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A review by bkoser
Know and Tell: The Art of Narration by Karen Glass
Narration is telling in your own words. You do it every time you tell someone how your day went or how your team blew yesterday's football game. It requires more skills than you might initially think: remembering the facts, identifying what's important, forming a narrative, choosing the vocabulary, the mechanics of speaking or writing.
It's the best way to learn. Have you heard the proverb, "The best way to learn something is to teach it"? That's narration. How often do you say, "I know it but I can't put it into words"? Do you really understand something that you can't communicate to someone else?
It's better than a test or quiz for evaluating what a student has learned. Passing a test might just prove that you're good at taking tests. Without the crutch of the teacher and the test, how much can you explain about the topic? (Also, you can't use ChatGPT to cheat an oral narration.)
Karen Glass uses the analogy of digesting: after you read, you narrate to make it your own. No one can digest for you (Cliff's Notes), you should eat healthy food (quality writing) of different varieties (read widely), with appropriate sized portions and space between meals (different for each person, but you might remember less if you read a whole book at once).
Karen shows that Augustine, Erasmus, Comenius, and Charlotte Mason recommended narration. Then she moves to the "why" (which I summarized above). She also provides lots of practical "how", like when to start written narrations and how to use it in a classroom.
It's the best way to learn. Have you heard the proverb, "The best way to learn something is to teach it"? That's narration. How often do you say, "I know it but I can't put it into words"? Do you really understand something that you can't communicate to someone else?
It's better than a test or quiz for evaluating what a student has learned. Passing a test might just prove that you're good at taking tests. Without the crutch of the teacher and the test, how much can you explain about the topic? (Also, you can't use ChatGPT to cheat an oral narration.)
Karen Glass uses the analogy of digesting: after you read, you narrate to make it your own. No one can digest for you (Cliff's Notes), you should eat healthy food (quality writing) of different varieties (read widely), with appropriate sized portions and space between meals (different for each person, but you might remember less if you read a whole book at once).
Karen shows that Augustine, Erasmus, Comenius, and Charlotte Mason recommended narration. Then she moves to the "why" (which I summarized above). She also provides lots of practical "how", like when to start written narrations and how to use it in a classroom.