In Hinduism, the Rāmāyaṇa is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the poet Valmiki and is an important part of the Hindu canon (smṛti). The name Rāmāyaṇa is a compound of Rāma (the hero of the Epic) and ayana (meaning "going, advancing"), thus translating to "the travels of Rāma." The Rāmāyaṇa consists of 24,000 verses in seven cantos (kāṇḍas) and tells the story of a prince, Rama of Ayodhya, whose wife Sita is abducted by the demon king of Lanka, Rāvana. In its current form, the Valmiki Ramayana is dated variously from 500 B.C.E. to 100 B.C.E., or concurrent to early versions of the Mahabhārata. As with most traditional epics, it has gone through a long process of redactions and is impossible to date accurately.
One of the most important literary works on ancient India, the Ramayana has had a profound impact on the devotion, art and culture in the Indian Subcontinent. The Rāmāyana also had an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry, primarily through its establishment of the Sloka meter. Like its epic cousin the Mahābhārata, the Rāmāyana is not just an ordinary story. It contains the teachings of ancient Hindu sages and presents them through allegory in narrative form. The characters of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata, Hanumān and Rāvana (the villain of the piece) are all fundamental to the cultural consciousness of India. The story of Rama also inspired a large amount of later-day literature in various languages, notable among which are the works of the sixteenth century Hindi poet Tulsidas and the Tamil poet Kambar of the thirteenth century. The impact of the Ramayana has also spread beyond India. Starting from the eighth century, the colonization of Southeast Asia by Indians began. Several large empires like the Khmer, the Majapahits, the Sailendras, the Champas and Sri Vijaya were established. As a result of this, the Ramayana became popular in Southeast Asia and manifested itself in text, temple architecture and performance, particularly in Indonesia (Java, Sumatra and Borneo), Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Laos.
Valmiki's Ramayana, the oldest and most widely read version of Ramayana. The text survives in numerous complete and partial manuscripts, the oldest surviving of which is dated from the eleventh century C.E.. The Valmiki Ramayana has been traditionally divided into seven books, dealing with the life of Rama from his birth to his death.
There have been speculations on whether the first and the last chapters of Valmiki's Ramayana were indeed written by the original author. Many experts are of the opinion that in spite of the many differences in style, and occasional contradictions in content, between these two chapters and the rest of the book, the chapters are still an integral part of the story. These two chapters contain most of the mythological interpolations found in the Ramayana, such as the miraculous birth of Rama and his divine nature as well as the numerous legends surrounding Ravana.
Rama, the hero of Ramayana, is a popular deity worshiped by Hindus; the route of his wanderings being, each year, trodden by devout pilgrims. The poem is not a mere literary monument, it is a part of Hinduism, and is held in such reverence that the mere reading or hearing of it, or certain passages of it, is believed by the Hindus to free them from sin and grant every desire to the reader or hearer. According to Hindu tradition, Rama is an incarnation (Avatar), of the god Vishnu, who is part of the Hindu Trinity. The main purpose of this incarnation is to demonstrate the righteous path (dharma) for the life on earth.
Brahma, creator of the universe, could not revoke a boon he gave the demon king Ravana, as a reward for his severe penances, that he should not be slain by gods, demons, or spirits. Having been thus rewarded, Ravana began with the help of his evil supporters, the Rakshasas, to lay waste the earth and to do violence to the good, especially the Brahmin priests, disturbing their sacrifices. All the gods, watching this devastation, went to Brahma to find a way to deliver themselves and the earth of this evil. Brahma went to Vishnu and conveyed the anguish of the gods and requested that Vishnu incarnate on earth as a human to destroy Ravana, as Ravana had not asked for protection against humans or beasts in his wishes to Brahma.
Meanwhile, the good king Dasharatha of Ayodhya, who had ruled over his kingdom of Kosala for a long time, was beginning to become anxious about his successor, for he had no sons to take over the kingdom after him. Taking advice from his ministers and priests Dasharatha organized a Putrakameshti Yagna, a sacrifice for progeny. Vishnu decided to be born as the eldest to Dasharatha and caused a divine being to emerge from the sacrificial fire. The divine being gave Dasharatha a golden vessel filled with nectar and asked him to give it to his queens. Dasharatha divided it amongst his three queens, Kausalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi. In due course they became pregnant and gave birth to four sons: Queen Kausalya gives birth to the eldest son, Rama. Bharata is born to Queen Kaikeyi, and twins, Lakshmana and Shatrughna, are born to Queen Sumitra.
The boys grew up learning the scriptures and the art of bowmanship from the sage Vasishta. One day, the sage Vishwamitra visited the kingdom and asked King Dasharatha to send Rama to protect him from demons who had been disturbing his sacrifices. Although very reluctant, Dasharatha agreed to send Rama and Lakshmana with Vishwamitra. As the brothers fulfilled their duties, Vishwamitra was pleased with them and bestowed upon them various celestial weapons.
Towards the end of their stay with Vishwamitra, Rama chanced to pass near the kingdom of Mithila and heard that its king, Janaka, had offered his daughter, Sita, in marriage to the man who could bend the mighty bow of god Siva, which had been kept at Janaka's court. Rama at once determined to accomplish the feat, which had been tried in vain by so many suitors. When he presented himself at court Janaka was at once won by his youth and beauty. Five thousand men drew in the mighty bow, resting upon an eight-wheeled chariot. Rama without any apparent effort bent it until it broke and, Janaka gladly gave him his beautiful daughter. After the splendid wedding ceremonies were over, the happy pair travelled back to Ayodhya.
King Dasharatha, began to feel weary of reigning, and decided to make Rama, his eldest son and heir-apparent, the co-regent (Yuvaraja). His happy people received the announcement of his intention with delight and the whole city was in the midst of the most splendid preparations for the ceremony. Dasharatha went to discuss the celebrations with his favorite wife Kaikeyi. However, Kaikeyi was jealous because her darling son Bharata was not to be made co-regent, so she fled to an ante-chamber where Dasharatha found her in tears.
To Dasharatha's concerned queries, Kaikeyi recalled that, ages ago, the old king had granted her two boons. She now demanded the fulfillment of these before she would consent to smile upon him. Dasharatha agreed and Kaikeyi revealed her demands. She required him, first, to appoint her son Bharata as co-regent and, second, to exile Rama for 14h years to the terrible forest of Dandaka. Dasharatha was grief-stricken, but agreed to abide by his promise. Rama, the obedient son, immediately agreed to relinquish his claim to the throne and started to leave for his exile. His faithful wife Sita and his loving brother Lakshmana also decided to go along with Rama. With Dasharatha lying grief-stricken, Rama left for the forest, followed by the lamenting people of Ayodhya. Soon after, King Dasharatha died, overcome by grief.
Rama, Sita and Lakshmana left behind Ayodhya and its people, crossed the river Ganges and went into the forest. They found an idyllic place called Chitrakuta to establish their hermitage. No more beautiful place could be imagined. Flowers of every kind, delicious fruits, and on every side the most pleasing prospects, together with perfect love, made their hermitage a paradise on earth. In the forest, Rama befriended the old vulture-king, Jatayu.
Meanwhile, Bharata returned to Ayodhya and, being also devoted to Rama, became furious with Kaikeyi for her role in exiling Rama and for the death of his father. Determined to bring back Rama, he headed for the forest. When he found Rama and pleaded with him to return and assume the throne, Rama politely refused, saying that he was duty-bound to see that his father's promise was fulfilled. Reluctantly Bharata agreed to return to the kingdom, requesting that Rama give to him his sandals. Back in Ayodhya, Baratha placed Rama's sandals on the throne of Ayodhya, and ruled as Rama's proxy from a village called Nandigrama near Ayodhya, awaiting his return. He also vowed to end his own life if Rama failed to return after 14 years.
