ConnecticutLibraries - Volume 25 Number 2 - February 1983 - A Class Group Is Practicing Storytelling Skills

Sep 29, 2026

Connecticut Libraries Volume 25, Number 2 (February 1983) describes the Ridgefield Storytelling and Family Folklore Project, created with $3,400 awarded to Ridgefield schools and the library. The project trains teachers, librarians, community volunteers, and children through workshops led by professional storyteller Laura Simms and folklorist Linda Morley, using concerts, classroom visits, and ongoing family involvement. It explains how storytelling builds rapport, confidence, community, imagination, humor, and presentation skills, and outlines follow-on initiatives across elementary and junior high schools and the library.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time14 min

AccessFree to download

A Class Group Is Practicing Storytelling Skills

Ridgefield Storytelling and Family Folklore Project

Role of Storytelling in Community and Learning

Planning and Workshop Residency

Follow-on Projects in Schools and the Library

ConnecticutLibraries Volume 25 Number 2 February,1983 ecial Report. Photo:Rudi Hutchinson # A CLASS GROUP IS PRACTICING STORYTELLING SKILLS by passing a gesture and sound toeach other.The person in the center repeats the gesture and sound until the group can do it correctly,then it is passed to another person who presents a new gesture and sound. Ridgefield Storytelling and Family Folklore Project In Ridgefield,school library/mediaspecialists,reading consultants,teachers,and the public library children's librarianhave been developing a storytelling pro-gram for several years.An active Story-telling League at the Ridgefield libraryprovides the community and people fromsurrounding areas with a dynamic train-ing ground. nounced by the Connecticut State Libraryand the Connecticut State Department ofEducation,storytelling was a natural areaof interest for Ridgefield.$3,400.wasawarded to the Ridgefield schools andthe library to develop_the RidgefieldStorytelling and Family Folklore Project.The project was designed to help teachers,librarians,community volunteers,andchildren to develop their own storytellingskills,and to teach them how to use thoseskills with others.The project was design-ed to continue indefinitely.It involvedand presently includes families,schoolmembers,community groups,and localhistorians. We recognize that storytelling is asharing experience.It is a valuable tooluseful for developing rapport between thelisteners and teller,for gaining the confi-dence of children,and for developing asense of community among diverse indi-viduals and age groups.Storytelling en-ables the listener to visualize,develops anappreciation of language and the beautyof words,and stimulates the imaginationand sense of humor.For the teller,story-telling enhances oral expression and re-fines presentation skills. A great amount of preplanning andorganization went into the Ridgefield Pro-ject.Representatives of the five elemen-tary schools and the junior high each plan-ned for activities in their schools by or-ganizing groups of children and teachers.School members worked to create thebeginnings of storytelling programs ineach school. When the availability of Library Ser-vices and Construction Act grant moneyto promote school library/media centerand public library cooperation was an- The bulk of the grant money was used to hire professional storyteller,LauraSimms,and New Hampshire State Folk-lorist,Linda Morley.Their role was toprovide the training through workshopsand to act as catalysts for developing re-lated projects.Laura was instrumental inthe design and implementation of theproject.Her residency in Ridgefield lastedten days.Linda was involved because ofher expertise in family folklore.She par-ticipated for three and a half days. The residency part of the project be-gan on October 31.Laura arrived to pre-sent an open community concert of thrill-ing,chilling tales.That Halloween perfor-mance was the first in the ten day seriesof workshops that were conducted by Ms.Simms and Ms.Morley for the project. Two full days of workshops for agroup of thirty-five adult representativesof the community and schools followedthe initial concert.At that time the adultsexperienced the art of learning to tell astory;learned techniques to develop story-telling skills with children;and sharedmuch of themselves with others.Duringthe eight days following the workshops,Laura went into the schools to demon-strate her methods and work with groupsof children.Linda worked concurrentlyin the schools to address a different as-pect of storytelling.She discussed folk-lore,family tales,and interviewing techni-ques with groupsof children and teachers. In addition to working with children,both women presented two other work-shops.One was directed at primary schoolteachers not already involved in the grant,the other was designed for interestedcommunity members who had not yetbeen involved in the joint library/sch

FAQs

What is the Ridgefield Storytelling and Family Folklore Project designed to achieve?

It is designed to help teachers, librarians, community volunteers, and children develop their own storytelling skills and learn how to use those skills with others, with the project planned to continue indefinitely.

Who led the project training workshops?

Professional storyteller Laura Simms and New Hampshire folklorist Linda Morley provided training through workshops and acted as catalysts for related projects.

What kinds of outcomes and projects developed after the grant?

Students began collecting family stories, schools developed troupes of student storytellers, comprehensive programs tied storytelling to existing curriculum, and the Ridgefield Library started a weekly storytelling program for children ages nine to thirteen.

Sep 29, 2026

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