These programs are described in more detail below. Each class lasts about 45 minutes (half hour for kindergarten) and consists of two told stories, one story acted with simple props and costumes, and relevant discussion.
Character-building Stories (Second-Fourth Grade)
Write Your Own Plays (Second-Sixth Grade)
Tales to Tell the World (Second-Fourth Grade)
Kindergarten Capers (Kindergarten)
American History (Fifth Grade)
CHARACTER-BUILDING STORIES
The great moral teachers have always used stories. Stories quickly get to the center of human dilemmas -- right to the place where character qualities can be seen and used, appreciated and remembered. After we act out the story and discuss it, we end with some rousing discussions of the students' own lives. Sometimes we improvize the students' experiences. I invite guidance counselors to join me in teaching this class. There is a minimum of 8 classroom visits so that the students and I can develop a rapport. Stories focus on courage, deep thinking, respect, self-respect, responsibility, creative solutions, honesty, kindness, perseverance, fairness and peacemaking.
WRITE YOUR OWN PLAYS
Children love to put on plays! I love to see how proud they are when they have created a story and can see it come to life as their classmates act it out. Some teachers ask each child to write a play, and others use the playwrighting as a group activity. The plays can be written on a current curriculum theme, or as a finale for my character-building series. I will guide the writing process and provide direction along with simple props and costumes.
TALES TO TELL THE WORLD
One class created this map-wall, marking each of the countries we visited through story. Each story/acting session focuses on a particular country and includes two stories, plus pictures, music, souvenirs and often, food! My goal is to help the students experience the common humanity shared by all peoples of the world within very distinct cultures. Teachers may request certain countries.
KINDERGARTEN CAPERS
Kindergarten children need lots of exposure to language and story structure. They also need opportunities to build their creativity and self-confidence. In my story sessions, I try to cover those bases. I bring folktales and modern stories to build literacy skills, and then we act out some part of the story to build verbal skills, imagination, cooperation, and public speaking skills. It's great fun!
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