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Press Play to hear Dr. Sherry Norfolk speak on why would should use storytelling in school settings on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.

Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #091 Sherry Norfolk for $2.23 Why storytelling should be in Schools.

Sherry Norfolk Writes...

Last year, I taught a 3rd grade storytelling and creative writing residency in St Louis. The kids I worked with were typical - meaning that every child was different from every other child. They each had unique interests, skills and abilities. They each had different life experiences and different needs. Typical class, right? So; what? Why am I telling you about these typical kids?

Because they WERE typical! Because in that class, there were some kids who HATED to write and some kids who NEVER paid attention in class and some kids who HATED to get up in front of people for any purpose whatsoever. And because they all wrote willingly - even enthusiastically. They all paid attention - to me and to each other. They all told their stories eagerly.

And that's not so typical, is it?

No, I don't hand out candy or quarters or wave a wand -- but I do know some magic. I know how to create different points of entry to learning through storytelling. Different from what they've experienced before. Different from what they expect. Different ways to engage them and keep them engaged.

Some examples:
DeAndre didn't want to write: but he was sitting there making up a rap verse that told his story - when I told him he could write his story in rap, he grabbed his pencil!
Tommy wouldn't write a rough draft: but he was intrigued by the sounds and voices; when he learned that he was going to et to do them if he had a story, he wrote!
Lisa didn't want to finish her story: but she loved the idea of acting out the story with a partner. She needed story in order to do it, so she wrote!
Myeisha hated the idea of doing a final copy: I provided pretty paper - she wrote; knowing we were publishing the appealed to some of the other kids.
Dierra and Terence had said that they didn't want to tell: but they LOVED acting out animal characters, and wanted to share their new talents;
Henry was adamant that he wouldn't tell - couldn't remember the story - and it was boring. I told it TO him with lots of voices, etc., so that he could learn it visually, auditorally and kinesthetically and feel confident about his story.

Let me be clear -- this isn't about me. It's about the power of Storytelling. It's also about the power of meeting kids where they ARE and finding ways to take them where they need to be. It's about different Points of Entry.

Each of those kids needed to be offered different Points of Entry to entice them to learn. It's not a one-size-fits-all world, and no one teaching style or experience will be right for all kids. Storytelling allows you to engage All Ways of Knowing - the Whole Brain - what Howard Gardner calls the Multiple Intelligences.

You're familiar with the concept of Multiple Intelligences, right? It's the recognition that we can be intelligent in many ways, not just the words and numbers ways that are valued in school. Howard Gardner calls those
Linguistic Intelligence - word smart, and
Mathematical-Logical - number smart.
But he also identified
Kinesthetic Intelligence - body/movement smart
Musical Intelligence - rhythm and melody smart
Spatial Intelligence - picture smart (incl. 3-dimensional, directional)
Interpersonal Intelligence - smart about interactions between people
Intrapersonal Intelligence - smart about understanding yourself
Naturalist Intelligence - plant and animal smart

We all have some measure of each of these intelligences, but the proportions are different with each of us. As adults, you are allowed to make choices in how you participate in learning experiences. You find your comfort zone and inhabit it. But we don't often allow children to choose what and how they want to learn. They don't often have a chance to explore options and to determine what works best for them. They are rarely provided with the opportunity to view curriculum topics from different perspectives or points of entry.

Points of entry can also apply to learning styles - which are a bit different from intelligences. We are all born with a dominant learning style - either aural (we learn best by hearing), or visual (we learn by seeing), or kinesthetic (we learn by doing). Early on, a child is very heavily dominant in a particular learning style - he may be 85% aural or visual or kinesthetic.
He HAS to hear - or see - or DO to learn!

