An English Storytelling Method - S.C.O.O.P.

Abstract

For English learners and teachers, extensive reading proficiency and teaching are crucial in students' reading comprehension ability, while extensive reading ability lies in the deep understanding of the main idea or gist of the text. In order to comprehend the main idea or the gist completely, the focus of this paper is on introducing a novel storytelling method called S.C.O.O.P., which can be utilized not just by educators in extensive reading teaching lessons, but also by students to retell the story or main idea of the text they are studying in a fun way. In addition, this paper explains the benefits of S.C.O.O.P. and the strategies for implementing it effectively in the classroom. Furthermore, it provides a teaching case in an extensive reading teaching lesson to present how to apply S.C.O.O.P. method in real reading teaching scenario for English teachers and which activities can be considered to facilitate the method application. Finally, the paper shows that the S.C.O.O.P. method is more effective and engaging than the traditional extensive reading teaching methods in terms of reading comprehension and development for English learners.

Headnote

Abstract

For English learners and teachers, extensive reading proficiency and teaching are crucial in students' reading comprehension ability, while extensive reading ability lies in the deep understanding of the main idea or gist of the text. In order to comprehend the main idea or the gist completely, the focus of this paper is on introducing a novel storytelling method called S.C.O.O.P., which can be utilized not just by educators in extensive reading teaching lessons, but also by students to retell the story or main idea of the text they are studying in a fun way. In addition, this paper explains the benefits of S.C.O.O.P. and the strategies for implementing it effectively in the classroom. Furthermore, it provides a teaching case in an extensive reading teaching lesson to present how to apply S.C.O.O.P. method in real reading teaching scenario for English teachers and which activities can be considered to facilitate the method application. Finally, the paper shows that the S.C.O.O.P. method is more effective and engaging than the traditional extensive reading teaching methods in terms of reading comprehension and development for English learners.

Keywords

S.C.O.O.P.; Storytelling; Strategies; Benefits; Teaching case

1. Introduction

Learning to retell stories effectively is a crucial part of reading comprehension and development for students (Karin O, 2023). However, not all learners find this task easy. Some may struggle to identify the key elements of a story, getting lost in unnecessary details, or failing to grasp the central points. Some may have problems in retelling the main idea or story. To address this challenge, educators can turn to innovative and engaging methods like the S.C.O.O.P. approach, an ice cream-themed story-retelling pack designed to make learning both fun and effective. Only when students are really eager for reading and thinking, can they develop their reading comprehension and better cope with the difficulties they meet in reading (Sharma, 2020).

2. The Meaning of the S.C.O.O.P. Method

The S.C.O.O.P. method can help English learners better retell a story by actively finding out five elements from the text. For students who have a high level of writing, they can try to write down the five elements in English or a summary of main idea while low-level students just need to speak them out. Each letter of the acronym S.C.O.O.P. stands for "Setting", "Characters", "Oh no!" (the problems), "Order of events", and "Problems solved" (solutions). This method provides a structured yet enjoyable way for students to grasp the essential components of a story or a text. Here's how each element contributes to effective story retelling:

1) Setting: This refers to the time and place where the story occurs. Understanding the setting helps students contextualize the story.

2) Characters: Identifying the main and supporting characters gives insight into the story's narrative and dynamics (Wang Junyuan, 2021).

3) Oh no! (The Problems): Recognizing the central conflict or problem in the story is crucial for understanding the plot of the story.

4) Order of Events: Grasping the sequence of events allows students to follow the story logically and coherently.

5) Problems Solved (Solutions): Identifying the resolution of the story's central conflict helps in comprehending the story's conclusion and moral.

When learners are retelling a story by using this method, they don't need to follow this "S.C.O.O.P." order, instead, they can change the order where they feel necessary. However, the element of "order of events" must be retold in the order because it usually contains the relations of cause and effect.

3. Implementing the S.C.O.O.P. Method in the Classroom

To effectively implement this method in reading lesson, teachers can use the following strategies.

1) Interactive Story Sessions: Let students read stories aloud and pause at key moments to discuss the S.C.O.O.P. elements within a group. This interactive approach encourages students' participation and deepens their understanding of the theme of the text.

2) Ice Cream Visuals: Utilize the ice cream-themed materials provided in the pack as teaching aids. Each "scoop" can represent a different element of the story, making the process visually engaging and memorable for students.

