Buying a story unit - What you get
This page gives you an overview of what is included when you purchase a digital storytelling unit. Teachers who have already participated in our PLD will recognise our terminology. An overview of our pedagogy and teaching model for working the storytelling way can also be found in our publication, The Storytelling Way - From Talking to Writing. This knowledge will help in making the best use of these teaching plans. Alongside a progression through our literacy teaching sequence, these units offer a wealth of content for thematic and subject-rich study across the curriculum. Our collection will grow with future units for use across early education, primary, and high school, covering the curriculum in stories.
Storytelling units connect with the Refreshed Curriculum, including History, Social Studies, Science Technology & the Arts; with the understanding of 'Big Ideas', the knowledge of contexts, and the 'do' of thematic study. Stories weave across continents and communities, times and topics, broadening understandings, offering new knowledge, and opportunities to journey deeper into thinking and learning. Stories are the carrier pigeon of language, ideas, opinions, and values. Stories, with their problems, tasks, and the actions of characters, enable us to access the thoughts and perspectives of others, to walk in different worlds, to develop empathy, and to make linguistic and cultural connections.
Story, by story, grow
an understanding of the genealogy of people,
time, and place;
relating to self, others, groups and indivuduals.
Know our own story; who we are, and where we came from. Know
what identifies us and connects us, locally, nationally, and globally.
Use what we understand and know about the past to guide what we do; our critical thinking, our informed citizenship,
and our guardianship of the environment.
UNDERSTAND
DO
KNOW
Storytelling connects learning
View the breakdown of big ideas to understand, knowledge contexts to teach, and inquiry practices within the Aotearoa Histories Curriculum here, Literacy & Communication here
NB; other refreshed curriculum areas will be structured in the same format of Understand, Know, Do. Current achievement objectives will be used and updated as each refreshed areas is completed.
-
Each story unit is identified with its title, narrative theme, plot, character type, and setting.
-
Each story unit includes a list of topics with suggestion for the thematic reach of the story and linked-learning opportunities.
-
There are activities to loiter and explore with, in ways that will engage akonga with literary foci such as characterisation, description, openings, mood, types of communication and their literary mechanisms in reading and writing, are explained.
-
Subject specific achievement objectives across subject areas are listed and levelled where the story has multi-age-stage usefulness.
The Wayfinder
NARRATIVE
Telling the story of Polysesian navigation to Aotearoa.
PLOT
Quest - the search for a new home.
A calling for the main character is to lead in the face of disaster.
​
SETTING
Pacific Island, Pacific Ocean
CHARACTER
'A small boy named Manu' who shows excitement, anxiety, grief, and courage.
The text for oral telling.
Firstly, you will have a copy of the text for oral storytelling. This will include a story synopsis and our suggested ways to introduce the story to your listeners; ways to signal that a new story is about to be launched, hints to your audience of the story context, and interactive 'calls to the story session'.
An audio of the storytelling.
A simple audio recording of the text. Nothing elaborate and no sound effects! Just telling the story word-for-word from the text. Many teachers find these recordings useful while preparing to tell the story. Remember, storytelling never needs to be word-perfect or rote-learned. Telling in sequence, with some fluidity, key vocabulary, with voice and gesture to convey action and mood is the aim.
Mentor texts for reading.
The literacy learning hierarchy moves through listening, speaking, reading, and writing in that progression. Storytelling teachers prepare a printed copy of the 'text-as-you-told-it', for use in guided and independent reading. With storytelling units for sale, we provide a selection of levelled texts for reading. These can be a more literary elaborate and content-detailed text, an extract from the story, or even a different but content-related text. With oral memory and prior knowledge attained, learners can now match speech to print, and are scaffolded to comprehend at a deeper level.
Linked Non-Fiction for telling & mentor text for reading.
This is a Paragraph. Click on "Edit Text" or double click on the text box to start editing the content.
A pace and progression plan for the storytelling way key elements.
This is a Paragraph. Click on "Edit Text" or double click on the text box to edit the content and make sure to add any relevant information that you want to share with your visitors.
People are genuinely interested in learning more about you, so don’t be afraid to share personal anecdotes to create a more friendly quality.
Weaving across the curriculum - Content teaching plans
This is a Paragraph. Click on "Edit Text" or double click on the text box to start editing the content.