One day, the demoness Surpanakha, a sister of the demon king Ravana, chanced upon Rama's hermitage and saw the handsome Rama and became enamored. Taking the form of a beautiful young girl, she tried to seduce Rama. Rama, ever faithful to his wife Sita, did not respond and asked her to approach Lakshmana. Lakshmana too refused, stating his duty towards his brother and his sister-in-law while in exile. An infuriated Surpanakha blamed Sita to be the reason for her being scorned and charged at her in her original form. But Lakshmana, saved Sita by severing Surpanakha's nose and ears. Surpanakha flew back to Ravana complaining. Ravana, after hearing of the beautiful Sita from Surpanakha, resolved to kill Rama in revenge and take Sita for himself. With the help of the demon Maricha Ravana lured Rama and Lakshmana away from the hermitage, leaving Sita alone. Before leaving Lakshmana drew a circle in the dirt saying that Sita would be safe as long as she stayed in the circle. Ravana approached the hermitage in the guise of an old man and asked Sita to give him some food. Initially hesitant to step out of Lakshmana's circle, Sita finally stepped out to give the old man some food. At this moment Ravana grabbed Sita and fled in his airborne vehicle, (Pushpaka Vimana). Jatayu, seeing them fly, attempted to save Sita, but Ravana engaged Jatayu in combat and chopped off the vulture's wings. On returning to the hermitage, Rama and Lakshmana found it empty and anxiously began a search. Through Jatayu, whom they found lying mortally wounded, Rama and Lakshmana learnt of Sita's fate.
Continuing their search, they encountered the monkey king of Kishkindha, Sugriva, and Hanuman, one of his generals, among whom Sita had dropped from the chariot her scarf and some ornaments. Sugriva had been deposed from his kingdom by his brother, Vali, who had also taken his wife Roma from him. Rama agreed to defeat Vali if Sugriva would assist in the search for Sita. The agreement made, Sugriva challenged Vali to a duel. While the duel was progressing, Rama shot from his bow and killed Vali. Sugriva regained his kingdom and his wife.
Sugriva and Rama sent the monkey soldiers in various directions in search of Sita. However their efforts didn't bear fruit until they met another ancient vulture, Sampati, who was the brother of the slain Jatayu. Sampati was earthbound and deformed - his wings were burnt when he flew too close to the Sun (a story that can be considered to be the inspiration to that of Icarus's). His brother, being hardier, had saved him from falling to his death. While Jatayu was the physically stronger of the two, Sampati possessed a compensating gift of vision. Sampati's vision was incredibly powerful, spanning several hundred yojanas and enabling him to see farther than anyone else. On hearing of Ravana's killing his brother, he readily agreed to help the monkeys. He was soon able to spot Sita in the southern direction. He could see her imprisoned in a garden of Ashoka trees on the island of Lanka, beyond the southern ocean.
Sugriva dispatched his monkey army to the south with his nephew Angad at the head. Hanuman went with Angad as his general. Whey they reached deep south, they found a great ocean stretching between them and land of Lanka. They could find no means by which to cross the ocean. Commanding his soldiers to remain where they were, Hanuman expanded his body to enormous proportions, leaped the vast expanse of water, and alighted upon a mountain Trikuta from which he could look down upon Lanka. Perceiving the city to be closely guarded, he assumed the form of a cat, and thus, unsuspected, crept through the barriers and examined the city. He found Ravana in his apartments, surrounded by beautiful women, but Sita was not among them. Continuing his search, he at last discovered her, her beauty dimmed by grief, seated under a tree in a beautiful asoka grove, guarded by hideous rakshasas with the faces of buffaloes, dogs, and swine.
Assuming the form of a tiny monkey, Hanuman crept down the tree, and giving her the ring of Rama, took one from her. He offered to carry her away with him, but Sita declared that Rama must himself come to her rescue, and as proof of finding her Sita gave Hanuman a priceless jewel to take back to Rama. While they were talking together, Ravana appeared, and, after fruitless wooing, announced that if Sita did not yield herself to him in two months he would have her guards "mince her limbs with steel" for his morning repast.
In his rage, Hanuman destroyed a mango grove and was captured by the rakshasa guards, and brought before Ravana. Hanuman proclaimed that he was a messenger of Rama, and demanded that Ravana restore Sita to Rama or fall victim to Rama's wrath. Furious at hearing Hanuman's words, Ravana ordered Hanuman's death.
Vibhishana, Ravana's righteous brother, intervened and counseled Ravana to follow the scriptures, reminding that it was improper to execute a messenger, and instead told him to exact the appropriate punishment for Hanuman's crime. Ravana accepted and ordered his rakshasas to set fire to Hanuman's tail. As soon as this was done, Hanuman made himself very small, slipped from his bonds, and, jumping upon the roofs, spread a conflagration through the city of Lanka. He leaped back to the mainland, conveyed the news of Sita's captivity to Rama and Sugriva, and was soon engaged in active preparations for the campaign.
Rama decided that as long as the ocean was not bridged, it was impossible for any one but Hanuman to cross it. Rama meditated for three days, but in vain. In his anger at being so ignored, Rama turned his weapons against the ocean, until from the terrified waves arose Varuna, the god of the ocean, who promised him that if he built a bridge, the waves should support the materials as firmly as though it were built on land.
Terror reigned in Lanka at the news of the approach of Rama. Vibishana, Ravana's brother, deserted to Rama, because of the demon's rage when he advised him to make peace with Rama. Fiercely fought battles ensued, in which even the gods took part—Vishnu and Indra taking sides with Rama, and the evil spirits fighting with Ravana.
After the war had been fought for some time, with varying results, and a great number of troops on both sides were killed, it was decided to determine the victor by single combat between Ravana and Rama. Even the gods were terrified at the fierceness of the conflict. At each shot Rama's mighty bow cut off a head of Ravana, which at once grew back, and the hero was in despair until Vibishana told him to aim at Ravana's belly-button. Rama took careful aim.
As Ravana fell by this weapon, flowers rained from heaven upon the happy victor, and his ears were ravished with celestial music. Touched by the grief of Ravana's widow, Mandodari, Rama ordered a splendid funeral for his foe, and then sought the conquered city.
Sita was led forth, beaming with happiness at finding herself re-united to her husband; but her happiness was destined to be of short duration. Rama received her with coldness and with downcast eyes, saying that she could no longer be his wife, after having dwelt in the house of Ravana. Sita assured him of her innocence; but on his continuing to revile her, she ordered her funeral pyre to be built, since she would rather die by fire than live despised by Rama. The sympathy of all the bystanders was with Sita, but Rama saw her enter the flames without a tremor. Soon Agni, the god of fire, appeared, bearing the uninjured Sita in his arms. Her innocence thus publicly proved by the trial by fire, she was welcomed by Rama, whose treatment she tenderly forgave.
The conquest won, Ravana defeated, and Sita restored, Rama returned in triumph to Ayodhya, and assumed the governance to the great delight of Bharata and the people of Ayodhya.
Ayodhya was prosperous, the people were happy, and for a time all went well. It was not long, however, before whispers concerning Sita's long stay in Lanka spread through the city, and Rama came to hear the gossip that a famine in the country was due to the guilt of Sita, who had suffered the caresses of Ravana while in captivity. Under the pressure from the citizens of Ayodhya, Rama banished her to the forest in which they had spent together the happy years of their exile.
Without a murmur the unhappy Sita dragged herself to the forest, and, torn with grief of body and spirit, found the hermitage of Valmiki, where she gave birth to twin sons, Lava and Kuça. Here she reared them, with the assistance of the hermit, who was their teacher, and under whose care they grew to manhood, handsome and strong.
It chanced that about the time the youths were twenty years old, Rama began to think the gods were angered with him because he had killed Ravana, who was the son of a Brahmin. Rama became determined to propitiate them by means of Ashvamedha, the great sacrifice, in which he caused a horse to be turned loose in the forest. When his men went to retake it, at the end of the year, they found it caught by two strong and beautiful youths who resisted all efforts to capture them. When his men could not retake the horse, Rama went to the forest in person, only to learn that the youths were his twin sons, Lava and Kuça. Struck with remorse, Rama recalled the sufferings of his wife Sita, and on learning that she was at the hermitage of Valmiki, requested her to come with him.
Sita had had time to recover from the love of her youth, and the prospect of life with Rama, she felt, was not altogether pleasant. She appealed to the earth, if she had never loved any man but Rama, if her truth and purity were known to the earth, let it open its bosom and swallow her whole. While the people stood trembling with horror, the earth opened, a gorgeous throne appeared, and the goddess of earth, seated upon it, took Sita beside her and conveyed her to the realms of eternal happiness, leaving the too late repentant people to wear out the remaining years in penitence.
