Storytelling is a deeply rooted human tradition, passed down through generations in various forms. One particularly engaging way to bring stories to life in the classroom is through Story Vines, a strategy that enhances literacy skills while fostering creativity and collaboration. In this blog post, I will discuss the use of Story Vines in literacy instruction, referencing Sometimes Reading is Hard by Robin Bright and additional sources, while also sharing my own experience creating a Story Vine based on Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner.

What Are Story Vines?

Story Vines are a visual and tactile representation of a story, created by attaching symbolic artifacts to a braided or woven material, such as yarn or rope. These artifacts—whether handmade, found, or printed—represent key elements of the story’s plot, characters, or themes. The Story Vine serves as a guide for retelling the story, helping students develop oral language skills, fluency, and comprehension.

According to Sometimes Reading is Hard, the concept of Story Vines was introduced by reading consultant Marlene McKay, who used this strategy in rural school communities to make reading and retelling more interactive. McKay’s work, Story Vines and Readers Theatre: Getting Started (2008), highlights how this approach supports fluency, vocabulary development, and sequencing skills. Story Vines provide a hands-on, multimodal way for students to engage with text, making them particularly effective for emergent readers, English language learners, and students with diverse learning needs.

Benefits of Story Vines

Story Vines offer numerous literacy benefits, making them a valuable tool for educators:

  1. Enhancing Story Structure and Sequence Awareness
     Retelling a story using a Story Vine reinforces the understanding of story elements, such as beginning, middle, and end. The physical act of moving through the vine helps students internalize the story’s structure, improving their ability to summarize and recall key events.
  2. Building Oral Language Fluency
     Bright emphasizes that Story Vines help develop oral fluency by providing a scaffolded way for students to practice retelling. Repeated exposure to the language in a text, combined with the use of the vine as a memory aid, allows students to improve their pacing, expression, and confidence when speaking.
  3. Supporting Vocabulary Acquisition
     Since students repeatedly interact with the words and phrases from the book while using the Story Vine, they naturally develop a richer vocabulary. The visual and tactile components reinforce meaning, making it easier to remember new words and concepts.
  4. Encouraging Creative Expression
     Creating and using a Story Vine allows students to engage with stories in a hands-on way. By making their own symbolic representations of story elements, they connect with the text on a deeper level and develop ownership over their retelling.

Fostering Collaboration and Community
 Bright highlights the effectiveness of pairing older and younger students to create Story Vines together. This cross-grade collaboration fosters mentorship, strengthens peer relationships, and builds a supportive learning environment.

My Experience Creating a Story Vine for Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt

For my Story Vine, I chose Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner, a beautifully illustrated book that explores the hidden world of a garden, both above and below the soil. The book follows a child and her grandmother as they tend to their garden throughout the seasons, revealing the interconnected lives of plants, insects, and soil-dwelling creatures.

Materials and Process

I used earthy colors to reflect the natural tones of the book. My Story Vine consisted of a braided strand of yarn. With more time and more supplies, I would have made small handcrafted or printed images attached to represent key story elements, including:

  • A sun to symbolize the changing seasons.
  • A watering can to represent the care needed for plants to grow.
  • A tomato plant to highlight the growth cycle of garden plants.
  • A worm to showcase the underground ecosystem.
  • A grasshopper and a ladybug to symbolize the important role of insects.
  • A pair of gardening gloves to represent the teamwork between the child and her grandmother.
  • Peg dolls to create three-dimensional versions of the bugs, plants, and characters from the book.

Connecting the Story Vine to Literacy Instruction

This Story Vine provides multiple entry points for student engagement. For younger students, it serves as a visual and tactile support for retelling the story, reinforcing sequencing skills. For older students, it encourages deeper discussions about ecosystems, the changing seasons, and human impact on nature. The process of creating and presenting the vine allows students to practice oral storytelling, enhancing their fluency and comprehension.

Additional Perspectives on Story Vines

Beyond Bright’s work, other educators and researchers highlight the importance of multimodal literacy strategies like Story Vines. According to literacy specialist Nell Duke, interactive and visual storytelling techniques improve students’ engagement and comprehension by making abstract concepts more concrete (Journal of Literacy Research, 2019).

Storytelling traditions in Indigenous cultures also align with the principles of Story Vines. Many First Peoples use visual symbols, oral retellings, and objects to pass down knowledge, reinforcing the idea that storytelling is not just about reading words on a page but about creating a meaningful and shared experience. Integrating Story Vines with Indigenous oral traditions can provide an even richer cultural and educational experience.

Final Thoughts

Story Vines are a powerful and creative tool for promoting literacy skills in an engaging and meaningful way. They support sequencing, fluency, vocabulary, and collaboration, all while making storytelling a dynamic and interactive experience. My experience creating a Story Vine for Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt gave me an idea of just how valuable this strategy can be for learners of all ages! 

I will certainly be using Story Vines to enhance my literacy instruction. Not only do they help students develop essential reading skills, but they also make storytelling a joyful and memorable experience, something every classroom can benefit from! I love this idea, we know that cementing learning through retelling is extremely effective, so why not make it fun and inspire creativity at the same time!

References

Bright, R. (2020). Sometimes Reading is Hard. Pembroke Publishers.

Duke, N. K. (2019). “The Science of Reading: Why Multimodal Approaches Matter.” Journal of Literacy Research, 51(2), 123-145.

Kelley, S. (n.d.). How to teach retelling. Understood.org. https://www.understood.org/en/articles/how-to-teach-retelling