One on One Reading Aloud and Storytelling Workshop

I had a wonderful time sharing stories and swapping teaching adventures with Yvette Solina Salish at Nook in Molito. Yvette is a teacher in Erbil, Iraq. She teaches Math in Primary Years Program of the International Baccalaureate in the school. Home for vacation, she thought of taking stock on her teaching pedagogy. 

Big thanks to her sister, Bernadettte Solina Wolf who connected us. Our four hour session stretched to six hours. Almost the entire day, really. And thanks to the peeps in Nook as they warmly accommodated us with a whole day pass for our first visit. That’s good customer service!

This is my favorite nook in Nook. If you know me well, you know why. 😉

As this was my first tutorial for a reading aloud and storytelling workshop, I didn’t know how it woluld work. It did end well! 

 Yvette and I will definitely meet again, get in touch online and keep the learning connections active. She found the materials I used as enlightening and the input session valuable addition to her skill set in teaching primary students. She hopes to be more confident in reading aloud and telling stories to her students. In the end our session, I gave her these tips, baon, as I call it to bring with her back to Erbil.

On Messenger she sent me this message afew hours after our session. 

“Thanks too for teaching and inspiring me to read aloud and do storytelling! I’m amazed by how well you do it. I hope I can reach up to your level of ease in the future! I can’t wait to try all of your techniques! Take care and keep in touch! 😊🤗😘”

My reply to her was this:

“Go! You will grow into it. Start by investing on good books for kids. Develop your own selection criteria. Read the books aloud to your family. Plan your pre, during and post reading activities. Practice. Evaluate yourself. Listen to your students too. You will learn from them too!”

I am having a productive summer! 

On Reading Aloud and Storytelling (1/2)

I am writing this on may way back to Manila from a successful training workshop on reading aloud and storytelling in Pangasinan. I was invited by the Department of Education of Region 1 through the initaive and effort of  Teacher Arabella Soniega. The training program is designed for K-3 teachers to learn and relearn pedagogy in early literacy education. There were 128 teachers present in the training plus, a dozen school leaders. 

Last week, I was with the The Storytelling Project (TSP) to run the same workshop for their volunteers. Of the 15 volunteers, 2 are teachers and 1 is a librarian. They will soon be implementing TSP’s reading program in a public school in Laguna.

Two workshops. Same topics. Different audiences. Different purpose. Same goals. TSP volunteers need a good skill set in reading aloud because their two-fole roels. One is to support teachers in teaching literacy slills and the other is to provide children with an environment where reading is enjoyed and experienced outside of the classroom. The DepEd recognizes storytelling as an adjunct strategy for reading aloud when learning skills in the four communication arts, namely, listening, speaking, reading and writing. I discuss both in workshops and demonstrate ways of using them.

Reading Aloud from a teaching context, especially in literacy teaching, is a proven technique in teaching comprehension skills. When an adult reads aloud to children, the act of reading and the cognitive processes involved in it are shown, shared and modelled to them in a manner that is enjoyable and non-threatening. In storytelling, the teller does not use a book but a story to take the listener in a journey of adventure, wonder, play and the discovery of insights. Both are multi-sensorial activities that develop many skills including life skills, compassion and empathy.

Dear Ms. Z: Please Help Me Plan for a Talk on Storytelling (1 of 2)

Last week, I received a direct message from Ms. Sheila Joy Bañares via Instagram. Sheila is a librarian from Isabela. 

This is her query:

Ma’am Z, librarian po ako sa school namin. And they (College of Education) are inviting me to give some tips po pano mag story telling. Education students po ang tuturuan ko po. Pano gawin? Thanks po.

I further asked her for details. When is the schedule of the workshop and if she is the school librarian of their institution. She said that she got the invitation a day before the workshop. She does storytelling for the elementary grades but conducting a workshop makes her nervous. The least she can do, according to the inviting party, is to share her experiences when reading aloud and telling stories to children. 

Still a tall order. Preparing for a talk or a workshop takes time, even for seasoned facilittaors. Then again, this is an opportunity for the librarian to step up her game and show how she can be an asset to the learning community.

So, I this was my reply:

What are you confident in sharing to your colleauges as far as storytelling and reading aloud is concerned? It’s good that you are nervous and excited. This means, you know you can do it!

Maybe setting one objective of your session will help you. Know your purpose. Bakit ka ba magsheshare ng storytelling experiences mo?

Your audience are college students. You were once a college student. But now, you have experience. So, share your storytelling experience. After knowing your objective and your experiences to share, draft an outline.

This is a two-part post, so come by the blog again this week for the tips I sent Sheila in planning for a talk on storytelling.

Workshop: Storytelling for Growth and Healing

Klasrum Adarna for Book Creators

I got an invitation from Adarna House for a speaking gig
during the Manila International Book Fair 2014.