Workshops

I. Making Folk and Fairy Tales Come Alive

I offer single or a series of workshops to educators on the literary enrichment folk and fairytales bring to people of all ages. Here are some of the points covered:

  • What is a folktale? What is a fairytale?
  • Where can you find them in libraries and how are they organized in books?
  • Who are the retellers (the authors of the books) for the different age groups?
  • What makes this literature so long-lasting and why do children and adults enjoy the stories?
  • Why do the world’s folktales share so much in common?
  • How folktales teach universal truths?
  • Storytelling ideas to make these stories dramatic and entertaining.
  • Get up and have some fun!

II. Learning How to Tell Stories

(My Sunnyvale Library Learners)

 (My Sunnyvale Library Learners)

No storyteller will tell you to memorize a tale. You learn the story and tell it in your own words. You use your voice, your facial gestures, and your body to communicate the tale. You are the tale. Then you share it with one child or three hundred people. And you hold them in the palm of your hands. It’s pure magic.

Here are some benefits for educators, caretakers, parents, or grandparents to learn how to tell a story or for teaching the children in your care how to tell a tale:

A. Emotional Gains

  • Enhance self-esteem
  • Become more empathetic
  • Hone those communication skills
  • Look people straight in the eye
  • Feel like an enchanter.

B. Intellectual Gains

  • Get to know the world’s oldest stories
  • Improve your language skills
  • Enhance your speaking skills
  • Use your imagination.
  • Learning and telling stories takes left and right brain work

C. Social Gains

  • Make people happy
  • Be accepted for a treasured skill
  • Gain the ability to control a room
  • Make new friends; who doesn’t love a storyteller?

 And I know how to make this all happen.

It takes a minimum of two meetings to teach this art. Three is better:

  1. Model the art of oral storytelling
  2. Teach the steps to selecting and learning a story.
  3. Feedback when you tell your first tale.

My local geographic area is San Jose to San Mateo and some parts of the East Bay. Traveling longer distances depends on my schedule.


       (My Mountain View Library Learners)

For an article on a workshop on storytelling for grandparents in The Los Altos Town Crier, click on:https://www.losaltosonline.com/news/sections/magazine/55326-how-to-tell-your-story-grandparents-find-tools-to-build-deepen-connection-to-kin-2