Richard Martin is a storyteller and English teacher from England who now lives in Germany. He travels all over the world telling his stories to all kinds of people.
I use OH cards regularly in school as a teacher of English as a foreign language and in my teacher-training workshops on using storytelling in the classroom.
I usually use the SAGA and 1001 packs. One of the strongest points about these is the impact of the pictures. They not only look “powerful”, they have the strange ability to suggest diverse ideas to different people and in combination with different cards.
I usually use them in small groups to generate stories – in the English classroom these can be the basis for oral and then written work which then can provide the opportunity to consolidate grammar. In my experience students really enjoy using the cards.
I do various activities with them, some I learnt in a short workshop with Moritz Egetmeyer, some I more or less invent according to the needs and size of the group. The cards lend themselves to many activities.
I think that every teacher should have a pack in their repertoire. They are so useful for when you cannot think of what to do, and the results are always first-rate – which cannot be said for many stop-gap activities! I have not seen any of the other storytelling cards on the market, but teachers in workshops who have always agree that OH pictures are simply superior.
For more information about Richard, visit his website, Tell a Tale.
Related reading: Storytellers Using OH Cards
