Story Paths: promoting speaking and listening skills and enriching spoken language.
90 Year 3 pupils at Roberts Primary School worked with artists Rachel Murray and Debbie Cooper on a story telling project designed to promote speaking and listening skills and enriching spoken language. The project took place over 3 weeks with the artists delivering 5 days stimulus. The project also made use of the school’s environmental area (‘EZone’) as a setting for learning and performing. The Story Paths project had both performance and visual elements with the children creating the story and key artefacts which were positioned around the EZone.
Staff at the school reflected on the outcomes of the project and noted the following…
The emphasis on visual arts, words and speaking and listening in the project motivated and engaged the children much more than the usual approaches to ‘developing literacy’ used in class. It was sustained throughout the project and at no point did the children appear to have lost their motivation. Practical learning experiences are highly motivational, seeming to engage more children than other ‘normal’ approaches.
The children met stories in an oral, visual and kinaesthetic way when Rachel performed. It was amazing how swiftly the patterns of performance were picked up by the children, enabling a level of participation and enjoyment when listening to stories. These skills were in evidence when the children performed their own versions of the collective story.
The project offered the children a unique experience by giving them the chance to drive the direction of learning. Every aspect of the project, from interview to the final performance, was influenced by the children. The children were immersed within the story worlds which they had created and many could talk at length about invented characters, places and events.
The focus on visual and practical approaches revealed much to the staff about the hidden talents of some pupils. It was wonderful to be surprised by the oral skills, confidence and ability to entertain others which some children demonstrated. Children were encouraged to ‘create’ and some excelled – we felt that our usual curriculum did not engage or allow children to show us their talents in the way that the project did.
The children gained confidence and pleasure from the ‘collective’ nature of the outcome of the project. Shared ownership gave every child a sense that part of the project was ‘theirs’ without any worries about not knowing what to do/not having any ideas. The children really supported one another.
Pupils at Roberts Primary School explore their outdoor environment with artists