3) Group Activities: Encourage group discussions where students collectively identify the S.C.O.O.P. elements in various stories. This fosters collaborative learning and critical thinking. Besides, the group members can exchange their information about five elements with each other to close the information gap.

4) Retelling Practice: Regular practice in retelling stories using the S.C.O.O.P. framework helps solidify the student's understanding and recall of the stories. What's more, students will be more confident and self-fulfilling in practicing when they feel they are better at retelling a story or the main idea of the text, which is a good intro motivation for reading.

4. Benefits of the S.C.O.O.P. Method

1) Enhanced Comprehension: This method ensures that students cover all critical aspects of the story, leading to better comprehension.

2)ment of writing skills: Students can write down a structured essay if they can implement the S.C.O.O.P. method in writing a narration. This method can offer them a clear organization of the plot of a story. Moreover, their writing can be more logical and clearer.

7) Improvement of speaking skills: Students can share a story with their friends and parents by retelling the five elements and communicating with each other about the story. During the process, their speaking skills can be sharpened gradually because there are always some loyal listeners around them (Zhao Yongxia, 2012).

5. Teaching Case of Implementing the S.C.O.O.P. Method

Take an English reading lesson as a specific example to present the teaching procedure featuring the S.C.O.O.P. method.

The reading text is as follows:

Chinese New Year-Past and Present

Para. 1 Once upon a time there was a horned monster named "Nian". He lived deep at the bottom of the sea all the year round and climbed up to the shore only on the eve of Chinese New Year to eat people and cattle. Every New Year's Eve people would run away to avoid the monster.

Para. 2 Then, one New Year's Eve, the people of the village were getting ready to hide deep in the mountains when there came an old beggar. They were in such a great hurry to run away that no one cared about him. Only one person, a grandmother, was kind enough to give him some food and asked him to go with her to the mountains to avoid the monster. But he said with a smile, "If you allow me to stay at your home for the night, I'm sure to drive away the monster "Nian".

Para. 3 Around midnight, just as "Nian" made a charge at the door of the grandmother's house, there suddenly came the sounds of explosions. The old beggar, dressed in a red robe, burst out laughing, and the monster was frightened out of his wits and ran away as quickly as possible.

Para. 4 The next day, which was the first day of the first lunar month, people came back only to find everything peaceful and undisturbed. The grandmother suddenly realized what had happened and told the villagers about the old beggar's promise. The villagers then realized that the old beggar was none other than a god who came to drive out the monster "Nian" and bless the people. They also understood that red paper, red cloth, red candles, and firing firecrackers were the best weapons to frighten away the monster.

Para. 5 From then on, people have observed the customs of "Guo "Nian"" (meaning "passing over the year" or "surviving the monster "Nian""), although the original meaning of "Guo "Nian"" may have been forgotten. "Guo "Nian"" has now become synonymous with celebrating Chinese New Year (or the Spring Festival, which begins on the first day of the lunar new year, lasting usually from somewhere between January and February). Today families in China like to stick red spring couplets on their doors, light red candles, fire firecrackers to ward off all the evil spirits, and stay up late on New Year's Eve to welcome Chinese New Year. Children are happy to receive "Ya Sui Qian" (meaning "lucky money"), and happy, too, are all the people in their new clothes to go "Bai "Nian"" (meaning "paying a New Year call") and say "Gong Xi Fa Cai" (meaning "wishing you prosperity") to their relatives and friends.

The title of this text is "Chinese New Year-Present and Past", which is a narration concerning the legend of Chinese New Year about the monster "Nian" and the modern customs of Chinese New Year. This legend contains five elements as mentioned above: setting (time and place), characters, problems (oh, no!), order of events, and problems solved. Therefore, considering the genre of this text, the teacher can consider the S.C.O.O.P. method to achieve the teaching objectives of this lesson. Before this lesson, students have grasped the words and expressions of this text and have learned the main idea, structure, and genre of this text. Therefore, the lesson plan goes like this:

5.1 Teaching Objectives-Ability Objectives

1) Students will be able to find the five elements (S.C.O.O.P.) from the legend about the Monster "Nian" with the help of group members;

2) Students will be able to retell the legend about the Monster "Nian" with the help of the S.C.O.O.P. method.

5.2 Teaching and Learning Methods The teacher applies the task-based teaching method as well as the S.C.O.O.P. method to achieve the teaching objectives of this reading lesson. Students learn and finish tasks in groups.

