Storytelling Residencies by Denny Olson

The world is composed of Earth, Fire, Air, Water and Stories. Telling our own story is a path to student engagement which has no equal – there is nothing more personal and empowering. My overall goals in storytelling residencies are (1) to link literacy and the arts to orally expressed personal experience and (2) to make the communication skills that students learn a pathway and motivation toward all content areas. We learn nothing until our minds translate information into narrative form. In these residencies, I help students acquire the skills to translate what you teach – to connect to their own prior experiences.

The process
(depending on the length of stay and ages of students)

Story-making:

• A presentation by Critterman, Professor Avian Guano, The Lost Voyageur, Dr. Loonacy, et. al., to give students a benchmark on the power of stories.
• Picture-puzzle icebreaker and simple story construction.
• The problem-resolution of stories and sentences – the parallels and differences between writing and oral art.
• The who-what-when-where-why game – a fun activity of “blind” group story construction.
• How stories are evaluated by a listener – ideas, organization, “voice”, word choices, sentence fluency, “conversational” conventions.
• Story as metaphor and teaching tool – the “reason” for the story.
• Using analogy and touching the personal experience of an audience. Oral tradition as a learning tool in indigenous cultures.
• How stories have shaped us, and how we shape them.
  

Story-telling - Personal telling skills:

• voice volume changes and their effects on listeners
• voice inflection as the vehicle of energy
• voice pacing and pauses – changing the energy direction
• facial expressions – windows to all humanity
• eye contact -- including every listener and evaluating “me”
• body language – truth and authenticity
• hand gestures – defining your words
• unpredictability – its power
• interruptions and teachable moments – is there a difference?
• trusting instinct
  

Practice:

• Oral tradition and writing scripts – the differences
• Storytelling Event: (for the class, entire school, or the entire community – many options)

Residency Goals:

• increase student knowledge of story development and telling
• inter-weave storytelling and literacy together so students can increase motivation toward both
• involve the local community in the products of arts education through a performance
• show that rural schools with limited budgets can enrich local areas through the arts demonstrate the value of arts to the rest of the curriculum
• demonstrate the therapeutic value of “telling my story”
• offer students bogged down in normal curriculum another avenue to “shine”
• build the school community through a group process and product
• increase parental involvement and interest in school affairs
• show students how their brains “learn”

(Note: if there is a need for developing specific measurable objectives and tying them to state or local criteria (standards), please, ask!)

Format Options:

• One to ten days
• I work with schools in advance to assess needs, budget, schedule, and student preparation; suggest follow-up, and assess student change and the overall effects of the residency