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Category: Storytelling in Schools

Cynthia Changaris – Stories and Singing With Children

Cynthia Changaris Storyteller and owner of the Storyteller river House

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Interview #013
Cynthia Changaris
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Singing with Stories for Children.

Cynthia Changaris writes…
Songs, rhythms and rhymes are a strong way to connect to children. I use singing and rhythms, finger-plays and rhymes in my work to develop an immediate response from the children, to connect to their previous knowledge, and to let them know this event is going to be fun and interactive. It allows me to issue an invitation, “Come on! Come along with me.”

When babies are in their mother’s womb, they are exposed to sounds, music from the outside, banging, etc. But, the most regular sound they are exposed to, which is a constant for them is the beat, beat, beat of the mother’s heart. This sound is often accompanied by the rocking of the Read more »

Rick Carson – Telling scary stories to children

Rick Carson Miami Valley Storyteller


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Interview #012 Rick Carson
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Working with Fear and Children.

Written by Rick Carson….
Rick has been a professional storyteller for almost 25 years. He specializes in mountain and tall tales, ghost and humorous stories for all ages. Rick is experienced in telling at schools, libraries, organizational meetings and festivals and in giving workshops and residencies. He’s a member of the National Storytelling Network, the International Order of EARS, the Ohio Order for the Preservation of Storytelling and a charter member of Miami Valley Storytellers.

It has been my experience that the scary story is one of the most popular genres. Children begin liking scary stories from about the age of 8 or 10, although the exact age varies with each individual child. Some children never like them. Scary stories seem to hold a fascination for adults as well as children. This is true for a variety of Read more »

Kevin D. Cordi – Children Telling Stories by Giving Children a Voice

Kevin Cordi, storyteller, is speaks about storytelling wiht children.

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Interview #010 Kevin Cordi

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Children telling Stories; Giving Children a Voice.

Kevin Cordi writes…
Nationally known Professional Storyteller and Story Teacher Kevin Cordi invites you to join with him and Eric as we discuss, challenge, and encourage discussion concerning how we can provide a voice for children with storytelling and proven storytelling practices. Kevin is the co-author, with Judy Sima, of Raising Voices: Youth Storytelling Groups and Troupes and according to the National Storytelling Network, “the first full time high school storytelling teacher in the country.” He has a Masters Degree in “Using Storytelling as a Primary Means of Educating Students” and is currently a PH.D Candidate in “Dramatic Inquiry and Narrative Storytelling” at The Ohio State University. He also has led a successful award-winning youth storytelling troupe called Voices of Illusion for 11 years and is the founder of both Voices across America Youth Storytelling Project and the Special Interest Group now called Y.E.S. (Youth, Educators, and Storytellers.)

What is most important is that when he was a teenager he found his voice with
storytelling. For awhile he was alone in his pursuit to be Read more »

Coaching Youth Storytellers by Kevin Cordi

Kevin Cordi tells stories in a school.

By Kevin Cordi

As you continue to work with students they will to come to you to help them with their stories At this point you take on the role of the student’s “coach.” However, unlike a football or volleyball coach where he or she is concerned about the team, the storytelling coach gears their session based not on a group’s need, but the teller. The term coach can also in some cases illicit bad memories of someone who berated another for their inability or inexperience. This is not the role of the Storytelling Coach. A Storytelling Coach assists the teller in finding Read more »

Stephen Hollen – Improvisational storytelling with children.

Stephen Hollen talks about improvisational storytelling with children.

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Interview #008 Stephen Hollen

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Improvisational storytelling with children; Creativity and Children.

Stephen Hollen writes….
Improvisational storytelling is a teaching tool that is a cross between storytelling that I have been doing for years and improv techniques I learned in my college days. Instead of aiming at oral tradition, it goes into the creative writing classroom to put “meat” on the three “Ps” – Person, Place and Problem plus one “P” of my own – Props.

By using these 4 “Ps” I help children in 3rd-5th grade unlock their creativity and develop the basics of Read more »

Jim Flanagan – Storytelling and Writing are Intertwined.

Jim Flanagan demonstrating that art happans to the best storytellers

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Interview #007 Jim Flanagan
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Teaching writing to children with storytelling and working with state benchmarks.

Jim Flanagan writes…
To tell a story, you must write it down.
Before you tell it, you must have a point of reference, an outline, and hen scratching a script.

After you tell the story, you refine, and you refine your written story too.

Writing a story leads the teller to be able to see if the tale flows, if it makes sense,

The writing defines the beginning, middle and end. You look at the words and play with the vocabulary and the phrases. You see where in the story, you will have to add emphasis. (You might even insert the directions to change your voice)

I would suggest you read it to someone, they act it out. This acting helps you see what you left out or the jumps in the story.

You tell the story and see how it relates to the written tale. If you revise or change a part put that into the written story. Read more »

Judith Black – The Dove and the Dragon: Binding Adult Objectives and Children’s Needs in Storytelling

Judith Black performing in one of her one women shows.

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Interview #006 Judith Black
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Child Based Stories.

Judith Black writes…
Adult sensibilities and child needs infrequently travel the same orbit.

Adult: “Now sweetie, why don’t I tell you that nice story about the little girl who loves visiting the dentist?”
Child: “No mommy! I want the one about the little girl who goes into the wrong house in the forest and the wolf eats her up.”
Adult: “How about the lovely fairy tale where the princess frees the imprisoned prince and opens a shelter for the kingdom’s peasants?”
Child: “How about the one where the beautiful princess marries the prince and lives happily ever after in a big rich castle.”
Adult: “Let’s tell the one about the kind dragon, who helps the villagers find water.”
Child: “Na, I want the one about the slimy green dragon who rips up all the people into itty bitty bits and gobbles them up.”

The chasm is so deep and wide that they opt for a video tape, a shander* in storytelling circles! (Shander: A Yiddish expression meaning an act of debased dishonor)

Adults edit and censor the stories they share with children. In so much as we are the adults these are our choices to make. Making them solely out of our wants and objectives instead of based in our children’s needs, might Read more »