Multicultural Storytelling Workshop

 

North Rockland Central School District

Staff Development Day  March 17, 2006

Instructor Elise Krakower

 

"Storytelling is how we survive. The story feeds the spirit, the imagination. I can't imagine life without stories, stories from... my culture. Stories from other people's... culture. That's how we learn from each other, it's the best way. That's why literature is so important, it connects us, heart to heart." - Alice Walker

 

Workshop definitions:

 

Multiculturalism is a public policy approach for managing cultural diversity in a multiethnic society, officially stressing mutual respect and tolerance for cultural difference.

 

Multiculturalism from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism

 

Storytelling

 

Modern storytelling, often called professional storytelling, is a consciously developed art in which trained tellers perform before audiences of children and adults..[Brown, p621]

 

 

Workshop goals:

            Goal One:     To introduce teachers to multiculturalism

            Goal Two:     To introduce teachers to the storytelling strategy of instruction

Goal Three:  To introduce teachers to resources for finding multicultural

                       curriculum connections

 


 

 

References

 

REF 390 CUL  CultureGrams, 2002.  Standard ed.  [Orem, Utah] : CultureGrams, c2001.Vol. 1. The Americas and Europe -- v. 2. Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

 

 Presents nearly two hundred reports that provide information about the land and climate, history, people, customs and courtesies, lifestyle, and society of the world's nations, each with maps, development data, and a contact source. Arranged alphabetically in each of two volumes covering the Americas and Europe, and Africa, Asia,and Oceania.

 

REF 641.3 JUN  Junior Worldmark encyclopedia of foods and recipes of the world. Detroit, MI : U·X·L : Gale Group/Thomson Learning, c2002. Vol. 1. Algeria to France -- v. 2. Germany to Japan -- v. 3. Kazakhstan to South Africa -- v. 4. Spain to Zimbabwe, cumulative index. 

 

Contains alphabetically arranged entries that provide information about the dietary customs of seventy countries and regions around the world, each with two maps and approximately ten recipes. Includes a glossary of cooking terms.

 

REF 910.22 PEO  The World Book encyclopedia of people and places.  Chicago: World Book, c1998.

 

 

Multicultural Storytelling Resources

 

PRO 370.19 MIT  Mitchell, Bruce M.  Multicultural education : an international guide to research, policies, and programs.  Westport, Conn.  Greenwood Press, 1996.

 

 

PRO OFF 370.117 TRA  Travel the globe : multicultural story times.  Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1998.  A collection of  story time outlines that focus on fourteen countries and cultural groups around the world, each with an opening song, suggested book titles, a flannel board or puppet story with patterns and instructions, finger plays, actions rhymes, games, an annotated listing of videos and filmstrips, and crafts.

 

 

PRO OFF 370.19 CLE  Clegg, Luther B.  Celebrating diversity: a multicultural resource.  New York: Delmar Publishers, c1995.

 

  

PRO OFF 370.19 JOH Johnson, Lauri.  Dealing with diversity through multicultural fiction : library-classroom partnerships.  Chicago:American Library Association, 1993. 

 

Presents a curriculum model for the development of multicultural programs in schools and includes a listing of fiction titles that dress the topics of families, peers, prejudice, and self-awareness.

 

PRO OFF 813.009 WRI

Writers of multicultural fiction for young adults: a bio-critical sourcebook.  Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1996.

 

Includes fifty-one alphabetical entries about writers of multicultural fiction for young adults, each including a biographical profile of the author, an overview of his or her major works, a critical analysis, and bibliographies.

 

 

Storytelling Resources

 

PRO OFF 808.5 STO  Storytelling world : Multicultural storytelling.  Johnson City, Tennessee : East Tennessee State University.

 

 

PRO OFF 808.5 STO  Storytelling world : Storytelling in the Curriculum.  Johnson

City, Tennessee : East Tennessee State University.

 

 

PRO OFF AV RT 180  Hamilton, Martha.  Stories in my pocket; tales kids can tell. Ithaca, New York : Electric Wilburland Studios, 1998.

 

Contents: Side 1- A story in my pocket-Tilly-Bracelets-Why Anansi the spider has a small waist-Just you and me-The silversmith and the rich man-The dark wood-The mouse and the sausage-The golden arm-The stonecutter-Fox and his tail-side 2-Master of all masters-on a dark and stormy night-Who will close the door?-Oh that’s good! No that's bad!-Clytie-The mirror that caused trouble-Wait till Whalem-Balem comes-All story versions and the poem.

 

 

STC 372.6 HAM Hamilton, Martha.  Stories in my pocket : tales kids can tell. Golden, Colo. : Fulcrum Pub., c1996.

 

Includes thirty stories chiefly from folk literature, helpful tips for storytelling, and an overview for the adults involved in the activity.

 

STC 372.6  PIE Pierce, Mark.  Storytelling Tips & Tales.  Goodyear Pub Co, 1998.

 

 

PRO 027.62 DE  De Vos, Gail, 1949-.  Storytelling for young adults : a guide to tales for teens.  2nd ed.  Westport, CT : Libraries Unlimited, 2003. 

