What Are the Benefits of Spellbinders Oral Storytelling?

Spellbinders is a non-profit organization of volunteers who bring oral storytelling into classrooms within their own communities. According to the organization, the benefits reach three groups at once: children, teachers, and the volunteers themselves. Oral storytelling is described as good for kids, teachers, and volunteers — and good for the local community. The specific benefits below come from what Spellbinders and the educators it works with report on spellbinders.org.

Benefits for Children

Spellbinders frames its storytelling program as a way to bring young and old together to create connections, advance literacy, and enrich the lives of children and volunteers alike. Teachers who have hosted a trained storyteller describe concrete classroom effects:

• Literacy and story structure. One teacher noted that to become good writers and readers, children need to understand the structure of a story, and that oral storytelling supports this directly.
• Oral language and auditory processing. The same teacher emphasized that oral language and auditory processing are crucial at young children's developmental level.
• Retell and recall. After a storyteller's visit, the class discussed the story, and the teacher reported the children "were amazing with their retell and recall."
• Engagement and imagination. A Broomfield teacher described a storyteller as "simply wonderful," with an ease of addressing children that was immediately apparent and storytelling that was "mesmerizing." The program's stated aim is to ignite children's imaginations.

Benefits for Teachers

Teachers can invite a Spellbinders trained storyteller into their classroom. According to the site, having a trained storyteller in the classroom enhances literacy and supports the curriculum. A teacher from Broomfield highlighted that the storytelling "went along with stories or history we were already discussing in class," which "really added to the enjoyment," and loved seeing kids "wide-eyed, knowing they were making connections." In other words, the benefit is a classroom experience that reinforces what teachers are already teaching rather than competing with it.

Benefits for Volunteers and the Community

Spellbinders presents volunteering as rewarding in its own right. Two volunteer quotes on the site make the point:

• "Telling stories as a Spellbinder volunteer gives me more fun than any human has a right to have." — Karen Hurst
• "You'll never have more fun and you will never, ever experience as special of a reward as having a group of fourth graders smile and clap when you tell a good story. It is very rewarding." — Patrick McCarthy

The organization also states that Spellbinders and storytelling support healthy aging, and that its program creates connections between generations. Volunteers are asked to donate a few hours to ignite children's imaginations in a school near them.

How to Get These Benefits

• Teachers: Invite a Spellbinders trained storyteller to your classroom to enhance literacy and support your curriculum.
• Prospective volunteers: Become a Spellbinders trained volunteer storyteller. The site notes that oral storytelling is good for kids, teachers, and volunteers, and for the local community.
• Current storytellers: A quick reference guide is available with stories, links, lists, and notes for leaders and trainers.

For a fuller picture of the organization, see what Spellbinders.org is; for the volunteer path, see how to become a Spellbinders volunteer storyteller; and for the classroom path, see how teachers can invite a Spellbinders storyteller.