1. Preparation
Talk with teachers to find out how the program compliments what
they are currently teaching. For example, for the past five years
I have been a part of the Autobiography block that is part of
the third grade curriculum at Sears School in Kenilworth, IL.
The teachers liked one of the activities I did the first year
so much, they now do it as preparation for my visit. Definitely
something I needed to know in advance!
2. Residency
Goals
To introduce children to the joys of creating with words; to nurture
imagination and love of language and literature; to motivate children
to read; to provide teachers with creative games from literary
and traditional sources for use in the classroom.
Skills and Knowledge
Gained
This 7 Day Residency is about language skills; increasing vocabulary,
strengthening creative imagination, building self-confidence and
learning to organize thoughts for clear expression of ideas.
3. Activities
for a 7 Day Storytelling Residency
Session
One: Once Upon A Time
Goal: To introduce students to the traditions
of storytelling
Sample
Activities:
1. Tell a traditional tale
2. Brainstorm places we hear stories. Talk about different kinds
of stories and storytelling traditions both historic and current.
3. Tell a personal story
4. Play with word associations; a) in a circle pass words around;
red, green, bean, Jack, story etc. b) word association tableaus
from themes such as; winter, birthdays, school etc.
Session
Two: What If?
Goal: To stimulate students to create story
ideas
Sample
Activities:
1. Tell a story using;
a) a string figure
b) a hanky
c) hands to make a 'frog'
2. Teach students to make these things!
3. Play; What If? What if you were not a human being? What animal/color
etc. would you be?
Session
Three: Mama Lend Me
Goal: To exercise student facility with creating
a bare bones story
Sample
Activities:
1. Play banjo and sing Mama Lend Me Your Pigeon with
students suggesting various animals and actions.
Mama lend me your pigeon to keep
company with mine
My pigeon is baking a cake, my
pigeon gone wild...
2. Tell an assisted story with our favorite animals and actions
from the song. Artist begins: Once upon a time there was a pigeon...
and then stops at a crucial point to ask: "Did he open
the door? What was in the box?.. and then the artist continues
the tale using the student's suggestions.
3. Lead students through a guided fantasy (creative visualization)
using; meadow, path, forest, animal, gift
Session
Four: Ballads and Poems
Goal: To introduce students to the background
and structure of ballads and stories in verse.
Sample
Activities:
1. Recite a story poem
2. Sing a ballad (accompanied by banjo or fiddle)
3. Write a ballad together as a group
4. Play a singing game like Mazudio
Session
Five: Storytelling and Story Writing
Goal: To explore the differences and similarities between
telling and writing
Sample
Activities:
1. Look at the book; When I Was Young In the Mountains
2. Tell short personal anecdotes beginning; When I was young...
prompts will be; the funniest thing I remember, a favorite place,
a smell I always looked forward to...
3. Play the adjectives game. I whisper to a student two adjectives
and a noun like; "Smooth, yellow stones" and then
they tell a short story using as many other adjectives as they
can. At the end, their classmates guess which were the adjectives
I gave them!
Session
Six: Body Language
Goal: To work with students on eye contact,
clear speaking and the physical support of their storytelling
Sample
Activities:
1. Pass a sound and gesture around the circle
2. Pass a clap, with eye contact, around the circle
3. Talk about ritual beginnings and endings (the most well-known
ones being; "Once upon a time" and "They all
lived happily ever after") Say them in different voices
such as; a bored giant, an angry mouse, a giggling scientist
4. Dalcroze Eurythmics exercises done with fiddle
Session
Seven: Once Upon A Time
Goal: To celebrate the discovery we are ALL storytellers
1. Talk
about all we've done together and share what activities were
"highlights"
2. Tell a Round Robin Story
3. The End
4. How teachers
will be involved in planning, daily activities and evaluation.
1. The teachers
involvement in the activities, their enthusiasm and modeling
is invaluable for the students happy participation.
2. Teachers suggestions on many of the activities are crucial
for them to go smoothly. Specifically;
a) Creating ground rules for
"appropriate behavior".
b) Alerting me to individual students
particular abilities and challenges
c) Helping me decide a ballad
topic in advance that relates to a shared experience the class
has had recently i.e. (a field trip, a story read, a science
experiment...)
d) A five minute feedback/evaluation
time with artist and teacher, following each session is an important
way to monitor how it's going.
5. Describe
how this program relates to other subject areas.
If you go deeply into any subject, you find that it's related
to everything else!
1. English/Language
Arts: Using the activities from this extended artist visit,
teachers may want to plan a special time and place for storytelling
to continue in the classroom. Children enjoy ritual. Many teachers
have a storytelling corner and have the children bring a special
cushion to sit on or light a candle when all are gathered, to
set the mood.
2. Art:
a) Draw a picture of your favorite
fairy tale character, or the animal you'd be if you weren't
a human being, or illustrate a personal anecdote.
b) Make a mask from a paper bag,
a crown or funny shoes from plastic bottles.
3. Geography:
a) Act out a folktale from the
country you are studying
b) Draw a map from an imaginary
land, complete with mountains, rivers, etc.
4. History:
a) Interview your grandparents
or an elderly neighbor about when they were young, (their history).
b) Write a short autobiography
(your own history).
5. Physical Education:
a) Play a singing game
b) Explore moving like different
animals
c) Learn a traditional folk dance
6. Science:
a) Contrast stories that explain
scientific phenomena like, Why The Leaves Change Color
and How Coyote Made the Stars with scientific explanations.
6. Evaluation
I feel my artistic work is like planting seeds. It often takes
time for those creative seeds to sprout and flower. However, my
immediate criteria is;
1) Enthusiasm
for participation
2) Group support of each individual's creativity
3) Willingness to take creative risks
