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Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Arts in Schools, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 6 of 6
1. Kevin Strauss’s Environmental Storytelling Tips


Press Play to hear Kevin Strauss speak about applying storytelling to environmental science on the Art of Storytelling with Children.

Press Play to hear Kevin Strauss speak about applying storytelling to environmental science on the Art of Storytelling with Children.

Kevin Strauss Storyteller

Written by Kevin Strauss…
Introduction:
“Environmental Storytelling” has become a popular subset of the storytelling world, but until recently,
there was little agreement about what it was or how to do it. In this Blog follow-up to my interview on the Storytelling With Children Podcast, I will provide a definition for “environmental storytelling,” describe what makes a good nature or environmental story, and give some resources for environmental stories.

What Is Environmental Storytelling?
Environmental storytelling is the act of using live narrative performance to teach an audience about the natural world, how it works, and how to care for it.

What is an Environmental Story?
An environmental story is a story that either teaches listeners about some aspect of the natural world (why bears have short tails or why rocks don’t move) or teaches an ecological lesson like (Everything is Connected, Everything Goes Somewhere, There’s No Such Thing As A “Free Lunch”). Many “Why” stories fall into this category, including: Why Bear Has A Short Tail (Norway), Why Robin’s Have Red Breasts (Ireland), and Why The Sky Is Up So High (Nigeria). Stories that talk about greed, selfishness, or wastefulness also often fall into this category.

What Makes For A Good Environmental Story?

    A good environmental story for you to tell is a story that:
  • —You love to tell, since you can’t tell a story well if you don’t love it
  • —Explains something about nature in a surprising, but appropriate way
  • —Is a good lead-in to talking about the science of animals and plants
  • Where Can I Find Good Environmental Stories?

    Books:
    Hamilton, Martha and Mitch Weiss. How & Why Stories. Little Rock: August House (1999).

    A good source of “pourquoi” or “why” stories from around the world.

    Miller, Candace ed. Tales from the Bird Kingdom. Lima: Pourquoi Press (1996).
    Miller, Candace ed. Tales from the Creature Kingdom. Lima: Pourquoi Press (1997).

    These are two of the best sources for a large number of animal stories from around the world. Each book contains 160 summaries of stories. The best way to order these books is to contact the press directly via email at “[email protected]” or at Pourquoi Press, 439 S. Cole St., Lima, OH 45805-3366.

    Strauss, Kevin. Tales with Tails: Storytelling The Wonders of the Natural World. Westport: Libraries Unlimited (2006).
    This book has been called the “textbooks for environmental storytelling.” It contains 64 non-Native American environmental stories, sciences information about the animals and plants in the stories and information about how to tell a story or make a story “more environmental.”

    >

    Websites:
    www.environmentalstorytelling.com contains 100 environmental story summaries with references; stories are organized by animal type and environmental education concept

    www.naturestory.com is my website, containing articles on storytelling and text versions of several nature stories

    www.franstallings.com is the storytelling website of “Earth Teller” Fran Stallings. Fran tells environmental “fact tales” and true nature stories guaranteed to enlighten and inspire

    About the Author:
    Award-winning Author and Storyteller Kevin Strauss
    has been using stories to entertain, educate and inspire children and adults for more than a decade. Based in Rochester, Minnesota, Kevin travels across the Midwest to perform environmental stories at schools, libraries, and community events.

    Kevin is the author of three books, including Tales with Tails: storytelling the wonders of the natural world (Libraries Unlimited, 2006), winner of the prestigious national 2008 Storytelling World Award. His other books include the full-color children’s books Loon and Moon, and The Song of the Wolf. He is also the storytelling star on two CDs and two upcoming DVDs.

    You can reach him through his website at www.naturestory.com.

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    2. Join a Future Show Live as a Listener!

    Would you like to be a part of a storytelling conference call that supports you in your use of storytelling with children? If so, then enter your name and email address and you will receive personal invitations to participate in The Art of Storytelling with Children Conference call - most Tuesdays at 8pm Eastern.

    Name:
    Email:
    Share your thoughts on the call, connect with old time storytellers and ask questions to experts in the field.

    I will not share or give away your email address.

    And don’t forget to subscribe by iTunes or your browser to The Art of Storytelling with Children Podcast so you can get weekly inspirations from Bother Wolf direct to your desktop. Read the info on the right to find out how. It’s free and it’s super simple.

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    3. Listener Survey April 1st till April 14th

    Your Feedback is important to the future of the show.
    Participate now and directly influence the Art of Storytelling with Children.

    Currently survey participants responses are coming from…
    (One participant may check more then one choice.)
    Professional Storyteller 43%
    Educator 43%
    Parent 41%
    Storytelling Organizer 34%
    Story Admirer 34%
    Audience Member 31%
    Writer of Children’s Stories 23%
    Semi-professional Storyteller 20%
    Librarian 18%
    Amateur Storyteller 16%
    Storytelling Coach 16%
    Faith Based Storyteller 15%

    This survey is still open - take your turn to influence the future of the Art of Storytelling with Children…
    Fill out hte Listener Survey.
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    0 Comments on Listener Survey April 1st till April 14th as of 4/10/2009 9:26:00 PM
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    4. Listener Survey April 1st till April 14th

    Your Feedback is important to the future of the show.
    Participate now and directly influence the Art of Storytelling with Children.

