Preschool: Oral Storytelling

During literacy circle, one of the Preschool teachers presented the beloved story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. The book features a caterpillar who eats his way through a wide variety of foods before pupating and emerging as a beautiful butterfly. Instead of reading the book and showing the pictures, though, she told the story out loud with teacher made felt representations of all of the colorful foods. The children participated by helping count out loud as she placed one apple, two pears, three plums etc. onto a work rug.

Later in the morning, several children eagerly chose the work on their own. The children were overheard telling the story to each other and observed organizing the felt pieces on a work rug, just as presented at circle. Oral storytelling is something we are incorporating into the curriculum and throughout the day. There are many benefits to using oral story telling in the classroom. These benefits include encouraging the child’s creativity and imagination, enhancing listening skills and increasing verbal proficiency.