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WE TEACH TO TELL AND TELL TO TEACH

The purpose of the Youth, Educators, and Storytellers (YES!) Special Interest Group is:

To advocate for, and offer support and resources in storytelling to mentors, educators, and storytellers who work with, or plan to work with, young voices from early childhood through adolescence, and to the young storytellers themselves.

Focus of YES!

Youth, Educators and Storytellers (YES!) Alliance teaches to tell and tells to teach.

The goal of YES! is to inspire storytelling by and for youth. Members are youth storytellers, youth storytelling coaches, teachers, librarians, full-time storytellers, and other leaders who view storytelling as a vital, essential art.

Through YES! youth storytellers are meeting kindred spirits. Educators are discovering that storytelling actively engages students in learning. Full-time storytellers are learning about curriculum and how children learn through participating in YES!

Mentoring, motivating, and providing venues for young tellers are responsibilities of Youth Storytelling. Youth Tellabration has been one of the most successful activities for preschool-high school tellers. As a community of storytellers, we understand that youth are the future of storytelling. We invest in that future by spotlighting youth storytelling groups, offering suggestions and problem-solving ideas, and showcasing successful models.

CLASS values the integration of storytelling into the P-12 curriculum, providing practical support as educators use storytelling. Lists of curricular ideas and differentiated activities to promote the integration of storytelling are generated and shared. Mindful of learning objectives and state standards, educators integrate storytelling into reading, language arts, math, science, and social studies.

Join us as we discover new directions in the effort to discover what storytelling can offer today's youth. We will give you the tools to accomplish great things with young people. Tomorrow's storytellers need you today!

Why We Use Stories

Our media-oriented world provides constant visual images.  Test scores and learning standards are stressed.  YES! explores how storytelling helps students use their own imaginations as they develop basic skills across curricular areas.