Storytelling x LINC Curriculum - Week 6

Objectives:

• To reflect on the process of storytelling, what was learned, what was changed, and what was gained.
• To celebrate the achievement of having written one’s story.

Session Flow:

• Oral Storytelling Circle (full class, in small groups, or in partners)
  • Example Prompt: What is a story of a celebration that you really enjoyed? The Stories of Us Workshop Series Feedback form (Individual)
• The Stories of Us Workshop Series Feedback form (Individual)
• Large Group Feedback Discussion (Group)
• Celebration (the exact format of this is up to the group – usually involves some treats and delicious food!)
• Oscars-esque Certificate Ceremony

Activity Templates

• See The Stories of Us Workshop Series Feedback form below

Facilitator Notes

• In the large group feedback discussion, it is helpful to have the teacher share their experience of the series and what they’ve learned from the students first. This helps start the discussion and also affirms to the students that their stories were worth sharing.
• Where possible, and with students’ permission, it is useful to record the feedback discussion as students tend to verbalize their reflections in greater detail than in their feedback forms.
• Certificates that indicate the completion of The Stories of Us workshop are of high value for the students and are appreciated greatly. Creating an Oscars-like environment with awards ceremony music, ‘paparazzi’, and encouraging students to react as though they’ve just won an Oscar often results in a high energy, hilarious, and jovial celebration.

Given that this is the last workshop, teachers can also block off some time before the celebration for students to review and integrate the various parts of their story into a cohesive narrative. If students want their story to be published as a part of The Stories of Us project (more info below), teachers should also ensure that they’ve signed off on a permission form.

What do we do with all these stories?

With the permission of the students, their stories can be submitted to be published as a part of The Stories of Us project. These stories will be made available in our online ESL library for other newcomers and educators to use as resources for learning and teaching English. Each person who submits a story to be published will also receive a physical copy of their storybook.

Typed stories and completed consent forms can be submitted for publication at mathura@dia.space.

We want your feedback!

This is a living, evolving curriculum that we hope will become more useful as it is iterated to reflect the lessons learned from future pilots. Please feel free to share any feedback you might have on the various sessions or overall curriculum at mathura@dia.space. We would also love to receive copies of any feedback or evaluation data you collect from participants as this will help us track the broader impact of our work.