The Power of Storytelling

"While facts and figures engage a small area of the brain, stories engage multiple brain regions that work together to build colorful, rich three-dimensional images and emotional responses. As we read stories, we quickly begin to feel as if what’s happening out there is actually happening in here. Each sensory image, sound, texture, color, sensation and emotion provides a hook for our brain as the story draws us in and maintains our attention effortlessly.

This is the power of a great story" (Melcrum).

Over the past 12 years, 99,649 people have shared their stories through 57,138 interviews recorded in the form of conversations by StoryCorps. These stories are broadcast via NPR's Morning Edition and StoryCorps' website, but their real focus is on preserving an oral history of a diverse representation of Americans as each conversation is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

These oral stories, however, can be more than just a way to preserve our American history and culture. Stories are one of the most powerful ways for us to learn. About people. About topics. About ourselves. They are also a way for us to learn about listening.

Through StoryCorps' website, we have access to hundreds of those stories to use in our classrooms. The topics range from family to history, romance to struggle to memory loss. Brain research tells us that the language of story telling helps information stick in the brain, specifically because it often connects information to emotion. (On the contrary, straight informational language tends to slip more easily from our brains.)

So why aren't we using more storytelling in our classrooms?

One way we can incorporate more stories into our classrooms is through sites like StoryCorps; those stories, however, are limited in topics and scope as there are only a finite amount available. Thankfully, StoryCorps recently launched a new website called StoryCorps.me, as well as Android and Apple apps. Their purpose? To provide "a way for individuals to connect in a meaningful way with those close to them, and to gain insight into the lives of others." What a fantastic way for students to tell their stories or make meaning of content through connections with their stories or the stories of those they know.

Once a student has access to the app, all they need to do is follow these steps:

1. Choose someone to interview
2. Select questions to ask (StoryCorps.me provides ideas)
3. Find a quiet place to record using the app
4. Record (and listen!)
5. Share the interview online via StoryCorps.me 

I can think of so many places this could work in the English classroom! Research topics could come to life. Students could explore themes from literature alive and well in the world around them. And through it all, they would be building dendrites while making all of those connections...and not even realizing it!

If you'd like to do some brainstorming on ways to use this in your classroom, please let me know! I'd love to toss around some ideas. And, if you can already see where you might use something like this, I'd love to either see it in action or hear about your results!

Happy storytelling!