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Press Play to hear Nothando Zulu speaking on participation on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.

Nothando Zulu writes..
Participation, Participation, Participation...

I began telling stories as a member of an acting ensemble in 1976, presenting storytelling as a major part of our repertoire. We worked primarily in park and recreation centers and schools. As members moved away or went into other fields, we evolved into‐ and I cofounded ‐ the Black Storytellers Alliance (BSA) in direct response to the demand for storytelling to deliver the inspirational and cultural lessons embodied in our stories.

Early on I encouraged members of the audience to share the storytelling space by becoming a part of the story and one of the characters in the story. On many occasions, I was unable to use all the audience members who wanted to participate! It was wonderful to have so many trying to join in the storytelling process and reinforces oral storytelling as a powerful medium. Therefore, I decided to use a kind of birthday system for who I would choose:

• I start with participatory stories in mind
• I ask the audience who had a birthday in the prior month
• Depending of the number of positive responses, I decide on the story to
present.

One example is Ananse and His Six Children. If I receive more than six positive responses, I make some twins or triplets and sometimes quadruplets! I may use the age of the participant to determine the specific role of each participant. In the story Ananse and The Moss Covered Rock, Little Miss Bush Deer has to be at least a third grader, to understand and answer “No” to each of the questions asked by the Ananse character. When the participant is younger, (s)he may miss the concept and answer in the affirmative.

Audience participation is fun and most effective when the storyteller has extensive experience with audience inclusion.

Breif Bio
Nothando Zulu is a Master storyteller who has been sharing stories with audiences for over 30 years. She shares stories that entertain, educate, motivate and inspire. She has performed at many venues locally, nationally and internationally. She draws from an extensive resource of colorful, often funny characters whose antics and follies leave audiences pondering their own life’s lessons. As Director of Black Storytellers Alliance, she and her husband with the help of the Board of Directors has produced a three-day storytelling festival celebrating the art of Black storytelling called, “Signifyin’ & Testifyin’” (now in the 17th year). Nothando is also a wife, mother, grandmother, community and political activist who believes in the power of stories.

Read more about Nothando Zulu on her website http://www.yourfavoritestorytellers.org/nothando-zulu.htm
and on the Black Storytellers Alliance Website http://www.blackstorytellers.com/

Press Play to hear Gail Herman speaks on building a student storytelling festival on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.

Written by Gail N. Herman, Ph.D. © 2009
I have loved working with students on storytelling in the schools for over 30 years. One of the events that students love is to share their stories with younger audiences. The older students feel like they are giving a gift to them. Students enjoy entertaining and “helping the little ones.” However, after some in-depth exploration, training and practice telling to an audience, some students want to share their stories with wider audiences of all ages. Below are types of festivals I have found to be very successful.

Here is a list of ideas for starting a storytelling festival in your school or your community.

Ways to get it started. (You pick which one you want to start with.)
• Find a few teachers and/or parents and offer to tell a story in the teachers’ classrooms. Start suggesting the idea that students can also retell or tell stories to share with younger students. This is the short “festival” version. This year Broad Ford School second grades did this after my performance on tall tales. They all told their original tall stories (alone or in duos and trios) about Johnny Appleseed. The teachers made it part of their curriculum with the help of their enrichment teacher.

• Or write a press release in the school paper(s) or community newspaper about a new enrichment opportunity to be held in the community. “Tellers wanted, grades ___ to ____ to share their retelling of a folktale, tall tale, legend, or an original story of their own.” Over and over I have found “If you build it, they will come.”

• Find an auditorium or a venue with a stage and/or 10 classrooms or spaces. The spaces are for student story sharing circles in small groups of 10 stories with parents/friends as audience; the auditorium with a microphone is for a main stage sharing by a portion of the group (picked at random or by the sharing circles). I have directed and held over 25 festivals in three states (CT, WV, and MD) in schools, in church fellowship halls, state parks, and at colleges. Smaller “festivals” for, let’s say three classes of grade two, can just be held on the school stage/ “cafetorium.”

• If possible find businesses and/or an organization that will support the event. Gifts for each student teller are so appreciated. Finding gas money (or a grant for an honorarium) for you is also great! Our local American Association for University Women, Garrett County Branch in Maryland has been very supportive. We also have a used book sale there.

