Editorial
This technique comes from a long lost booklet on story-telling to native speaking kids from back in the 1980’s. This booklet was found among John Morgan’s possessions after his death but was subsequently mislaid.

Creativity through Strict Timing in Story-telling

Mario Rinvolucri, UK

Mario Rinvolucri teacher, teacher trainer and author. He has worked for Pilgrims for over 30 years and used to edit Humanising Language Teaching. Regularly contributes to The Teacher Trainer Journal. His recent books include: Creative Writing, with Christine Frank, Helbling, Multiple Intelligences in EFL, with Herbert Puchta, Helbling, Unlocking Self-Expression through NLP, with Judy Baker, Delta Books, New edition of Vocabulary, with John Morgan, OUP, Humanising your Coursebook, Delta Books, Using the Mother Tongue, with Sheelagh Deller, Delta Books, Ways of Doing, with Paul Davis and Barbara Garside, CUP, Imagine That with Herbert Puchta and Jane Arnold, Helbing, Creative Writing with Christine Frank, Helbing. Mario's first CD Rom for students, Mindgame, was written with Isobel Fletcher de Tellez, and engineered and published by Clarity, Hong Kong in 2000. E-mail: mario@pilgrims.co.uk

1. Tell a story about when you were between 4 and 6 year old to the class and time yourself to exactly 3 minutes. ( This presupposes rehearsing a bit)
2. Allow the kids to react in small groups for 45 seconds. Time this.
3. Tell the children a second and unconnected story about the same time in your life. Time: 90 seconds.
4. Allow them 30 seconds’ reaction time.
5. Finally tell them another, 1 minute story about that time in your life.
6. Now ask the children to pair off and each one listens to the other telling them a story about when they were little.
7. Group the students in fours and one student from each pair tells their story to the other three.
8. Group the students in 8’s and one student from each four tells their story again.

Note

The three teacher stories start many narrative hares in the students’ minds. The shortness of the time they have to react socially keeps much of their narrative energy bottled up inside them.

The instruction “listen to your partner’s story” is important as it offers the initiative to the listener in encouraging the teller to tell.

For most people telling to one people is easier than telling to three or to seven, so the performance cycle goes from easier to harder and allows less dominant types to drop out. The triple performers tend to enrich their tale.

Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Creative Writing course at Pilgrims website.