If he's not allowed to learn in his dominant style, he's not likely to learn at all! A child who is dominantly aural will totally tune out to visual stimuli, or even voices if they are droning and boring. A kinesthetic child who is made to sit still will become incredibly restless, distracted and distracting. A visual child who can't see the picturebook or whose teacher doesn't write the instructions on the board will not pay attention or follow instructions. These kids aren't being deliberately bad - they absolutely can't learn in the ways that they're being offered!

So let's return briefly to that typical classroom I told you about. Voices and sounds worked magic with the aural learner, and the pretty paper was a powerful motivation for the visual child. The kinesthetic kids were thrilled to get to act out characters and movement. The interpersonal children were happiest when sharing their stories with others. The linguistic kids wrote fluidly and used wonderful words, the mathematical-logical kids enjoyed creating logical cause-and-effect scenarios in their stories. The musical kid wrote his story as a rhythmic rap. Everybody had a chance to succeed. Everybody found their own points of entry into learning.

Storytelling provides those all-important points of entry. A few years ago, the evaluators for the Mississippi Arts Commission's Whole Schools Initiative conducted educational research on integrating the arts [i.e., storytelling] into the curriculum. In the book The Arts Are an "R" Too, they tracked student and teacher performance and improvement as teachers used the arts to teach. They observed teachers creating situations in which academic content was taught and/or reinforced in and through the arts thus "inspiring" student learning. They wrote that what the art lessons add to the classroom is the opportunity for students to understand, remember, think, work together, become confident, and be motivated.

Arts integration enables students to be active, to experience things directly, and to express themselves in ways that best suit the students. In the process, of course, students have fun and enjoy themselves and are enthusiastic which, in turn, makes them eager for the next time they can engage in active, hands-on, and varied lessons. Ultimately, students will acquire knowledge about, appreciation of, and a talent for the cultural aspects of being a citizen in their community, state, and country. The evaluators concluded that the teacher's artistic instructional repertoire enabled him/her to tap students' varied strengths and provide multiple ways to acquire, process, and demonstrate what they learn. In other words -- the arts provide multiple points of entry!

We each - as teachers, and teaching artists - have the opportunity to fuel the flame of learning. We hold keys that can unlock joy and curiosity and enthusiasm and eagerness to learn. We know ways to engage children in an avid quest for knowledge, and methods of teaching that address all ways of knowing and styles of learning.

But we sometimes let inner messages stop us: It's easier to do it the old way. This is the way we've ALWAYS DONE IT! We KNOW that each child is different, and that each child has different ways of learning. We KNOW that there is no ONE way to teach. But we let the inner - and outer -- messages control us. We teach the way the book says to do it, and if that fails to reach a child, we blame the child; or the book; or the system.

Let me share a poem with you;

The Cold Within
by James Patrick Kinney
Six humans trapped by happenstance
in black and bitter cold
Each possessed a stick of wood,
Or so the story's told.
Their dying fire in need of logs,
the first woman held hers back
For of the faces around the fire
She noticed one was black.
The next man looking 'cross the way
Saw one not of his church
And couldn't bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.
The third one sat in tattered clothes
He gave his coat a hitch,
Why should his log be put to use
To warm the idle rich?
The rich man just sat back and thought
Of the wealth he had in store,
And how to keep what he had earned
From the lazy, shiftless poor.
The black man's face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from his sight,
For all he saw in his stick of wood
Was a chance to spite the white.
And the last man of this forlorn group
Did naught except for gain,
Giving only to those who gave
Was how he played the game.
The logs held tight in death's stilled hands
Was proof of human sin,
They didn't die from the cold without,
They died from the cold within.

Think about what can happen if those men around the fire put aside their inner messages -- what can happen if they look at things from a DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE. Imagine what will happen when we as teachers and storytellers share the fire!

Storytelling can ignite that fire -- it can engage kids in learning - and when kids are engaged, discipline problems begin to disappear. Attendance becomes more regular. Teachers can teach because the kids are eager to learn! That's how classrooms can be transformed - and when more and more classrooms experience the power of storytelling, more and more transformation takes place within a school. Learning can and will happen in a place like that!

