Frequently asked questions
Why is oral storytelling so important?
Since time immemorial, oral storytelling has been a vital and powerful tool for the sharing of ideas, cultures and beliefs. The subtle relationship that is built up between the storyteller and their audience is one that cannot be easily replicated by other mediums. It’s all about ‘image making’ – allowing the pictures in our own minds to create the story, based on our individual life experience.
When watching a story, every child will experience a different version based on the pictures that they make in their own imaginations. For example a child from Bosnia will have a very different idea of a forest than a child from Somalia. By practising this individual visualisation, children will become more confident and skilled in applying this to their own reading and writing.
What makes the DVDs so special?
The Story Spinner box set and Stories from Around the World are the only oral stories available on DVD. Each story has been tried and tested, live, in primary schools by our story tellers – an experience that has allowed us to refine and craft a truly outstanding collection of age-appropriate stories that we know your children will love.
By offering the stories on DVD, children at all levels can watch and enjoy the stories time and time again, year after year. The DVD format also allows teachers to share stories from other years with children who might need extra support such as children with EAL or SEN.
Why do you have only one Storyteller in the Story Spinner series?
There is a subtle trust between a storyteller and their audience. This trust is built up over time and repetition, and gives the viewer a chance to build their own personal relationship with Phil.
Having one familiar storyteller allows the children to be taken into their own imagination more quickly and more deeply, and the shared experience of watching the Story Spinner becomes more about the story they create together than the teller.
Many teachers have told us that having a regular male figure in their classroom has had a really positive effect on the children’s learning.
Why did you make the Stories From Around the World series?
After finishing ‘The Story Spinner’ series, presenting it at numerous Local Authorities and workshopping it in classrooms around the country, it quickly became evident that we were going to need to make a lot more stories. From the beginning, once the children watched one story, they wanted to watch another and another.
Although the repetition of a single story was perfect for literacy lessons, the teachers found they had to keep up with the children’s demands to watch more and more. Once their imaginations were ignited they just couldn’t get enough.
It also became clear that there was a strong desire for the new stories to reflect the cultural diversity of the classroom. We set out to bring together some of the country’s top international storytellers. Each teller now not only brings a new story, but a fresh style and first hand multicultural experience straight into the classroom and your children’s imaginations. So they not only hear the words, but feel the nuance of the different cultures, adding greatly to the excitement of the series and offering new teaching opportunities.
Each of our tellers has worked extensively in schools as specialist practitioners in their own right and we have included their lesson ideas with each booklet, giving you the benefit of their collective years of experience.
Teachers have found ‘Stories From Around the World’ the perfect companion to the Story Spinner if they already have it, or equally a great stand alone series if they don’t. We are now finding a clear demand to own both sets as none of the stories will go unused.
Why are the stories filmed this way?
We have done extensive research into how children watch stories. As such, we filmed the storytellers in a number of ways to see which would prove the most effective. We observed time and time again that any diversion or movement away from the teller’s face only distracted the viewer from the story.
By keeping the camera’s focus solely on the storyteller, the child has the unique experience of watching their own version of the story unfold. It is a powerful way of stretching their imagination.
Like the oldest oral tradition, the strongest way to tell a story is without a script so that eye contact is maintained throughout the story. This is especially helpful and vitally important for boys.
The storyteller’s facial expressions, characterisations and dramatisation build up ‘the scaffolding’ of the story and become key in informing the children of the emotion of the story, while the words help them to create their own pictures of the story. This is vitally important for children with EAL or SEN.
Why did you make the Story Spinner Learning pack?
Originally, it was the practice of ‘The Story Spinner’ to have the creators of the series be presenters of the series, and run workshops, training and consultations on sharing the best practice of putting the stories at the heart of the curriculum.
It became evident that there was a great demand to take these experiences one step further and to leave each school with a way of sharing the methodology behind the best use of the stories.
By filming the units of work, teachers could see the planning in action, providing a future-proof methodology and creating a visual link from watching a story, through speaking and listening, into writing and allowing the viewer to experience the children’s excitement and the results first hand.
We wanted a resource that could be shared year after year with new and changing staff, or equally as a refresher. So we brought together a team of top literacy professionals <our team> to make this the most exciting and thorough resource possible. We also included exemplified lesson plans and a planning tutorial from one of the country’s best teacher trainers, making this pack of materials all your school will need to get the most out of our stories or any story.
Live storytellers vs. the Story Spinner DVD.
We like to think of it as an album vs. a live performance. Both dramatically different, but equally valid.
There is no doubt that experiencing a live storyteller can more entertaining. The stories change with each audience, sometimes drastically in each telling. It is a truly shared experience. However when the storyteller leaves the school, the teachers and children are left with a vacuum. The story dissipates and is eventually lost, leaving the memory of the experience, not the story.
Our DVDs allow you to have repeated viewings of the exact same telling of a particular live story. You can then use it as a powerful and versatile teaching tool: children could do their own re-telling, analyse the story structure, discuss the characters, hot seat, make story plates, story boards, artwork, drama… and, of course, simply enjoy the shared experience of a good story!
Now you have a master storyteller at your disposal whenever you want. The DVDs should never replace the wonderful experience of live storytelling. However, the dependability and versatility of the Story Spinner DVDs ensures that you will always have that vital experience and stimulus on hand to support your teaching.