The Story Spinner also offers interactive half-day and whole-day workshops, led by experienced professionals, to help you make the most of this exciting resource in your school. As well as exploring the links with key National Strategy materials, the session will also focus on using the stories to develop children’s writing and to provide evidence to support periodic assessment.
Story notes for Year 3 by Phil McDermott
This collection of stories on DVD provide rich content for use with Year 3 children. The units listed beside each story are simply guides on how they can be used with the Narrative Units of the renewed Framework.
Mr Wah. Units 1, 5
The little girl has been told by Mr Wah to pass every story he tells her on to other people. But every night she kidnaps the stories and stuffs them in a box. The stories begin to rot and turn evil. They plot revenge on the girl. Who will save her from a gruesome end?
This story is originally from Cambodia, but The Storyspinner has set the story in China in the early C20th and has augmented the characters and the journey to incorporate more familiar settings. Many cultures have stories about the dangers of not passing stories on, because in pre-literate societies the history, mores, language and character of a people were held in oral tales. These oral stories were essential to the well being of a people and were used as the oldest and most enduring form of education. The power of this tale comes from the understanding that if we abuse and misuse stories they can turn bad and that this has resonance in our modern literate world.
The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Unit 2
Oliver thinks it’s hilarious to get people into trouble. When it’s his turn to watch the sheep he thinks he might have a bit of fun sounding a false alarm and seeing the villages run to his rescue. But what if it isn’t a false alarm? What if there is a wolf? What if the people didn’t come at all?
Although The Storyspinner has updated this much loved tale, the simplicity and robust nature of this fable from Aesop has confirmed its popularity and universality. It is as potent now in the classroom or the playground as it was, set in the hills of Attica.
Moral: No one believes a liar, even when they’re telling the truth.
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Unit 3
When Ali Baba discovers a cave full of treasure he believes that all his problems are over. But they have only just begun.
Perhaps nothing can match the sheer vivacity of storytelling that exploded on to the scene in Iraq in the early middle ages. The 1001 Arabian Nights is a beautiful frame story that encompasses a multitude of different tales that are rude, crude, mad, sad, funny and anarchic. They give evidence of a vibrant and rich culture and though they have been ill used, westernised and suppressed, they still remain very dear to the hearts of Arabic speakers worldwide. The Storyspinner has concentrated on the sheer fun of the tale of Ali Baba and brings to life his difficulties and the mayhem of the solutions he uses.
Aesop’s fables. Units 2, 4
The Greedy Fox.
Two hungry foxes observe where the men have put their food. One keeps watch while the other slips inside. The greedy fox eats all the food himself. Now he’s too fat to get out.
Moral: We should think before we act.
The Man and His Five Sons.
The five brothers are always arguing and dad has had enough. They get very worried when he goes outside to fetch a stick.
Moral: United we are strong, divided we are weak.
The Fox and The Crow.
The hungry fox can’t climb the tree to steal the crow’s delicious cheese. Why not persuade the crow to give it to him?
Moral: Beware of flattery; it may not always be sincere.
Aesop the great storyteller lived in the 6th century B.C. in southern Greece. He was a slave originally from the area that is now western Turkey. Greek society was already rich with storytellers using anthropomorphic tales to illustrate and make conclusions on moral issues. Aesop seems to have composed his fables in prose and not the traditional verse. The fables became immediately popular with all sectors of society, and Aesop became famous in his lifetime with appreciative communities erecting statues in his honour. He came to an untimely death however when the people of Delphi executed him on the trumped up charge of sacrilege, having been offended by his use of irony. It is the earliest recorded incident of someone being killed for being ironic.
These tales have survived for so long because they are so universal and robust. The Storyspinner has followed many tellers throughout the ages by animating the stories using contemporary characterisations, and they remain as relevant now as they did 2500 years ago.
Odysseus and the Cyclops. Unit 2
After years of war Odysseus and his crew head for home. They come to rest on an Island and explore a cave. But the cave belongs to a monster. And he is not happy.
Homer composed his epic poem, The Odyssey, in verse. It is almost certain that it was only written down after the author’s death. Together with the Iliad they remain one of the most remarkable achievements of the ancient world. The Odyssey follows the adventures of the hero Odysseus and his crew as they try to return home after ten years of warfare with Troy. Homer, although alive in the 8th century B.C. was retelling events which occurred four centuries earlier and mixed together traditional history stories and fisherman’s tales to create the epic journey. The Storyspinner has concentrated on the story of the Cyclops, a small episode in the Epic, to illuminate the menace of the misanthropic creature and the housebreaking tendencies of the crew, using both the sense of dread and the humour inherent in the original.
The Musicians of Bremen. Units 3, 5
Four abused animals look for a better life by travelling to Bremen to form a band. However they encounter a major obstacle along the way, a scary wood full of vicious bandits.
In the early 1800’s Germany was a collection of different countries and principalities. German nationalists Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm started to collect and then publish German folk tales in an attempt to bind the German people by reminding them of their common cultural heritage. This was risky in the current political environment and they were both persecuted for their liberal beliefs. Most of the stories came from domestic servants who they interviewed and then the brothers transcribed their tales. Many of the 250 folk tales in their collections reflect the prejudices of the times and are unpalatable to modern audiences. The Storyspinner has taken the wonderful tale of the four musicians and deepened the characterisation of the principles while heightening the sense of danger on their incredible journey.