RESIDENCIES

Storytelling/Writing 
Poetry 
Folk Arts: Song, Story and Dance 

The best thing about a residency in a school is with the extended time frame I'm able to become a part of the community and get to know the children as individuals.

Recent residencies: 

• "Folk Arts" Lincoln School, Augusta, Maine (for grades K-5) 
• "Storytelling" Martell School, L/A Arts, Lewiston, Maine (for grades 3 and 4) 
• "Singing and Stories" McGraw Elementary School, Hampden, Maine (for Kindergartners) 
• "Celtic Celebrations" Berwick Academy, S. Berwick, Maine (for grades K-4)
• "Freedom: in song, dance and story" Blue Hill Consolidated School, Blue Hill, Maine (for grades K-8)

This program is designed for students in Grades 3 to 5 

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