Traditional tales and story language
English · Early Years · The School
Special opening words
"Once upon a time" is not just any sentence. It tells you: a story is starting. It works like a signal. As soon as you hear it, you get ready to listen. It means something is about to happen. Your body knows it too. You settle down. You look at the storyteller. Four small words do all of that work.
Special ending words
"They all lived happily ever after." That is a signal too. It tells you the story is finished. Everything is sorted out now. You will hear these words again and again, in tale after tale. When you hear them, you can relax. The wolf is gone. The pigs are safe. The problem from the middle is solved.
Join in with the repeated line
Some tales have a line that comes back again and again. "I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down!" Each time it comes round, you can join in. You do not need to read it. You already know it by heart. Say it loudly with the storyteller. Say it in a growly wolf voice. Joining in like this is one of the very first ways children learn to "read" before they can read.
THE GINGERBREAD MAN: "Run, run, as fast as you can!" He says it again and again. Each chaser hears the very same line. THE THREE LITTLE PIGS: "I'll huff, and I'll puff…" He says it three times. Once at each house. GOLDILOCKS: "Someone's been sitting in my chair!" She says it three times too. Once for each bear. Three tales, three repeated lines. Once you know the pattern, you can guess when the line is coming back.