Teacher workshop- Once upon a time: The Art of Story Telling

Workshop by Pitambar Publications in association with Storywallahs India International Centre: 23 Feb 2019

Story telling is one of the oldest and powerful ways of motivating young learners. Stories have helped us as a race to survive. Telling stories is also an art and a story well told is a story well remembered.

Many people tell stories but are unsure and uncomfortable. Hence workshops are conducted for teachers by facilitators for effective tips and techniques to get started on the journey of storytelling.

Once upon a Time: The art of Storytelling-This workshop for librarians was conducted by Pitambar Publications on 23 February, 2019, in association with Story wallahs. The Pre Primary teachers and librarian of The Indian School attended this workshop held at the India International Centre on 23th February, 2019.

The workshop was primarily designed for librarians, whose responsibility is not restricted to being the custodian of books; they derive ways to motivate students to become avid readers. Stories can also be illustrated and dramatised to prompt students to want to read ahead.

Libraries have come alive these days; they are no longer places of silent reading. In contrast, they are now colourful, animated and a vibrant home for knowledge and information repositories. Similarly the role of librarians has elevated from being distributor of books to becoming storyteller.

The workshop facilitator Ms. Nupur Aggarwal began with some ice breaking games. After some energisers, the session began with alternate techniques of story telling through song, actions and speech. She spoke about Draw and Tell, Fold and Tell, Cut and tell, Props, Flannel etc.

The above techniques were conveyed in a novel presentation. The different styles cater to different age groups. It follows that the relevance of the style used to tell a story depends upon the level of understanding and the age of the students. Other techniques explained were Story Games of Organic Story Telling, Stories with Objects, Story Dice etc. Since it was an interactive session the audience followed the instructions and observed how the magical art unfolded.

The experience was extremely satisfying and enriching.

A valedictory address by Ms. Ritu Vaishnav, author and entrepreneur. The audience got a chance to interact with the experts which was very useful.