Now let's talk about the KIND of learning that's happening when storytelling comes into the classroom.

Einstein once said, "I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. "

When storytelling enters the classroom, students aren't just learning to regurgitate facts and figures - they're learning to think imaginatively! In A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink argues that never before has right-brain, creative thinking been more important than in today's society. Due to the proliferation of technology, the changing workforce and shifts in the global marketplace, we must be teaching our children how to think conceptually and holistically - and how to think outside the box to solve challenging dilemmas. Learning through the arts is the most effective way to encourage and achieve that kind of thinking.

Storytelling provides an approach to education with the potential to transform whole schools by reinvigorating teaching in core subjects and inspiring students to greater joy and achievement in learning. Storytelling instruction has the power to shift thinking patterns and learning capacity for teachers and students alike. As Jane Stenson puts it in the Storytelling Classroom: Applications Across the Curriculum (Libraries Unlimited, 2006), "storytelling belongs in an on-going and fundamental way in education. It allows teachers to teach Language Arts, Social Studies, Math and Science standards in holistic and meaningful ways. It changes the way teachers manage children and the way everyone speaks to each other; it's democratic; it's fun; it's whole; and it's very, very humane."

So put storytelling to work in the classroom to teach the standards, engage the students, and empower learning.

Resources on the Research

• Caine, Renate Nummela and Geoffrey. Making Connections: Teaching and the Human Brain. Addison-Wesley, 1994. pp. 100-101.
• Gardner, Howard. Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice. Basic Books, 1993.
• Frames of Mind: Theory of Multiple Intelligence. Basic Books, 1993.

li>Hannaford, Carla. Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All in Your Head. Great Ocean Publishers, 1995.

• Haven, Kendall. Story Proof: the Science Behind the Startling Power of Story. Libraries Unlimited, 2007.
• Jensen, Eric. Arts with the Brain in Mind. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2001.
• Education with the Brain in Mind. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2000.
• Brain-based Learning. Brain Store, Inc. 2000.
• "The Risk of Evolution: an Interview with Joseph Chilton Pearce." Parabola, Summer 1992, pp. 54 - 60. Outlines the research on the brain's response to television vs. storytelling.
• Schiller, Pam. Start Smart: Building Brain Power in the Early Years. Gryphon House, 1999.
• Sousa, David. How the Brain Learns. 2nd ed. Corwin Press, 2000.
• Williams, Linda Verlee. Teaching for the Two-Sided Mind: A Guide to Right Brain/Left Brain Education. Simon & Schuster, 1983.
• Wolfe, Patricia. Brain Matters: Translating Research into Classroom Practice. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2000.

Bio

Sherry Norfolk is an internationally acclaimed storyteller, appearing at the International Storytelling Center, the Singapore Storytelling Festival, and many more festivals, schools, libraries and universities nationwide. Her strong, clear, direct stage presence immediately connects to audiences of all ages, and her use of tones, timbres, and rhythms in her telling breathes life into her rich repertoire of folktales from around the world. With a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and a master's in Library Science, Sherry is the coauthor of nine books, including Literacy Development in the Storytelling Classroom (Libraries Unlimited, 2009) and The Storytelling Classroom: Applications Across the Curriculum (Libraries Unlimited, 2006). Sherry recently joined the faculty of Lesley University, teaching "Cultural Diversity through Storytelling" in their Creative Arts in Learning program.

You can learn more about Sherry Norfolk's work at http://www.sherrynorfolk.com/

Press play to hear Elizabeth Ellis who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on the relationship between Storytelling and the Development of Ethical Behavior on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 8pm.

