Heads or Tales

Spanish Version of The Great Big Enormous Turnip

I’ve been invited up to the New Philadelphia Library by a great bunch of librarians who are have El Dia De Los Ninos or a Children’s Day. They say that the population has an increasing Hispanic element, and they wish to celebrate it. In the past few years, they have employed a native speaker, but, due to family concerns, she is unable to come this year. I am the replacement. I’m not a fluent speaker at all, but I’m looking forward to filling those Spanish shoes. One idea for this audience, which I am told contains mostly Anglo children and families, will be to do a Spanish version of the Turnip Story. El Nado is the term for turnip in Spanish. I’ve told this story many times in English with the children taking the parts of the animals who help. This time I’ll have all the characters come up to act out their parts using Spanish names, and we’ll get to repeat their titles: el gato, (the cat) el perro, (the dog) la nieta (the granddaughter), el nieto (the grandson) and finally adding el raton (the mouse) as that small animal helps us get el grande nado (the big turnip) out of the ground. I’ll do a little more research with my Peace Corps daughter, Jess, and we should all have a grand time that day. I’ve also been asked to be in charge of the Pinata breaking, so I’ve been reviewing color words, and the words for higher, lower, left and right. Here’s a great poem I found:
“ No quiero nickel ni quiero plato
Lo que yo quiero is romper la piñata”

(I don’t want nickel or silver.
I only want to break the piñata.)

Middle School Math Recommendation

I remember as a kid struggling with math. For some reason, I began improve when I studied to take the GRE. I actually enjoyed putting all those facts back in my head.

Recently, I ordered Mathematwist Number Tales From Around The World by T. V. Padma, and today, I spent the afternoon reading and working thorough the stories and the theories behind them. Each of the fourteen stories is a folktale from such places as Vietnam, India and Armenia. Some of the stories I was familiar with, but, even being familiar with the story, the author’s treatment and explanations afterwards were a pleasure. For example, after the story “Dividing A Goose”, a Jewish tale in which a peasant outwits a rich man and is able to give his own family a good dinner, Ms Padma talks a little about the ancient symbols for addition and subtraction. Did you know that Egyptian hieroglyphics show subtraction by depicting a man walking away? She also talks about the oldest Indian mathematical text. It was found in a field written on treebark.

Mathmatwist would be a great asset for a middle school math class (6th and 7th grades). The stories are engaging and the explanations are clear and never stuffy. There’s even a play to read out loud.

The book is only $8.50 and, even though it was published in India,can be easily ordered from her website www.cliofindia.com/padma/children.htm. The mailing address is in the U. S.

Telling Stories in the Virgin Islands

For the last two weeks, Nelson and I have been visiting a friend on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. We have known Martha Holder from the time we lived in Denver, where she and Gene, her husband, ran a school. They decided to sell the school and everything else they owned to make their move to the Caribbean. Gene died last year, but Martha has made her home there for thirty years.

Going anywhere on that small island with Martha is like going to a home coming because she knows everyone. After they arrived in 1978, they started a school there as well. The Rockefeller resort, Little Dix, had a small empty building on their property and let Gene and Martha fill it with kids. The kids who came were often learning disabled children who were floundering in the traditional British school on the island. The Holders ran a regular school for about 18 full time kids during the day, and they ran a tutoring program for the kids from the British school, who were asking for help.

Martha has since retired, but the Valley Day School, even though it’s in a different building, is thriving. Take a look at the picture of the kids hanging over the railing. That’s the Valley Day group. The boy on the far right is so smart, but he can’t read at all. His teacher, the lady on the left, has him tell the compositions she assigns. She asks him to write the first paragraph, which he does with help from home. She asks him to read it when they present their stories, which he does with a lot of help. She then frees him to tell the rest of the story, and he is good. The day I visited they were writing stories about leprechauns. It was so much fun to hear how one of the wee folk would do on Virgin Gorda. That boy did such a grand job. In return, I told them, not a leprechaun story, but a tall tale about Shorty and the little man who took up residence in the dumpster in the alley behind our house. I felt so happy to be visiting those children and their teacher.

