We all have experienced some version of the classic assignment of “Show-and-Tell” — hefting in family heirlooms, jars full of bugs, Pokémon cards, and prized stuffed animals onto our kindergarten desks. We’d “oooh” and “ahhh” over our neighbors' things, using our senses to learn more about each new piece, salivating over the stories that they might hold. The teacher would stand in front of the room and say something along the lines of “Alright class. Can someone tell us about their object?”
The tendency is you just want to tell people what they need to know. So, when it comes to teaching, there’s a temptation to just deliver the lesson and say “Ok, here’s the moral.” But really, you need to create an experience of a journey for students… show, don’t tell.
Katie Liesener — professional storyteller, freelance journalist, and EXPLO Professor-of-Practice — suggests that the “telling” in show-and-tell might actually be hindering our ability to effectively learn.
"Show, don’t tell" is a technique most often used by writers that, through text, allows the reader to experience stories through action, thoughts, senses, and feelings rather than through the author’s exposition. Liesener suggests that the process of describing a scene in a way that the reader can draw his or her own conclusions enhances students’ critical thinking skills, increases creative literacy, and can stimulate a lifelong commitment to understanding the nuanced and diverse world around them.
At EXPLO, we encourage the pursuit of lifelong learning — which means we are constantly doing our own studying up, reading on, or relearning the concepts that we teach throughout the summer. Here are some really interesting (and some just really really fun) links that we've been recently reading on the science of thriving.
The first instance of "show, don't tell" in literature: "Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." Anton Checkov really knew his stuff.
The Twitter account, "Thoughts of Dog" is all about the moments where we wished our dogs could just tell us what they were thinking
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's thousands of 360 degree images allow you to meander throughout this amazing museum from the comfort of your computer
Is a picture worth a thousand words? This Google-generated “heat map” shows the most photographed locations on Earth.
At EXPLO, showing without telling takes many shapes, forms, exercises, and events. Just a few EXPLO experiences that encourage students to explore storytelling include:
Interested in learning more about summer camps? We've recently written a number of online guides. So whether you want to know how to find a great summer camp, how to find a transformational summer camp, want to know the secret sauce of the best summer camps, or simply want a listing of some of the best summer camps around, we have a guide for you.