Elizabeth Ellis Writes…
If I had a nickel for every time someone (attorney, state trooper, loan officer, IRS agent) has made fun of me because I told ‘em I am a storyteller, I could take us all out to dinner. At a nice place. With tablecloths. Because often the public perception of storytelling is that it is fluff and foolishness.
Well, we storytellers know better, and we have survived an entire movement of Back to the Basics and Almighty State Testing. What the left brain-ers don’t realize is there is another entire level of education far more basic to being human than the 3 R’s will ever be.
The most basic things about being human come from the right side of the brain, not the left. Chief among them is the ability to make ethical decisions. I am not talking about following the rules. Remember that the Nazis were great rule followers. Ethical decision-making requires the ability to imagine the effect of my behavior on your life. Without an active imagination, a child is an ethical cripple. The new study about the state of ethics of America’s youth just out from the Josephson Institute (http://josephsoninstitute.org/ for the full details of the survey) has many people in our culture asking themselves, “How did we get on this handcar? And where are we headed?
Hearing stories told leads to the development of empathy. And empathy is essential for all ethical decision making. I have been talking about this for more than thirty years. Recently other folks have begun to say the same thing. I am pleased by that, ’cause I’m not gonna live forever. Check out P.J. Manney’s article “Empathy in the Time of Technology” in the September, 2008 Journal of Evolution and Technology. (http://jetpress.org/v19/manney.htm if you want to read the entire article, especially the interesting part about the development of “mirror neurons”.)
Please join me for a discussion of how storytelling contributes to the development of ethical behavior on this Pod-cast, but also in your guilds and story circles and list serves. In a time of national financial hardship, it behooves us as tellers to be able to challenge people’s thinking about the importance of story and it’s role in right brain development. Storytelling is neither fluff nor foolishness. It is how we change the world “one listener at a time.”
Oh, and by the way, if you happen to be a attorney, state trooper, loan officer or IRS agent or some other form of left brain-er, it is the key to learning to “think outside the box”, which is imperative if America is to remain an economic power. (Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind: How Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. Riverhead Books, 2006.); but, that’s another story.

A Short Biography
Designated an American Masterpiece Touring Artist by the NEA, Elizabeth Ellis grew up in the Appalachian Mountains. A children’s librarian at Dallas Public Library before becoming a professional storyteller, the “Divine Miss E” is a versatile, riveting teller of Appalachian and Texas tales and stories of heroic American women, though her personal stories are arguably her best. Invariably hilarious and poignant, she is a repeated favorite at the National Storytelling Festival. Selected a Listener’s Choice at the 30th Anniversary of the National Storytelling Festival, she is a recipient of the John Henry Faulk Award from the Texas Storytelling Association and the Circle of Excellence Award from the National Storytelling Network. She has mesmerized nearly a million children in her thirty-year career as a professional storyteller.
Elizabeth is also well known for her workshops, which offer training for beginning and seasoned storytellers. Inviting the Wolf In: Thinking About Difficult Stories, which she co-authored with Loren Niemi has been described by NAPRA ReView as a “great leap forward in the literature of how to put stories together with art and truth”. It received a Storytelling World Award.
Jay O’Callahan says, “Elizabeth Ellis’s voice sounds like chocolate tastes.” Her stories are just as addictive as chocolate. A mother and grandmother, she makes her home in Dallas. www.elizabethellis.com

Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #067 Mitch Capel Grandaddy June Bug
	for $2.23 Poetry and Storytelling

Grandaddy Junebug writes…
Good storytelling is like poetry to your ears…good poetry is storytelling at it’s best. Storytelling and poetry go together like hand in glove. Ninety percent of the stories I tell are in rhyme so I coined the term “sto’etry” to describe my unique style of telling.

At the tender age of three, my paternal Grandmother read to me the story poem “A Cabin Tale” from the “Life And Works Of Paul Laurence Dunbar”. The genius of this work coupled with the joy in my Grandmother’s eyes and the passion in her delivery left an indelible impression in my heart. Since 1985 I have been performing the works of Dunbar, myself and others at festivals, schools and other venues throughout the United States.

