The Art of Storytelling for teachers in early childhood education ( click on title to view sample workshop, with learning outcomes and content)
These day long (or shorter!) workshops are a wonderful opportunity to extend your ideas about the how, why, where, when and what of storytelling with young children. The long term goal of storytelling is, for me, to support the oral and emotional literacy of young children. I see the continuation of this traditional oral technique as having the magical potential to fulfil all four principles of Te Whaariki ,as well as all five strands.
My particular interest is in exploring and sharing ways in which storytelling, the arts, creativity, loose parts and play can be woven into richly textured learning experiences for children. Inspired by Reggio Emilia, Steiner, Vivian Gussen Paley and the theory of ‘loose parts’, I bring enthusiasm, playfulness and a range of practical teaching strategies to my workshops.
Story telling mats are just one of the ways I present a story. The possibilities are infinite. For example here is the collaborative story that used photos and carpentry:
1. The story of Dog-Dragon and Tracy the Triceratops
2.A shark and a crocodile were swimming in the sea
Check out my Facebook page for daily posts also to do with storytelling.
Story telling mats are made of felted wool and depict the landscape in which a story takes place. The story mat ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt’ has all seven landscapes through which children can manipulate the characters, while at the same time they can recreate the story orally, thereby strengthening their memory, their sense of pattern and sequencing as well as oral literacy. This mat comes complete with a cave which can be embellished with stones and, of course, a bear.
MUCH more information about story telling can be found on my Facebook page.