5.3 Teaching Process

5.3.1 Pre-task

Students have figured out the main idea, structure and genre during previous lessons. They have been divided into ten groups beforehand. The teacher shows the blank diagram as follows for each group and asks them to fill in the diagram within 15 minutes by finding out the S.C.O.O.P- five elements of the story about the monster "Nian". Each group needs to turn in one diagram of the joint efforts of group members.

5.3.2 While-task

Students have 15 minutes to complete the diagram. They read aloud or silently and underline the relevant information of five elements, after which, they exchange their information with each other by discussing key information from the text with each other. During this process, teachers should walk around students and offer a helping hand to them if they have problems or difficulties. Besides, students need to use their own words to produce sentences based on the key elements and make them clear and concise instead of copying the original sentences from the text. After completing it, the group leader should be responsible for checking and correcting their expressions to avoid any possible and obvious grammar mistakes before handing them in.

5.3.3 Post-task

After 15 minutes, the group leader should label their diagrams by their group number and turn in the finished diagram to the teacher. The teacher randomly redistributed the completed diagrams to ten groups. These ten groups get different diagrams finished by other groups. What happens next is to mark the diagram at hand and correct their mistakes or errors by the reference like the following. After marking and correcting it, the group will get their own marked diagram with grades and check the score and notes marked by the other group.

Different groups get different scores on their diagrams. The teacher then allows ten minutes for students to review the diagram for the purpose of retelling the legend with the help of the five elements. The teacher can invite several students to retell this legend in class. After listening to their presentation, the teacher will give specific feedback based on their retelling performance.

5.4 Teaching Reflections

During the class break, the teacher gathered feedback from students. This feedback could indicate whether students were able to find out five elements and retell the story of the monster "Nian" with the help of the S.C.O.O.P. method. After this lesson, the teacher found that most students were able to retell this legend fluently and concisely with the help of S.C.O.O.P. method, which indicated that the S.C.O.O.P. method is more effective than the traditional reading teaching method. However, some of them felt the learning process was not as fun and interesting as they imagined before the lesson, so how to make the lesson more fun and engaging for students was a crucial problem for teachers to deal with. Maybe the teacher can consider using the ice cream visuals as follows.

Next time, during the while-task period, the teacher can prepare the ice cream-themed materials provided in the pack before class as teaching aids. Each "scoop" can represent a different element of the story, making the process visually engaging and memorable for students. This can also be designed as an interesting game for students to play in class.

6. Conclusion

For students who have difficulty summarizing the story in English or retelling the plots of the story, the S.C.O.O.P. method is an innovative and effective approach to solving the problems of story retelling and reading comprehension. By combining structured learning with fun and engaging elements, it addresses the challenges faced by learners who struggle with story retelling. This method not only enhances reading comprehension but also fosters a love for reading and storytelling among learners. Hopefully, the S.C.O.O.P. method can be an asset for English teachers to think further about how to improve students' reading proficiency and comprehension ability.

Sidebar

How to cite this paper: Shuhan Yang. (2024). An English Storytelling MethodS.C.O.O.P. 8(7), 984-988 The Educational Review, USA.

Received: June 15, 2024

Accepted: July 12, 2024

Published: August 9, 2024

Corresponding author: Shuhan Yang, School of Culture and Communication, Hubei Preschool Teachers College, Ezhou 436031, Hubei, China.

References

References

Angela L, Pauline K. Storytelling as a Teaching Approach for Breastfeeding Education [J]. Nursing for Women's Health, 2020, 24(6).

Karin O, Juliana T, De F S J M, et al. Translation and Adaptation of the English STORY RETELL PROCEDURE (SRP) to PORTUGUESE: A preliminary study [J]. Folia phoniatrica et logopaedica: official organ of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP), 2023.

Sauro S, Buendgens‐Kosten J, Cornillie F. Storytelling for the foreign language classroom [J]. Foreign Language Annals, 2020, 53(2).

Sharma K B. Retelling Stories of Desire in TESOL: English, Imagination, and Encounters in Tourism [J]. TESOL Quarterly, 2020, 55(1):80-104.

Wang Junyuan, Xie Huiping. Using Storytelling in Process Teaching to Cultivate Students' Output Language Skills [J]. English Learning, 2021, (03):32-38.

Zhao Yongxia. On storytelling pedagogy in higher education [J]. Logistics Engineering and Management, 2012, 34(02):143-144.