• When the session is in school, the audience comes free, unless it is a fundraiser for the school, usually at night. When it is on a Saturday or a Friday after school and in another location, you can charge admission and a fee to participate. This can be for such things such as pizza (or refreshments), certificates of exaggeration, gifts, or for purposes of donating to a charity. I have found the later to be a very attractive reason for students, parents, and teachers to desire participation. Give the proceeds, or part, to the char

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Press Play to hear Kevin Strauss speak about applying storytelling to environmental science on the Art of Storytelling with Children.

Written by Kevin Strauss…
Introduction:
“Environmental Storytelling” has become a popular subset of the storytelling world, but until recently, there was little agreement about what it was or how to do it. In this Blog follow-up to my interview on the Storytelling With Children Podcast, I will provide a definition for “environmental storytelling,” describe what makes a good nature or environmental story, and give some resources for environmental stories.

What Is Environmental Storytelling?
Environmental storytelling is the act of using live narrative performance to teach an audience about the natural world, how it works, and how to care for it.

What is an Environmental Story?
An environmental story is a story that either teaches listeners about some aspect of the natural world (why bears have short tails or why rocks don’t move) or teaches an ecological lesson like (Everything is Connected, Everything Goes Somewhere, There’s No Such Thing As A “Free Lunch”). Many “Why” stories fall into this category, including: Why Bear Has A Short Tail (Norway), Why Robin’s Have Red Breasts (Ireland), and Why The Sky Is Up So High (Nigeria). Stories that talk about greed, selfishness, or wastefulness also often fall into this category.

What Makes For A Good Environmental Story?

A good environmental story for you to tell is a story that:

Where Can I Find Good Environmental Stories?

Books:
Hamilton, Martha and Mitch Weiss. How & Why Stories. Little Rock: August House (1999).
A good source of “pourquoi” or “why” stories from around the world.

Miller, Candace ed. Tales from the Bird Kingdom. Lima: Pourquoi Press (1996).
Miller, Candace ed. Tales from the Creature Kingdom. Lima: Pourquoi Press (1997).
These are two of the best sources for a large number of animal stories from around the world. Each book contains 160 summaries of stories. The best way to order these books is to contact the press directly via email at “[email protected]” or at Pourquoi Press, 439 S. Cole St., Lima, OH 45805-3366.

Strauss, Kevin. Tales with Tails: Storytelling The Wonders of the Natural World. Westport: Libraries Unlimited (2006).
This book has been called the “textbooks for environmental storytelling.” It contains 64 non-Native American environmental stories, sciences information about the animals and plants in the stories and information about how to tell a story or make a story “more environmental.”

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Websites:
www.environmentalstorytelling.com contains 100 environmental story summaries with references; stories are organized by animal type and environmental education concept

www.naturestory.com is my website, containing articles on storytelling and text versions of several nature stories

www.franstallings.com is the storytelling website of “Earth Teller” Fran Stallings. Fran tells environmental “fact tales” and true nature stories guaranteed to enlighten and inspire

About the Author:
Award-winning Author and Storyteller Kevin Strauss has been using stories to entertain, educate and inspire children and adults for more than a decade. Based in Rochester, Minnesota, Kevin travels across the Midwest to perform environmental stories at schools, libraries, and community events.

Kevin is the author of three books, including Tales with Tails: storytelling the wonders of the natural world (Libraries Unlimited, 2006), winner of the prestigious national 2008 Storytelling World Award. His other books include the full-color children’s books Loon and Moon, and The Song of the Wolf. He is also the storytelling star on two CDs and two upcoming DVDs.

You can reach him through his website at www.naturestory.com.

Press Play to hear Ed Stivender speak on the 5 Fool proof Rules for Successful Storytelling on the Art of Storytelling with Children.

In reviews of his performances, Ed Stivender has been called “the Robin Williams of storytelling” and “a Catholic Garrison Keillor”. Now, Ed — Philadelphia native, Shakespearean actor, banjo player, teacher, theologian, Mummer, dreamer, juggler, and raconteur — has put together a program in which he shares the techniques that have made him one of the most honored and sought-after storytellers of our day.

