A Great Narrator Conquers All

None of us was born a perfect narrator. We all acquired the art of storytelling as we grew up.

The same goes for my students. A schoolchild of 11-16 finds it extremely difficult to retell an article he has just read in his student’s book. Nor is it easy for him/her to tell a few phrases about the past weekend or a cultural/sports event.

I try to make the mission easier via the 5W1H method. They say journalists invented this a century ago to facilitate reporting. In brief, a reporter should make it clear who did what, when, where, why and how:

·         Who was involved?

·         What happened?

·         Where did it take place?

·         When did it take place?

·         Why did that happen?

·         How did it happen?

(source: “Five Ws” by Wikipedia)

Rudyard Kipling even wrote a poem (“Just So Stories”, 1902) to memorize the rule:

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

Right after reading an article, I ask my student to take a sheet of paper (or, ideally, a notebook) and fill in the simplest possible form:

Who:

What:

Where:

When:

Why:

How:

Below goes an extract similar to the ones that constitute the current school syllabus and a “reporter form” completed by one of my students.

Original

Serena Williams to make comeback in Abu Dhabi after giving birth

Serena Williams will return to tennis in Abu Dhabi next week, almost four months after giving birth.

The American, 36, will play in an exhibition match on 30 December during the World Tennis Championship.

Williams, who has won an Open-era record 23 Grand Slams, said she was "delighted to be returning to the court".

She gave birth to daughter in September.

Former world number one Williams has not played since winning the Australian Open in January.

Coach said in November that no decision had been made over whether Williams would play in the season's first Grand Slam.

Australian Open director has said Williams is "very likely" to defend her title at the 2018 tournament, which starts on 15 January.

Ranked 22nd in the world, she would not need a wildcard.

5W1H

Who: Serena Williams, US tennis player

What: will return to tennis after giving birth

Where: Abu Dhabi tournament

When: 30 December 2017

Why: Serena will be delighted to be returning to the court

How: she would not need a wildcard

The above format might lay a solid foundation for retelling the story when needed.

Let some zen into your class

As a teacher, I always search for new ways to make a lesson more exciting for my students. Quite recently, I started using cinquain, and the first experiences proved to be positive.

Cinquain /ˈsɪŋkeɪn/ is a five-line poetic form inspired by Japanese tanka. It has no rhyme but the number of syllables or words is usually fixed. Adelaide Crapsey, the American poet, introduced the form in 1915.

My pupils practice the didactic cinquain form to express the essence of a text in the most simplistic way. We count the number of words:

First line – a one-word title (a noun), the subject of the text;

Second line – a pair of adjectives describing the title;
Third line – three verbs or gerunds with more information on the action;
Forth line – a four-word phrase summarizing the story;
Fifth line – a single word expressing feelings to the subject.

Below are three real-life examples of cinquains:

My eighth-year student described a theatrical performance like this:

Musical

Beautiful, strange
Singing, dancing, playing
A deaf and numb patient falls in love
Joy

A sixth-year pupil commented on an article on math charts in the following five lines:

Graphs

Bright, useful
Count, draw, show
Numbers, lines, bars, and pies
Information

Finally, a junior secondary school student chose the cinquain form to retell a part of the Jungle Book:

Monkeys

Funny, happy
Sitting, running, playing
Mowgli never saw this
Lost City

You might try this format to brighten up your classes.