 

Discusses the value of storytelling as a teaching tool for use with teenage audiences, offers advice on choosing and telling stories, and includes brief plot summaries and bibliographic information on appropriate stories in a variety of genres, as well as a sampling of ready-to-tell tales.

 

PRO OFF 808.5 STO Storytelling world : Storytelling in the Curriculum. Johnson City, Tennessee : East Tennessee State University.

 

REF 808.5 LIV Livo, Norma J., 1929-.  Storytelling folklore sourcebook. Englewood, Colo. : Libraries Unlimited, 1991.

 

Source book for telling folklore and stories that includes making of a story voice, story artifacts, and story activities.

 

STC 808.5 PEL Pellowski, Anne.  The world of storytelling.  Expanded and rev. ed.  Bronx, NY : H.W. Wilson, 1990.

 

A practical guide to the origins, development, and applications of storytelling.

 

 

 


 

 

 

Internet Resources

 

Storytelling: General sites

 

National Storytelling Network:

 http://www.storynet.org/.

The basic resource. 

 

Folktales:

http://www.folktales.net

The site of two storytellers who specialize in Asian and African stories, with updated information about multicultural storytelling, the 2001 Tellebration, and more. 

 

Storyteller:

http://www.storyteller.net.

Good information, links and stories, and an audio component that lets you listen to stories by a number of storytellers and hear the nuances and cadences of their tellings.

 

August House:

http://www.augusthouse.com/

A major publisher of story-telling guides and folk tale anthologies. 

 

Yellow Moon Press:

http://www.yellowmoon.com/

This site has very useful links to other sites and information.

 

 

Multicultural Internet Storytelling Sites

Aaron Shepard's Storytelling Page:

http://www.aaronshep.com/storytelling/index.html.

Includes stories from Denmark, Korea and from the Islamic culture; provides grade level information and pronunciation for many of the words in the stories. There are also a number of helpful articles that address the validity of telling multicultural stories, researching stories and copyright information. 

 

Black Storytellers Alliance:

http://www.blackstorytellers.com.

 A gateway to African oral tradition and folklore, with a great bibliography and annotated list of web sources.

Federal Writers' Project:

http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam014.html.

As part of the African-American mosaic, the Library of Congress includes some folk lore collected in the 1930s and 1940s. 

 

The Moonlit Road:

http://www.themoonlitroad.com/

Devoted to ghost stories and strange folktales of the American South.

 

Multicultural Resources for Educators

http://www.pampetty.com/multicultural.htm

This site is maintained by Pam Petty. It includes an excellent segment on  multicultural literature for adolescents:  An increasingly diverse group of authors and characters.

 

Native American Sites:

http://www.nativeculture.com/lisamitten/indians.html.

 Lisa Mitten, past president of the American Indian Library Association, maintains this important resource.

 

 Oyate:

http://www.oyate.org/resources.html

 Access to good resources on Native peoples, and warnings against some that could prove offensive. 

 

Sacred Voices:

http://www.sacredvoices.com.

Multicultural stories primarily focusing on ancient India. The site includes programs, events, book, video and audio reviews as well as many links to other sites.

 

Story Library: A Storytelling Bookshelf for Teachers:

http://www.storyarts.org/store/bookshelf/

Provides an extensive book collection on the art of storytelling for use in the classroom and library. It lists articles, lesson plans and links to multicultural resources.

 

Multicultural stories for story lovers: SOS: SEARCHING OUT STORIES

http://www.story-lovers.com/listsmulticulturalstories.html

Stories from Fairy Tales, Folklore, Fables, Nursery Rhymes,
Myths, Legends, Bible and Classics

 

Storytelling: The Art of Knowledge.

http://www.civilization.ca/indexe.asp

From the Canadian Museum of Civilization, stories of the Algonquin, Abenaki,  Métis Cree, Mi'kmaq, Inuvialuit and Nisga'a peoples, with background. "Stories lose meaning when translated from their original language. Meaning is also lost to people of other cultures. There are images, suggestions and associations in these stories that mean nothing to the outsider but are apparent in the minds of the Cree...."

 

Storytelling in African Oral Traditions - Griot: http://africancultures.about.com/library/extras/griots/blstorytelling.htm?iam=dpile&terms=%2Bgriot.

Dr. Austin Ogunsuyi  introduces the praise singer tradition.

 

Dealing with the imperfect

http://www.georgetown.edu/bassr/heath/syllabuild/iguide/harris.html

Joel Chandler Harris (1848-1908). Heath Anthology of American Literature. Contributing Editor, George Friedman. Suggests classroom issues and strategies for the Uncle Remus stories. Links to sites for African American authors.

 

Multicultural Stories

http://www.gingerwood.com/Jobekah/multiculturestories.html

 

 

Karen Chace’s web site:

http://www.storybug.net/programs.htm

            A storybug by Karen Chace.

 

 

The Multicultural Storytelling Project

http://library.tamu.edu/portal/site/Library/menuitem.24d2a0bea140362ebd078f3019008a0c?vgnextoid=d7fec35b248c0010VgnVCM1000007800a8c0RCRD

It is an undertaking of the Texas A&M University Libraries that seeks to promote the history, influences and values of the many cultures that have played a role in shaping American society through the planning and development of educational outreach activities