How Stories Teach

"This is boring," one of my students said. I was introducing fractions to my 1st and 2nd graders. As she indicated, I was doing a terrible job of it. Some teachers might get annoyed at a statement like hers. Me too, but I knew there was something underneath it. “Alright,” I said, then erased the chalkboard.

“Did I ever tell you about Farmer Bill?”

“No.”

“Well, one morning he woke up, and you know what he heard?”

“What?”

“Moo-oo-ooo-oo…” I gave my best impression of a 60’s era jazz crooner. The kids laughed. “It was Betsy,” I said. “Farmer Bill loved Betsy because…well…moo-ooo-ooo-oo…” We all enjoyed her soulful ballad.

I described how Farmer Bill milked Betsy and got one gallon. He divided it in half to give to his neighbor, so I drew two bottles on the board. The neighbor divided his half-gallon into quarts, or fourths, and I drew the symbol – ½ or ¼ - next to each bottle.

Then Farmer Bill heard another sound. I gave a gruff, throaty, “mooooo!” It was Froggy. Time for milking. Farmer Bill milked Froggy, then he got a call from his brother. He had three brothers, actually, and each one asked for some milk. “Well,” said Farmer Bill, “I’ve only got a gallon left, but I’ll divide it into thirds.”

Farmer Bill had eight sisters, and two more cows. By the end of the story, we had laid out the basic notation and language of fractions. The next day, the kids asked me to tell the story again. They really liked Betsy. Froggy startled everyone, but made us giggle. Once again, we tackled the fractions, but now it wasn’t boring - it was something the kids sought after.

Storytelling is a cognitive tool humans evolved years ago to attract and retain someone’s attention. It’s a way to share information and keep people interested in what you’re talking about. It’s not strange that a bunch of six- and seven-year-olds found fractions cumbersome. So do most adults. By turning subjects into a story, we unlock our minds so that this useful knowledge can be received.

The possibilities are endless.

The Storytelling Loop is a newsletter bringing you tips, science, and real-life examples of how storytelling builds the connection between parent and child. It is a joint project of Silke Rose West and Joseph Sarosy, the authors of How to Tell Stories to Children.