Sherry Norfolk ~ Study Guide: "I Read It in a Book"

Program Description

“Where did that great story come from?” is a constant question from young listeners -- and the best answer is,
“I Read It in a Book!”
These stories are taken directly from books and brought vibrantly to life with voices, sound effects, action and audience participation, inviting listeners to enter joyfully into the world of literature. The important lesson -- that books and reading are FUN -- is experienced with each story. Told with the whole learner in mind, stories will engage the linguistic, logical, musical, spatial, interpersonal, interpersonal and kinesthetic learners alike, at the same time strengthening essential foundation skills such as listening, visualization, vocabulary acquisition and comprehension. Storytelling is a Power Tool for Literacy!

Artist Bio

Sherry Norfolk is an acclaimed performer, appearing in Hong Kong, Anchorage, the Bahamas, Honolulu, Grand Canyon National Park and hundreds of points in between. With a B.A. in Elementary Education and a Masters in Library Science, she performs and teaches storytelling residencies through Young Audiences Woodruff Arts Center, Springboard to Learning / Young Audiences of St. Louis, and several state arts councils. Sherry is co-author with her husband Bobby of The Moral of the Story: Folktales for Character Development, 2nd Ed. (August House, 2006), and co-editor of The Storytelling Classroom: Applications Across the Curriculum (Libraries Unlimited, 2006).

Background on Art Form

Storytelling is the art of using words, gestures, facial expression, and body language to bring a story to life in the listener’s imagination. From the beginning of time, storytelling has been the way cultures have preserved and celebrated their memories, passed on their values and belief systems, entertained, instructed and reported. Today, storytelling is recognized as one of the most effective brain-compatible teaching strategies, accessible for children with diverse abilities and disabilities, and applicable to all “ways of knowing.” Storytelling continues to invite us all to “Enter the Theater of the Mind-the Imagination!”

Pre/Post Activities

Prepare (Pre- or pre-performance)

Teachers, please read this to your students:

In our assembly today, we’re going to participate in a storytelling performance by Sherry Norfolk. PARTICIPATE means that you’ll be part of the program – as good listeners, using your imagination to “see” the characters, setting, and action. Sometimes, you may be invited to use your brains, voice and hands to help bring a story to life. Sherry says that storytelling is the most fun when the storyteller and the listeners work together to create the story – so let’s make this a fun experience for everyone!

Warm Up Questions to set the stage for engaging students:

• What are the parts of a story? (characters, setting, problem solution, beginning, middle, end)
• What do you use when you listen to a story? (ears, eyes, brain, imagination)
• As you listen, use your imagination to make a “video” of the story in your imagination. Will all of you have the same video? Why or why not?
• As you listen to the stories today, listen and watch to see if you can find patterns in the words or the actions. Why are patterns important in the stories?
• Try to predict what’s going to happen next in the stories, but don’t yell it out! Just listen and think and see if you’re right!

Reflect (Post- or post-performance)

Quick Writes: take 5 minutes to write about the story that was most memorable to you. What made it memorable?

Connections: choose one story you heard today and discuss with a partner how it relates to your own experiences, how it relates to something you have read or watched on TV or the movies, and how it relates to the school, community or the world.

Visit the Library! Help children find the stories they heard or new ones to enjoy – and then give them time to read, read, read! Reading is a skill, and skills require practice!

Additional Activities

Review the stories, and choose one to dramatize with the group. Start by brainstorming and listing on the board all of the important scenes. Put them in order, then divide the group into enough smaller groups so that each scene is represented and assigned to a group. Give each group a large piece of paper and crayons; ask them to draw their scene for a storyboard.

Assemble the storyboard in a prominent place. Let groups discuss and rehearse how they are going to portray their scene (each with a speaking part; one narrating and others acting the parts; one narrator, some kids -- the shyer ones -- as scenery or sound effects, others acting, etc.) Then put on the play. Performances will allow you to assess which children are internalizing the sequence (and have the storyboard for easy reference just in case), interpreting the text, creating dialogue by inferring information about characters’ motivations and personality. Ask them to evaluate what they experienced, solve any problems they identified, and do it again! The higher order thinking skills will be engaged and working overtime!

Vocabulary

Characters --The people or animals who are in the story.
Folktale -- A story from the oral tradition, with no known author.
Plot -- What happens in a story.
Setting --Where the story takes place.
Storyboard -- a set of pictures that tells the story, like the Sunday comic strips. There is one picture for each major thing that happens.
Visualize – “see” the characters, setting and action in the mind’s eye.

Resources for Teachers & Students
Websites

www.storycove.com
Kids can watch, read, play and interact with stories from around the world. Teacher lesson plans are provided for the stories, too!

Books

Brand, Susan Trostle and Jeanne M. Donato. Storytelling in Emergent Literacy: Fostering Multiple Intelligences. Delmar, 2001.

Changer, Jerilynn and Annette Harrison. Storytelling Activities Kit: Ready-to-Use Techniques, Lessons & Listening Cassettes for Early Childhood. The Center for Applied Research in Education, 1992.

Cooper, Patsy. When Stories Come to School: Telling, Writing and Performing Stories in the Early Childhood Classroom. Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 1993.

Norfolk, Sherry and Jane Stenson, Diane Williams. The Storytelling Classroom: Applications Across the Curriculum. Libraries Unlimited, 2006.