Muriel's storytelling blog- What's new?

Going to Sharing the Fire

2009-03-18T19:20:00.000-07:00

I'm busy preparing a workshop for Sharing the Fire: Northeast Storytelling Conference in Warwick, Rhode Island. THe title of my workshop is Storytelling in the Classroom: a bridge to Early Literacy. I'll post my hand-out on my blog after the conference is over. More later!
Last week I did three performances at Fishkill Plains Elementary School. The kids were totally engaged and definitely learned great audience skills from their teachers. Next month, I'll be helping kids at Overlook School in their Week without TV event.

Beginning anew!- February 21, 2009

2009-02-22T18:53:00.000-08:00

Welcome back to my blog! It's been such a long time since I've written. There is much to report. First of all, Friday was my birthday! I promise myself to make this the beginning of a new commitment to this blog.
Since the first of the year, I have been very busy with storytelling and literacy work. In January, I did a workshop at my granddaughter's nursery school- the lab school at the University of Utah. For two hours on a Friday evening, parents and children came together to hear stories, to participate in some interactive storytelling and to share "play time." The children got extra play time in creative play centers while the adults got together for a workshop on the importance of storytelling in early literacy learning. Everyone had a wonderful time. The children loved getting up and joining in the "Enormous Carrot" story based on the Russian folktale "the Enormous Turnip." We ended with everyone joining in my version of "the Tailor." More on this and some of the advise I gave when I write more tomorrow.

2008-05-13T19:02:00.000-07:00

I have a very busy story week coming up. On Wednesday, I'll be performing at the Taconic PTA showcase. I'm busy deciding which of my stories to present. It's really hard to decide how to use the 15 minutes I'm allotted. I hope people will come and talk with me later. I hope to have some goodies including some story activity ideas at my booth.
Then on Thursday, I will tell a story at our monthly interfaith story circle. Our theme this month is "Saints." This is a rather interesting topic for a "Jewish girl from Poughkeepsie" to tackle, but tackle it I will! Stay tuned to see how it plays out.
Saturday evening, at Mary Summerlin's Spoken Word cafe at the Universalist Unitarian Fellowship, I'll be presenting traditional Jewish Tales. Afterwards, people sign up for open mike. The Spoken Word programs I've been to so far have been quite wonderful. You never know what gems will come from the audience.
The following week, I'll be telling fairy tales to second graders at Rhinebeck's Chancellor Livingston Elementary School. I'm planning to introduce the genre, tell several different "Cinderella" varients and have the students participate in trying their hands at storytelling.

Yesterday's :HVWP meeting

2008-05-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I attended the first session of the Advanced Institute of the Hudson Valley Writing Project. I am so excited to be part of this group. We will be really looking hard at ways to promote literacy in the Hudson Valley. Hopefully, all of us will become more effective at delivering meaningful staff development programs by the end of this seminar. Among other things, I am hoping to look at using oral language and specifically storytelling skills to promote literacy for all students but especially in early literacy.

Friday's program: Honoring the Earth- fun for students

2008-05-07T18:49:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, I worked with all the 3,4 and 5 graders in a local elementary school. I saw two or three classes at a time for a program called "Honoring the Earth." I told stories from Nigeria, Mexico and from the Senecan, Abanaki and Papago people of the U.S. In addition to the stories, each group had a chance to do some storytelling activities. I'll be posting some of their comments and some more details of the program in the next few days.
Now I need to work on preparing for my presentation at the Taconic PTA showcase which happens on May 21. I'll be doing some stories from diverse cultures that teach character development through story.