This qualitative case study identifies what 8 teachers naturally do with storytelling at a K-12 school in western North Carolina. Through observations, interviews, field notes, document reviews, and artifact reviews, I used the constant comparison analysis method to discover themes from their formal and informal storytelling strategies. From these themes, I created a framework of 7 suggestions to enhance storytelling awareness. They are: sharing personal stories, developing voice control and body expression, connecting story to school culture, modeling well-developed stories with beginnings, middles, and ends, introducing stories with a pause, expressing the word \"imagine\" often during instruction, and finally, making teachers aware that they naturally tell stories. The significance of this study is to highlight the importance of storytelling methods for education as well as to make teachers feel more comfortable using storytelling in the classroom
","abstract_html":"<p>This qualitative case study identifies what 8 teachers naturally do with storytelling at a K-12 school in western North Carolina. Through observations, interviews, field notes, document reviews, and artifact reviews, I used the constant comparison analysis method to discover themes from their formal and informal storytelling strategies. From these themes, I created a framework of 7 suggestions to enhance storytelling awareness. They are: sharing personal stories, developing voice control and body expression, connecting story to school culture, modeling well-developed stories with beginnings, middles, and ends, introducing stories with a pause, expressing the word "imagine" often during instruction, and finally, making teachers aware that they naturally tell stories. The significance of this study is to highlight the importance of storytelling methods for education as well as to make teachers feel more comfortable using storytelling in the classroom</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Reeder, Nancy J."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MA (Master of Arts)","degree_level":"Thesis - unrestricted","degree_discipline":"Reading","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-12-19T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2009-12-19T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:21:03Z","subjects":["storytelling","storytelling teacher","education","teacher","story","Elementary Education and Teaching","Teacher Education and Professional Development"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1890","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Reeder, Nancy J."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2009-12-19T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Reading"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - unrestricted"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MA (Master of Arts)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["storytelling","storytelling teacher","education","teacher","story","Elementary Education and Teaching","Teacher Education and Professional Development"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright by the authors."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/3242/viewcontent/ReederN100909f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1890"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This qualitative case study identifies what 8 teachers naturally do with storytelling at a K-12 school in western North Carolina. Through observations, interviews, field notes, document reviews, and artifact reviews, I used the constant comparison analysis method to discover themes from their formal and informal storytelling strategies. From these themes, I created a framework of 7 suggestions to enhance storytelling awareness. They are: sharing personal stories, developing voice control and body expression, connecting story to school culture, modeling well-developed stories with beginnings, middles, and ends, introducing stories with a pause, expressing the word \"imagine\" often during instruction, and finally, making teachers aware that they naturally tell stories. The significance of this study is to highlight the importance of storytelling methods for education as well as to make teachers feel more comfortable using storytelling in the classroom
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Qualitative Case Study of Natural Storytelling Strategies Used at the Nantahala School."]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Reeder, Nancy J."],"dc:date.issued":["2009-12-19T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This qualitative case study identifies what 8 teachers naturally do with storytelling at a K-12 school in western North Carolina. Through observations, interviews, field notes, document reviews, and artifact reviews, I used the constant comparison analysis method to discover themes from their formal and informal storytelling strategies. From these themes, I created a framework of 7 suggestions to enhance storytelling awareness. They are: sharing personal stories, developing voice control and body expression, connecting story to school culture, modeling well-developed stories with beginnings, middles, and ends, introducing stories with a pause, expressing the word \"imagine\" often during instruction, and finally, making teachers aware that they naturally tell stories. The significance of this study is to highlight the importance of storytelling methods for education as well as to make teachers feel more comfortable using storytelling in the classroom
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/3242/viewcontent/ReederN100909f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1890"],"dc:rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"dc:subject":["storytelling","storytelling teacher","education","teacher","story","Elementary Education and Teaching","Teacher Education and Professional Development"],"dc:title":["A Qualitative Case Study of Natural Storytelling Strategies Used at the Nantahala School."],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Reading"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - unrestricted"],"thesis:degree_name":["MA (Master of Arts)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:21:03Z"}