Introduction

StoryCorner is a project dedicated to advocating Storytelling and Story Acting, STSA, a classroom activity developed by the late American kindergarten teacher, Vivian Gussin Paley, 1929-2019.

At the end of 2002, Paley was invited to Taiwan to give lectures and workshops on STSA. StoryCorner founder, Yu-ching Huang, attended the conference and was inspired profoundly by Paley and her method. Following Paley’s return to the States, Huang began to correspond with Paley about her practice of STSA in her classroom.

STSA is an effective method that not only fulfills children’s need for fantasy play, it also enhances children’s self-confidence and encourages children to participate the classroom life. And the result of helping children in their language development and logical thinking is proved by many teachers to be fruitful.

STSA

Based on the method Huang learned from Paley’s demonstration in Taiwan, the descriptions in Paley’s books, and the discussions with Paley in their correspondence, Huang used the following steps:

1.  Invite children to tell their own stories;

2.  scribe verbatim each child’s story;

3.  read the story back to the child;

4.  invite the class to act out the story.

The following rules create a fair, inclusive, fun, and safe community, and make STSA an easy-to-do activity that needs only a pen, and paper:

1.     Everyone involved;

2.     everyone takes turns choosing their roles;

3.     props and rehearsals are not needed;

4.     body contact is discouraged during the acting time.

Mission

StoryCorner provides workshops, reading clubs, and discussion groups for teachers who wish to apply STSA in their classrooms.