Content Area Reading, Writing, and Storytelling: A Dynamic Tool for Improving Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum through Oral Language Development

Review Storyteller, author and educator Ellis has been touring the world and collecting stories since 1980. He has been a keynote speaker and workshop presenter at hundreds of educational conferences, and has published numerous books and storytelling DVDs.Balancing pedagogy with practice, his text will help teachers of all levels, from preK to adult, to develop the skills and confidence needed to incorporate storytelling--their own and their students'--into their classrooms as a tool for improving reading fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and creative writing strategies. The text includes discussion of current supporting research; improving storytelling skills; storytelling and the reading-writing connection; storytelling in the content areas of social studies, science, math and problem solving; creating thematic units; and building an integrated school community of learners. Numerous examples and detailed lesson plans are included throughout the text.-- "Reference & Research Book News"This book is an educator's road map to exploring reading, writing, social studies, science, and math by providing exciting, easy-to-learn stories for different learning styles. . . . This book is an excellent source to help students meet national standards, teachers implement follow-up activities in instructional procedures in the classroom, and librarians motivate and inspire hard-to-reach children through read-alouds and storytelling. . . . Recommended.-- "Library Media Connection" Product Description Through a balance of pedagogy and practice, Ellis gives teachers the skills and confidence they need to become better storytellers. The book includes dozens of great stories and classroom-tested lesson plans to help students improve reading fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. With better reading skills, students' ability to learn content will also improve. By telling their own stories students will also learn creative writing strategies. The preface and introduction recount current research, while providing inspiration for teachers to learn and tell stories. Each subsequent chapter explores one content area, Reading, Math, Science, etc. There is also a series of interdisciplinary units. What makes this project unique is that each chapter offers several exciting, easy-to-learn stories and reproducible pages for a ready-to-use handouts. Lesson plans include detailed strategies for their application, as well as links to national learning standards. Grades K-6 About the Author Brian "Fox" Ellis is a professional storyteller from Illinois.