In his Ramayana, Valmiki expresses his view of human code of conduct through Rama. He thus adopts the view that Dharma is what is proclaimed in the Veda and it should be followed for its own sake, not for what it brings you in pain or pleasure. Doing this will ensure one's welfare in this and the next world. In addition, the Ramayana also reinforces the need for thinking about the consequences before making promises, for if you make them you must keep them, no matter how hard it may be.
Sankshepa Ramayana, the brief narration of the entire Ramayana story by the sage Narada to Valmiki, forms the first sarga of Valmiki Ramayana. Narada lists the sixteen qualities of the ideal man and says that Rama was the complete man possessing all sixteen of these qualities. Although Rama himself declares "he is but a man, and never once claims to be divine,  Rama is regarded by Hindus as one of the most important Avatars of the god Vishnu and as an ideal man.
Valmiki portrays Rama not as a supernatural being, but as a human with all the attendant shortcomings, who encounters moral dilemmas but who overcomes these by simply adhering to the dharma—the righteous way. There are several instances narrated in Valmiki Ramayana which cast shadows on the pristine character of the hero. When Rama killed Vali to aid Sugriva regain his throne, it was not in fair combat, but while hiding behind a tree. When Sita was freed from Ravana's prison, Rama forced Sita to undergo an ordeal by fire to prove her purity and later as the king, Rama killed the Shudra Shambuka for performing a yogic penance not in keeping with his perceived low station in the society. These and many more instances within Ramayana illustrate the very human nature of the hero Rama help to reinforce the basic moral behind the story that men do not have to be supernatural to be righteous.
Traditionally the epic belongs to the Treta Yuga, one of the four eons of Hindu chronology and is attributed to Valmiki, an active participant in the story.
It is composed in Epic Sanskrit, an early variant of Classical Sanskrit, so that in principle the core of the work may date to as early as the fifth century B.C.E.. After hundreds of years of transmission, the epic has gone thorough numerous variations and thus cannot be dated by linguistic analysis as a whole. It should be considered to have emerged over a long process, spanning maybe from the fifth century B.C.E. to the fourth century C.E.
The core events told in the epic may well be of even greater age, the names of the characters, Rama, Sita, Dasharata, Janaka, Vasishta and Vishwamitra are all known in the Vedic literature such as the Brahmanas which are older than the Valmiki Ramayana. However, nowhere in the surviving Vedic poetry, is a story similar to the Ramayana of Valmiki.
There is general consensus that books two to six comprise the oldest portion of the epic while the first book (Bala Kanda) and the last (the Uttara Kanda) are later additions.  The author or authors of Bala Kanda and Ayodhya Kanda appear to be familiar with the eastern Indo-Gangetic basin region of northern India and the Kosala and Magadha region during the period of the sixteen janapadas as the geographical and geopolitical data is in keeping with what is known about the region. However when the story moves to the Aranya Kanda and beyond, it seems to turn abruptly into fantasy with its demon-slaying hero and fantastic creatures. The geography of central and south India is increasingly vaguely described. The knowledge of the location of the island of Lanka also lacks detail.  Basing his assumption on these features, the historian H.D. Sankalia has proposed a date of the fourth century B.C.E. for the composition of the text. A. L. Basham, however, is of the opinion that Rama may have been a minor chief who lived in the eighth or the seventh century B.C.E.
The events of the epic have also been dated to as early as 6000 B.C.E. by adherents of archaeoastronomy.
As in many oral epics, multiple versions of the Ramayana survive. In particular, the Ramayana related in north India differs in important respects from that preserved in South India and the rest of South-East Asia. There is an extensive tradition of oral storytelling based on the Ramayana in Thailand, Cambodia, Malayasia, Laos, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
In many Malay versions, Lakshmana is given greater importance than Rama, whose character is considered somewhat weak.
There are diverse regional versions of the Ramayana written by various authors in India. Some of them differ significantly from each other. During the twelfth century C.E., Kamban wrote Ramavatharam, known popularly as Kambaramayanam in Tamil. Although based on the Valmiki Ramayana, Kambaramayanam is unique in that Kamban has modified and reinterpreted many anecdotes in Valmiki Ramayana to suit the Tamil culture and his own ideas.
Valmiki's Ramayana also inspired the Sri Ramacharit Manas by Tulasidas in 1576, an epic Awadhi (a dialect of Hindi) version with a slant more grounded in a different realm of Hindu literature, that of bhakti. It is an acknowledged masterpiece of India. It is popularly known as "Tulsi-krita Ramayana." Gujarati poet Premanand wrote a version of Ramayana in the seventeenth century. Other versions include, a Bengali version by Krittivas in the fourteenth century, in Oriya by Balarama Das in the sixteenth century, in Marathi by Sridhara in the eighteenth century, a Telugu version by Ranganatha in the fifteenth century, a Kannada Ramayana by the sixteenth century poet Narahari, Kotha Ramayana in Assamese by the fourteenth century poet Madhava Kandali and Adhyathma Ramayanam Kilippattu, a Malayalam version by Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan in the sixteenth century.
There is a sub-plot to the Ramayana, prevalent in some parts of India, that relates to the adventures of Ahi Ravana and Mahi Ravana, the evil brother of Ravana, which enhances the role of Hanuman in the story. Hanuman rescues Rama and Lakshmana after they are kidnapped by the Ahi-mahi Ravana at the behest of Ravana and held prisoner in a subterranean cave, ready to be sacrificed to the goddess Kali.
There is a version of the Ramayana story prevalent among the Mappilas of Kerala. This version, known as Mappila Ramayana, forms a part of the Mappillapattu. Mappillapattu is a genre of folk singing popular among the Muslims of Kerala and Lakshadweep. Being of Muslim origin, the hero of this story is a sultan. There are no major changes in the names of characters except for that of Rama's which is changed to 'Laman'. The language and the imagery projected in the Mappilapattu are in accordance with the social fabric of the earlier Muslim community.
Many other Asian cultures have adapted the Ramayana, resulting in other national epics. Aspects of the Chinese epic Journey to the West were inspired by the Ramayana, particularly the character Sun Wukong, who is believed to have been based on Hanuman. Kakawin Rāmâyaṇa is an old Javanese rendering of the Sanskrit Ramayana from the ninth century Indonesia. It is a faithful rendering of the Hindu epic with very little variation. Phra Lak Phra Lam is a Lao language version, whose title comes from Lakshmana and Rama. The story of Lakshmana and Rama is told as the previous life of the Buddha. In Hikayat Seri Rama of Malaysia, Dasharatha is the great-grandson of the Prophet Adam. Ravana receives boons from Allah instead of Brahma.
Thailand's popular national epic Ramakien is derived from the Hindu epic. In Ramakien, Sita is the daughter of Ravana and Mandodari (T'os'akanth (=Dasakand) and Mont'o). Vibhisana (P'ip'ek), the astrologer brother of Ravana, predicts calamity from the horoscope of Sita. So Ravana has her thrown into the waters, who, later, is picked by Janaka (Janok). While the main story is identical to that of the Ramayana, many other aspects were transposed into a Thai context, such as the clothes, weapons, topography, and elements of nature, which are described as being Thai in style. It has an expanded role for Hanuman and he is portrayed as a lascivious character. Ramakien can be seen in an elaborate illustration at the Wat Phra Kaew temple in Bangkok.
Other Southeast Asian adaptations include Ramakavaca of Bali, Maradia Lawana of the Philippines, the Reamker of Cambodia and the Yama Zatdaw of Myanmar.
Contemporary versions of the Ramayana include Shri Ramayana Darshanam by Dr. K. V. Puttappa (Kuvempu) in Kannada and Ramayana Kalpavrikshamu by Viswanatha Satyanarayana in Telugu, both of which have been awarded the Jnanpith Award. The modern Indian author Ashok Banker has so far written a series of six English language novels based on the Ramayana.
