Sherry Norfolk ~ Study Guide: "Spine Tinglers & Spine Ticklers "

Program Description

Spine Tinglers & Spine Ticklers is a shivery program designed for the howling Halloween season giving kids a taste of haunting stories for the “stout of heart” or of highly interactive not-so-scary stories about “things that go bump in the night” for the younger set. Kids will shriek, scream and howl as multicultural Halloween folktales, literary stories and poems unfold, complete with eerie sounds and creepy images. Each performance is carefully tailored to age-appropriate cognitive and social needs. In addition, each presentation provides unlimited opportunities for students to build on previous learning relative to positive character traits such as courage, responsibility, respect for others and obedience.

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:

For younger audiences:

• What’s the scariest story you ever read or were told? What made it scary?
• Are stories about ghosts and witches and goblins and monsters true?
• How can you tell the difference between what’s real and what’s make-believe?
• Why do people like to hear scary stories?
• If you DON’T like to hear scary stories, why not?
• What can you do if you get scared during a story?

For older audiences:

• Scary” is different for each person. What is really scary to you?
• What’s the scariest story you ever read or were told? What made it scary?
• Are stories about ghosts, witches and monsters true? What’s ‘true’ about them and what’s symbolic?
• How can you tell the difference between what’s real and what’s make-believe?
• Why have people told scary stories for hundreds of years? Is there an underlying message or purpose to the stories?

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.

Making it Personal: Write a journal entry about the scariest thing you can think of. Why does it scare you so much? Would it be as scary for others as it is for you?

Additional Activities

Write a scary poem (This works with ages 6-12. For younger students, demonstrate with the whole group first, and then let them work in pairs or small groups.)
Explain that you’re going to try to write really scary poems today. Give them work sheets with these directions:
1. Write down four things you are scared of.
2. Think of something that happened that scared you.
3. Think about these questions: were you ever scared late at night, or in bed? Have you ever had a scary dream? Is summer as scary as winter - or the autumn? Is there a scary room at school? What would happen if there was a ghost in the school restroom or your teacher's cupboard?
4. Now choose at least one the things you’re afraid of, two words from the list below, and write a poem -- at least 4 lines -- to try to scare someone else!

Scary Word List
dread…terror…panic… shock…horror…hair on end…cold…sweat…nervous…cold feet…unease disquiet…anxious…shaking…creeps…shivers… goose flesh…knocking knees…afraid…frozen…as pale as... hair-raising…terrible…awful…ghoulish… nightmarish…gruesome…sinister…grim… grisly…macabre…flinch…chilled… grimace…unearthly wail…bloodcurdling…ghastly…luminous…skeletal

Vocabulary

Multicultural - Pertaining to more than one ethnic background or culture.
Responsibility - A willingness to be accountable for your own actions without blaming others.
Respect - Showing regard for self, others, property and those in authority.
Folktale - a story handed down in the oral tradition.
Literary story - a story that can be attributed to a particular author or authors.

Resources for Teachers & Students
Websites

http://www.themoonlitroad.com
Ghost stories and folktales of the American South, told by the region's most celebrated storytellers. Streaming audio – for the stout of heart!!

http://www.surfnetkids.com/ghost.htm
Won the Goosebumps contest for best ghost story Web destination for families. Ages 6 and up.

Books

For younger children:
Brown, Marc. Scared Silly! A Book for the Brave. Poems, riddles, jokes, stories and more. Little, Brown and Co., 1994.

For older children:
Schwartz, Alvin. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Harper & Row, 1986.
Brown, Roberta Simpson. The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Terrifying Tales. August House. Sound Recording. Ages 12 and up.

CDs

Young, Richard and Judy Dockery. Favorite Scary Stories of American Children: For Grades K-3. August House, 1991. Sound recording.