The Story Spinner is a collection of 42 stories told on film, by veteran storyteller Phil McDermott (rated ‘Excellent’ by Ofsted) and created especially for use in primary schools.
There are 7 DVDs in each box set,
with 6 stories for each year,
from reception to Year 6 -
creating a unique resource
for the entire school.
The Story Spinner now offers interactive workshops, led by experienced professionals, to help you make the most of this exciting resource in your school.
The Birmingham Story Spinner project
Discover how Birmingham schools experienced outstanding results in children’s writing, thanks to The Story Spinner DVDs. Read the Final Evaluation of the Story Spinner here.
“The Story Spinner sows the seed for teachers, children, families to weave their own tales of wonder and delight for the National Year of Reading and beyond.”
— Marilyn Mottram, School Effectiveness Adviser, Birmingham LA.
As part of the National Year of Reading, the Story Spinner project was rolled out across schools within the Birmingham LEA. The central aim of the project was to use the oral tradition of storytelling as a means of bringing schools, families and communities together.
In our modern screen-based and media-saturated culture, it is rare for children to experience and appreciate oral storytelling as it once existed. For millennia, stories passed on from generation to generation, have been vital in helping us to understand and make sense of our world. They have also been essential tools in teaching children to listen and, more importantly, to imagine. It is this idea of ‘imagining’ – of letting children experience the power of words to paint their own pictures – that lay at the heart of this initiative.
Key Findings from the project
1. The achievements of all children involved indicate that The Story Spinner DVDs have contributed significantly to raising standards in speaking and listening.
2. Noticeable gains have been seen in writing. The structure as well as the imaginative content of the children’s told and written narratives improved noticeably over the course of one term.
3. The DVDs have helped to raise attainment in reading, as children could watch stories on the DVDs then transfer their understanding to stories in books.
4. The DVDs provided support for more flexible and creative planning and teaching, fitting well with the revised Literacy Framework and offering a variety of assessment opportunities in reading, speaking and listening and writing.
5. Teachers’ classroom practice developed significantly as a result of the project. There is good evidence of the potential of The Story Spinner DVDs for supporting professional and curriculum development within schools. For example, through staff development sessions and in using the stories in different curriculum areas.
Stretching the imagination
Eight schools and eleven teachers were involved in the project. Each school was given a set of The Story Spinner DVDs to launch their work during their summer term (2008). The stories on the DVDs, carefully chosen from different countries and cultures around the world, are all told by veteran storyteller, Phil McDermott (rated ‘Excellent’ by Ofsted).
What immediately became obvious when viewing the DVDs in the classroom, was the unique way in which the storyteller interacts with his audience. There are no visual distractions or sound effects. Instead, the camera focuses solely on Phil’s face. Eye contact is maintained throughout and through the use of facial expressions, characterisations and dramatisation, the story is expertly presented simply through the power of gesture and speech. Not only did this provide a powerful model for teachers and children to follow when telling their own stories, but it also provided the key magic ingredient that really captivated and kick-started the project. Imagination.
“You wouldn’t expect it – because there are no extra visual effects – but it is almost as though it means more to them because there isn’t any of the sort of movement and action that they are used to, and they lean forward and want to hear more and more.”
“Watching the DVDs and listening to stories sparked off the children’s own imaginative inner worlds, which became evident in the content of their stories.”
By watching and listening to the DVDs, children were being encouraged to ‘see’ the stories for themselves in their mind’s eye. This individual visualisation of the stories, free of the distractions inherent in other media, allowed the children to experience each story in their own way. In turn, this gave them an increased confidence and desire to express themselves and their ideas both orally and in their written work.
Finding a voice
The DVDs stimulated the children’s own storytelling. Repeated viewings of the stories allowed the children to absorb the techniques that Phil displayed to add drama and character to their own stories. At Yew Tree Community School, the children retold their favourite stories in pairs and small groups. Teachers noted that, as well as employing many of the actions and gestures of the storyteller, they also used remembered phrases and repetition in their recounts.
