From a Storyteller or Audio Tape (Learning Center #1 & #2):
Listen to the story several times.
Visualize the story as you listen, you may want to close your eyes.
Try to retell the story aloud to yourself. Make sure you find a comfortable place to try this.
Listen to the story again.
Tell the story again to yourself or to someone else.
From Written Material (Learning Center #3):
Read the story several times.
As you read, stop and visualize what is happening.
Try to retell the story aloud to yourself without looking at the story.
Read the story again.
Tell the story again to yourself or to someone else.
From Memory (Learning Center #4):
Think about a story you want to tell that you were told or a story from your own life experience.
Try to visualize elements of the story.
Put swatches of color on paper that give you the feeling of the story to open up your memories.
Try to tell the story aloud to yourself.
Tell the story again to someone else.
On returning home, you may need to do some more research to flesh out your story (i.e. interview a family member, find a written documentation of your story).
Remember you need to tell a story many times before it is stored in your memory, possibly up to 10 times. You may want to tape your story if you won't be telling it for awhile, so you can refresh your memory.
HERO/HEROINE STAGES
Separation when the hero or heroine must leave home or family to prove him or herself.
Initiation which includes tests of battles, dismemberment, journeys into unknown and being abducted. The hero or heroine often has special spiritual or physical "helpers" during these tests.
Return when the hero or heroine returns to his or her society with the gift of individual empowerment. The hero-heroine give hope that others can survive the tests.
ORAL LITERATURE EXAMPLE
An oral literature program was developed and implemented in the 7th grade language arts curricula at Baboquivari Junior-Senior High School on the Tohono O'odham Nation.
The components of this Language Arts Oral Literature Curriculum included the following:
the telling of the O'odham creation story by an elder
stories by medicine people
Coyote stories by an O'odham teacher
a workbook with stories from Europe, Africa, East India and Greenland
imagery exercises to foster imagination
stories by the classroom teacher
The results on a test that measures self-identity showed that the 39 seventh graders moved from the 16th percentile to the 47th percentile. The students self-identity as measured on the drawings moved from low average to average and showed a two year developmental gain.
Students using inhalants decreased from 34% to 23%, and students using marijuana decreased from 33% to 23% during the two month curriculum.
Other results included student ratings. Eighty-four percent of the students liked having O'odham people coming into the classroom and 62% liked the curriculum. Two comments by the students on the rating form seemed particularly compelling:
"I would like to have respect for myself and others after storytelling."
"I would change things so that more people would tell more stories about life long ago. So it will go on and on through life."
The teacher's summation of the effects of the curriculum was the following:
"I noticed a big change in the students' listening skills. Also their imagination returned which had a very big effect on their creativity."
Recruit People in Recovery (Use people in recovery for adult prevention groups. CSAP Prevention Plus II does not recommend people in recovery for youth.)
Use Go-Arounds of People In Groups
PLANNING NEEDS
Budget
Transportation
Understanding of Time Frame
Appropriate room set up
Time to arrange storytellers
Ways to have participants respond afterwards (i.e. art, journal writing, etc.)
Story: a spoken account of something that has happened
Legend: an unverifiable story handed down from earlier times and popularly accepted as historical
Metaphor: a figure of speech that stands for something else. A metaphor suggest a resemblance and is not literal.
Myth: a traditional or legendary story usually concerned with deities or demigods
Folklore: the traditional beliefs, legends of a group of people
Tale: a narrative of some real or imagined event
Bibliography
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Choi, D. Silk-Thread and Weaver. (adapted story)
Jones, F., ed. 1939. The Pancake. In Told under the green umbrella: Old stories for new Children. 10-15. New York: Macmillan Press.
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