Review: Performance Literacy Through Storytelling

From Meryl Ironson, 5th-grade language arts teacher, Chester, NJ

As educators, our responsibility is to help children learn to interpret information and to express themselves in this world. It is about challenging and motivating. It is about inspiring our listeners. It is about sharing the passion we feel.
- "Teaching Storytelling" by Meryl Ironson

Performance Literacy Through Storytelling, by Nile Stanley and Brett Dillingham, offers the foundation of the teaching of tale telling in a sequential, logical, and classroom-usable format. Storytelling across the curriculum promotes a skill set that can be developed within any grade level. Skills such as reading with strategic purpose, the organization of thought, writing in sequence and with creativity, the heightening of listening ability and stamina, and oral presentation enhancement are honed through the teaching of performance storytelling. For those who teach the art of language and the love of literature, Performance Literacy outlines key ways to promote communicative strengths among students by actually having them experience a story, reflect upon a story, and then apply what they have learned to the creation and performance of a story. Stanley and Dillingham provide detailed mini-lessons and a plethora of resources that should be considered a gift for all teachers, first-year to veteran. The accompanying audio CD completes the package so that teachers and students can listen to model performances of stories and songs by known storytellers. This book is a year-round, cross-curriculum jewel that breathes new life into the phrase: “Tell me a story!”

Be sure to check out Meryl's articles on reading: "Teaching Storytelling" from Reading Today and "The Teacher Reads Aloud" from Education Week.