Sometimes the best way forward is to hold tightly to what has worked in the past. Storytelling is our oldest education pedagogy and satisfies the human need for listening to and telling stories. Teachers around the world are reclaiming storytelling for effective language learning in their classrooms and bringing fun and joy back into the classroom. Storytelling accelerates oral language, scaffolds reading fluency and comprehension and moves language structures that work into children’s own writing. Furthermore, as we respond to the need for our children to know their history and to recognise the many cultures that make Aotearoa New Zealand the place it is today, here is a collection of stories to carry that knowledge.
 
In The NZ Storytelling Way from Talking to Writing Lisbeth Swanson and Judith Sachdeva explain a storytelling model that works for and meets the needs of every child, speaks to every culture, and works from preschool to secondary level. This book includes an overview of the method, a practical guide for teachers, and a new collection of stories for children growing up here. It is a treasury of stories and guidance for teachers new to storytelling and for the many teachers already using the method successfully in their classrooms.