Customer Reviews

Children Tell Stories: Teaching and Using Storytelling in the Classroom (Multimedia DVD included with the book)

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Teachers who want to liven up their lessons and make a strong connection with students will be glad they read this beautifully written, inspiring book. It is obvious that the authors have stepped into many classrooms with many different types of people and had success; their expertise on the topic is incredibly rich and there are so many good ideas for teachers of any subject and any grade.

Children Tell Stories is a joy to read. It touches the reader through heart-warming examples and illustrations by children, along with photographs and a DVD that convey the fun that children are having. The book reminds the reader that telling stories is the most basic and human way to communicate any thought in an interesting way. Storytelling is a living, breathing human activity that incorporates the big curriculum musts ... analyzing, studying, reading, communicating, listening, evaluating ... the list goes on, and the authors offer compelling arguments and include a handy chart on how storytelling meets numerous state standards. As a teacher who is staying home with her kids for a few years, I can't wait to get back into the classroom to value storytelling in the way the authors have described.

Even though it seems that the authors have thought of everything, and even include twenty-five tellable stories in printable form on the companion DVD, they still include so many other books, recordings, and Web sites as resources. They seem more concerned with helping teachers than they are with looking as if they know everything about teaching and telling stories (even though they might!). The book left me feeling confident that I can tell stories and teach this invaluable life tool to my students, and that I don't necessarily need the help of a professional. I believe it will leave others feeling that way too, even if they have thought that telling stories might be a terrifying experience.

The companion DVD speaks volumes about the power of story. It is a documentary that has something for everyone. It can convince teachers, administrators, and parents of the importance of storytelling as an educational tool. It can also be shown to elementary students, middle-schoolers, or even a high school storytelling troupe. Young viewers will see that the students in the film have the same fears they will most likely feel when asked to tell a story in front of a group. But they will also see that because the students in the documentary take the risk and give it a try, they have lots of fun, gain tons of confidence, and are triumphant in the end. The boy who says his biggest fear is that he may "stutter so much that he will faint" later beams as he gets a big laugh from a crowd that includes his classmates and their families. Another boy, who is almost in tears the first time he is about to tell his story, is later shown confidently telling his tale for the same big crowd of listeners at a family storytelling night.

After reading Children Tell Stories I am convinced that storytelling in the classroom is the best way to achieve a multitude of communication and literacy requirements in a real and life changing way. For teachers who apply the ideas in this book, any subject will become more alive and interesting and will stick with students forever. I wish that my history teachers had read this book.

As an elementary teacher for almost ten years, I've recognized the importance of telling stories to children and have been telling stories for years. I was missing a piece of the literacy puzzle, the piece in which children tell stories themselves, but I didn't know how to approach it until I stumbled across Mitch and Martha at a storytelling conference and bought their book. It provides a practical, manageable approach to teaching children to tell stories. Our school has a high percentage of ESL students and the lessons and activities in this book are of particular relevance. Perhaps the most important part of the book is the companion DVD. It's truly an inspiring 20 minutes. I've shown it several times around our school and teachers who claimed they have no time for storytelling are now finding time.

This text is packed with fun, skill-building exercises based on the authors' real experience with thousands of school-aged children. The exceptional resource list is current, meticulous, and descriptive. The DVD is a big bonus-it is, simply, wonderful-and it alone changed the mind of one third-grader about storytelling; at first steadfast in her refusal to tell a story, after watching the DVD she announced, "I think telling and listening to stories is going to be so much fun!" She captured a gift of the DVD--everyone's having a good time telling stories. . . actual students are filmed performing entertaining (not flawless) tellings-and my class came away feeling they really could tell a story, too. Thank-you, Beauty & the Beast!

Children Tell Stories is an exciting and valuable resource to teach the art of storytelling in your classroom. The first edition was most helpful, but this update is even more powerful. The accompanying DVD is outstanding by highlighting the techniques described in the text. ALL teachers need a copy of this remarkable and user-friendly book to share the excitement and value of storytelling within their classrooms. As an elementary librarian, I've found this to be invaluable while working with students.

