Madeleine L'Engle
Quoted in Quotations on Education
Compiled by Rosalie Maggio
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Quote of the Week--#008
"All children are artists, and it is an indictment of our culture that so many of them lose their creativity, their unfettered imaginations, as they grow older."
Telling Stories
In the past few of weeks a couple of classes have come to the library seeking stories to tell to their class, their younger reading buddies, and/or their senior citizen buddies. That is quite a range of storytelling opportunities. Whoever will be in your listening group--and often your listeners will have a wide age range--there are few rules that always apply.
1. Find a story that you love. Trust me, if you don't like the story you are telling, you audience will figure that out pretty quickly. Odds are, they won't like the story much either, no matter how well you think that you are telling it. If you love the story, your enthusiasm will show and pull others into the story. This is true even when the truth of the matter is that the story itself is not all the great. I am not a big fan of stories about sweet, obedient children doing just what the adults around them expect them to do. There are some stories about good, sweet children that are really pretty good stories. I have heard other people tell them with great success--so much success that even I liked them. However, when I try to tell them, my disdain soon shows and I am not very convincing. On the other hand, I have made up some pretty awful stories that I was able to sell because I was having so much fun making them up that I loved the stories and I loved telling them.
2. Find a story that stands by itself. Many times the stories found in picture books depend on the pictures in the book as well as the text of the story. That is what makes great picture books. From the storyteller's point of view, however, the pictures can not be a part of the story. You may add a few props to your story, but you won't be holding up those wonderful illustrations as you tell the story. The listener should be depending on your words, your expressions, your actions, your voice to give everything that the story is offering. Legends, folktales, fairy tales, and other stories that have come down through the ages are truly made for telling because they came from the oral tradition before anyone wrote them down, put them in books, and offered them up to new generations of people. Such tales are a perfect way to share the cultures of the world with your listeners. It is also interesting to compare stories from around the world and see how much they often have in common.
3. Don't memorize. Read the story multiple times until you feel as though you really know it. Some people create a story board or other notes to get the key words and flow of the story. Once you know what is really important and the order in which they appear, the rest will come pretty naturally. If you memorize the story word for word, you set yourself up to forget a word and then lose the entire story. A memorized story is also more apt to come out in a monotone as you struggle to remember the exact words. If you know the bones of your story, you can deal with unexpected events from a sneeze to a bat flying in the window and still keep the story going. This kind of storytelling also allows you to shape the story to your audience more easily. At birthday parties I often change the name of a main character to that of the birthday child. I can change a story about fairies to one about cowboys with very little thought if I already have that frame.
4. Practice, practice, practice. You need to tell that story over and over and over for it to fit comfortably in your mind and your mouth. This is especially true if you are using props of any kind. Puppets are great, but not if they don't move naturally with your telling. String stories are wonderful but if you can't get the string figure to look right, you better have some great ad libs at hand while you figure out your mistake. You get the idea.
5. Have fun. Storytelling is fun. Try not to let it become a burden. I know it may be a class assignment, but that should not keep it from being fun. Tell the story to friends and relatives until they get a little bit batty. That alone can add joy to the experience.
The library has a number of good books about storytelling. Most of them have hints as well as a selection of tested stories for you to tell.
One of my favorite storytelling books is The Storytelling Handbook by Anne Pellowski. It is written especially for young storytellers and is full of interviews with young storytellers who tell what works for them. Pellowski has written many books on storytelling and all of them are worth reading.
In Tell Me a Tale, well known storyteller Joseph Bruchac talks about the four basic components of storytelling: listening, observing, remembering, and sharing. Bruchac also has many collections of stories, often from Native American traditions, that are wonderful for telling.
Pete Seeger's Storytelling Book draws on the famous singer's long experience as a storyteller, including some examples of taking a familiar story and drawing it to new, often wild and crazy, conclusions. Seeger's Abiyoyo is a good story to tell to audiences of all ages.
Don't just take my word on the tricks of the trade for storytelling. I used the library catalog's Webpath Express feature to find the following storytelling websites.
The Kid's Storytelling Club has lots of tips for storytelling plus activities and craft ideas to help spice up your story selections.
A Storytelling Workshop with Gerald Fierst, sponsored by Scholastic, takes you through the steps to master your own story. Included are a chance to listen to professional tell his story, imagination exercises, and practice time.
Canada's Aboriginal and First People storytelling traditions, Circle of Stories from PBS, and Cherokee Stories are all websites with examples of stories being told that you can just sit back and enjoy.
Merpy may not teach you any great new stories to tell, but it has lots of animated stories plus games and activities. Now that you have worked so hard on learning to tell a great story, you deserve a break.