I was lucky enough also to tell stories during our visit at Robinson O’Neal Elementary School. The road to that school involved driving over Virgin Gorda mountain, which means you go straight up for awhile and then straight down. The view was gorgeous, of deep blue water and faraway islands, but I closed my eyes through some of it. Take a look at the picture. That’s the lower grades. We crammed two classes into one room and right next door a big machine was busy digging. The teachers found a quieter room for the older kids, and it was much easier to listen

The Mitten

The theme for the state summer reading program is “Going Buggy for Reading." I’m excited to be participating in two showcases this coming month, and I’m thinking of insect stories. I’m rolling over the idea of using the Ukrainian folktale called The Mitten. I’d like to try a Honduran setting. Our daughter, Jessica, spent two years with the Peace Corps in Honduras and we were fortunate enough to visit her at her site for a week. She lived next door to a grandma, her daughter, Olga, Olga’s daughter, and Alex. Alex was four. His mom, Olga’s sister, worked in the city. Alex lived with his grandma and aunt in the country. The town had a river on one side and further down the road was a cave and an area of hot springs. I had to be practically dragged through the cave because the steam from the springs filled the space, and I couldn’t see anything. It was Olga who took my hand and led me through.

In the story I’m planning, the abuela , or grandma, makes a pocket, the kind that you can tie around your waist, for Alex. She puts a cut up apple inside, a fresh tortilla with honey and lettuce in as well. Alex walks to the hot springs, unties his pocket and eats some of his grandma’s snack, but falls asleep before all is gone. A big green grasshopper comes to eat the apple, a red and black millipede comes for a little more lettuce, a big blue luna moth comes for the honey, a tarantula comes and suck up the juices , and, when the pocket can’t hold another animal. When it is ready to burst, an ant comes for a little tortilla crumb….maybe a bunch of ants come….ants rarely travel alone…. and the pocket bursts. Alex wakes up and is puzzled by the change in his pocket. He takes it home to his grandma, who is puzzled as well. She sews it back up…with double stitches this time.

This story might be a great chance for repetition and playing with new Spanish words. Each animal says, as it shows up at the pocket “Moverse, doblarse. Permiteme a entrar” (Move over, double over. Let me in) Even Alex, who is nervous about showing the pocket to his grandma, asks his abuela if he can come in… “Abuela..Permiteme a entrar?”

I once heard Heather Forest tell a version of this story. I don’t remember it well except that she used music and really emphasized the idea of shelter for all. I would like to work towards a similar feeling about food with this story, but that tarantula. I don’t know about him. He’d like to eat everybody in that pocket.

More Cow Tail Switch

Yesterday, I started a weeklong storytelling visit with twelve St. Joseph Montessori primary students. I’m volunteering and the teachers were kind enough to set aside the time for me. Yesterday, for our first session, I knew that I wanted them to hear and begin to learn the Liberian story of the Cow Tail Switch, they are spending the year studying Africa, so we are learning an African tale. I also wanted them to explore the relationship through drama that Ogalusa, the dad, had with his children.

Even though I had been thinking about the activities we would do and what I wanted to happen for quite awhile, I didn’t sit down and write out the goals and objectives for my plans. I’m not sure if I didn’t do it because I was volunteering, but I didn’t do it. Things went well enough…we did do all the things I planned, but something was missing. We as a group weren’t creating the feeling of purpose and meaning that will lead to creative decisions. This morning, thanks to a snow day, I reread the Fine Arts Standards and the English Language Standards. I’m always impressed by all the little pieces that make up a skill. I especially value reading all the parts that are required to encourage participation and appreciation of the arts.

I sat down and wrote out my goals, objectives and procedures for the week, remembering that the tools of storytelling must be named and valued, but, I must say, something still is missing. I think it might be that the story and storytelling has no larger framework within the class culture. I feel like I am just showing up, and, for me, I need more of a connection to get my engines running. That’s where good teacher and artist planning come in. As a volunteer, I didn’t press to meet with the teachers, and, now, I regret it. I hope that in the little time that I am there that I can impart the role of an African storyteller to the children, so they feel the joy and importance of their story contribution.

