WORKSHOPS
Artist-In-Residence, Educator, and Parent Workshop
 | Bringing Stories to Life:The Art and Tools of the Storyteller |
| Historytelling |
| Creating and Telling Family Stories |
| Family Literacy |
| Rage Is Not A 1-Day Thing! |
| Bringing the Montgomery Bus Boycott To Life |
Bringing Stories to Life: The Art and Tools of the Storyteller
Storytelling is a natural form of communication that
allows us to share our experiences and learn from others. It can lead to self awareness
which involves introspection and the ability to analyze feelings, thoughts, and interests.
Storytelling is one creative form of self-expression.
Participants in this workshop will:
| review the purpose and function for telling stories and story structure |
| explore basic storytelling techniques (voice; facial expression; gesture and movement; developing character; developing poise and presence, coping with stage fright, how to deal with blunders, self evaluation and constructive criticism) |
| examine the 5 oral/kinesthetic language dimensions
(when moving form telling to writing) (gestural language; sound-shaping; emotion and attitude; feedback response; words |
| learn how to tell tales quick and easy |
Historytelling
The power of story is all around us and it is essential in
helping us shape our view and deepen our understanding of the world. Storytelling allows
us to be introduced to the general knowledge about a culture, its history, and its
location. History is incomplete. Although we know a great deal, there is a great deal we
do not know, especially about ordinary people, everyday life, and historical moments.
History is complex and cannot be grasped completely if we do not discuss the good, bad,
and the ugly.
Participants in this workshop will:
| explore the different types of historytelling (personal experience of family story; first-person narrative depicting an event or character; third-person narrative; creative visualization via verbal recreation of a person, place or event; story in spoken or sung verse; story with historically accurate costume, props, artifacts, etc; historical reader's theatre; audience participation) |
| examine tips for creating a sense of time and place |
| learn how to construct timelines as a creative dramatic structure |
| discover how point of view and multiple perspective
taking can deepen our depth of under- standing. |
Creating and Telling Family Stories
Stories are gifts that are presented form one generation
to another in the hope that the cultural legacy might continue. Personal and family
stories are treasures that exist in all cultures. Family folklore can be a rich learning
experience. Researching family stories develops listening, thinking, speaking, writing,
and researching skills.
Participants in this workshop will:
| explore 20 possible topics they can use to give shape to family stories |
| learn research and interview strategies for collecting lore |
| review tips for creating a sense of time and place |
| construct and tell a family story and the story of their name |
Family Literacy
A child's family and household members play a critical
role as literacy supporters and nurturers. Family literacy is a concept that includes the
home environment and home activities as contributors to a child's literacy.
Participants in this workshop will:
| create a working definition of literacy |
| discuss the literacy demands on children of the 21st century |
| explore different aspects of oral language |
| examine how the home environment and home
activities contribute to a child's literacy development |
| share and develop "what can family literacy look like at home" |
Rage Is Not A 1-Day Thing!
How do we make contemporary meaning from the past?
Essential Question: How do we glimpse the 'real past' and allow it to change us or
cause us to rethink who we are?
Debunk the myth of Rosa Parks in our textbooks and allow your students to enter the
lives and world of Jo Ann Robinson, Mary Louise Smith, and Claudette Colvin who acted with
Rosa Parks and their community in a social movement to overthrow injustice--the Montgomery
Bus Boycott. To see these teens and women "clearly" is to be strengthened
in the possibilities of our own humanity. In this workshop participants will discuss the
myth of Rosa Parks, explore essential questions that guide developing critical thinking
skills and historical thinking in students, and explore strategies to create a sense of
time and place so that our students can enter "into a world of drama--suspending
their knowledge of the ending in order to gain a sense of another era--a sense of empathy
that allows the student to see through the eyes of the people who were there."
Bringing the Montgomery Bus Boycott To Life
In this participatory session participants will use primary
source materials, process drama and storytelling to examine the Montgomery Bus
Boycott through multiple perspectives. We will explore the 3Cs of history –
context, chronology, and causation and participants will discover new conceptual
understandings on key themes including participatory citizenship,
activism and democracy.