This must-have book for any educator's or storyteller's shelf has a secret weapon! As I write this review, I can not find any other book on storytelling that comes with a DVD; and this DVD is priceless. In it, you meet Martha and Mitch, the authors of this book, but you also meet the whole school community (students, principal, teachers, specialists, parents) all of whom have an important role in implementing a storytelling unit.

Of particular interest to me is a boy who initially looks like he will resist engaging in the project, but as I watched the storytelling unit unfold, everything changes for him. He even gives a testimonial for how "easy and fun" it was to tell stories and that he "recommends it to everyone"! In the first 20 minutes, you can see how a storytelling unit is implemented and progresses; in the additional 10 minutes, you can watch 4 different student tellers perform their stories. A bonus with the DVD is the 25 downloadable stories to print and use in the classroom.

No matter what you do first: read the book or view the DVD, you can't miss with this amazing tool for teaching kids and adults how and why to engage with storytelling and educating the public on the power of story. Thank you, Martha and Mitch!

If you teach storytelling, or want to use storytelling in your classroom, you'll want a copy of this book. This revision of Children Tell Stories: A Teaching Guide is a distillation of twenty - five years of experience teaching students to tell stories and the added DVD makes this an invaluable resource. This book arms you with the justification you need for using storytelling as an educational tool in the classroom, and addresses the new State Standards for Education. It gives all the information you need to guide students through the process of learning and telling stories including exciting exercises, activities, and games to keep students interested. Another benefit is the reproducible pages of assessment rubric, sample letters, peer coaching guidelines and much more. It tells you what you need to know to start and run a storytelling club or troupe. It includes ideas on how to include storytelling by you and your students across the curriculum and lesson plans on developing personal and family stories. Appendices contain extensive bibliographies of storytelling resources and stories for telling are categorized by difficulty. The amazing accompanying photos, of Dede Hatch, expressively capture the essence of each activity. The inspirational DVD documents a storytelling unit, demonstrates how to get started, and has twenty-five, easy-to-learn, printable stories. I found the youth storytelling models on this DVD very valuable to use with my storytelling students. It contains a user friendly table of contents and a comprehensive index. This is an excellent resource for a teacher, librarian, storyteller, or anyone working with youth groups at any age. If I had to choose one resource to teach kids to tell, this would be it. Highly Recommended Reviewer: Janet Glantz, is a storyteller, youth storytelling coach, and former Children's Librarian

There is MORE of everything in the newest edition of Children Tell Stories. More information, more ideas for working with youth, more details, and the DVD is great. To see both the authors and a classroom teacher working with students in the classroom was a real confidence-booster. Yes, I can do it too! Yes, I am doing it 'right'! I showed the DVD of students telling stories to my student storytellers, and they were excited to learn their stories and perform them too. And what a bonus, to have stories available to download on the DVD. I recommend this book with 5 stars.

Now in a new second edition, Children Tell Stories: Teaching and Using Storytelling in the Classroom is the award-winning creation of Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, who have been telling stories as "Beauty and the Beast Storytellers" for twenty-five years (and they never say who is the beauty and who is the beast). Chapters reveal the educational benefits of storytelling, how to get started with storytelling in the classroom, helping students choose stories to tell, assessing student storytellers, and much more. An accompanying DVD of helpful videos, web links, and stories to print out enhances this wonderful resource especially for educators, but also useful to home schoolers and child care providers.

This book has a wealth of information and is a great value. The DVD is a treasure! I teach special education in an elementary school and I plan to use the stories from the DVD with my students. My students also love the authors' Noondlehead Stories and Scary Tales books which I have read aloud in class.

The book is very helpful for the storytellers and teachers who feel that young people and students can become active storytellers as well and then they can enhance their lives and their society.