Want to learn how to integrate storytelling into your classes? Read on…

“Hello! You have hired me, Captain Mark, to take you to the Land of Purple Flying Elephants. The Purple Flying Elephants have taken your purple beads. To get them back we must sail across dangerous waters, cross peanut butter rivers full of acid, swing over spike filled pits, and balance on teetering vaults.”

What is this craziness I am talking about?

Well, this is the story I tell my students during our weekly class known as Adventure Course.

One technique that I use every week for this class is storytelling. By playing the role of Captain Mark, I am able to bring my students on an exciting journey with me where I can tell the rules in a fun way, set small goals to achieve the bigger picture, and provide a purpose for the class.

Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, and images, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation, and instilling moral values. Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot, characters and narrative point of view. ¹

The objective of Adventure Course is for students to work together to get through a number of low ropes course initiatives. To begin the class, students must come up with qualities that make up a good team, such as communication, being respectful, helping others, and compromising. Instructors reinforce these qualities with their students throughout the class. Students are rewarded with purple beads for their participation and cooperation at the end of Adventure Course. Here are my goals for Adventure Course Storytelling:

Tell the rules in a fun and engaging manner

In many classes it is difficult to keep your students engaged when going over rules. However, I incorporate the rules within my story. This teaches the students the rules in a way where they are focused on everything I am saying. An example of one of these initiatives is called the Titanic. The students must fit everyone onto a tarp that progressively gets smaller to make the initiative more challenging. I engage the students by introducing myself as Captain Mark. I begin my story as such:

“You all have hired me as your Captain to take you to the Land of Purple Flying Elephants. I am the only one that can reach this island because I have a magical ship (the tarp). No matter how damaged it gets it will always float and sail. Now to make it sail, we must sing one verse of Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”

“Everyone must stay on the ship during our journey. If anyone falls off we must start over because we cannot leave any of our crew behind. The journey to the Land of Purple Flying Elephants is a dangerous one, so we might encounter some magical, but terrible things. You must stay engaged, follow the rules, and work together because we cannot succeed without everyone’s help.”

In just a few short sentences I have not only engaged the students, explained the rules (stay on tarp, sing one verse of the song, and do not leave anyone behind), but also added a fun twist as well. Next step is to…

Set up small goals that connect all of the initiatives together

Each initiative brings students one step closer to the ultimate goal – to unlock the vault where their purple beads are being held captive. They cannot proceed to the next initiative until they have completed the previous one. I start our journey with the Titanic initiative because it is a quick way for students to figure out how to work together as a team. At the end of Titanic, we discuss as a group our accomplishments as well as what we need to work on for the following initiative.

This might happen to you on Captain Mark’s Adventure Course.

Next, is the Peanut Butter Acid River. This initiative is a bit more challenging. Students must get from one side of the river to the other without touching the ground. They are given magical “lily pads” to step on, but if they fall off into the Acid River the group must restart. They must use their previous knowledge from Titanic to complete this task.

There are many different variations of this initiative depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the group. For example, if the group is working really well together, I add in extra challenges such as blindfolding a student or taking away a student’s ability to talk. This adds a higher level of difficulty to the initiative.

As each of these initiatives are completed, I move forward with the story as we continue our journey. Students are able to recount the lessons they learned from the previous initiatives and apply it to the next one. Eventually the story comes together and the goal is achieved. The students then receive their purple beads. Now I’ve got to…

Provide a moral for Adventure Course

Can you remember a childhood story that captured your attention? Can you remember the moral it taught you? Stories that capture our imagination are easy to remember. By taking on the role of Captain Mark each week and traveling with my students to the Land of Purple Flying Elephants, I hope that they remember not only the journey, but also the lessons that went along with it.

One important lesson is how they worked together through their successes and failures. If they failed, I hope they remember how they created a new plan that ended successfully. The purpose of Adventure Course is to teach students how to work together in a respectful and productive way. These morals are something that they can take home with them and share with their family, friends, and even sports teams.

Sum It Up

My goal with storytelling in the Adventure Course is to capture and expand the imaginations of my students. By telling stories, I can engage them while I explain the rules. The progression of the story builds on the students’ strengths and what they need to work on. These life lessons not only apply to their week here at High Trails, but also can be taken back home with them as well. All in all, I hope my students will remember their journey to the Land of the Purple Flying Elephants and the morals they learned along the way.

Now it’s your turn. All you have to do is find YOUR story.

At High Trails Outdoor Science School, we literally force our instructors to write about elementary outdoor education, teaching outside, learning outside, our dirty classroom (the forest…gosh), environmental science, outdoor science, and all other tree hugging student and kid loving things that keep us engaged, passionate, driven, loving our job, digging our life, and spreading the word to anyone whose attention we can hold for long enough to actually make it through reading this entire sentence. Whew…. www.dirtyclassroom.com