Amongst the ruins of the Vijayanagara empire near Hampi, is a cave known as Sugriva's Cave. The cave is marked by coloured markings. The place holds its similarity to the descriptions of 'kishkinda' in Sundarakanda. Rama is said to have met Hanuman here. The place is also home to the famous Hazararama temple (Temple of a thousand Ramas).
All links retrieved July 27, 2019.
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:
The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:


Click on these children's book titles to go directly to the activities you want or browse them below.
Also, email us your own creative ideas for sharing Pat's books. Include your name and the name of your school or library.
Curriculum ActivitiesAgua, Agua, Agua (Spanish edition: Agua, Agua, Agua)
- Create a science experiment on water displacement.
- Older students can study fables in the library and on-line and then write an original fable to present to the lower grades using very simple text.
- All of these books can be part of your April 30th, Día de los niños/Día de los libros celebration. Visit the REFORMA site for ideas of library events. A school in South Texas some years back had a book parade by decorating A-V carts with favorite books. Feature bilingual books, books in other languages or that include other languages, and books about bilingual children.
- Create scary abuelos masks using white paper bags, crayons or paints or paper mache.
- Read the Author's Note in the back of the book. Pat Mora mentions a cultural tradition similar to los abuelos which is practiced in Japan. Find out if there are similar traditions in other countries.
- Talk about other multi-generational holidays, festivals, traditions, and activities you know about that are practiced in your family or community.
- Locate New Mexico on a map of the United States. Visit your school or public library and research 5 facts about the state and the people.
- Act out a scene of los abuelos coming down from the mountains, or for a long-term project, create a class play based on the story Abuelos by Pat Mora. Perform the play for other classes, teachers and families. Serve bizcochitos (see recipe below) and empanadas after.
- Share something you're afraid of with the group and talk about scary feelings.
- Read a story about another cultural tradition with similar elements to Abuelosthat interests you.
The Bakery Lady (Spanish edition: La señora de la panadería)
- Studying bread-making traditions popular in different cultures can be connected to math (measurements), science (reactions), social studies (community helpers), geography (grain production) and history (craft production).
- Enjoy art-making projects in which students shape and decorate either traditional breads or their own creations.
- Visit a bakery willing to have the students not only tour but also interview the bakers. Have students discover other community helpers seldom noticed whose work is both utilitarian and aesthetic.
The Beautiful Lady: Our Lady of Guadalupe (Spanish edition: La hermosa Señora: Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe)
- After sharing the book, join students in making paper flowers. Sample instructions: http://www.ehow.com/how_6217356_mexican-tissue-paper-flowers-instructions.html.
- Share two to three books of other cultural stories/legends. Invite students to share a story from their culture.
- Invite students to create art (drawings, collages) depicting a story from their culture.
- Plan a Readers' Theater of the book.
A Birthday Basket for Tía (Spanish edition: Una canasta de cumpleaños para tía)
- Introduce children to birthday customs around the world.
- Enjoy storytelling baskets created by the children with items brought from home.
- Students could also bring a favorite book to share.
- Students can create memory gift baskets for a family member or friend.
- Counting skills and games can be part of the basket activities.
Anita Canteenwalla and Jean Thornton of Longwood Elementary in Seminole County, Florida, have suggested a Tia lesson planning idea for struggling readers that "Brings a Gift to the Whole Class." Download the lesson plan.
Book Fiesta! Celebrate Children's Day/Book Day
Celebremos El día de los niños/El día de los libros
- Before reading the book, show Book Fiesta! to the group asking them to look closely at the book cover and illustrations on each page/spread. Ask children to guess what’s happening in the story by looking at the pictures.
- Invite students to write a poem about the books they like to read.
- Teach students the Book Fiesta! song and have them perform it for another class or group. If there’s a music teacher at your school, involve that teacher in planning this singing activity.
- Rafael López paints with acrylics on sanded wood. Children can paint a mural in the style of Rafael on a large piece of plywood or on large sheets of paper and display the mural in the school library or hall.
- Does the classroom have a reading corner? Rename it the “Bookjoy Corner” and have children design signs or pictures for the space. Change these every week so that all signs have a turn being displayed.
- Have children create dioramas of a place where they enjoy reading and then display them in the hallways.
- Share the suggestions for celebrating El día de los niños, El día de los libros/Children’s Day, Book Day that are printed in the back of the book. Involve parents, your colleagues and the principal in creating these celebrations annually at home and school.
Download a teacher's guide for Bookjoy, Wordjoy from the publisher, Lee & Low Books.
Bravo, Chico Canta! Bravo!
- Plan a Reader’s Theatre of the book using props suggested from the book’s illustrations.
- Enjoy a field trip to a local children’s theatre.
- Ask students who are bilingual what languages they speak and what some of their favorite words are.
Create a display list of the words and their meanings.
- Invite students to create a language for their favorite animal and to prepare a glossary of common words to share with the group.
- Invite students to choose a favorite story and to draw a picture of the set designs and characters on stage.
Confetti: Poems for Children
- Download a teacher's guide from the publisher, Lee & Low Books.
- Students could study both egg-decorating traditions around the world as well as Mexican folk arts. Students could then make cascarones, dry egg shells filled with confetti. Mayhem possible!
- Ask students to prepare and share a Me Bag that contains items about their culture(s). Strive to help them see that though cultural expressions include food, folklore, fashion and festival, cultures are complex and reflect a group’s values, geography, history and knowledge.
- After a field trip to a neighborhood bakery, for example, students could learn about bread-making traditions and the connections between food and culture.
- Using an array of children’s toys from around the world, let children discuss differences and similarities.
Delicious Hullabaloo: Pachanga deliciosa
- Download a teacher's guide from the publisher, Piñata Books/Arte Público Press. In Spanish.
- It’s hard to resist a food activity given the appetites of the main characters. After learning about the indigenous foods of the Americas, students can prepare their own pachanga deliciosa. They could also illustrate and publish their own cookbook of recipes of the Americas.
- Teach students about Mexican music and instruments and have them learn a Mexican song.
- Students can explore the diversity of the U.S. Latino population, the differences and the similarities such as enjoying a pachanga with friends and music.
- Students can select a kind of lizard (collared, gila monster, horned lizard) and compare and contrast what they learned.
The Desert Is My Mother: El desierto es mi madre
- Download a teacher's guide from the publisher, Piñata Books/Arte Público Press.
- After learning about mural art, students can plan and create a large desert mural.
- Students can create a desert diorama, art boxes, mosaics, desert animal masks, cartoons of desert creatures, riddles, bookmarks.
- Students can learn about protective coloration—camouflage, warning coloration and mimicry.
- After learning about the desert, students can listen to one of the many tapes available of nature sounds and write as they listen, and share their work in small groups.
- Students can practice observation skills essential to a writer by spending time outdoors and recording in their small poetry notebook what they hear and see in preparation for writing.
Doña Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart (Spanish edition: Doña Flor: Un cuento de una mujer gigante con un gran corazón
- Enjoy two audience-participation poems (Young Children) (Older Students) for use with Doña Flor.
- Introduce the tall tale tradition and have students explore if it is a uniquely American tradition. Have them select their favorite tall tale and illustrate it.
- Have students do a comparison of Flor and another tall tale.
- Of course, have students write and illustrate their own tall tales and, if possible, present them to another class. These could make wonderful dramatizations that could include music and technology.
The Gift of the Poinsettia: El regalo de la flor de nochebuena
- I love etymology including horticultural etymology, details such as the origin of the name tulip possibly coming from the Arabic dulband meaning turban. After learning about the origin of the name poinsettia, have students read about flower folklore and write a story based on their research or create a name for an imaginary flower and write and illustrate that story. The flower could, of course, be named after themselves or their friends which could lead to some interesting descriptions.
- Humans enjoy celebrations. Have students study celebrations around the globe and share a holiday celebration important to their family.
- Students can learn about legends and either re-tell a legend, particularly one native to their area or place of birth, or create their own legends.
- Ask the students to draw what they're grateful for and to share their drawing with a partner or small group.
- Ask the students if they know how to say "thank you" in other languages. Teach them to say "thank you" in some of the languages spoken locally or connected to the children's cultures.
