from having
the words spring fresh and warm from the mind that is actually thinking
and feeling them. Most story-tellers find that it pays to work out
carefully and commit to memory the opening and closing sentences of a
story; the phrasing is so important here that it should not be left to
chance. But the body of the story is better given extemporaneously even
if the wording is not as perfect as it could be made by reading or
reciting the matter.

Before trying to tell a story before his class, the teacher should
rehearse it several times. Nothing but practice will give the ease,
certainty, and spontaneity necessary to good story-telling. Even
professional story-tellers realize that they do not tell a new story
well until they have told it a number of times. Perhaps this is in part
because one never enjoys telling a story until he is sure he can tell it
well, and so get a response from his listeners. And one never tells a
story really well unless he himself enjoys both the story and its
telling. One never brings the full effectiveness of a story to bear on
his hearers unless he himself enters fully into its appreciation, and
moves himself while stirring the emotions of those who listen.

The right atmosphere required.--Second in importance only to preparing
himself for the telling of the story is the preparing of the class to
listen. The right atmosphere of thought, attitude and feeling should be
created for the story before it is begun. A primary teacher was about to
begin a story whose purpose was to show how God cares for the birds by
giving them feathers to keep them warm, wings for swift flying, and cozy
nests for their homes, when suddenly a little bird flew in through the
classroom window and was killed before the class by dashing against the
wall. Of course the right atmosphere for her story was then impossible,
and she wisely left it for another time.

The approach to the story can be made by some question or suggestion
relating to the pupils' own experience, by a sentence or two of
explanation, or by an illustration dealing with matters familiar to the
class. But whatever device is used, the introduction should prepare the
minds of the class to receive the story by turning their thought in the
direction which the story is to take. It is also important that any new
terms or unfamiliar situations which are to be used in the story, and
which might not be understood by the class, shall be cleared up before
the