Learning Storytelling Vocabulary: Traditional, Oral, and Narrator

Khan Academy

This educational video serves as a vocabulary mini-lesson focused on three specific terms: "traditional," "oral," and "narrator." Set against the backdrop of a virtual "vocabulary circle" campfire, the narrator breaks down each word by examining its part of speech, definition, and etymological structure. The lesson specifically highlights how suffixes like "-al" and "-or" function to change a word's meaning or grammatical category, such as transforming the noun "tradition" into the adjective "traditional." Key themes explored include morphology (how words change forms), parts of speech, and storytelling concepts. The video provides concrete examples for each term, including a personal anecdote about naming pets after literary detectives, a humorous linguistic mix-up involving Spanish vocabulary, and a scene depicting a thief in ancient Greece to illustrate the role of a narrator. These examples help contextualize abstract definitions into relatable scenarios. For educators, this video is a valuable tool for English Language Arts instruction, particularly for building vocabulary and teaching structural analysis of words. It can be used to introduce a unit on storytelling, to reinforce understanding of suffixes and root words, or to spark discussions about family traditions and oral histories. The engaging, informal tone makes complex grammatical concepts accessible and memorable for elementary and middle school students.