At Woodview School, the Year 1 class was captivated by the story of Brian and the Dragon, having watched it fifteen times without losing interest. Follow up work saw the children bringing in their own bedtime stories from home, including the setting up of a ‘Story Spinners Corner’ for children to share their stories with each other. Again, children were motivated and excited at the idea of becoming ‘storytellers’, mimicking what they had seen on screen with The Story Spinner DVDs.
‘The beauty of this for them is that… it seems to give them imagination… they have got imagination but we need to unleash it. It’s all in their faces when they are watching [The Story Spinner]”
Something to write about
The achievements of all the classes involved in the project indicate that oral storytelling can provide a powerful means of giving children a ‘voice’ for their writing. The structure as well as the imaginative content of children’s told and written narratives improved noticeably over the course of one term. Improvements were also seen in vocabulary, use of imagery and in a growing sense of the rhythms and cadences of storytelling.
Example 1 – Lucia, Year 4.
On Sunday Orlagh came over to mine to sleep over. We stayed up till 1.00 am in the morning on the PSP and The Do and The computer and hide and seek my dog.
Example 2 – Lucia’s writing, one month later.
When Theseus got down the well he got his strength up to kill the minotaur and he got worried about his father in case he never came back so anyway he started to make my way through the maze. He was walking for a long time.
The creatures eyes where like crimson red gem’s of blood and his finger nail’s like crab claw. Shockingly he had horn’s like daggers and he had and shoulders of a bull.
Not long after that Theseus found the minotaur and he steped forward with braveness and so did the minotaur so he took one more step forward and ran up to the minotaur, leaped, got his sword and stabed it into the minotaur’s belly.
Lucia’s teacher explains:
“Lucia was very reticent when it came to writing. She admitted to having no ideas and not knowing where to start putting pen to paper – even when it was a recount of her own Easter holidays. The Story Spinner Project has given her that spark and eagerness to get going and her descriptions are bringing her stories to life.”
Several teachers also commented on improved behaviour linked to a rise in confidence and self-esteem as a result of children’s success as storytellers and writers.
“He gives them a higher order of language and they just suck it in. You can talk with them easily about similes and vocabulary because they are inside it. The wealth of language they have picked up is incredible. It’s another friend in the classroom for us. The children shout ‘Here comes Phil’.”
Growing confidence as writers
When the teachers analysed the children’s writing at the end of the first phase of the project, a number of common features were noted. The beneficial effects on writing included:
- Improved sequencing of events. The children showed greater confidence in planning, clearly knowing what it was they wanted to write after having had the experience of telling and re-telling stories orally in the classroom.
- Greater attention to characterisation. Many of the children demonstrated a greater understanding of character by including characters’ thoughts and motivation in their written stories. Equally, they were able to develop more multifaceted characterisation.
- A more assured story voice. There was a significant increase in children’s use of adventurous vocabulary and imagery. More complex sentence structure and the use of rhetorical techniques, such as repetition for emphasis or for creating narrative tension, were also noted.
- Improved use of punctuation. Explicit discussion of the cadences of storytelling, including pauses for effect, meant that children became more aware of the function and importance of punctuation.
“They love seeing things over and over again. They love the familiarity of the stories – they want to watch them over and over.”
A repeatable resource
The Story Spinner DVD format has meant that children have been able to watch the stories again and again. This repeatability, which is impossible to capture with a live storyteller, has allowed teachers to focus on different aspects of the storyteller’s oral technique with each viewing.
In addition, the storyteller himself has acted as a valuable model and inspiration, not only for the children’s stories but for the teachers themselves – who, during the course of the project, have all gained confidence and assurance as storytellers themselves.
“The project has already proved effective in raising standards in writing through the use of talk for writing.”
— Eve Bearne, University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education.
Only the beginning…
The evaluation of Phase One of the project has already demonstrated the effectiveness of The Story Spinner as a motivational tool for improving children’s writing and oral language skills. As with all good stories, this one will continue to grow and grow as schools continue to share and build on the already outstanding achievements recorded during Phase One of The Story Spinner Project.
For more information on The Story Spinner project then call 020 7483 0644 or email maria@thestoryspinner.co.uk