The Cow Tail Switch

Next week I’ll be working with a group of first through third grade primary students on learning to tell this old Liberian story of family and memory, in which a father is killed while hunting and, after being remembered by his youngest son, is brought back to life by his children. The more I think about it, I think the entire class could jump in and explore the story for an unforgettable morning or full day. It may be too late to schedule such an event this year with the class I’ll meet next week, but here are a few ideas that will make for great involvement.

Divide the class into working groups of no more than six and have a teacher or adult volunteer to help with each group. I think small working groups with a supervising adult is essential to keep things on track.

My resource for this story is A Treasury of African Folklore by Harold Courlander. I think, with a whole, class participating, it would be fun to tell the story as you explore the pieces. The ending is a surprise. Also if you want to know what a cow tail switch looks like, get a copy of The Story of Kwanzaa by Donna Washington.

Ogaloussa Is The Father
Brainstorm what kinds of things Ogaloussa, the father, might do with his children. In core groups, have one child create a sculpture using his partner showing what Ogaloussa did with or for him or her. Combine two groups to share sculptures and switch. Before doing this activity, you will need to talk about what a sculptor does and to spend time getting accustomed to the concept that one child is in charge.

Traveling Through The Jungle
In core groups, write phrases or single word descriptions of the jungle using the senses. Children pick two from each group and create a class poem. Let each group place their words. I use long strips of paper that can be moved until it sounds just right. Another option would be to create poems in the core groups where each child makes a list of descriptions and contributes their best.

Who Receives the Prize?
In core groups, Ogaloussa’s children brainstorm the reasons that Ogaloussa should give them his cow tail switch. As family groups, they must come forward and tell or show the chief why their family deserves the gift of this prized object.

Storytelling At Church

A few weeks ago, I was invited to talk about storytelling to a great group of Sunday school teachers at Vineyard Church up in Sunbury, Ohio. We did talk about storytelling and the tools every storyteller needs, and we even learned a story to tell, but I forgot to tell them about a great resource. It’s called the Helping Books Program. This program was started when I began telling stories full time. It’s run through the State Library of Ohio and "is a collection of children’s literature titles, both fiction and nonfiction, covering topics that focus on ethical and personal issues relevant to young people." What a great resource to use when building a Sunday lesson or school lesson or discussion at home.

You can access their webpage by going to www.helpingbooks.org. Click on the Literature Database link and you will be taken to a page that allows you to search for a particular book, author or review. Click on the Subject Search and you can see all the books plus their reviews for such topics as: empathy, honesty, respect, loyalty, courage, bullies….to just name a few. I bet there are 40 topics containing a variety of books to use as supplements to your storytelling or to tell orally.

Take a look on their home page and you can even volunteer to be a reviewer. I have done some of the reviews for this database. The books came to my house, and I got to keep them as payment for the reviews I submitted. Even if you aren’t thinking about being a reviewer, click on guidelines. The guidelines provided for reviewing are a great reminder of what makes a good book, and may help you in your search for good books to share or tell.

Ballad Singing

Last night was the first Speak Easy for 2008. Speak Easy is an open mic night for storytelling held down in the basement, called the Rathskeller, of the Maennerchor, an old German restaurant here in Columbus. The small stage is located right near the bar, so people can order dinner and have drinks while they’re listening. Speak Easy operates on the third Wednesday from January through May. We charge $5. After we pay the featured teller, Columbus Story Adventures gets to keep the rest to spend on books for the kids we visit, and last night we had a bumper crowd. Granny Sue, from West Virginia, was our visiting teller. She came last year and sung one ballad after she told stories from the mountains. This year she sung three old ballads accappela, and, in between, she told stories. I must admit that as much as I liked the sorties, once she started on those haunting old songs, full of murder and lost love, I just smiled and couldn’t help it. They were so beautiful and haunting. One was the story of the murder of Pretty Polly. The second I do forget, and the last came from Ireland. It was the story of two fourteen year olds who fell in love. The mother of the young man killed him rather than have him marry his beloved. I think what I liked best was that she sang them without another musical instrument. I felt pushed back in time to some cabin in the mountains, with those lonely songs coming out into the darkness.