- Have children make and decorate "gratitude baskets" to take home for sharing with their families. Students can invite family members to write down what they are thankful for on a slip of paper and leave it in the basket. These can be read aloud at a family gathering or special meal.
- Depending on the age of the students, have them write and illustrate their own GRACIAS book (a great present to share at Thanksgiving). With younger students, write a group poem.
Here Kitty, Kitty/¡Ven gatita, ven! (Book 3 of My Family/Mi Familia)>
- Ask the class or group to draw pictures of their favorite hiding places.
- Read aloud some nursery rhymes and poems about pets to the children. Poems are an excellent way to introduce rhythm and rhyme to children, and they enjoy the humor that is found in many poems for the young.
- Guide the class in writing a group poem about a kitten. Write the completed poem on a large sheet of poster board and hang it in the classroom.
- Create your own Kitty Hides math game. Make cut outs of 10 kittens and a "hiding place" pocket. Reinforce counting and introduce subtraction and addition by hiding the kittens and returning them to the group. You can play a matching game by making some of the kittens the same color or with the same spots or stripes.
- Ask the class to create a list of ways to take good care of our pets.
I Pledge Allegiance
- Download the Educator Guide from the publisher, Random House. Aligned with CCSS.
Join Hands! The Ways We Celebrate Life
- The poem describes "ways we celebrate life." Ask the children to share some of the ways they celebrate life in their family and community.
- Name ways to celebrate life with books. Try starting a Mother-Daughter Book Club; donating "gently-used" books to children's hospital; making your own alphabet book; or acting out a story from a children's book.
- Joining hands is a way of showing togetherness. Name other ways of being together with family and friends.
- Create a celebration collage using students' own photos or photos from magazines.
- Older children can write their own pantoum; it's a fun form to create and illustrates the power of repetition. Use the color-coded lines of the poem in the back of the book as a guide or by numbering the lines to use as a map.
Let's Eat ¡A comer! (Book 1 of My Family/Mi Familia)
- Ask children to share examples of what their family eats for dinner and chat about how different families and different countries have favorite foods.
- Have children draw a picture of dinnertime at their house.
- Ask what Dad means when he looks around at everyone at the table and says "Yes, we're rich."
- Ask the children to define what "grateful" means. Create a morning circle time and ask children to tell one thing they are grateful for. Try to do this regularly.
- Ask children to bring in the recipe of their favorite food. Create a class cookbook, copy and distribute to families.
A Library for Juana: The World of Sor Juana Inés
Teachers, search engines can take you to many interesting sites on Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. Here are ideas for your students:
- Students can contrast life in Nueva España (now Mexico) with life in the United States in the 17th century: politics, the arts, daily life, etc. Students can create a time-line of the history of Mexico up to the 17th century beginning with the Olmec.
- Sor Juana loved word games. Students can create a class book of riddles.
- Sor Juana enjoyed collecting scientific instruments. Students can prepare group reports on the instruments available at that time or reports on the scientific instruments of today that students might like to collect.
- When Juana went to Mexico City, she was fascinated by the many languages she heard and included one indigenous language (Nahuatl) in some of her work. Students can listen to their world and learn about languages other than English that they or other students around the country might here. Encourage students to include words from another language in a poetry project.
- Enjoy a cyber-visit to the Museum of Spanish Colonial Arts that opened July 2002 in Santa Fe, www.spanishcolonial.org.
Listen to the Desert: Oye al desierto
- Students can make desert puppets and stage a play.
- Learning to make desert sand paintings provides an opportunity to teach about native cultures and the art of the Southwest.
- Students enjoy writing group poems on a theme such as, “Listen to the Playground.”
- Students can research early musical instruments of the Americas, make their own and use them to accompany the words.
- Try choral reading with this book.
Love to Mamá: A Tribute to Mothers
- Invite students to read other anthologies connected by theme such as In Daddy’s Arms I Am Tall. Students can create their own theme anthologies and include original work and poems by others. The books can be illustrated or enhanced by other kinds of student art such as collage.
- Students can select one of the poems in the collection and write a prose piece on the same theme.
- Using one of the poems in the book as a model, students can write their own poem using an existing format.
- Students can collect compelling photographs of mothers and grandmothers and write brief poems as captions. This is a good opportunity for a global photography project.
- Of course, students can write and/or draw their own poetry gift for their mother or grandmother.
Maria Paints the Hills
- Create a “Paint the Hills with Maria” event that encourages young readers to study and paint their landscape using a variety of media. This can provide a good opportunity for learning about local geological features and the names of local flora and fauna.
- Maria Hesch modeled her style after the work of Grandma Moses. Students can study the work of Grandma Moses and do a comparison of the work of these two women artists. Students can also select a visual artist whose style they would like to imitate and create their own art piece for display.
- Students can learn about the history and crafts of Northern New Mexico and contrast Maria’s life with their own. Students can enjoy making adobe or a simple weaving project.
- Water is an issue of growing global importance. Students can learn about the acequia or irrigation system of Maria’s region and contrast it with our own piped water systems and with other water systems around the world.
- Enjoy a cyber-visit to the Museum of International Folk Art that hosted the Maria Hesch exhibit in 1997, www.moifa.org.
¡Marimba! Animales A – Z
- Plan a Marimba Fiesta. Work with a music teacher to teach some of your students or a group of older students to play the marimba and have them accompany the reading of the book. Students could also learn a few of the Latin dances mentioned in the book and bring samples of the foods mentioned.
- Students, alone or in pairs or groups, can learn more about the animals they don’t know in the book and share the information with the class. This could include facts, drawings and original work such as a poem about the animal.
- If there’s a zoo in town, ask your students to visit the zoo and write about their visit or select three favorite aspects to share with the class. You might also invite a zoo staff member to visit your class and talk about not only the animals but also about jobs at the zoo.
- Excite your students about writing and illustrating their own alphabet book or create a class alphabet book. You could together create a list of other cognates.
- Explore other musical instruments popular in Latin America and create an art project connected with them—bringing some to class and accompanying music with them, drawing them or making them out of clay, etc., writing haiku about them.
The Night the Moon Fell (Spanish edition: La noche que se calló la luna)
- After introducing folktales, ask students to find other folktales about the moon or have them write a folktale about a part of their environment.
- Students can study the phases of the moon and the relationship of the moon and tides.
- Students can research the topic of endangered languages and report on current strategies for language revitalization.
- Students can learn about folklife and folklore studies, the folklore of their area, and then help document the folklife and lore of their neighborhood or region perhaps with the guidance of a local folklife expert. For resources, visit the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress at www.loc.gov/folklife/.
- Using branches, have students create their own tree for a special person or to remember a specific birthday of their own. Teaching origami or making clay wind chimes are possibilities.
- A number of my books describe relationships between children and an older relative. Invite students to share traditions from their families. Invite grandparents or older relatives and friends to visit the class and perhaps to share a memory, game, tradition, or song in their native language.
- Students can make items for Pablo’s sixth birthday.
- Using “dress-up props,” children can stage a scene about an event with an older relative or friend.
A Piñata in a Pine Tree
- Ask the students when and where they hear languages other than English. Do they like to learn new words in other languages? What new words did they learn in this book?
- After sharing the book, have students draw the book, or a few pages, as you read the book.
- Help students make their favorite gift in the book and give it to their amiga/o.
- Learn to sing the song and perform it for another class or group.
The Race of Toad and Deer
- Since students are interested in ancient cultures and often don’t know very much about the indigenous cultures of Mexico and Central America, this book and The Night the Moon Fell provide opportunities to create large time-lines comparing the major ancient cultures of the world as well as specifically learning about the advanced civilization of the Maya.
- Much of what we know about the ancient Maya comes from the careful work of archaeologists. Create a digging experiment to teach the concept of super-position, layering. Older children could help create the experiment.
- Have students research the rainforest and its diversity including its people, how and why rainforests are threatened, and strategies for saving them.
- Students can research Guatemala, its languages, history, geography, music, its past and its present.
The Rainbow Tulip
- Explore the value of oral history with students.
- After discussing the value of oral histories and teaching basic interview techniques, ask students to interview a family member and create an artistic response: a story, play, poem, dance, collage, etc.
