Teaching with Story: Classroom Connections to Storytelling by Margaret Read MacDonald (review)

Organized around “Seven C’s of Storytelling,” this practical, straightforward guide from legendary authority MacDonald and her co-authors walks librarians and educators through the process of incorporating storytelling into classroom. Community, Character, Communication, Curriculum, Cultural Connections, Creativity, and Confidence are each explored, with chapters focusing on the general benefits of storytelling, the specific technical skills stories might help develop with different aged students, along with the text of two to three stories for use. The chapter on Communication, for example, discusses the significance of storytelling when it comes to emergent literacy with preschoolers as well as its usefulness in developing writing skills and reading comprehension in older kids. Cultural Connections examines the way storytelling ignites curiosity about other cultures, and the chapter provides tips on how to use students’ cultural backgrounds as a springboard, utilize stories from other cultures respectfully, and provide opportunities to cross cultural interactions. The tales included span the globe, varying in origin from Britain to Pakistan to Brazil. Perhaps most useful is the third part of the book, which cites specific Common Core standards that storytelling can fulfill and references research studies that will help teachers and librarians make the case that “Once upon a time” might be more valuable in the classroom than another worksheet.