1. Find a story that you love. Trust me, if you don't like the story you are telling, you audience will figure that out pretty quickly. Odds are, they won't like the story much either, no matter how well you think that you are telling it. If you love the story, your enthusiasm will show and pull others into the story. This is true even when the truth of the matter is that the story itself is not all the great. I am not a big fan of stories about sweet, obedient children doing just what the adults around them expect them to do. There are some stories about good, sweet children that are really pretty good stories. I have heard other people tell them with great success--so much success that even I liked them. However, when I try to tell them, my disdain soon shows and I am not very convincing. On the other hand, I have made up some pretty awful stories that I was able to sell because I was having so much fun making them up that I loved the stories and I loved telling them.
2. Find a story that stands by itself. Many times the stories found in picture books depend on the pictures in the book as well as the text of the story. That is what makes great picture books. From the storyteller's point of view, however, the pictures can not be a part of the story. You may add a few props to your story, but you won't be holding up those wonderful illustrations as you tell the story. The listener should be depending on your words, your expressions, your actions, your voice to give everything that the story is offering. Legends, folktales, fairy tales, and other stories that have come down through the ages are truly made for telling because they came from the oral tradition before anyone wrote them down, put them in books, and offered them up to new generations of people. Such tales are a perfect way to share the cultures of the world with your listeners. It is also interesting to compare stories from around the world and see how much they often have in common.
3. Don't memorize. Read the story multiple times until you feel as though you really know it. Some people create a story board or other notes to get the key words and flow of the story. Once you know what is really important and the order in which they appear, the rest will come pretty naturally. If you memorize the story word for word, you set yourself up to forget a word and then lose the entire story. A memorized story is also more apt to come out in a monotone as you struggle to remember the exact words. If you know the bones of your story, you can deal with unexpected events from a sneeze to a bat flying in the window and still keep the story going. This kind of storytelling also allows you to shape the story to your audience more easily. At birthday parties I often change the name of a main character to that of the birthday child. I can change a story about fairies to one about cowboys with very little thought if I already have that frame.
4. Practice, practice, practice. You need to tell that story over and over and over for it to fit comfortably in your mind and your mouth. This is especially true if you are using props of any kind. Puppets are great, but not if they don't move naturally with your telling. String stories are wonderful but if you can't get the string figure to look right, you better have some great ad libs at hand while you figure out your mistake. You get the idea.
5. Have fun. Storytelling is fun. Try not to let it become a burden. I know it may be a class assignment, but that should not keep it from being fun. Tell the story to friends and relatives until they get a little bit batty. That alone can add joy to the experience.
The library has a number of good books about storytelling. Most of them have hints as well as a selection of tested stories for you to tell.
One of my favorite storytelling books is The Storytelling Handbook by Anne Pellowski. It is written especially for young storytellers and is full of interviews with young storytellers who tell what works for them. Pellowski has written many books on storytelling and all of them are worth reading.
In Tell Me a Tale, well known storyteller Joseph Bruchac talks about the four basic components of storytelling: listening, observing, remembering, and sharing. Bruchac also has many collections of stories, often from Native American traditions, that are wonderful for telling.
Pete Seeger's Storytelling Book draws on the famous singer's long experience as a storyteller, including some examples of taking a familiar story and drawing it to new, often wild and crazy, conclusions. Seeger's Abiyoyo is a good story to tell to audiences of all ages.
Don't just take my word on the tricks of the trade for storytelling. I used the library catalog's Webpath Express feature to find the following storytelling websites.
The Kid's Storytelling Club has lots of tips for storytelling plus activities and craft ideas to help spice up your story selections.
A Storytelling Workshop with Gerald Fierst, sponsored by Scholastic, takes you through the steps to master your own story. Included are a chance to listen to professional tell his story, imagination exercises, and practice time.
Canada's Aboriginal and First People storytelling traditions, Circle of Stories from PBS, and Cherokee Stories are all websites with examples of stories being told that you can just sit back and enjoy.
Merpy may not teach you any great new stories to tell, but it has lots of animated stories plus games and activities. Now that you have worked so hard on learning to tell a great story, you deserve a break.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
ELF
There are many ELFs around the library these days. Despite their requests for cute green hats and shoes with toes that curl up, they are not elves. No, indeed, these helpful folks in grades four and five are Emerson Library Friends of the friendliest sort. They give up some of their free time to give service to the library by tending the shelves and giving to the library in many, many ways. The library is better for their help. In just a week of service, they have put books in order, dusted up a storm, and put their names on shelves that will be their personal responsibility for the year.
As time goes by, these hardworking Friends will grow in skills and interests. They will add their ideas and personal touches to library projects of all sorts. We will meet as a group once every six weeks or so to share ideas and think of new ways to make the library better for everyone.
Does this sound like fun to you? If you are an Emerson student in grades four to eight, you are invited to join. You will feel good about helping and the library will make everyone who enters feel better because of your service.
Thank you, ELFs.
