We arrived in IES Canarias Cabrera Pinto School La Laguna to give our first GIANTS International storytelling event on 23rd May. Unfamiliar with the micro-climate of Tenerife we foolishly arrived in our sandals to find ourselves in temperatures akin to Scotland even though we were just a mere 20 minute drive from our 30 degree coastal residence in Candelaria. We were led into a beautiful hall adorned with historic paintings depicting island life. It was here we were to perform our stories and deliver a workshop to 50 English language learners aged 13-14.
As they filled the benches before us, we welcomed and chatted with them in English. Laughing at the initial novelty but soon enjoying engaging with us with the language they knew. We showed them Svend’s feet size 49! And mine size 45! Jaws dropped in amazement and we explained that we are giants.
We then introduced them to some of the new words they might hear in the stories; ‘freckles’, ‘cradle’, ‘iron-griddle’, ‘dough’, ‘bonnet’.
Using simple clear English, repetition, movement and the inclusion of this unfamiliar vocabulary, we took them on a journey through 2 stories. The quality of listening in the room was breathtaking. Their desire to follow the whole story was a gift for us as tellers.
And when we’d finished their eyes were sparkling and their faces were smiling.
A short time later they returned to the hall in groups to explore with us the legend of Knockmany which they had just heard.
The workshop’s focus is to find language and story in the body. Being big and being small and calling out as many English words they know to describe scale and physicalising every step of the way.
‘Humongous’ ‘Enormous’ ‘Gigantic’ ‘Titanic’ ‘Massive’ and my favourite from one boy
‘Vertically Fat!’
In groups they worked to physicalise scenes from the stories with permission to be anything from a stone to an iron griddle. Our one stipulation was that they prepare all their scenes and work in English. Once they realised that the sky’s the limit their passion and enthusiasm grew, their ideas became wilder and the need to speak in English became stronger. When the words didn’t come we encouraged them to use their bodies rather than resort to their mother tongue.
The workshop culminated in a storytelling performance where the groups tell sections of the story and each student says at least one sentence in English.
The following 2 days we brought our work to Hispanico Britanico School, where we were joined by our wonderful host and local storyteller Laura Escuela. Here we had a similar response from the students. Before we left the director of the school approached us and said his daughter – who never normally discusses her school day with him- had been part of our workshop the previous day and had talked about it non stop for half an hour when she got home. He was delighted, and his final question was
On February 18th 2024 the GIANTS landed on the island of Gran Canaria where our epic adventure began. Collaborators from teacher training services from the north and south of the island had combined efforts to organise an incredible 4 day tour of schools and teaching centres across the island. Our intention, to share stories and storytelling in English to inspire young learners to improve their language skills, and to help language teachers use storytelling and storytelling activities in the language classroom.
On day one our fabulous host Adrian took us to 2 schools in the south of Gran Canaria where we shared our signature English immersion storytelling performance and workshop. The students experience the tale of Fin McCool building the Giant’s Causeway from Ireland to Scotland. We tell in simple English, pre-teaching any tricky English word and phrases, such as ‘an iron griddle’ and ‘a cradle’, and we use clear physicality which helps young English learners make sense of the action in the story. After the performance we guide students through a lively 1 hour workshop where they try out phrases from the story and create scenes through freeze frames and get to play characters from the story. We encourage all students to say at least 1 phrase in English when they share part of the story with their class. There was a lot of laughter and the students really seized the opportunity to practise their English and learn new vocabulary and expressions.
Day 2 Adrian handed us over to the fantastic Gladys in the North of the island who drove us up to Galdar. Again we repeated our work in both a primary and a secondary school.
We grade our language in both the performance and the workshops to make it accessible and easy to follow for a range of English levels.
In primary schools we generally keep things clear, simple and fun. Our main intention is for the children to fully comprehend the story by the end of the workshop and to have spoken in English with some new phrases or vocabulary. We want them to leave the workshop with a renewed enthusiasm for language learning and a love for storytelling.
