Hands-on, interactive workshops for students,
teachers, adults, schools or groups
one hour workshops available and/or residencies
• all workshops can be customized to your needs
• The Art of Storytelling When the storyteller speaks, the sun and
the clouds stop to listen
Available as a 2 hour workshop.
Learn how to use your voice as a communication tool, from
the heart to the head, as the power and diversity of storytelling
is explored. Cultures throughout the world have always told
stories as a way of passing down their beliefs, traditions
and history. Whether you are an educator, parent, grandparent
or storylover, The Art of Story can help you give voice to
the stories you are waiting to tell. You will learn:
Where to find stories - bibliography and internet bibliography
provided.
Vocal techniques to bring your story alive.
Tips for defining the characters in your story.
How to use gestures and movements to help tell story.
How to cope with stagefright.
You will leave with a story to tell!
For me, being in Linda’s workshops, The Art of Storytelling,
was like stepping into a magic garden, where every flower
bore the same name...Love of Story. Linda’s workshop gave
me the basic skills to tell my first story. A chance to explore
my inner-self, and take some risks. A chance to learn...to
change...to stretch.
-Judy Edelman - workshop participant
• Storytelling Across the Curriculum A fact of meaning may be the smallest unit of information, but a story
is the smallest unit of meaning. - Kieran
Egan
Why Include Storytelling in School?
Listening skills are enhanced, increased concentration
and ability to recall information
strengthened.
Oral speaking sklls are developed, self-expression, self-esteem
and self-confidence increased.
Reading stories improves language skills such as vocabulary,
comprehension, sequencing and story recall, and children
become familiar with the characteristic rhythms and structures
of language and story.
Writing is enhanced as students hear and tell their own
stories. Standard story components such as beginning and
ending, plot, characters, setting, and theme come more naturally
to children who listen to story.
Storytelling promotes inventive thinking and problem-solving
skills, expands the imagination and broadens student’s knowledge
base.
Hearing stories from around the world creates an awareness
and appreciation of other ethnic cultures.
As a three hour workshop you will learn how you can utilize
story as a creative teaching tool that enriches and supports
curriculum standards. Sample lesson plans, exercises and stories
are provided.
As a four week residency, Linda will come into classrooms
and students will directly experience the dramatic arts by
actively participating in exercises that enhance their critical,
creative, listening skills, and their appreciation and comprehension
of literature. Visual aids, rhythm instruments and props help
the children exercise their imaginative powers as three Aesop’s
fables are brought to life. These fables will be connected
to many core subjects, such as literature, history, science,
and creative writing. This is an in-service f or teachers
as well.
Up to five 40 minutes classes can be scheduled.
* A two hour pre -workshop for teachers is recommended with
the four week residency program.
I think you taught not only me but my whole class to use their
creativity. I think since you have been here, even our teachers
have been using more and more creativity. Jessie - 4th
grade student
As principal of Fern Drive School in Fullerton I have
had the privilege of having
Linda King Pruitt share her storytelling skills with my students
and staff. She is fabulous!
- Harriet Hermann, Principal
•How to Dramatize Stories for Creative
Storytelling Teachers not only teach, but they also
learn.
Creative storytelling stimulates development of:
language development, self-expression, self-confidence, problem-solving
skills, creativity, empathy, social awareness, values and
attitudes.
Creative storytelling can be used in a variety of classroom
educational acitivities, to help bring curricular ties alive,
whether they be math, science, social studies, music, fine
arts or laguage arts.
This two hour interactive workshop will show you how easy
and fun it is to bring stories alive for performance or classroom
participation. Sound instruments, simple props and imaginations
help well known stories take on a new life.
• Creative Storytelling and Writing with
Pourquoi Stories: Puppets as Prompts
“Why is sky so far away?” “Why is the ocean
blue?” “Why does the turtle have cracks on his
back?” Pourquoi is the French word for “why”,
and the Pourquoi Tales are those stories that explain how
things came to be. In this interactive workshop you will learn
how to quickly create pourquoi
stories using handpuppets as a prompt. A fun way to promote
writing and performance skills for the classroom or storyteller.
Sample lesson plan that supports curriculum standards provided.
Great workshop! My friends and I had lots of exciting
conversation about our morning on the drive home. It was wonderful
to be in a room with so much creative energy. My daughters,
10 and 5, helped me write stories all afternoon. - Kathy
• Building a Family Tradition Through
Storytelling Talk to your children while they are eating;
what you say will stay even after you are gone -
Nez Perce Listenwith your family to
the daily stories of your lives. In our busy times
the evening gathering around the fireplace has been replaced
by television and computers. There has never been a time when
we have been in more need of story. Learnways you can
bring your family together. Storytelling is the oldest form
of education. Cultures throughout the world have always told
stories as a way of passing down their beliefs, traditions
and history. Rememberthose stories that help a family
define their identy. Story is one of the best ways to make
memories of the past come alive.
Thank you for your fabulous storytelling performance at our
Saddleback Valley YMCA’s Family Fun Friday. It was a delight
to see children and adults participating .
- La Val Brewer, Associate Executive Director