As time goes by, these hardworking Friends will grow in skills and interests. They will add their ideas and personal touches to library projects of all sorts. We will meet as a group once every six weeks or so to share ideas and think of new ways to make the library better for everyone.
Does this sound like fun to you? If you are an Emerson student in grades four to eight, you are invited to join. You will feel good about helping and the library will make everyone who enters feel better because of your service.
Thank you, ELFs.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
What's Special About This Week--Oct. 6-10
October 6--German American Day
Given that 17% of the population of the United States can trace their roots to Germany, it is not surprising that there are many famous folks who can celebrate their heritage today. As you settle down to read your favorite book by Dr. Seuss or to watch "The Simpsons" (Mattt Groening) or at Disney movie (Walt Disney), you might want to also grab a hot dog (Oscar Meyer) and cover it with ketchup (Henry J. Heinz). Of course, you kept your food fresh in the refrigerator (George Westinghouse). Are you wearing blue jeans? Thank Levi Strauss. Rudolph Wurlitzer may be the man behind the piano in your living room. Thank Charles Pfizer for some of the medicines that help keep you healthy. We have had at least three U. S. presidents with roots in Germany--Dwight D. Eisenhower, Herbert Hoover, and Teddy Roosevelt. University of Michigan sports names Bo Schembechler and Fritz Chrisler both had German ancestry. Other sports names include Babe Ruth and Casey Stengel. The first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, is of German heritage. The list goes on and on with celebrities like Sandra Bullock, Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, Hilary Duff, Dakota Fanning, Tina Fey, Angelina Jolie, and Elvis Presley. Don't forget those Emerson School Germans--Rolf Wucherer, me and, I'll wager, a lot more people.
October 6--Librarians Day
Say hello to a librarian.
October 7, 1983--Cabbage Patch Kids debuted
Xavier Roberts created this toy craze of soft dolls that came with adoption papers. I made the mistake of trying to make a Cabbage Patch clone at home for my daughters. They were fun to make but their curl soon fell out and, most importantly, they did not have Xavier Roberts' autograph on their bottoms.
October 7, 1935--The first time the Detroit Tigers won the World Series
The Tigers beat the Chicago Cubs four games to two. Will they win the Series again? Maybe next year.
October 8, 1906--Permanent Wave first demonstrated
A German hairdresser named Charles Nessler developed the first permanent wave process to make curls last longer than regular curling. His process used cow urine and water for the chemical reaction. A dozen hair rollers, weighing two pounds each, were put in the hair. They were kept from touching the scalp or putting too much pressure on the head by means of an elaborate system of counter weights hung from a chandelier like contraption. After the solution was applied, the hair and rollers were heated to the boiling point. The entire process took about six hours. The first two times Nessler tried this process he tested it on his wife, burning her hair off. Aren't you glad that this process, while still really smelly, has improved in the last 100 years?
October 8, 1871--Great Peshtigo Fire and Great Chicago Fire started
It is a strange coincidence that two devastating fires began on the same day. The Peshtigo Fire burned more than a million acres of forests in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northern Wisconsin. Read about it here.
The Great Chicago Fire is more famous from the legendary tale of the cow who kicked over a lantern to the way it changed the face of the city and its history. The best place to learn about the Chicago Fire is to read The Great Fire by Jim Murphy. This book traces the story of the fire from the first alarm until the final spark went out with stories of the people who were dealing with it. My favorite part is the map that ends each chapter so you can follow the spread of the fire as it consumes most of the city. You will learn about the social conditions and the living conditions that contributed to the spread of the fire. This non-fiction is as exciting as a good novel.
October 9--Korean Alphabet Day
The Korean alphabet is not made up of millions of characters like Chinese. It has 10 basic vowels and 14 basic consonants. This site will show these letters and link you to a chance to see your name written in Han Gul, as the alphabet is called.
October 9, 1855--Calliope patented
While the concept of playing steam whistles to create music had been around for quite awhile, it was Joshua Stoddard who patented the calliope in 1855. Because it produced sounds loud enough to be heard for many miles, he imagined that it would replace church bells. However, it soon was used on steamboats where the sound could float down the river. I usually think of a calliope in relation to old circus trains. The process is simple--steam is directed through large whistles such as those that were found on locomotives. You can see pictures of calliopes by going to this parade floats site.
October 10--World Egg Day
World Egg Day was created in 2006 and is now celebrated on the second Friday in October. The day was created to get more people to eat eggs. There are at least a dozen reasons to celebrate Egg Day.
October 10--Bonza Bottler or Party Party Day
Elaine Fremont, a woman who must have loved to celebrate, created the Bonza Bottler Day idea. This is one of the few holidays that occurs every month. It is celebrated whenever the number of the day is the same as the number of the month, such as January 1, May 5, or October 10. Some people will find any excuse they can for a party. Party on, dudes.