When working with high school students we are able to challenge them a bit more and stretch their abilities in English. In our workshops, we encourage them to use only English when they are working on group tasks and we ask them to support and encourage each other to find the words and ask for help when they need it. We ask high school students to create scenes from the story which they can act out in groups always casting at least one group member as ‘the storyteller’.
Our high school workshop in Galdar was full of creativity. The students came up with some very clever, funny ideas for staging their scenes, and they really made the story their own. We GIANTS were greatly inspired by the talent and engagement of the young people who displayed total commitment to the work from start to finish.
Day 3 was devoted to teachers. First on our agenda was a seminar for CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) co-ordinators from across the island. We found our way by taxi to the University of Las Palmas Faculty of Education where we entered a big conference hall and the 120 participants were about to take a pause for a coffee break before their seminar with the GIANTS.
The seminar kicked off with a storytelling warm up exercise where we invited them to tell a partner about a tree they know well. It felt like a welcome break for the teachers to be engaging creatively at this point in their morning’s conference and we could gradually feel the great hall loosen up as laughter and smiles erupted on the faces of the teachers. Svend-Erik encouraged the teachers to give each other feedback on their stories in the form of sharing the clearest picture with their partners; a tried and tested feedback method which Svend-Erik identified over the many years he has been teaching storytelling. Sharing the clearest picture immediately after hearing a story supports the storyteller in their growth and helps them to identify the moments when they truly connect with their listeners. It also results in a joyful exchange which is nourishing for both the listener and teller and is a positive starting point from which to then give further constructive feedback.
We then introduced ourselves as storytellers and we told a tale called ‘The High Kirk of Lund’ which features in our stage show GIANTS and also in Svend-Erik’s new book ‘Danish Folktales’ published by the History Press. It was an opportunity for teachers to sit back, relax and enjoy a story in English and wake up the right side of the brain a little more. We talked about our work in schools and how we use our giant stories as a basis for engaging school children in fun workshops which help them to enjoy speaking and using English through dynamic, creative and physical activities related to a story. We emphasise the importance of activating language through the embodiment of storytelling, which seems to consolidate the memory of new language for young learners.
With a couple more stories from the GIANTS and some more participatory activities shared, the CLIL co-ordinators seemed happy, refreshed and equipped with a few new ideas for the language learning classroom.
After a delicious local lunch in a typical Canarian bar we were taken by the wonderful Laura to the teacher training centre in Las Palmas where we met with 31 teachers ready to embark on a 2 day language teachers course on using storytelling in the language classroom. We crafted the two days to give the participants a balance of activities which could firstly help the teachers to become better storytellers, but also equip them with fun games and strategies for using storytelling in the classroom and helping young language learners to comprehend a story. Our activities range from quite controlled exercises with repetition and structure, to more free-flowing creative tasks to expand and develop story-making and storytelling abilities. Always with attention to the language learning and development opportunities available with each exercise.
The first day of this course we saw a group of relative strangers form bonds through storytelling. As everyone settled into the flow of the workshop we found some powerful storytelling voices emerging. We were in a room with some very clever and creative people who grasped the new concepts and ideas we shared and could instantly find ways to use them with students.
We left the teaching centre feeling tired but very happy.
The next morning we had an early start. Two more schools to visit with our performances and workshops. This time in Las Palmas. It was as fun and fulfilling as the first couple of days in schools. When we stick to our tried and tested formula, these workshops run like a dream.
But the afternoon with our teachers course was going to be more of an experiment for us. We decided to invite the teachers into the world of how we construct our children’s workshops, breaking down a story into parts, finding character phrases and expressions, and then taking language and story from the page to physicalise it in a space with groups of young people. We used another story from Svend-Erik’s book called the ‘Devil’s Coffee Grinder’ and we worked together to activate this story and bring it to life in the workshop space. Sharing our process actually became the highlight of this course as we witnessed teachers animating their own ideas. It became a very happy ending to our 4 day tour.
This would not have been possible without the amazing organisational efforts of the entire team of teacher training leaders working across the island of Gran Canaria. Laura, Adrian, Gladys, Noelia and everyone else working behind the scenes. We thank you all and we hope to see you again next year.
GIANT Storytellers 