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← The Teller's Deck

The Teller's Deck

Three short lessons for a family storytelling game: the teller stops at the turn, the listeners guess what happened next, and one listener says the story back.

Spark & Whetstone · sparkwhetstone.org/learn/the-tellers-deck · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Answers are at the end, so you can try each question first.

Lesson 1. Stop at the turn

Every good story has a turn: the moment where it could go either way. The car broke down in the snow. The letter arrived. The dog ran off.

The teller draws a prompt — "a time you got lost", "the first job you had", "a day the weather changed everything" — and tells the story up to the turn. Then stops.

Question. Where does the teller stop?

  1. At the very end.
  2. At the turn, where it could go either way.
  3. Before it starts.

Say it back. In your own words: what is the turn in a story?

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Lesson 2. Guess what happened

Each listener guesses what happened next, in a sentence. No guess is wrong; it is a guess. Then the teller finishes the story.

Guessing makes the listeners lean in. It also shows the teller how surprising their own life was: the true ending is often one nobody guessed.

Question. Why do the listeners guess before the ending?

  1. To win points for being right.
  2. Guessing makes them lean in, and the real ending lands harder.
  3. To speed the story up.

Say it back. Say it back: what does guessing do for the listeners?

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Lesson 3. Say it back

One listener tells the story back in a few sentences, in their own words. The teller corrects anything that went astray.

If the family wants to keep it, write that short version on a card with the teller's name and the date. Nothing is recorded unless you choose, and if you do, keep it on your own phone.

Question. What goes on the story card?

  1. A recording of the whole evening.
  2. The listener's short version, the teller's name and the date.
  3. Each person's score.

Say it back. In your own words: why does a listener say the story back?

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At the table: A deck of prompts

Players: three to eight people, 7 or older. You'll need: twelve small cards, a pen, and blank cards for keeping stories.

  1. Write one prompt on each card: a time you got lost, your first job, a storm, a lucky mistake, a journey, a borrowed thing, a best friend, a move, a lesson, a surprise visitor, a lost thing found, a day you were brave.
  2. The teller draws a card and tells the story up to its turn.
  3. Everyone guesses what happened next. The teller finishes.
  4. One listener says it back. Keep it on a card if the family wants to.

Answers

  1. At the turn, where it could go either way. — The teller stops at the turn, so the listeners can guess what happened next.
  2. Guessing makes them lean in, and the real ending lands harder. — A guess gives every listener a stake in the ending, so it lands harder.
  3. The listener's short version, the teller's name and the date. — The card keeps the listener's short version, checked by the teller, with a name and a date.