Storytellers in general are unaware of the vast potential poetry can add not only to the repertoire of the teller but, also to the “flavor” of the performance. This is especially true with venues for children. A vast majority of young audiences are familiar with the “Rap” genre of music and are, therefore, more inclined to not only enjoy the performance with greater appreciation but also to digest more of the content of the morals and affirmations. “Sto’etry” is “Rap” without the music with each child supplying his or her own “beat” to the vocals, which, in turn actually seems to garner more satisfaction as one seems to “enjoy the book more than the movie”. Older audience members are also appreciative of this style because most, in their youth, were taught the values of poetry and the importance of memorizing and reciting for different groups within their respective communities.

Come with me as we explore the unlimited possibilities poetry can add not only to storytellers, but, to story listeners as well.

Most storytellers shy away from utilizing poetry in performance because of the need to “memorize” verbatim as well as the inability to “ad lib” during the show. It is true that poetry lends itself to a certain rhythm, however, once you’ve crawled into the skin of the poet your voice becomes the vehicle and your words become the steering wheel that guides the listeners (travelers) on the journey. A good storyteller wouldn’t have any problem “playing” to an audience or “ad libbing” while utilizing the “sto’etry” style of telling.

About Grandaddy Junebug
Mitch Capel was “born and raised” in the small town of Southern Pines, North Carolina and was introduced to the world of storytelling at a very early age by his parents and grandparents. His grandmother, Elnora Leak Capel, read “A Cabin Tale” from the Life and Works of Paul Laurence Dunbar to him when he was three years old. The rhythm of the story and the genius of Paul Laurence Dunbar was planted like a seed. Mitch and his brothers were encouraged by their parents to memorize the works of great poets to recite at church and civic events. It wasn’t until he had finished college, moved back home and started working with his father in the family business that Dunbar would re-enter his life. His father, Felton Capel, shared stories of his youth and “creek talk” (a term used to describe the dialect of his hometown of Windblow) and one day gave Mitch the same Dunbar book that had been used by his grandmother. His father said, “if you love that ‘creek talk’, you’ll love this” and he handed over the book. Mitch’s father was right…the next seven years he studied that book, examining every word, every nuance, every moral and every intention of the author.

After re-discovering “A Cabin Tale”, Mitch started reading the story to his kids every night and eventually memorized it. He told a friend the story one day, was invited to recite it at a banquet where there were teachers in attendence, who subsequently invited him to their school. The seed that was planted twenty seven years earlier was being nourished and beginning to sprout. He developed a character, “Gran’daddy Junebug” to deliver the words because he felt a young man wouldn’t be as convincing. The character is a tribute to his own grandfathers who passed when he was young, two elderly gentleman he “adopted” to fill the void and a way to pay respect to other elders. The “blossoming” was evident when Mitch’s grandmother reached the point where her memory was failing her and he sat on her bed and started reciting “A Cabin Tale” at which point she start reciting with him, then laughed and said “boy, you remembered that story!” Not only did he remember, but because of his grandmother and his parents, he is now one of the most sought after entertainers in the world!

Mitch Capel is a storyteller, recording artist, poet, actor and author who has been bringing stories to life and delighting audiences mostly throughout the United States with his warmth, wit and compelling storytelling style since 1985. He is considered “the national interpreter” of poet laureate Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) and it is his voice you hear as “Paul Dunbar” at the Wright/Dunbar Interpretation Center in Dayton, Ohio. He has done “voice overs” for Dunbar on film and has memorized over 70% of Paul Laurence Dunbars’ work. “Gran’daddy Junebug” has been described as “a national treasure”, “a transformer of lives”, “unexpectedly powerful” and “a word magician”…he coined the term “sto’etry” to describe his stories recited poetically. Continuing his family tradition of preserving culture and teaching through stories, “Gran’daddy Junebug” teaches personal responsibility and respect for self and others through the African oral tradition of “call and response.” He utilizes audience participation to share his wisdom on being true to self, finding your right path, coping with peer pressure and always doing the best you can. The stories are developmentally appropriate for all ages, or as he likes to say, “from the day care to the rest home.” He has received numerous awards for Artist of The Year from many national organizations as well as various accolades from state and local government agencies recognizing his work with youth. He is the co-founder of The National African-American Storytellers’ Retreat, has been featured twice at The National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tenn., annually at the travelling National Black Storytelling Festival and Conference since 1988 and the Signifyin’ & Testifyin’ Storytelling Festival held in Minnesota. He is the official emcee at two National “Liars’ Contests” and has been featured on National and International Public Radio. Mitch was the first performer to grace the stage at the newly opened National Underground Railroad and Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio and was invited back to do his production of “Christmas On The Plantation” the following December.