Since 1977, when he left his day job as a high school teacher in Connecticut and turned to storytelling full-time, Ed has fabulated his way around the globe –appearing in schools, churches, coffeehouses and theaters, as well as at major storytelling festivals. He has been a featured performer at the National Storytelling Festival, the Cape Clear Island International Storytelling Festival in Ireland, Graz Festival, Austria and our own Philadelphia Folk Festival. Ed enjoyed narrating: “Paddington Bears Special Day” with the Harrisburg Symphony, “Ferdinan the Bull” with a violinist for the Philadelphia Orchestra, and “Peter and the Wolf” with the LaGrange Symphony.

In the Spring of 2005 Ed worked with a group called Historic Philadelphia Inc., which has had colonial re-enactors in the historic district, that expanded to include a project called “Once Upon A Nation”.
Ed worked with them as a consultant/writer/trainer, helping them develop short historical stories to be presented throughout Independence National Historic Park on thirteen storytelling benches. He trained the tellers during their three week training, “Benstitute”, and did some paperwork summarizing and suggesting. Ed also wrote a theme song for them.

The National Storytelling Association inducted Ed into its Circle of Excellence in 1996.

Ed has strutted in the Comic division of the annual Philadelphia Mummers Parade since 1982. In 1994, he received the Mummers’ Most Original Character Award for his one-man Vatican-American String Band, and in 1996, he was Captain of the first-prize-winning Kingsessing Morris Men and in 2006 he won first prize for Most Original Character.

Ed is the subject of a chapter in the book Storytellers by Corki Miller and Mary Ellen. Snodgrass, a story in Chicken Soup for the Romantic Heart and is the author or two books of tales: Raised Catholic, Can You Tell? and Still Catholic After All These Fears. He has also released a video and several recordings of his performances.

To Book Ed Contact:
NANCY CLANCY
26616 Willowmere Drive E-35
Millsboro, DE 19966
[email protected]
302.947.9515

For More information on Ed Stivender
Business Cards

Ed Stivender at August House

Amazon Raised Catholic

Your Feedback is important to the future of the show.
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Currently survey participants responses are coming from…
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Professional Storyteller 43%
Educator 43%
Parent 41%
Storytelling Organizer 34%
Story Admirer 34%
Audience Member 31%
Writer of Children’s Stories 23%
Semi-professional Storyteller 20%
Librarian 18%
Amateur Storyteller 16%
Storytelling Coach 16%
Faith Based Storyteller 15%

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Participate now and directly influence the Art of Storytelling with Children.

Currently survey participants responses are coming from…
(One participant may check more then one choice.)
Professional Storyteller 43%
Educator 43%
Parent 41%
Storytelling Organizer 34%
Story Admirer 34%
Audience Member 31%
Writer of Children’s Stories 23%
Semi-professional Storyteller 20%
Librarian 18%
Amateur Storyteller 16%
Storytelling Coach 16%
Faith Based Storyteller 15%

This survey is still open - take your turn to influence the future of the Art of Storytelling with Children…
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Elizabeth Ellis will be interviewed by Eric Wolf on the relationship between Storytelling and the Development of Ethical Behavior on the Art of Storytelling with Children on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 8pm EST.

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’ 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

This Upcoming Tuesday - June 10th - - 8PM ET– Mary Jo Huff speaks about early literacy begins with rhythm rhyme & story time on the Art of Storytelling with Children.

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!.

(from Storytelling Magazine) - Quantitative Studies * Innovative Projects
by Jackie Baldwin and Kate Dudding
Who will be interviewed on the Art of Storytelling with Children on this coming Tuesday at 8pm ET.

First, we must confess a strong bias. We believe that storytelling belongs in every school around the world, and we want to encourage and support that goal. Here’s how we went about it with our project, Storytelling in Schools.

As pressures build in schools for national testing, reporting and accountability, many people feel storytelling can be eliminated in schools. However, we knew that there were many quantitative studies documenting the methods and effectiveness of using stories and storytelling techniques in traditional classrooms to help teach the standard curriculum. But these studies were not easily accessible nor widely publicized. We wanted to make this information readily available to anyone interested in storytelling in schools so they could examine, learn from and emulate these studies.

Storytelling in Schools contains four basic elements.

1) A free downloadable booklet for school and arts administrators containing brief descriptions of classroom projects, broken down into Quantitative Studies and Innovative Projects, with follow-up links to the web site. (www.storytellinginschools.org/booklet.pdf)

2) A free downloadable brochure to be handed out at appropriate venues containing information about this project, backed up by position statements from national agencies on the value of storytelling in classrooms. ( www.storytellinginschools.org/brochure.pdf )

3) An online searchable web site for school and arts administrators, which describes each classroom project in detail with contact information for the program director.

