Follow-up Workshop:
Retelling a folktale is part of the English core curriculum and with Diane’s follow-up workshop you can give teachers and students all the tools they need for success. After a performance in which Diane demonstrates the storytelling art, students receive a master class in how to tell a story. They also learn the power of their own imagination through hands-on exercises sure to get everyone participating. By the end, students are re-telling a classic folktale to a partner. English Core Curriculum requirement: Re-tell a folktale? You can happily check that off the list! Please note that workshops are for individual classrooms so that the skills taught can be really absorbed by all students.
Storytelling Residencies for Students:
An approved artist educator on the roster of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Diane knows that an immersion in storytelling develops within each person clear and concrete communication skills. Her residencies stress vocal range and flexibility, active listening skills, visualization, and the ability to frame intangible feelings into physical and vocal language. These residencies skillfully develop young students’ expressive and imaginative abilities within the narrative form.
“I have many English language learners in my class. Many of whom are very shy and usually do not speak at all, let alone in front of the whole class. On Diane’s third week visiting my class, she invited students to come up to the front and share their own stories they created. To my surprise, one of my shyest students volunteered on tell her story. When she got to the front of the room she didn’t just use her normal too-quiet-to-be heard-voice. She used different voices for each character and all at an audible level. I was so shocked and proud of the progress she had made in such a short time. Now that Diane has finished her residency I can see that this student’s confidence to speak has grown immensely and she now volunteers to answer questions and share ideas in front of the whole class. Diane’s residency was a great jumping point for her and many other English language learners to gain the confidence they need to succeed! “ – Amy Hubert, Connery School, Lynn, MA
Teacher Workshops
“Thank you so much for your outstanding work with students and staff during the past two days. You are a wonderful storyteller. The classroom visit further enhanced the student’s understanding and the teacher workshop was super! All of us learned so much.” – Diane Willard, Squantum School, Squantum, MA
Storytelling Options:
This workshop covers the many ways the art of storytelling can enrich the classroom experience of pupils and educators alike. From encouraging students to tell their own stories to using folk tales to enhance curriculum, the many uses of storytelling will be discussed and explored. Using a combination of lecture/demonstration and simple participatory exercises, this workshop gives educators tried and tested ways to use storytelling to enliven learning.
Diane was the selected storytelling artist to lead Teacher Intensives for Cultural Survival, MA. The focus was on using folktales in a variety of learning settings while respecting cultural sensitivities.
Tell Me A Story: How to re-tell a folktale
Learn how to tell a folktale in your words in this interactive workshop! Diane leads workshop participants in group exercises that will develop everyone’s expressive abilities. Explore your voice’s potential and learn how to create a character using Diane’s method of Voice and Body signatures. Skills learned from this workshop can be applied to storytelling and public speaking. Experience the power of story!
Storytelling and the Art of Play: Motivating children to tell their own tales
All children have a story to tell, but how can we teach them the fundamental components of a story in a lively and interactive way? By using exercises developed during Diane’s twenty years of experience in schools, linking children’s innate ability to play with storytelling techniques we’ll bring students to their fullest storytelling potential. Best results if given together with Diane’s “Tell me A Story” workshop.