Mitch has produced four award-winning storytelling cassettes, three compact discs and has published a motivational children’s book entitled “The Jealous Farmer”. He recently collaborated and performed on a series of DVD’s: “Jump Back, Honey Jump Back”, “In Days Gone By”, “Stories For Grown Folks” and “The Kings and Queens of Storytelling”. His program, “W’en Dey Listed”, a journey through the life of various colored soldiers in the Union army during the civil war, was premiered at the National Gallery of Art’s National Teacher’s Institute in Washington DC in July 2005 to rave reviews and was requested and performed twenty-three times the following February for Black History Month. His recent stage credits include “To Kill A Mockingbird” and “Driving Miss Daisy”. Mitch has been married to the former Patricia Peek since 1980 and they have two sons (now grown) Christopher and Julian. His hobbies include collecting the works of Paul Laurence Dunbar, writing, landscaping and collecting art. He is also an avid golfer because he says “it was a pre-requisite for growing up in the Pinehust/Southern Pines area. I love the challenge, the beauty and tranquility that golf courses have to offer. Besides, golf is a lot like storytelling in that it teaches us valuable life lessons.” “Gran’daddy Junebug” leaves his audiences with the ancient wisdom and cultural knowledge of cooperation, collective responsibility, the importance of community, shared goals, empathy and always striving for excellence. Mitch Capel studied speech and theatre at North Carolina A&T State University and Howard University, but more importantly, he is a full time honor student at the “University Of Life”.

Check out more info on Mitch Capel
http://www.gjbug.com/

Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #066 Michael D. McCarty
	for $2.23 Storytelling and literacy in the 21st century.

Michael D. McCarty writes…
That which does not evolve dies. The ability to change, grow and adapt is essential to the survival of any species, society or ideal. Storytelling has been around since the dawn of man, which says a lot for the viability of this essential art form. Throughout human history stories have been used to inform, inspire, educate and more. Storytelling is part of our DNA.
So what is the role of literacy and storytelling in the 21st century? How is it evolving? The National Storytelling Network’s Storytelling Interest Groups (SIGs) give an indication. Storytelling has entered the business world and the Storytelling in Organizations SIG, Annette Simmons’ books, “The Story Factor” and “Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins” and a host of other books and individuals are taking it there in a big way.

The Storytelling in Higher Education (SHE) and Healing Story Alliance (HSA) SIGs promote storytelling in colleges and the healing arts respectively, while the Youth, Educators and Storytellers Alliance (YES) champion the value of storytelling in the classroom. The Producers and Organizers (the only SIG without an acronym) SIG brings together those who produce storytelling events. These folks are constantly working to make storytelling enticing to new audiences.

On another front, since 1997 The Moth, which is headquartered in New York, New York, has been conducting Story Slams, i.e. story competitions, which have brought in a whole new group of people to storytelling. The most prominent group is the twenty & thirty something’s that come in small numbers to traditional storytelling events, but come in droves to The MOTH.