- Given the many kinds of families, students can design their own symbol (which need not be the standard family tree) to illustrate their connections to the special people in their lives, those who constitute their family.
- Students can take photographs (or draw) their families and neighborhoods and create their own books. Some students could even create a video.
- Students could role play a scene about the discomfort of feeling different.
The Remembering Day
- Download a teacher's guide from the publisher, Piñata Books/Arte Público Press.
- Invite students to share stories about their relationship with a remembered loved one. Students can also share a photo or their own drawing.
- Invite students to write a poem about a deceased family member or friend.
- Invite students to bring photos or special objects of remembered loves ones and create a classroom, library or school display.
- Plan a remembering day event at your school or library. You can include flowers, songs, favorite foods of loved ones, funny stories. Create a celebration of special people we have known.
The Song of Francis and the Animals
- A good opportunity to explore the complex process of making woodcuts. Perhaps a local woodcut artist or an art teacher could explain the process and devise a safe method for students to create their own art.
- Invite students to discuss the relationship Francis had to each creature. Have students share stories of their own habits of treating animals.
- If possible, invite a veterinarian or veterinary student or a staff member of a humane society, animal shelter, or animal rescue program to do a presentation on how to be a good pet owner.
- As you know, this book is an extended poem. Invite students to write their own poem/song about their favorite animal.
Sweet Dreams ¡Dulces sueños! (Book 2 of My Family/Mi Familia)
- Ask children to share their bedtime routine. Do they have a glass of water? Does someone read to them? Sing to them? Is a language other than English part of their bedtime routine?
- How many children in the class have members of their extended family living with them? Ask children to name something they've learned from a grandparent or an aunt or uncle.
- Read some bedtime poems to the class. Try to find "classics" and contemporary examples. Ask the children what they like about these poems.
- Listen to a selection of lullabies illustrating different musical styles and lullabies from different countries.
- Ask the children to create a group list of their favorite nighttime words. Write them down and post the list decorated with stars, moons etc.
This Big Sky
- Students can create poetry anthologies of the natural life in a specific region-- theirs, an area of interest, or an imaginary landscape.
- Especially during April, National Poetry Month, students can treat one another to a poem a day.
- The poet who shares the poem receives an apple.
- After discussing “Old Snake,” students could draw or make their own snakes and write on the back one of their fears or self-doubts.
- Among the many responses possible after a discussion of student’s personal dreams, they can make and then release kites on which they’ve written their dreams.
- Students can study how plants and animals conserve water in the desert.
Tomás and the Library Lady (Spanish edition: Tomás y la señora de la biblioteca)
- After exploring with students the qualities of heroes and why some people such as sports or music figures are noticed and others like nurses, school bus drivers, migrant workers or park rangers aren’t, work with students to write brief biographies or biographical poems about unnoticed heroines and heroes. They could also draw portraits.
- The discussion on heroines and heroes offers an opportunity to teach media literacy to help young viewers assess what they see.
- Few of us know enough about migrant workers. Students can learn about the history of migrant workers in this country and about their difficult lives and the discrimination they encounter.
- Using maps, students can share their families’ historical journeys and facts about the family’s countries of origin.
- Students can also learn about the history of libraries, the library as a career, and the kinds of librarians and libraries. Further they could study how libraries are funded and what a library board is.
- Fourth grade students at Pattison Elementary School in Milford Ohio who read TOMAS suggested to their teacher, Christina North, that they pretend they were Tomás and write postcards (which they made) to the library lady. They sent their postcards to Pat who enjoyed them thoroughly.
The Family Involvement Storybook Corner at Harvard University has created a tool kit for Tomás and the Library Lady.
Choose to Read Ohio created a tool kit when they chose Tomás for their 2019-20 booklist.
At Perkins Elementary School in Des Moines, Iowa, with the help of Des Moines Performing Arts' Applause Series, each class did a different type of performance based on their experience of reading Tomás. Watch the video:
Uno, Dos, Tres: One, Two, Three
- Have students draw their own Spanish counting dictionary or write a story using the numbers from one to ten in Spanish.
- Students could write and illustrate counting books using other languages.
- Students can learn about the folk arts of Mexico and how those traditions are maintained. Students could then make a simplified or simulated version of tin work, papier-maché, straw art, piñata making, clay art, papel picado, etc.
Water Rolls, Water Rises/El agua rueda, el agua sube
- Download activities (pdf)
- Download a teacher's guide from the publisher, Lee & Low Books.
- Download a teacher's guide that aligns with TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) standards and curriculum for first and second grades, written by Kendall Miller, the Logistics and Outreach Coordinator for the Texas Book Festival. Kendall also runs the TBF literacy outreach program Reading Rock Stars.
Wiggling Pockets/Los bolsillos saltarines
- Ask the students to discuss their reaction to the book. Was it funny? What have they or other family members done to make the family laugh?
- After sharing the book, ask the students ask the students to draw a picture of their favorite scene in the book.
- Have the students act-out the book as you read it after an initial first or second reading. Part of the class could provide sounds to the story.
- Make frog shapes from colored or pattered paper and play a matching game. Cut out frogs of different sizes and ask children to arrange them in sequence - larger to smaller; one small, one large, repeat etc.
- Read some poems about frogs to the class.
- If you're feeling ambitious, build a terrarium and keep a frog(s) in your classroom. Talk about the kind of habitat a frog needs to live in.
- This is the last book in the series My Family * Mi Familia. Have the students discuss their favorite scenes. Would they like this family as their neighbors?
Yum! ¡Mmm! Qué rico! America's Sproutings (Haiku)
- Download a teacher's guide from the publisher, Lee & Low Books.
- Invite students to create an art piece (watercolor, collage, etc.) incorporating the 14 foods in the book.
- Students can visit a grocery store and make a list of how many of the 14 foods they find. They might select one food to prepare in a recipe or as is and share with their family.
- Students could read the ingredients on one box in their pantry and list which of the 14 foods they find.
- Invite students to make a list of 14 of their favorite foods and write a haiku about one.
- Plan a Yum! Party with your colleagues or class. Guests can choose one or a combination of the 14 foods in the book to use in a dish to share at your event.
Leslie Wills, a second grade teacher at Woodbrook Elementary School (VA) submitted this idea: "Yum! ¡Mmm! Qué rico!"affirms Hispanic culture in such a positive way and prompts ALL students to think about the origin of foods that we enjoy regularly. Check out the printable created for ‘Food Poetry,’ Poetry on My Plate."
A few more good ideas:Plant Poems:
Here’s a good idea from my friends at the Princeton Day School. When the first graders planted flowers for the library and teachers’ lounge, they also planted their poems. They worked with their third grade poetry partners on their writing. The printed poems were then glued onto wooden sticks and planted for all to enjoy. Author Visits: Deck the Doorways
My friends at Neshannock Elementary School in New Castle, PA provided the perfect end to an author visit in 1999: a booklet of photos. What a special gift! Thank you, Cheryl Massie. Doors throughout the school had been decorated with children’s art connected to my books. The collages, painting, poems and stories also spilled over into the hallway walls and into the library. When the young create their own art prompted by what they read, their reading experience is enriched and deepened as teachers and librarians well know.


John R. Bourne
This paper was created to stimulate thinking about the art of the possible in using storytelling for online education. We explore the possibilities for storytelling, visualization, peer discussion, gamification, and interaction as a learning paradigm. Written for educators and instructional designers/technologists, this paper provides concrete ways to engage in digital nonlinear storytelling at no cost by using open source software.
KEY WORDS: digital story telling, unity, twine
A story provides a description and event or events. In the traditional worlds of storytelling, both oral and written linear stories are commonplace, often becoming the basis for books, papers, films, and television. A detailed description of both historical and contemporary storytelling is provided in Wikipedia (Storytelling, 2016). In this paper, we are primarily concerned with a form of storytelling called “Nonlinear Storytelling” and specifically because we believe that a strong link in nonlinear storytelling with gamification can dramatically improve learning in online education.
Others have cited that storytelling provides improved recall over simple presentation of hard facts (Gillett, 2014). While this paper is not a scientific study, it is hard not to believe this finding; we think everyone has experienced the ease of recalling a story as contrasted with a collection of disjointed facts.
