FREE STORYTELLING PROGRAMS FOR LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS, SPECIAL PARTIES, COMMUNITY CELEBRATIONS...
Hello Teachers, Librarians, and All,
I retired a few years ago, but am finding I'm missing taking part in the art of storytelling! For this reason, I've started visiting local schools and libraries again - offering Kindergarten, Grade 1,2,3 and Grade 4-5 storytelling programs that feature some of my old favorites. This is a free program and only available to:
• Vancouver, Brisith Columbia, Canada's North Shore during spring, summer, and early fall.
• Palm Desert, California and surrounding communities from Mid-January through April.
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I recently performed the following programs at the Bowen Island Community School and was asked back to tell a mixture of tales during their community Canada Day Celebrations on July 1, 2007. So, I again have references! If you want them, please let me know...
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Please feel free to e-mail (lois@scriptsforschools.com) or call (604-925-1989) with any questions or suggestions you might have. I look forward to hearing from you. For more information about my storytelling background, please click HERE.
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THE KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM is approximately 40 minutes in length. Title: "Help Me With a Story!"
Featured Stories:
GO HOME GOLDIE - A fun and fast-moving version of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." During the telling the storyteller invites everyone to participate in the bears' repetative chorus:
Go home Goldie.
Hear our call.
Run like the wind -
And don’t come back at all!
THE CREAKY DOOR - Another audience participation story. A young boy is afraid to sleep in a bedroom which has the "creakiest, squeakiest door in the entire world." Grandma decides to put the family pets into his bed in the hope that they will keep the boy company during the night. A wonderful participation tale with exciting sound effects and much repetition for young listeners.
A WHALE OF A TALE - Set in the far north. This traditional swallowing tale tells of an Inuit boy who lives in an igloo with his grandmother. One day, grandmother is so busy sewing with her bone sewing needle that she forgets to prepare any food. The boy sets forth in search of food and ends up swallowing a number of arctic animals. The plot is resolved with the help of grandmother's needle and just a little bit of magic. This story is also a participation tale with lots of repetition and many predictable lines for vocal young listeners.
THE MAGIC CARROT CAPER - You've heard of the Gigantic Turnip? Well this time around it's a carrot that won't be uprooted. In this version of the popular folk tale, a walrus, hippopotamus, elephant, dinosaur, and tiny mouse, help a little old man and woman unearth the pesky vegetable. As each animal is magically added to the carrot tugging team, the descriptive words grow: large, huge, enormous, humungous, and gigantic!
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THE GRADE 1,2,3 PROGRAM is approximately 40 minutes in length. Title: "Granny Tales".
Celebrating grandparents or want to "feature" a grandmother - just to prove that old folk can still do things that are quite wonderful?
I’m a proud grandma, so I’ve put a number of my “granny tales” together to make a whole new storytelling performance. Yes, each of the stories deals with a grandma, (one is a helpful granny, one is a sweet pie-baking granny, one is a grumpy granny, and one is a forgetful granny) but the stories have also been chosen to offer a great variety of story experiences.
Featired stories:
THE CREAKY DOOR
A young boy is afraid to sleep in a bedroom which has the "creakiest, squeakiest door in the entire world." His helpful grandma decides to put the family pets into his bed in the hope that they will keep the boy company during the night. A wonderful participation tale with exciting sound effects and much repetition for a fun-filled participation story experience.
THE GREAT APPLE SLICE ESCAPE
A sweet little old grandmother decides to make an apple pie and prepares the filling from five of our most well-known west coast varieties: a Northern Spy, a Golden Delicious, a McIntosh, a Red Delicious, and an Granny Smith. Once inside the crusts, the apple slices hatch a daring escape plan. The use of repetitive phrases and an ever-building internal poem make this script fun for lower and upper primaries alike.
MISERY'S TREE
Set in apple-growing country. An old grumpy grandmother named Misery owns one prized possession: a magnificent apple tree. The tree, however, does not make Misery happy. Village children steal her apples and ignore her when she warns, "Go on home and let me be. Stay away from Misery!" In the end, the tree, an enchanted visitor, and a granted wish help Misery outsmart both the children and DEATH'S messenger when he, too, tries to steal an apple.
SWEET PORRIDGE
A poor, hungry girl goes into the woods to pick berries. There an old woman gives her a magic cooking pot. The pot is controlled by special magic words and cooks "hot, sweet porridge" on command. The girl's grandmother forgets the magic words and the pot ends up creating havoc for local villagers. To this day, no one in the village eats porridge.
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THE GRADE 4-5 PROGRAM is approximately 40 minutes in length. Title: "So Many Ways to Tell a Story!"
There are many ways to "dress up" or embelish the telling of a story. How about announcing the story title, then showing a prop that gets the immediate attention of you listeners? The prop in the following story is a Vancouver Canucks Hockey Mug:
BIG BROTHER AND THE ELFIN WOMAN
A young hockey fan discovers an obnoxious elfin woman in his kitchen and decides not to tell the sprite his real name. Instead, he says he is called "Me, Myself, and I." This turns out to be a smart decision, as it saves the boy from being turned into "squash stew" by the woman's giant-like brother, and rids his house of the elfin invaders. A clever tale involving mistaken identity.
