Summer Programs

Family Storytelling

Restore the Tradition

All ages are welcome in these family friendly sessions that demonstrate how storytelling is an intergenerational activity. Come together to share and care, to laugh, love, and learn.

WEEK ONE- FIND

Explore sources for stories- your personal stories and the great stories from our human family’s treasure trove.

WEEK TWO- TELL
Participate in non-threatening games and activities that will help you to tell your favorite stories.

WEEK THREE- PUBLISH

Examine a range of possibilities for publishing stories including bound books, cartoons, video and audio taped stories.

I’ve Got Rhythm

Musical Stories, Folk Songs, and Dances

Pre-K to Primary Grade students sing age-appropriate songs and traditional rhymes which incorporate rhythm, movement, and instrumentation. They participate in musical storytelling by singing simple refrains, using body percussion, and instruments.

Third to Fifth Grade students learn folksongs and folk dances. They participate in musical storytelling that includes instruments, body percussion, and sound effects. All programs integrate speech, movement, rhythm, and melody

I Can Ham It Up!

Storytelling and Drama

Janice Davin captures the attention and interest of her audience by telling stories of lasting value. Characters come alive through her range of character voices, gestures, pantomime, and puppetry. Janice creates fantastic yet believable worlds that hold the attention of her audience from beginning to end. The performance arena explodes with audience participation as children repeat refrains, rhyme, rap, echo, and produce sound effects. Following the story, students engage in dramatic play that includes creative movement, drama, improvisation, and dialog.

I’m a Storyteller

Act a Story; Tell a Story

Take a trip to the zoo. Get caught in a blizzard. Go on a safari to catch a lion. These adventures and many more are possible as children use their imagination and creativity in this dramatic play workshop.

Through a series of games and activities, children progress from creative movement to group dramatization to a solo performance in which each child tells a story to a partner using character voices and gestures. For the finale, volunteers tell their stories to the group in a mini storytelling concert.

I’m Creative

Storytelling and the Visual Arts

Recreate a story by making puppets, a cooperative mural, or both! Designing a puppet enables children to express their thoughts and feelings for the characters in the story. A cooperative mural allows children to recreate the magical story world.

This program begins with a short orally told tale that provides the content for the art workshop that follows. Janice’s experience as an educator (more than 40 years) enables her to organize materials and manage student behavior to produce the most creativity with the least chaos. Janice provides all materials for this workshop that has a maximum class size of twenty-five students.

I Can Dance

Creative Movement

Since early time, people have used dance to tell stories. In this program, students recreate folktales through directed movement and dance. As Janice tells the story, she leads students through guided imagery and choreographed dance sequences that encourage students to express themselves through non-verbal communication- the “language” of dance. Through dance students learn concepts that transfer to reading and writing stories: sequence, transition, contrast, climax, and resolution. Dance links the body, the mind, and the emotions giving kinesthetic learners a deep experience of the story.