Storyteller, Story Teacher!

I had another successful storytelling workshop for teachers last Saturday, October 17, 2009 at Phoenix Educational Systems, Inc. Most of them were preschool teachers who found the use of puppets in storytelling very useful. Apart from simple puppetry, we also had hands on activities in making Story Kamishibai and Readers' Theatre.

Teacher participants are huddled together as they worked on a kamisibai. They brought home their output of the day.

It's a joy to watch them work and blend easily with each other. They practically didn't know each other at the start, but halfway through the workshop we were all friends bound by the power of stories and storytelling.

Practice makes perfect, so they say! A group of teachers whipped up chants, songs and interactive actions to the fable, The Turtle Who Could Not Stop Talking, a readers' theatre piece taken from Dianne de Las Casas' Handmade Tales.

At the end of the day, there were plenty of smiles and laughs that went around. Plus, the confidence to tell interactive stories in the classroom.