STORYTELLING
Welcome to Stories
Clever Manka
http://youtu.be/5XJQBmtyxoY
The King's Secret
Jack and the Haunted House
When Br'er Rabbit Helped Br'er Coon
Share Storytelling From the Heart with Reid Miller
Why Storytelling in Education?
Reports from my educational storytelling programs:
· Seventeen (17) times more books were read than ever before after 8 weeks, 1 day a week, of my storytelling visits in Dodgeville, WI.
· Student reading, comprehension, written, and spoken language skills improved 20% after attending 2 days of storytelling programs in Elburn, IL.
· An angry, sullen Laotian boy's father was demoted from Commanding General of the Army to dish washer when his family sought refuge in the USA. The boy became a model student after 4 weeks of 1-day-a-week storytelling visits to his Madison, WI, elementary school.
· Elementary and Middle School students tested at the top of the scale when the schools' aural language arts programs were revived by a 4 week storytelling artist-in-residence program in Nekoosa, WI.
· Young Hurricane Katrina victims were smiling, light-hearted, optimistic, attentive, and focused again after 15 days of storytelling programs from Biloxi, MS, to New Orleans, LA.
· Students created and operated peer mediation, bullying prevention, and reconciliation programs through a 2 semester series of storytelling programs on respect, cooperation, teamwork, and conflict resolution in Mt Horeb, WI.
These are a few of the many success stories about storytelling in education. Teachers were required to pass a course in storytelling in Teachers College as recently as mid-20th Century.
Storytelling is a universal human experience. People everywhere tell stories. Storytelling activates the brain's cognitive and sensory receptors, and creates better listeners, thinkers, creators, and presenters.
To educate and entertain, countless generations through the ages have told stories. In the classroom, around the campfire, at the dinner table, on the picnic blanket, on the train platform, in the board room, at the water fountain, on the celphone, we reflect on and prepare for life through telling stories.
There is a story in every experience. My storytelling performances feature traditional folktales, faerie tales, fables, wonder tales, and original stories. My dances, songs, and puppet shows tell stories, too. My mission is relating with peoples' hearts by sharing stories.