This paper is dominantly for online educators with little to no experience in digital storytelling. How educators can use stories, create digital stories, and disseminate stories to online students, while increasing the achievement of desired learning outcomes will be explored.
Where is storytelling most useful in higher education? While the focus of this paper is on higher education, clearly storytelling is also useful at earlier educational levels. Some academic areas in which storytelling can be used in higher education are shown in Table 1, ranging from traditionally used to almost never used.
TABLE 1: Disciplinary Span in Storytelling
|English, Languages||Stories are extensively used in teaching, especially in English as a second language|
|History||History is a discipline ideally suited to stories|
|Religion||Religious studies make use of stories in many studies|
|Business||The case study is a core element of business education|
|Health Care||Health care, especially nursing, is filled with storytelling. Medicine uses stories, but often do not explicitly label clinical finding as stories|
|Physics/Chemistry Science||Physics and chemistry seem to not provide stories; perhaps are found only as adjuncts to simulations|
|Engineering||Storytelling is almost unknown in engineering studies|
What can be learned from considering the span of storytelling in the disciplines? First, storytelling, broadly defined, seems more widespread than might be suggested from a literature review. Second, however, one might deduce from the above listing that many disciplines do use some storytelling but also do not specifically label the activity as storytelling. An example is in medical education (“The patient presented with…”). Recounting a patient's problems is obviously a “kind of” story but not cast as a “story” in the medical education world. Third, the hard sciences, including engineering, do not frequently use stories, and instructors prefer to focus on analysis of hard data. Some use in civil engineering instruction is made using stories about disasters, for example, the Tacoma bridge failure (Tacoma Bridge Disaster, 1940) or other infrastructure collapses (Engineering Disasters, 2016). Although stories about such disasters are reasonable to have in a civil engineering course, it is more difficult to find stories in other areas of engineering. Other engineering disciplines should likely use more stories about improper designs and, more important, allow students to create and test designs in a story context. In contrast to engineering, business education is usually about connecting a core business method to a story about that method and how it is used in a real-life case. Business stories come in the form of motivational case studies that add very significant realism to learning about business.
Can the adding of motivational materials assist educators to provide more realism to their teaching? We advocate creating materials that will do just that through the use of the relatively simple, recently invented, and open source digital storytelling methods described below.
The literature on digital storytelling is relatively sparse. Various papers in conferences and journals have appeared. Examples of paper are referenced at the end of this paper. Most are old but nevertheless do not vitiate the usefulness of their findings (e.g., Robin, 2006; Barrett, 2006; Brenner, 2014; are more recent paper). Paper about storytelling in learning English (including as a second language) are a popular topic in the literature. Adding multimedia to a story is also often discussed. Research has been conducted that shows that storytelling enhances recall and learning (e.g., Oaks, 1995; McDrury and Alterio, 2004).
“The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) indicated that the use of technology in education can increase various skills of learners. The findings also suggested that digital storytelling can enhance several learning skills including writing, designs, library and research, technology and communication” (Smeda, et al. 2014). Hence, one might wonder why storytelling has not been more prominently used throughout higher education.
In some disciplines, storytelling is natural and well used (English, business), but in others (science, math, engineering), there is little evidence for storytelling as a learning paradigm. In a digital world, we have the opportunity to have flexible stories, often cast in the form of a nonlinear story. Nonlinear stories are just that—the stories don't proceed from beginning to the end; instead they give the learner/reader the choice of going down different paths. A problem with this paradigm, although very attractive, is that it is difficult and time consuming for the author to provide multiple pathways to pursue.
As a learner, the “power of choice” is an empowering and motivating strategy that some believe should be included within curricula. One of the main issues that students experience with motivation is not having a sense of autonomy. Autonomy represents a sense of personal responsibility over the learning process, paired with advising, when necessary. Autonomy be achieved through nonlinear storytelling, because the choices made by the reader in the story change the final outcome. Through those choices, learner/readers have the ability to learn from their mistakes in a safe, risk-free environment. Another benefit comes from the availability of immediate feedback, since the story changes with every decision made.
The word “gamification” has been used to define how one introduces gamelike capabilities into venues traditionally outside a game. Video games permit solving puzzles, engaging play in simulated venues that provide challenges, often connecting with others in multiplayer games, feeling achievement in “winning” a game, and assessing the learner's skills. These are all educational virtues that can be adapted to games that have a purpose of educating. First-person shooter games are commonplace, but educational games are less well-known. Business games (e.g., Capsim, 2016) have attracted faculty at hundreds of universities to use the game/simulation of building a business. There are games that mimic reality, games that are completely fictional, adventure focused, sports-related, and many other types. Our interest in this paper is educational—how can a gamelike, storylike activity help people anchor their learning in a memorable experience with takeaways that permits analogic application of learning to other areas.
Games and stories are close cousins, indeed. Linear stories provide a step-through learning experience, but nonlinear stories engage the learner by having the learner have to make choices. Likewise, the choice-making paradigm is clearly observed in many adventure games (e.g., take the right fork, take the left fork). The game's story develops differently, depending on choices made. A homely example is the story of Little Red Riding Hood [Wikipedia on Little Red Riding Hood (LRRH), 2015] taking food to her grandmother in the woods. Of course, you can read about LRRH in a text story, but if you are actually playing the part of LRRH in the game, you will recall the experience longer. And, perhaps, if you replay the LRRH game you can avoid the clutches of the wolf.
Interesting games in a variety of topics are available on the web. Consider the board game in which players are cast as theater managers who must recruit players (Shakespeare Board Game, 2015). Or, consider the Public Broadcast Company (PBS) game for choosing a play to write, created entirely from simple html scripts (PBS Game, 2015).
The authors believe that nonlinear stories cast in the form of a game provide a remarkably simple way for students to experience this mode of learning. One technique for creating a simple text-based story, with graphics and video, as needed, is to use Twine* (2016), an open source and free computer tool that permits creation of a story/game with almost no technical knowledge (at least at the start). An example of a game/story will be provided below, but first Twine will be examined more closely.
Twine can be downloaded from http://www.twinery.org. Originally created by Chris Klimas, a web developer in Baltimore, the software is provided free to the world by Klimas. Installation is straightforward, and running Twine provides a screen on which one can graphically create the story. If you wish to create a story without loading the program on your computer, you can do that from a URL on the http://www.tiwnery.org page.
Figure 1 shows what an opening screen might look like with the beginnings of the LRRH story stored in nodes. There is a play button (bottom right); when it is pressed, play begins and a page is shown that transitions from one node to another. Nodes are enclosed in two left and two right brackets, and play proceeds along different paths depending on what choices the player makes. One can see the progression of the story by following the nodes. Creation of the story is accomplished by typing in the story that moves from node to node. The author specifies transitions from node to node using the brackets (as in Figure 2) to direct from node to another and to enter images, videos, questions, etc. Fortunately, for the faint at heart, in the example provided, we have left out what the wolf is doing to LRRH (Figure 3).
FIG. 1: Node-based story example in Twine
FIG. 2: Writing a story in Twine
FIG. 3: Little Red Riding Hood in a game setting
By now the reader has an appreciation of the possibilities for integrating storytelling into a curriculum. Moving forward, a layer of nonlinear complexity can be added. Traditional storytelling is linear. Little Red Riding Hood (2016) journeys through the woods to take food to her sick grandmother. On her way, she is stalked by the Big Bad Wolf, who finds out where she is going. He travels ahead, only to swallow her grandmother whole, disguises himself as the grandmother, and awaits the arrival of “dessert.” This is a linear story; one that goes in one line; never diverging.
However, nonlinear storytelling can become even more valuable to an educator. Imagine if the learner, as the game character Little Red Riding Hood, has the ability to take a boat down the river to Grandmother's. What if Little Red had the choice to take a friend? Would the outcome change? How would this affect the story? How would this affect the lesson?
Ultimately, one might consider connecting the story to a visual representation of LRRH in the forest in which one could play the part of LRRH, as shown below. This mockup was created in Unity3d (2016). Free versions of Unity3d are available online, which can be used to construct games.