(http://www.storytellinginschools.org )

4) An online searchable how-to web site specifically for storytellers, including detailed information about varied topics such as state standards, marketing and fee structures. (http://www.storytellinginschools.org/how-to)

For our first edition, we found 25 quantitative studies and 65 innovative projects covering art, music, drama, history, language arts, mathematics, physics and science, oral interpretation & presentation, cultural awareness & understanding, classroom behavior, behavioral problems, student/teacher relationships, teacher training, libraries, and museums. Other studies and projects will be added with our quarterly updates.

Already this information is being used. For example, Susan McCullough in FL wrote us: “I’m putting together a proposal for a county-wide Storyteller-in-Residence position. Because administrators don’t like to read research, though they like everything to be research-based, I’m going to use your booklet. You’ve done my work for me. The research is there in all fields: cross-curriculum, literacy, behavior, student & teacher, K-12— all the areas I’m addressing.”

Here’s what we’d like you to do to help us with our campaign to bring storytelling to all schools. We suggest that you print out copies of the brochure to keep with your business cards and your own brochures. Whenever you display your business cards and brochures, include the Storytelling in Schools brochure. When you have a meeting with school or arts administrators, print out a copy of the booklet for them. And add a link to www.storytellinginschools.org on your web site.

All feedback is welcome. If you are aware of additional programs underway, please go to www.storytellinginschools.org/how-to/submit or contact Jackie Baldwin
through (http://www.story-lovers.com) or Kate Dudding through (http://www.katedudding.com).

By David B. Epley talks on the conference call tonight at 8pm about storytelling with comedy.

Comedy is one of the most effective tools for imparting any information:

• It actively involves the audience; laughter is not passive.
• It encourages the audience to focus on the process; you must pay attention to the setup in order to get the punch line.
• It makes the process fun.

All of these aspects conspire to make an event, an individual, or a particular subject matter, more memorable. Think of your favorite Teacher, Storyteller, Pastor, Politician, Actor, Choreographer, et cetera, and you will see the truth of what I’m saying. Comedy can be used to educate, to alleviate tension, to ease stress, to help in almost any situation.

Unfortunately, comedy can also be used for ill. It is a powerful tool, and like any tool, its effects, and the responsibility for those effects, are in the hands of the user. It is used daily to hurt, to degrade, to destroy. Sometimes with intent, often without. This places a great moral responsibility on the comedian.

When using Comedy, one must make a conscious effort to gauge its consequences, and take corrective action when necessary. Not all laughter is positive, or even acceptable.

Years ago the US Military enacted its infamous “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy regarding homosexuality in the Armed Services. My partners in Theatre in the Ground and I wrote a short bit designed to mock it. The bit was about 30 seconds long, highly interactive, and generated 3 very solid laughs. (That’s a laugh every 10 seconds, each one building in effect, and that’s great. Vaudevillians used to shoot for a minimum of one laugh every 23 seconds.) Unfortunately, after performing the bit a few times, we realized that the audience wasn’t laughing at Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Most were actually responding to our comedy by laughing at homosexuals as a whole. This was far from our intent, and was generating laughter that we felt was actually bad for the world. We cut the piece immediately. It is a lesson I will never forget.

Enjoy the gift of laughter. Use it. Revel in it. Share it.
Just remember its power, and respect it.

I spent one of the best days of my life in Park Guell in Barcelona. It was the tail end of a long Europe trip and my traveling companion and I were a bit worn out. We came into the park from the back side, riding a series of escalators up to the park’s highest elevation and then wandered slowly(yes Anatoly, I do use adverbs) down towards the largest bench I have ever seen. The bench was completely covered in mosaics and formed a squiggly circle. We sat there for what felt like hours, absorbing the truly mind-blowing scenery, reflecting on our travels. What I wouldn’t give to go back there this afternoon!

If you ever have the chance to visit be sure to carve out a full afternoon to relax there. Why exactly am I reminiscing about my Euro-trip? Because I have a copy of The Oxford Companion to The Garden on my desk. This hefty book is devoted to gardens of every kind and the people involved in their making. Below is an excerpt about Park Guell. (more…)

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