This article first presents the theoretical grounding for both storytelling and the social construction of reality. A sequence of classroom-tested tools for combining stories with reality construction is then described. Two tools for framing reality are offered: One is an actual frame that students take out of the classroom to frame a scene in different ways; the other requires students to frame two different segments of a photographic advertisement. In both exercises, students tell (either orally or in writing) the two different stories (perceptions of reality) they discovered. The third activity involves requiring students to gather stories and then retell them to classmates from the original story-teller’s perspective thus experiencing the reality of the original teller as well as discovering what their storytelling partner heard. The article concludes with a discussion of student responses.
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