A critical task for Storytelling is combating illiteracy. One of the most shocking bits of data is the alarming rise of illiteracy in America. People are reading fewer books and the ability to spell is going out the window. I’have worked with middle and high school kids who couldn’t read a simple children’s book or pronounce a word over two syllables without difficulty.
The positive impact of storytelling in fostering literacy has been well documented (check out www.storynews.org). The challenge for storytellers is to be proactive in making sure the education community is made aware of and utilizes storytelling and storytellers to this end.

The Los Angeles Reading Project (LARP) places storytellers in pre-schools telling stories to the children AND the parents and teaching the parents to read and to tell stories to their kids. A director at one of the pre-school sites noted that parents told her that their kids wanted to hear stories rather than play with their high tech toys and games! This is a great example of how literacy and storytelling in the 21st century are tied closely together.

The art of storytelling is alive and kicking. It’s up to those of us who love it to continue to spread the word.

“The stories people tell have a way of taking care of them. If stories come to you, care for them and learn to give them away. Sometimes a person needs a story more than they need food to stay alive. That is why we put these stories in each other’s memory. That is how people care for themselves.”
Barry Lopez

A short bio for Michael D. McCarty
Awards and Grants
Public Corporation of the Arts Grant (Long Beach, CA) 1994 -1999
Candlelight Award for Sharing Hope 1998 (South Africa)
National Storytelling Network’s 2003 Leadership & Service Award (Pacific Region)

Performance Highlights
Armand Hammer Museum California Afro-American Museum
The House of Blues, Los Angeles African Market Place, Los Angeles
Knott’s Berry Farm
Fowler Museum-U.C.L.A.
John Anson Ford Theater Plaza de la Raza, Los Angeles
African Festival of the Arts,Chicago Whole Life Expo, Los Angeles
Bay Area Storytelling Festival Santa Monica Museum of Art
Autry Museum of Western Heritage National Storytelling Conference
Summer Solstice Folk, Dance, Music & Storytelling Festival
Co-Director Los Angeles World Storytelling Festival (2002, 2003)
National Storytelling Festival (Exchange Place)
Museum of Contemporary Art

Check out Michael D. McCarty’s Website….

Tired of the tin sound? Purchase a HQ Mp3 File of Interview #059 Jim May
	for $2.23 Storytelling in Classrooms.

Jim May Writes…
I tell stories to children because I learned many years ago that nothing in my ten years of experience as a classroom teacher held my elementary student’s attention like a story.

For some twenty-three years now, I have made my living as a professional, full time storyteller. That storytelling produces a singular, intensely vital experience in my listener’s imagination continues to be reinforced nearly every day of my professional storytelling life.

I remember a particular occasion telling stories to an auditorium full of primary-aged students (grades k-2). After the program was finished, the students filed past the front of the stage where I was standing and greeting a few as they passed. One second grade boy walking by, looked at me over his should and shouted in mid step: “Thanks for the movies!”

I am reasonably sure that he was responding very literally, simply and profoundly to the mechanism in the brain (the cortex where complex thought functions) that produces images in response to oral language. Joseph Chilton Pierce and others have theorized that the brain is activated by oral language in a manner that causes neural brain cells and neural pathways to be stimulated (and even to grow, creating new, neural pathways, etc) in a way that is not possible when image and language are artificially coupled as in television, dvds, computer screens, in which case the most creative part of the brain shuts down because the image is ready made, not personal, original or connected to the viewer’s personal, internal, neural life.

Levels of listener/viewer involvement can be observed if one contrasts the facial attitude of someone listening to a story as opposed to someone watching tv. The “TV face” is more likely to be glazed over. The listener — or someone using American Sign Language (ASL), since signs are also not literal — is having an active experience with the story, is, in fact a co-creator of the narrative

Some of the questions we answered included.
1. What are the implications of this insight for school curriculum?
2. For the relationship between parents and children, teachers and children, children and their peers?
3. Is storytelling different than reading aloud which also allows the listener to produce the images in response to language?
4. Is the brain growing differently (or less) in our media driven world?