Or, you could add some costumes pieces to your telling. The costume pieces in the following story are an old brown shawl and a Halloween mask:
MISERY'S TREE
Set in apple-growing country. An old unhappy woman named Misery owns one prized possession: a magnificent apple tree. The tree, however, does not make Misery happy. Village children steal her apples and ignore her when she warns, "Go on home and let me be. Stay away from Misery!" In the end, the tree, an enchanted visitor, and a granted wish help Misery outsmart both the children and DEATH'S messenger when he, too, tries to steal an apple.
What about illustrations? Sure, why not? The telling of this story features a PowerPoint Presentation of colourful and imaginative illustrations from the storybook version.
SUPPOSE YOU MET A WITCH?
Too old to believe in witches? Well, maybe so - but wait until I tell you about the witch I know. In this story, two resourceful children are stolen by a witch, but are able to escape by using their wits. They also get a bit of help from the witch's magic wand! This is a story told entirely in verse and is a real challenge for any would-be storyteller. I've been working on it for years! (This story is from "Belinda and the Swans" by Ian Serraillier and is published by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, Toronto).
QUESTION AND ANSWER TIME
Time to stop, review, think, and talk about more ways to help a storyteller tell a tale. If your group is interested in storytelling hints, I've got lots of them. If all goes as usual, I'll probably learn lots from them too!
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Please feel free to e-mail or call with any questions or suggestions you might have. I look forward to hearing from you. For more information about my storytelling background, please click HERE.
Sincerely, Lois Walker: lois@scriptsforschools.com
Ph/fax: 604-925-1989
WHAT'S NEW, LOIS?
Two years ago in August my team of four spent two weeks conducting Readers Theater seminars for EFL teachers in Taiwan. What an amazing experience we had!
A special thank you to East & West Book Company, Ltd. for publishing the book pictured above and making the seminar arrangements. Another special thank you to all the wonderful teachers we met along the way!
ATTENTION Taiwan EFL Teachers! I promised I would devote a section of this website to all of you so, please click HERE.
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SUMMER, 2006: Virginia, USA
This past August we travelled to the Cumberland Gap area of Virginia to conduct two days of RT workshops. This was a part of the country we had not visited before, and were impressed by the interesting history of the area, incredible landscapes, and friendly, helpful people. Thanks to Wandaleen Adams, Head Start Director, Reading First LEA, and Coordinator for Professional Developement for Lee County Schools for looking after us and being such a great host!
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ANNOYING BEHAVIORS?
A teacher looking for a script on "manners" e-mailed and asked me to try creating something her class might use for an up-coming school assembly. I did, and information about the new script, "Manners! Manners! can be found by clicking HERE.
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CHICAGO CONNECTION
I have received word that my publishers in Australia have made three of my illustrated Readers Theater scripts available through Chicago publisher ETA/Cuisenaire. Each is sold as part of a collection of 6 scripts.
One of my scripts, The Crazy Critters, is featured on this link:
http://www.etacuisenaire.com/voiceworks/voiceworks.jsp
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ANGER/CONFLICT MANAGEMENT ANYONE?
We now have a Anger/Conflict Management Teaching Package available (Jr. High and High School levels). The package includes RT scripts. For more information, please click HERE.
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FREE SCRIPT FOR HIGH SCHOOL/COLLEGE/ADULT READERS
Father Matthew Powell, O.P., a Catholic priest of the Dominican Order, has kindly provided this script, "Hamelin Town". Please click HERE.
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FOR FREE SCRIPTS ABOUT HURRICANE KATRINA
(Intermediate and Advanced levels):
Readers Theater Version 1, please click HERE.
Readers Theater Version 2, please click HERE.
Choral Speaking or Reading Version, click HERE.
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MORE FREE SCRIPTS
Intermediate Script, "Crazy Critters" click HERE.
Primary Script, Choral Speaking, "Grasshopper and the Ants" click HERE.
Free Readers Theater Guide for Teachers, click HERE
Free Choral Speaking Guide for Teacher, click HERE.
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FROM A RECENT REPORT OF THE NATIONAL READING PANEL: TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ
"...repeated oral reading procedures that included guidance from teachers, peers, or parents had a significant and positive impact on word recognition, fluency, and comprehension across a range of grade levels...
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FREE SCRIPT FOR EFL, ESL
Looking for a free RT script to use with EFL or ESL students? This script is written in rhyme, has a repeated chorus for all readers, and pokes good-natured fun at all those pesky English words students from other countries are trying so hard to learn. The script actually uses all 100 words from the "100 Most Frequently Used Words" list. Please click HERE.
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CHINESE AND TAIWANESE FOLK TALES
Have been researching Chinese Folk Tales and having so much fun! Do you know the origin of the "Holding Ball Dance" or the wonderful story about why the Chinese chase the new year away named "The Monster Named Year?" If these types of tales interest you, please click HERE.
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