Since I use a lot of stories in class, I am always looking for a good activity to spice things up. With video chats, picture talks, and plain ‘ole stories, I need some variety in my teacher toolbox. So when I recently learned of a new storytelling activity called Story Roulette from the Small Town Spanish Teacher I knew I needed to share it with you.
Since Story Roulette is interactive and happens simultaneously with the story being told, I knew it would need to be modified for the ASL classroom.
What you need for Story Roulette
- Large pieces of paper for each group
- Markers
- Small groups of students (I like groups of 3 – 4)
- A hard surface for students to work on like a table, the floor, or desks pushed together
- A short story to work with
Setting up for Story Roulette
Place students in groups (partners work too if you have smaller classes) and give each group a large piece of paper, like butcher paper, and markers. Each student in the group numbers off (1, 2, 3). The teacher will assign a letter to each group (A, B, C, D, E…). Begin to tell your story in chunks. Tell the story using a sentence or two at a time. Since we are using ASL, we need students’ undivided attention before they can do anything. Tell the sentence(s) and repeat them several times. Pause and allow groups to draw what was said onto a section of the paper. You can think of this like a comic strip. As a tip, you can give each person in the group a different color marker so you can evaluate the level of participation.
After time has elapsed to draw the sentence(s), the teacher will sign a number (1, 2, 3) and the group member with that number will repeat the sentence(s) to the group. Since the teacher repeated them several times and they were discussed in the group, this should be easy.
Now the teacher will say a letter and that group will repeat the sentence for the class together.
Repeat these steps until the story is over. After 6 – 8 sentences I like to call a group to retell the story up til that part or a number can be called and a student can retell the story to their group.
Tips
I feel this works best for shorter stories or chunks of information. I also think you can give students too much time to draw. Set time limits for the artwork.
This activity is generally a more than one-day activity. It feels like it is moving slowly but the repetition of the vocab and structures does pay off. Students always enjoy drawing activities. It frees them from the stress of learning. And the collaborative nature of this activity reduces stress.
The pictures can be used for other activities like a mural retelling or games like T/F pens, Race to the Top, or The Dice Decides.
Alternative Ways to Use
- After each sentence, change one group member so students are working with different people (all 2’s rotate).
- After the story, have students from each group take a picture of their drawing with their phone, meet with someone from a different group, and retell the story using the image from their phone.
- Hang the images around the room and walk to each one asking random questions to the class so everyone can see the artwork and can still be exposed to the language without feeling bored. For example, “What is happening in this picture?” “What is the man going to do here?”
- Use the images as a gallery walk. Have groups of students move image to image and discuss the pictures that were drawn.
Additional Activities to use for stories
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