Performances for Families & Schools


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Storytelling Workshops

"Thank you so much for your outstanding work with Squantum School students and staff during the past two days. You are a wonderful storyteller. The classroom visit further enhanced the student’s understanding and the teacher workshop was super! All of us learned so much." ~Diane Willard, Squantum School teacher, Squantum, MA

Follow-up Workshops

Enhance your students’ experience further. In these sessions students receive a forty-five minute master class in classic storytelling techniques. They also learn about the power of their own imagination through hands-on exercises sure to get everyone participating.

Storytelling Options (especially for teachers)

This workshop covers the many ways storytelling can enrich the classroom experience of pupils and educators alike. From encouraging students to tell their own stories to using folk tales to enhance curriculum, the many uses of storytelling will be discussed and explored. Using a combination of lecture/demonstration and simple participatory exercises, this workshop gives educators tried and tested storytelling exercises to enliven learning.

Residencies

Finding Your Voice- Telling a Story

An approved artist educator on the roster of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Diane knows that an immersion in storytelling develops within each child clear and concrete communication skills. Her residencies stress vocal range and flexibility, active listening skills, visualization skills, and the ability to frame intangible feelings into physical and vocal language. These residencies skillfully develop young students' expressive and imaginative abilities within the narrative form.

 

Storytelling in Nature, Science and Environmental Education


"I would like to thank you again for the very excellent presentation you made at our final session. In their evaluations our teachers rated your program as one of the most pleasant as well as a very valuable part of the entire conference....In working with elementary science today we are very concerned with the integration of science into the total experience of the children, with feelings and emotions of the children as well as the presentation of accurate scientific information. Your presentation does all of that." Curator of Education, New England Science Center

Storytelling in Science, Nature and Environmental Education

A workshop for teachers of grades K-6 ~ Environmental Educators ~ Naturalists and Interpreters.

Through all cultures and all epoches, storytelling has been used as a means of transmitting values and ethics to the young. This workshop will give educators many stories and storytelling exercises they can use to reconnect children with the feelings behind the facts which can lead to an earth ethic. In addition, ways to use storytelling to enhance Nature and Science Education will be covered using participatory exercises. We will explore the many ways stories can build imaginative bridges to link us to the natural world. Using examples from over twenty years of collecting and creating educational nature tales, Diane Edgecomb suggests ways to use storytelling to enhance Science and Nature Studies and Environmental Education. Discussions will center on finding ways to incorporate narrative into factual studies, exploring relevant contemporary authors whose approach can lead to an approach to discussion and using storytelling activities to relate to nature and science principles. Lecture/demonstration, Participatory Exercises and Question and Answer time will all be included An extensive bibliography which includes tellable tales that link story and scientific facts will be available and some story handouts will be provided. Additonal ways to integrate storytelling into the curriculum and to encourage students to tell their own nature tales will also be explored.

Previous Storytelling Workshops

Workshops and Workshop Presentations (sample ~ schools are not included):
National Storytelling Conference, Philadelphia, Performance and Worksh
Appalachian Mountain Club Naturalist Weekend; "Nature Stories" "Tales for the Trails" "Tree Legends" "Using stories to enhance naturalist presentations"
Interpretive Training Institute (for the Northeast) "Tales for the Trails"
Boston Harbor Conference, closing presentation 1990, Workshops for four subsequent years
Project for Excellence in Teaching Science: performance for teachers
Arnold Arboretum, Guest Speaker MITS Rainforest Program
Sharing the Fire Storytelling Conference; Workshops from 1987-2007
Mass. Audubon Society: "Storytelling in Environmental Education"
New England Science Center; Worcester, MA "Storytelling and Science"
MITS Bio diversity Conference; Storytelling Performance for educators
Melrose Summer Institute for Teachers
Framingham State College guest lecturer "Storytelling & Nature Mythology"
Johnnycake Storytelling Festival: "Storytelling & Nature Education"