktales. While they read, they identify the trickster or hero in each and discuss how the character represents the chaos in the real world. In groups, they write their...
Curated OER
Carrying on the Storytelling Tradition
Learners examine the art of Clementine Hunter, a Creole folk artist. They compare Hunter's Folk Art style with Grandma Moses' Primitive work. They then draw an important memory in Hunter's style, and describe their drawing orally for a...
Curated OER
Storytelling
Eighth graders retell stories to peers and the entire class. In this storytelling activity, 8th graders research short stories and select a short story to retell. Students rewrite the stories in their own words and tell it aloud.
Tellagami Labs
Tellagami
Bring the world of video messaging into your classroom with this creative communication application. Offering the ability to create animations with customized characters, backgrounds, and recorded messages, this resource is guaranteed to...
Curated OER
History: An African American Cultural Celebration
Students prepare and organize a cultural celebration of African migration and immigration. Working in groups or individually, they research topics and present the information, including dance demonstrations, instrumental or vocal...
Curated OER
Practice Makes Perfect
And the consensus says...Teach your class to use peer feedback to refine public speaking skills. They cut out a magazine picture and develop an oral story about it to present to the class. They share several meaningful objects with the...
Curated OER
Keeping the Past Alive
Students read about the oral histories of West Africa and complete related activities. In this oral histories lesson, students read about the importance of oral customs in African cultures. Students interview a family member about oral...
Curated OER
Archaeology and Storytelling
Learners identify and interpret both individual families and whole cultures learn about their pasts by collecting and analyzing stories and artifacts. Then they identify that not all archaeological finds readily reveal their history to...
Vanderbilt University
Stories from the Panama Canal
The stories of the Silver People, the West Indies immigrants hired to work on the Panama Canal, come to life in a lesson about the building of the Panama Canal. Groups research why the canal was built, how it was build, the working...
Scholastic
Tell Us a Tale: Teaching Students to Be Storytellers
Encourage scholars to retell their favorite short story or folktale, adding personal details to make it their own. After reading their book of choice several times, story tellers retell a tale verbally to their classmates.
Curated OER
Discovering Yourself
Students explore Aboriginal storytelling. In this literature lesson, students read Knots on a Counting Rope and then create a story line as they discuss the attributes of Aboriginal culture. Students retell the story in their own words.
Curated OER
The Great Hunter Storytelling Lesson
Students listen to and use resources to translate an old Oneida story told in the Oneida language by an elder in the community. They then develop an illustrated slideshow of the story.
Curated OER
Folklore and Oral History
High schoolers listen to a lecture about the tradition of story telling and oral history. They research three examples of African American and/or Negro Leagues oral tradition. they work in groups of four, and decide on one example from...
Curated OER
It's All Part of the Story
Students explore storytelling through pantomime, improvisation, and dramatization. They watch an online video, discuss Native American earth stories, role-play various situations, explore websites, and present an oral story to the class.
Curated OER
Classic Storytelling with a Technology Twist
Students use technology to improve their knowledge of literary terms, math, and technology skills. In this technology storytelling lesson, students learn about character, plot, and setting in various stories by using technology like...
Curated OER
Language Arts, African Americans, Oral Tradition and the Blues
When slavery took Africans from their land, they were separated from the rich musical and oral traditions native to each country and region. While working as slaves, Africans found they had two places where they could use these musical...
Curated OER
Using Oral Traditions to Improve Verbal and Listening Skills
Students examine the role of stories in African and African-American cultures. This lesson plan is written for students with visual impairments. They
Polar Trec
Talk Story: A Native Way of Knowing
The steps of the scientific method examine a problem, make a prediction, and attempt to solve the problem—similar to the path most stories take. In the activity, individuals see how stories can explain natural events similar to the way...
Curated OER
Electricity and Magnetism
Make oral presentations electric and magnetic! As the conclusion of the study of electricity and magnetism, class members are assigned to bring to life items or people associated with these topics. Speaking as the person or object,...
Curated OER
Legends of the Fifth
Students explore the the legends and myths of the Orient, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas in this six lessons unit. Different cultures and belief systems of the inhabitants of these areas are examined through storytelling techniques.