Welcome to the T.A.L.E.S. project. The Smoky Mountain Storytellers’ Association teams with schoolteachers to enhance instruction through the power of storytelling.
Storytelling is a powerful tool for educators at all levels, for conveying information and for developing students’ skills. This tool is easily acquired and helps build classroom community while addressing a wide range of curriculum standards – from aspects of all eight language arts standards to other academic fields and the arts. TALES Project provides professional storytellers for teacher workshops and/or story concerts for students and teachers, introducing essential concepts and practical details of this versatile art form.
TALES presently has two major components: workshops on storytelling and storytelling performances.
Four workshops are offered for teachers and school librarians (up to 50 participants per workshop):
- Introduction to Classroom Storytelling - learning to tell a story from a text; how to create an original tale; and how to teach anything using storytelling. Extensive on-line and print resources for finding stories and improving storytelling. Available in a 2-3 hour format (after school) or an expanded 5-6 hour format. (on Saturday or in-service day)
- Techniques in Storytelling - more advanced topics: character development, gesture language, voices.
- Teaching Children to Tell Stories - techniques and resources for developing storytelling skills in elementary school children and coaching story performance. 3 hours.
- School Storytelling Clubs and Storytelling Competitions - starting a club, keeping it going, and participating in the National Youth Storytelling Showcase. One hour. Workshops are very interactive, we practice learning by doing. Participants receive resource lists and detailed notes on all the topics presented.
Storytellers are available for school performances including single classroom appearances, school assemblies and residencies. Performances can be geared toward teaching about stories, language and literature, about world cultures, science and even math, or about character development, bullying prevention, and social responsibility.
Susan Fulbright
Having earned a masters from ETSU in storytelling, Susan tells folktales, fables, horror tales, holiday tales, and family tales that test the line of truth and fiction.
email: stephenfulbright@bellsouth.net
phone: 865-765-4811
Kathleen Mavournin
Enchanted by fairy tales since childhood, Kathleen tells tales from around the world to everyone from kids to seniors and especially to her grandchildren.
email: katmav212@gmail.com