Given that 17% of the population of the United States can trace their roots to Germany, it is not surprising that there are many famous folks who can celebrate their heritage today. As you settle down to read your favorite book by Dr. Seuss or to watch "The Simpsons" (Mattt Groening) or at Disney movie (Walt Disney), you might want to also grab a hot dog (Oscar Meyer) and cover it with ketchup (Henry J. Heinz). Of course, you kept your food fresh in the refrigerator (George Westinghouse). Are you wearing blue jeans? Thank Levi Strauss. Rudolph Wurlitzer may be the man behind the piano in your living room. Thank Charles Pfizer for some of the medicines that help keep you healthy. We have had at least three U. S. presidents with roots in Germany--Dwight D. Eisenhower, Herbert Hoover, and Teddy Roosevelt. University of Michigan sports names Bo Schembechler and Fritz Chrisler both had German ancestry. Other sports names include Babe Ruth and Casey Stengel. The first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, is of German heritage. The list goes on and on with celebrities like Sandra Bullock, Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, Hilary Duff, Dakota Fanning, Tina Fey, Angelina Jolie, and Elvis Presley. Don't forget those Emerson School Germans--Rolf Wucherer, me and, I'll wager, a lot more people.
October 6--Librarians Day
Say hello to a librarian.
October 7, 1983--Cabbage Patch Kids debuted
Xavier Roberts created this toy craze of soft dolls that came with adoption papers. I made the mistake of trying to make a Cabbage Patch clone at home for my daughters. They were fun to make but their curl soon fell out and, most importantly, they did not have Xavier Roberts' autograph on their bottoms.
October 7, 1935--The first time the Detroit Tigers won the World Series
The Tigers beat the Chicago Cubs four games to two. Will they win the Series again? Maybe next year.
October 8, 1906--Permanent Wave first demonstrated
A German hairdresser named Charles Nessler developed the first permanent wave process to make curls last longer than regular curling. His process used cow urine and water for the chemical reaction. A dozen hair rollers, weighing two pounds each, were put in the hair. They were kept from touching the scalp or putting too much pressure on the head by means of an elaborate system of counter weights hung from a chandelier like contraption. After the solution was applied, the hair and rollers were heated to the boiling point. The entire process took about six hours. The first two times Nessler tried this process he tested it on his wife, burning her hair off. Aren't you glad that this process, while still really smelly, has improved in the last 100 years?
October 8, 1871--Great Peshtigo Fire and Great Chicago Fire started
It is a strange coincidence that two devastating fires began on the same day. The Peshtigo Fire burned more than a million acres of forests in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northern Wisconsin. Read about it here.
The Great Chicago Fire is more famous from the legendary tale of the cow who kicked over a lantern to the way it changed the face of the city and its history. The best place to learn about the Chicago Fire is to read The Great Fire by Jim Murphy. This book traces the story of the fire from the first alarm until the final spark went out with stories of the people who were dealing with it. My favorite part is the map that ends each chapter so you can follow the spread of the fire as it consumes most of the city. You will learn about the social conditions and the living conditions that contributed to the spread of the fire. This non-fiction is as exciting as a good novel.
October 9--Korean Alphabet Day
The Korean alphabet is not made up of millions of characters like Chinese. It has 10 basic vowels and 14 basic consonants. This site will show these letters and link you to a chance to see your name written in Han Gul, as the alphabet is called.
October 9, 1855--Calliope patented
While the concept of playing steam whistles to create music had been around for quite awhile, it was Joshua Stoddard who patented the calliope in 1855. Because it produced sounds loud enough to be heard for many miles, he imagined that it would replace church bells. However, it soon was used on steamboats where the sound could float down the river. I usually think of a calliope in relation to old circus trains. The process is simple--steam is directed through large whistles such as those that were found on locomotives. You can see pictures of calliopes by going to this parade floats site.
October 10--World Egg Day
World Egg Day was created in 2006 and is now celebrated on the second Friday in October. The day was created to get more people to eat eggs. There are at least a dozen reasons to celebrate Egg Day.
October 10--Bonza Bottler or Party Party Day
Elaine Fremont, a woman who must have loved to celebrate, created the Bonza Bottler Day idea. This is one of the few holidays that occurs every month. It is celebrated whenever the number of the day is the same as the number of the month, such as January 1, May 5, or October 10. Some people will find any excuse they can for a party. Party on, dudes.
Quote of the Week--#007
"Nobody knows enough, but many know too much."
Marie von Ebner-Eschenback
Quoted in
Quotations on Education
Compiled by Rosalie Maggio
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Wacky Wednesday--Joke of the Week #006
A librarian was thrilled to have a new baby. Of course, this was the most beautiful and smartest baby in the world. Just to make sure, however, hanging over the crib there was---
A bookmobile
A bookmobile
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