Ensemble Storytelling

Next month I’m going to be in a primary classroom working for five days with a group of students on storytelling. Originally, I said I would bring by a stack of stories from which the children could choose, and we would work towards presenting the stories at the end of my stay. The teacher, however, told me that the class is spending a year on Africa and could I make all the stories African. Collecting and rewriting twenty African tales for the children to learn was appealing on one hand, because I would then have a varied collection for future use, but I got to thinking of a conversation I had recently with Kevin Cordi, the co author of Raising Voices: Creating Youth Storytelling Groups and Troops. Kevin lives in Columbus now; he just finished his PhD. in Process Drama as OSU. He said he likes to work with a whole group on one story. When he said that, I had a light bulb moment. So….. using the story called the Cow Tail Switch, the primary students and I will all be working together.

Right now, I have the story mapped across my office floor using objects. My plan, and Kevin’s suggestion, was that after the children hear the story, I can introduce the objects and they can tell just their part of the story. We can switch as children try telling different parts of the story until a favorite part is chosen. I’m excited about telling one big story because we can do some drama activities that will allow us to understand the story better. Those kinds of activities can become fragmented if everyone is working on a different story. Also, I think each child can tell their part as a member of the larger group, which, I am hoping, will encourage even the shyest members to let themselves go to the experience.

Storytelling, Reading and TV

I just finished an article in the New Yorker Magazine (Dec. 24 and 31, 2007) by Caleb Crain called Twilight of the Books. The article is an examination of the declining population of book readers and ever growing population of TV viewers. Book readers, says the author, quoting Maryanne Wolf’s book about the neurobiology of the brain called Proust And The Squid, over time develop specialized paths in their brains as they become fluent readers. Reading, at first, is an unnatural activity for the brain, but the brain does adapt and creates streamlined routes leaving space for the reader to think and react to what is being read. TV viewers, who greatly outnumber readers, according to the article, don’t get the added brain benefits.
Here a few of the things the author lists about TV viewing and reading

• Readers are better able to think abstractly. TV viewing encourages, as it did in early oral cultures, people to think in images.

• TV is a solitary medium, which is controlled by the viewer. The viewer is likely to watch only that which supports his point of view. That means that questioning is diminished.

• Because the images are fleeting on TV and because it’s hard to revisit what was seen, it is hard to do comparisons of varying opinions. Viewers are likely to fall back on what they intuit or experience as a basis for opinions.

• Proficient readers are more likely to engage in the world around them than their TV counterparts. “Perhaps reading is a prototype of independence,” says Mr. Crain. He goes on to say, “such a habit might be quite dangerous for a democracy to lose.”

I wonder about oral storytelling in relation to the two mediums. Storytelling is not reading. It feeds on the natural brain paths already laid down from the beginning of human communication. Storytelling, as in TV viewing, does make good use of images. When I learn a story, I often make a map of the images in a story so that I can remember what I what to say. I can only remember the story through its images. Storytelling, like TV, deals in stereotypes – that’s what all folk and fairytales are about. Storytelling, however, is told from living person to living person. It is not a solitary activity. No channels can be switched and listeners are exposed to many experiences. Because storytelling is done in a group, it is possible to go back and share reactions and understandings. Storytelling relies, like reading and unlike TV, where everything is exposed, on imagination. With imagination, comes the same active participation a reader must use to understand and be involved with the text. Possibly, imagination is reading and storytelling’s closest and most important connection.

The audience of storytellers is small compared to that of readers and miniscule compared to that of TV viewers. I have performed in a good number of venues where people have expected me to read from a book, but what, I wonder, would happen if there was a steady diet of storytelling and reading. What if every night people spent the three to four hours they use to watch TV, listening and telling stories and reading books? What would our brains look like? What would our towns and cities look like? How would our work day and self image change? How would our country change?