Beginning anew!- February 21, 2009

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.

Yesterday's :HVWP meeting

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.