    Currently survey participants responses are coming from…
    (One participant may check more then one choice.)
    Professional Storyteller 43%
    Educator 43%
    Parent 41%
    Storytelling Organizer 34%
    Story Admirer 34%
    Audience Member 31%
    Writer of Children’s Stories 23%
    Semi-professional Storyteller 20%
    Librarian 18%
    Amateur Storyteller 16%
    Storytelling Coach 16%
    Faith Based Storyteller 15%

    This survey is still open - take your turn to influence the future of the Art of Storytelling with Children…
    Fill out hte Listener Survey.
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    1 Comments on Listener Survey April 1st till April 14th, last added: 4/10/2009
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    5. Listener Survey April 1st till April 14th

    Your Feedback is important to the future of the show.
    Participate now and directly influence the Art of Storytelling with Children.

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    10 Comments on Listener Survey April 1st till April 14th, last added: 4/4/2009
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    6. Storytelling and the Development of Ethical Behavior with Elizabeth Ellis

    Elizabeth Ellis will be interviewed by Eric Wolf on the relationship between Storytelling and the Development of Ethical Behavior on the Art of Storytelling with Children on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 8pm EST.

    Elizabeth Ellis storyteller kissing a frog while storytelling for children.

    Elizabeth Ellis Writes…
    If I had a nickel for every time someone
    (attorney, state trooper, loan officer, IRS agent) has made fun of me because I told ‘em I am a storyteller, I could take us all out to dinner. At a nice place. With tablecloths. Because often the public perception of storytelling is that it is fluff and foolishness.
    Well, we storytellers know better, and we have survived an entire movement of Back to the Basics and Almighty State Testing. What the left brain-ers don’t realize is there is another entire level of education far more basic to being human than the 3 R’s will ever be.
    The most basic things about being human come from the right side of the brain, not the left. Chief among them is the ability to make ethical decisions. I am not talking about following the rules. Remember that the Nazis were great rule followers. Ethical decision-making requires the ability to imagine the effect of my behavior on your life. Without an active imagination, a child is an ethical cripple. The new study about the state of ethics of America’s youth just out from the Josephson Institute (http://josephsoninstitute.org/ for the full details of the survey) has many people in our culture asking themselves, “How did we get on this handcar? And where are we headed?
    Hearing stories told leads to the development of empathy. And empathy is essential for all ethical decision making. I have been talking about this for more than thirty years. Recently other folks have begun to say the same thing. I am pleased by that, ’cause I’m not gonna live forever. Check out P.J. Manney’s article “Empathy in the Time of Technology” in the September, 2008 Journal of Evolution and Technology. (http://jetpress.org/v19/manney.htm if you want to read the entire article, especially the interesting part about the development of ‘mirror neurons’.)
    Please join me for a discussion of how storytelling contributes to the development of ethical behavior on this Pod-cast, but also in your guilds and story circles and list serves. In a time of national financial hardship, it behooves us as tellers to be able to challenge people’s thinking about the importance of story and it’s role in right brain development. Storytelling is neither fluff nor foolishness. It is how we change the world “one listener at a time.”
    Oh, and by the way, if you happen to be a attorney, state trooper, loan officer or IRS agent or some other form of left brain-er, it is the key to learning to “think outside the box”, which is imperative if America is to remain an economic power… (Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind: How Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. Riverhead Books, 2006.)…but, that’s another story.

    A Short Biography
    Designated an American Masterpiece Touring Artist by the NEA, Elizabeth Ellis grew up in the Appalachian Mountains. A children’s librarian at Dallas Public Library before becoming a professional storyteller, the “Divine Miss E” is a versatile, riveting teller of Appalachian and Texas tales and stories of heroic American women, though her personal stories are arguably her best. Invariably hilarious and poignant, she is a repeated favorite at the National Storytelling Festival. Selected a Listener’s Choice at the 30th Anniversary of the National Storytelling Festival, she is a recipient of the John Henry Faulk Award from the Texas Storytelling Association and the Circle of Excellence Award from the National Storytelling Network. She has mesmerized nearly a million children in her thirty-year career as a professional storyteller.
    Elizabeth is also well known for her workshops, which offer training for beginning and seasoned storytellers. Inviting the Wolf In: Thinking About Difficult Stories, which she co-authored with Loren Niemi has been described by NAPRA ReView as a “great leap forward in the literature of how to put stories together with art and truth”. It received a Storytelling World Award.
    Jay O’Callahan says, “Elizabeth Ellis’ voice sounds like chocolate tastes.” Her stories are just as addictive as chocolate. A mother and grandmother, she makes her home in Dallas. www.elizabethellis.com

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