More about Jim May
Jim May is an Emmy Award-winning storyteller and writer, and a former elementary and college teacher who had performed live for over one million school children and families in the Chicago area over the last 20 years.

His children’s picture book, THE BOO BABY GIRL MEETS THE GHOST OF MABLE’S GABLE (Brotherstone, 1992) is in it’s second printing and is a favorite of teachers, librarians and parents across Chicago Land, many of whom find that their students and children demand that the book be reread to them over and over again — ESPECIALLY DURING THE HALLOWEEN SEASON.

His collection of stories, THE FARM ON NIPPERSINK CREEK, won a best book award from the Public Librarian Association and was praised by Publishers Weekly: “…like Garrison Keillor, May describes life as he knows it…like soothing…elegaic bedtime stories;” Booklist: “…these well spun tales will delight readers;” and the Cleveland Plain Dealer: “Deftly combines a child’s sense of awe and freedom with an adult’s awareness of life’s stickier complexities.”

Jim has appeared at Millennium Park, The Art Institute, Brookfield Zoo, on the Roy Leonard and Studs Terkel Radio Shows and numerous times on WTTW, channel 11 in Chicago. His touring schedule has included venues in Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, France, Mexico and Canada.

He was inducted into the National Storytelling “Circle of Excellence” (Hall of Fame) in the year 2000.

Interview #058 Mary Jo Huff
	for $2.23 Early Literacy begins with rhythm rhyme & story time.

Mary Jo writes…
Language is critical for literacy development and storytelling creates an interactive bridge. Music, repeated phrases, and actions provide connections and invite participation by children when they become part of the storytelling event.

Working in schools demands that the storyteller is tuned into the state literacy standards. Storytelling connects many types of standards but I am only concentrating on the literacy connection. A good story challenges a child’s auditory, visual, and kinesthetic skills along with a phonemic awareness.

Performing in schools as a storyteller gives a teller the opportunity to address some reading readiness components such as repetition, retelling, rhyming and sequencing. When teachers are aware of what the stories have to offer they are amazed at the children’s reaction. Children develop their oral language skills by learning to tell and retell stories. They learn about their world, other cultures, visual imagery, moral and social issues and they increase listening skills.

Literacy standards connections to look for when telling stories for children:
- Phonological Awareness
- Understanding Stories
- Book Awareness
- Comprehension
- Word Awareness
- Story Enjoyment

Mountains of information are available for review and it can be mind boggling. Check out these organizations for documentation of literacy standards and review for connections to your type of storytelling.

- International Reading Association
- National Council of Teachers of English
- National Association for the Education of Young Children

Play with the sounds of language using songs, rhymes, chants and stories. Get excited about what you do. This life of mine is a passion and I work at it everyday in one way or another. Over the years I have been successful because I spent 35 years in the trenches with young children and also attended numerous conferences and developed a love for my life. I rely on my experiences to connect my storytelling to the world I live in and to share my experiences with anyone who will listen!

More about Mary Jo
I have 35 years as an Early Childhood Educator and 20 years as a storyteller. I believe in my heart that children who listen to stories develop a great vocabulary and understanding of their world. I used storytelling in the classroom and began visiting schools, libraries and doing workshops for teachers and librarians. In this period of time I have been in all but 7 states and visited with thousands of children and adults. Children need excitement, music, props and I like puppets with my storytelling. I am not a puppeteer I just play with puppets and I play with story.

Today I work as an author, storyteller, consultant, teaching artist and granny-on-the-go! I am a good traveler and my fluff goes with me wherever I go to tell stories. Children are hungry to hear a good told story and they connect especially when there is a little rhythm and rhyme. I have 7 books published and working on a couple at this moment along with 3 CDs and my favorite a new DVD called “Fairy Tales, Fantasy, and Storytellin’ Fun!.

To learn more about Storyteller Mary Jo Huff go to her website at http://www.storytellin.com