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Tella

oral narration / connected language

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01 Opening
Tella beat 1 of 5

Tella was an owl with big, watching eyes. She loved to look at a busy scene and then tell what was going on — not just one word, but a whole little story tied together.

Naming was one word. Telling was many words, holding hands.

02 Tella
Tella beat 2 of 5

One evening the friends looked at a picture: a dog by a pond, a ball, a splash. "Dog," said the mouse. "Ball," said the wren.

"Yes," said Tella warmly, "and now let's TELL it. The dog saw the ball. It rolled into the pond. Splash! The dog jumped in." The picture became a story.

03 Tella
Tella beat 3 of 5

Tella showed how little words like and, then, so were the strings that tied a story together. "First this… and then that… so this happened." The words held hands and walked you through, beginning to end.

A story wasn't just parts. It was parts, connected.

04 Tella
Tella beat 4 of 5

A shy squirrel wanted to tell but only managed, "Um… a bird." Tella nodded, gentle as moonlight. "Good start! What is the bird DOING? And then what?" The squirrel found more: "The bird is building a nest… and then it flies away." Tella hooted softly. "You told a story!"

Every story starts with one brave word.

05 Closing
Tella beat 5 of 5

When the sky went dark, Tella looked back on all the stories the friends had told that day, each one a little longer, a little braver.

"You helped us tell whole stories," said the squirrel.

Tella's feathers settled warm around her. Telling a story had felt big at first — so many words to hold together. But when the words connected and someone listened all the way to the end, it felt like magic she and her friends had made together. And that was the best story of all.

Hear it as an audio drama

A short play starring Tella, from ChatterPals. Different voices, same idea. Listen any time after you read.

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Read the drama script
  1. Narrator: From Spark and Anvil and Chatterpals — this is Tella, in chapter 1 of the Chatterpals cast.
  2. Narrator: This drama uses an AI-generated voice. Voiced via Gemini 2.5.
  3. Narrator: Tella is a chatty little otter who loves to tell what happened — in order.
  4. Tella: When you tell a story, use the little words that join it up: first, then, and after that. They keep your story going in a row.
  5. Narrator: A young beaver had a story but blurted it all in a jumble.
  6. Beaver: I ate lunch and I woke up and I played!
  7. Tella: Ooh, let's put it in order. What happened FIRST?
  8. Beaver: First I woke up.
  9. Tella: Then? And after that?
  10. Beaver: Then I ate lunch. And after that, I played!
  11. Narrator: Now the story made sense, one step after another.
  12. Tella: See how it flows? First, then, after that — those little joining words turn a jumble into a story. That's what makes Tella, Tella.
  13. Narrator: You've been listening to a Spark and Anvil chapter, written by the Spark and Anvil writing team for ages 9 to 14.
  14. Narrator: Apps stay free forever.
  15. Narrator: Curriculum aligned to Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards.
  16. Narrator: Released under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 for educational reuse. Visit Spark and Anvil for the full transcript.
Reading together with a grown-up? A card for the grown-up

For the grown-up: ask one question, then wait. When they answer, add one word to what they said. Tap the button when they have said something — that is one turn each, a circle. Nothing is recorded or kept.

Let them finish it

Say “Tella tells it all in a row — first, …” and stop. Let them finish it.

Then say the whole line together: “Tella tells it all in a row — first, then next, and watch it grow!”.

Now wait. Count slowly to five in your head. Their answer is worth the quiet.

Circles together: 0

The ChatterPals ensemble

Tella is one of the friends in ChatterPals. Each friend shows you one idea by how they act; meet them all and you have the whole subject.

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