Another example of a nonlinear story is work done at American Sentinel University to develop a computer-based nonlinear story for assisting nonclinical professionals in learning about healthcare fields. In the story, the learner is the main character; a consultant brought in to assist in the integration of a hospital's Electronic Healthcare Record (EHR). The story is essentially a change-management scenario. Throughout the story, the user must make decisions on where to glean information from within a fictitious hospital. Interviews are conducted in an effort to detect the issues needing to be addressed prior to moving forward with the execution and installation of the EHR system in the hospital. If all the necessary information is not detected, the student finds that he is unable to offer recommendations to the hospital administrator and therefore may have to try again to access additional viewpoints from other characters in the story. Returning to interviews, another character is made possible by using the nonlinear backtracking capability. By immersing themselves in the story, the student learns what he should look for and who might be most involved in the integration.
The story has graphical elements. Figure 4 shows the opening screen in which the student is welcomed. Upon entering the hospital, the student has a discussion with “Mr. Brown,” the hospital administrator, who sets up the problem of changing to a particular EHR system and is asked to provide results of discussion with hospital employees. The learner's goal is to formulate a recommendation for how to proceed. Upon returning to the main corridor, the student “sees” a list of departments to visit. The student may choose which one to visit first. Figures 4, 5 and 6 show some of the interaction upon visiting the nurse's station and radiology.
FIG. 4: Opening screen of a Twine Story about health care
FIG. 5: Visiting the nurses station in the virtual hospital story
FIG. 6: Drilling down in the story to radiology information
The story is nonlinear in that the student may randomly visit any department in the hospital and secure viewpoints from any person that is available in the study. No guidance is given in advance; only instructions are provided. There is a gamelike feel to the hospital exploration in that the student is striving to secure enough information to make a recommendation to the hospital administrator. At the end of the game, students are rated by the faculty on how good their advice was.
Nonlinear storytelling can assist us in achieving learning outcomes in a variety of disciplines. Business programs, and other disciplinary concentrations, often use case studies to demonstrate a course concept. Business programs use case studies because they offer real-world analyses of how businesses have succeeded or failed. Case studies are a business school's version of storytelling. However, the studies come from facts; only nonfiction. But what would be the affordances of using fictional stories as well? Perhaps using fictional characters allows for imaginative exploration of a topic. When this occurs, we have the ability to morph the story presented into one that applies to scenarios that we are familiar with on an individual level.
An example would be a story in which the player (i.e., student) is cast as a member of a failing start-up. The story proceeds with the player responding to discussions about what to do to improve the likelihood that the company can survive. The student soon understands that what he does in the interaction with simulated team members will determine the fate of the company. These interactions can be a powerful immersive learning experience. No longer are cases simply reading about what happened, but the learner can influence what happens in the story. Naturally, in well-developed stories, the learner can assume different persona and secure a different experience. If a student plays the part of the CIO, they would make suggestions differently from, say, what the marketing person would make, thus creating a healthy tension, which accentuates the learning experience.
Short courses can be easily authored in Twine. The capability of providing questions and answers adaptively is straightforward. Of special note is the capability of modifying questions to adjust to the level of the user. The hospital exploration game described above could well be a short course.
Another idea is to embed reading materials in a game. As faculty, we have always had trouble getting students to read materials. Perhaps one might even create a textbook in nonlinear form. Consider embedding a linear story for analysis and then using Twine conversations to provide that analysis. Natural language systems might be a better way to do this, but Twine stories could have an advantage by easily capturing a list of the decisions that a student makes as they branch along multiple paths.
How are the storytelling activities that have been discussed useful in online courses? And, what are the obvious affordances?
The major affordance for storytelling in a game setting can be found in student engagement. If the learning activity is sufficiently gamelike and provides constant feedback about performance to the student (more than “good job”), the student will keep moving through the game. Always having the student trying to find something out is a good model to follow in constructing the game. In the hospital example provided above, the learning was tailored to a real-world outcome; that is, providing advice as a consultant. A clear need is to create a set of learning objectives and tie those objectives to student actions in the “game.”
A more complicated scenario is to meld Unity with Twine. Unity is a 3D world (free) that educators can use to build gamelike learning scenarios with avatars, scenery, and things to do, and connect those things with a text story in Twine. Connecting Unity and Twine enables activities such as LRRH losing her basket causing the basket to disappear in the 3D world. Or hitting the wolf with the basket could cause the wolf to collapse. These visual occurrences can have a dramatic impact on student recall of their experience as Little Red Riding Hood.
Mashups of Twine with other systems are the most likely advances in making stories using Twine more appealing.
Adding multimedia to Twine is simple. By using the image-calling methods of html, images can be inserted into the text story. Similarly, videos (e.g., YouTube videos) can be embedded. By recognizing these capabilities, the look and feel of Twine can extended rapidly. Twine also has the ability to use CSS (cascading style sheets), thus enabling styling the look of the page to almost any desired presentation.
One interesting experiment we did with Twine was to put Twine in one iFrame and Unity3D in another iFrame of a webpage and have them communicate. An example is that one may make a choice in a story and that choice is reflected in a change in the 3D world. Red Riding Hood's basket could be stolen or lost during the dialog interaction, and it would disappear from the scene in the 3D world. Likewise, the basket could disappear as the wolf grabs the basket from LRRH in the 3D and that would be reflected in the inventory of items that LRRH carries in the Twine environment.
Adding multiplayer capabilities to Unity permits user-to-user interaction in the 3D world, thus effectively creating multiplayer storytelling capabilities.
Barrett, H., 2006, Researching and Evaluating Digital Storytelling as a Deep Learning Tool, in C. Crawford, R. Carlsen, K. McFerrin, J. Price, R. Weber, and D. Willis, Eds., Proc. of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education Int. Conf. 2006, Chesapeake, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), pp. 647–654.
Brenner, K. (2014), Digital Stories: A 21st-Century Communication Tool for the English Language Classroom, English Teaching Forum, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 22–29.
Capsim (2016). Retrieved October 27, 2016 from http://www.capsim.com.
Classroom Salon (2016). Retrieved October 27, 2016 from http://classroomsalon.com.
Engineering Disasters (2016). Retrieved October 27, 2016 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering_disasters.
Gillett, R. (2014), Why Our Brains Crave Storytelling in Marketing. Retrieved September 22, 2016, https://www.fastcompany.com/3031419/hit-the-ground-running/why-our-brains-crave-storytelling-in-marketing.
Little Red Riding Hood (2016), Wikipedia, Retrieved September 22, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Red_Riding_Hood.
McDrury, J. and Alterio, M. (2004), Learning through Storytelling, Sterling, VA: Kogan Page. Retrieved September 22, 2016, from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr= &id=gVr0dVVLfeIC&oi=fnd&pg=PP7&dq=storytelling+and+l#v=onepage&q=storytelling%20and%20l&f=false.
Oaks, T. (1995), Storytelling: A Natural Mnemonic. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Tennessee. Retrieved September 22, 2016, from http://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3943&context=utk_graddiss.
Robin, B. (2006), The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling, in C. Crawford, R. Carlsen, K. McFerrin, J. Price, R. Weber, and D. Willis, Eds., Proc. of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education Int. Conf. 2006, Chesapeake, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), pp. 709–716.
Siemon, J. R., Henderson, D. E., and Schoenberger, M. (2015), Shakespeare Studies, Fairleigh Dickinson Univ. Pr. (September 30, 2015), Reference, p. 116.
Shakespeare Board Game (2015), Retrieved September 22, 2016, from https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/180511/shakespeare.
Smeda, N., Dakich, E., and Sharda, N. (2014), The Effectiveness of Digital Storytelling in the Classrooms: A Comprehensive Study. Smart Learn. Environ. Smart Learning Environ., vol. 1, no. 6, doi:10.1186/s40561-014-0006-3.
Storytelling (2016), Wikipedia. Retrieved September 22, 2016, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storytelling.
Tacoma Bridge Disaster (1940), Retrieved October 27, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge_(1940).
Twine (2016). Retrieved October 27, 2016, from http://www.tiwnery.org.
Unity3d (2106). Retrieved September 22, 2016, from http://www.unity3d.com.
* At the time of writing, American Sentinel University was using Twine but is now using Articulate Storyline 360.