When Sonia Zivkovic and Megan Hicks arrive at the Hongqiao campus of Shanghai United International School (SUIS), they are quickly surrounded by kids who are approaching either for a shy “hello” or an enthusiastic “high-5” but more probably are asking “What’s the story for today?”

One boy crosses his hands, jumps to the front and says, “Miss Megan, I made a Tiffany for my mom this morning. And she is very happy!”

“Good on you! You have learned to make a Tiffany,” Hicks replies. She is all smiles because she knows her teaching objective has been initially accomplished.

Zivkovic and Hicks are visiting SUIS as part of an annual and innovative program in which storytelling is used to help create an inclusive learning environment for different age and learning levels in the school.

For today’s storytelling session, Hicks has prepared three stories for three different age groups.

For older students aged about 12, she has the story of the “School Sports Day” about a girl who used to hate sports because she couldn’t do somersaults. But her attitude changed to liking the games after she learned skills through folding origami. Hicks tells the story while folding the paper, repeating the instructions when necessary. The moment the students see the end product do a front flip on the desk, they are in awe of what has happened. And they beg her to do it again.

For younger students aged about eight, she has the story of the “Cranky Baby” in which she introduces the whole family — mother, father, brother, sister and grandparents — who all make an effort to help because the baby “wants her juice immediately.” As Hicks tells the story, she repeats the sentences, replacing the person in the act, and stops to ask the students to fill in the verbs to complete the series of actions in different situations. It is great to see the whole class get absorbed in this fun game which provides a quick and convenient alternative to a common classroom drill.

For kindergarten kids who are just 5 years old, Hicks uses as much sign language as possible just to make them stay focused. She tells the story of the “Hat-seller and Monkeys” and uses it to teach shapes and colors. Each hat is simple to make and a great addition to any costume. When she sees the kids are losing interest, she quickly wraps up the story and finishes the session with another story about “Mr Wiggles meets Mr Waggles,” which is a basic chanting of daily greetings in English.

While Hicks is telling the stories in the front of class, Zivkovic sits at back observing the students and taking notes. If she gives a positive sign, Hicks continues with her story. If negative, Hicks will switch to the back-up story and call off the session earlier than planned.

“Now you see how storytelling is performed in different classroom situations. It is a co-creative and two-way form of communication,” Zivkovic tells Shanghai Daily after the morning session at SUIS.

“With storytelling, both the teller and listeners create the story. The storyteller’s face, voice, body and personality help to convey the meaning and mood while the audience follows the storyline through constant eye contact, active listening and participation.”

Zivkovic, born in Argentina, was an English teacher with over 20 years’ experience working in bilingual schools. She first arrived in Shanghai in 2004, joined Shanghai Xiehe Education group and became part of the founding team of the first bilingual international school of Shanghai, SUIS.

Through her own experience of learning and teaching English as a second language, Zivkovic believes storytelling is an effective way to arouse student interest and engagement in the classroom, as well as a vehicle to learn values and develop global mindedness.

“Told well, a story links an idea with an emotion, leaving an image that is memorable,” she says.

“I remembered many a time in a Shanghai taxi when the driver would have his radio tuned to a man telling stories from Chinese history in his hoarse and individualistic voice. Later, my friend told me that he is a very famous Chinese storyteller called Shan Tianfang whose storytelling has left a deep impression on several generations,” she recalls.

In 2012 Zivkovic became inspired by a storytelling troupe in Colombia. She quit teaching and set up her own storytelling workshop, Pana Wakke, which focuses on bringing educational entertainment to bilingual and international schools in Asia. She has since designed many tours with different styles of storytelling to cater to the needs of different school curriculums.

“I work with professional storytellers all over the world. For each tour I invite one storyteller to travel with me. Last time I had David Novak who introduces students to New Zealand Maori culture with a traditional war dance to fit into the school’s Sports Day. This time I have Megan Hicks, who makes origami and specializes in folktales, myths and ghost stories for Halloween weekend,” she says.

According to Zivkovic, storytelling is definitely more demanding compared with story reading. It requires the teller to use a variety of words, as well as variations in story elements such as structure, theme, setting and even moral, to tailor his or her performances according to the specific needs of each student.

Needless to say the use of storytelling helps create an inclusive learning environment where students of every ability level receive teaching in the same place while feeling comfortable and being able to actively engage.

From my observation, even students with behavioral issues or poor levels of English engage in active listening, and those with more limited command of English can still follow the storylines with no apparent difficulty. This is demonstrated when students enthusiastically retell the stories they have heard to teachers, friends and parents later in the day.

“After a storyteller’s visit, the feedback we receive from teachers is extremely positive and they feel inspired to tell stories in class after seeing how their students respond to storytelling,” Zivkovic says. “It shows that the impact of storytelling is not limited to just fun, or even the delivery of stories by a professional storyteller.”

Sonia Zivkovic’s Pana Wakke workshop makes two tours — one in spring and the other in autumn — to China every year. She has been working with about 40 experimental schools and international schools in first and second-tier cities in China. For this tour in autumn, after her Shanghai stop at SUIS, she and Hicks go on to perform at a Chinese experimental school in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, and another one in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.

“For my spring tour to China next year, I will bring Robin Bady, who is an actress and also plays the guitar. Bet the students can’t wait to see her!” she says.