BraveHeart Storytelling

posted by Sophie @ 12:12 PM

Val Clancy, Laura Cowie

Summary: For cultures around the world, storytelling has long been a way to impart values and teachings to young people. In this tradition, storytellers Mary Louise Chown, Val Clancy and Laura Fowler created the Braveheart Storytelling program. The tellers encourage children to develop compassion, courage, and communication skills through a lively program that combines storytelling, games, art, music, reading and discussion. Come hear some stories and find out how to adapt this program to your library or class setting.

Braveheart storytelling started a number of years ago, as a measure against gang activity in schools and urban areas. The age range of the children involved runs though all the elementary school levels; each session is about an hour. The story is always coupled with an activity; each shild is given a personal box to decorate and keep their work in. Group size tends to be about 25, average class-size.

We started the morning with a story:

An apple tree grows in a forest under near some tall oak trees. At night, the apple tree sees stars through the branches of the oak trees, and is jealous of the stars, thinking herself not beautiful. A voice tells her to be patient, to wait, and she will see that she too has stars. The apple tree doesn't believe, and continues to stare up at the oak trees and the stars in their branches. Fall comes, and the apple tree sheds her apples, and one of them splits, revealing a star at its core, and the apple tree finally undertands.

This story is used to get children to talk about themslves. A flip chart is used to write down the things the children heard in the story: Sad; envious; disappointed; happy; impatient; anxious; left-out; isolated, etc.

When the children offer these feelings up, we talk about them, asking if they've felt this way before, etc. The result: children offered up their feelings much more readily when discussing a story then when asked directly about them.

The discussion of feelings leads to a discussion of Positive Self-Talk: What could the little tree have said to herself to make her feel better about her life?
The voice that spoke to her said some nice thigs:
Be patient--I still have many other lovely things--It's okay to be different--I'm okay--I can make some nice cupcakes--I'll keep trying

Over the weeks of the program, the children will recall the phrases and build a vocabulary of positive self-talk, so that it's almost always on the tip of their tongues.

The activity: each child is given a star to decorate with positive self-talk. Often when the children start out, they present outside strengths (I can run fast, I like my hair); they are then encouraged to think of inside strengths.

Different stories are used for different age groups; the example given for older children was a story from Haiti about an owl who knows he is ugly, and falls in love, but is unable to show his face to the girl and so loses her forever.

Some examples of the feelings that children came up with over the course of the programs:
Scared -- brave -- relaxed -- strong -- hope -- silly -- frustrated -- depressed -- weak -- worried -- feeling small -- feeling big!!

Some examples of positive self talk: I can share my secret -- I know my friends will help me -- I'll ask questions -- I can be an eagle -- I listen to myself -- I won't give up -- I can talk to my teddy.

Some examples of art activities: given a circle with a heart in the middle, and symbols to put down to represent all the people who are there for them.



In another activity, che children are given an image of a person, and asked to color in the parts of them that are full of feelings, like silly, scared, funny, sad, etc. Some of the images are very telling--one child drew a heart and labelled it "hate," showing signs of trouble. The class teachers are given acess to the chidren's artwork, so problems can be worked on over time.



The program also encourages active listening, and listening to others`
Activity 3: Lights out, one child sits in the middle, and the storytellers demonstrate how the child's shadow gets longer throughout the day, using a flashlight. This precedes a story:

A king was once afraid of his shadow. Measures are taken by the king to try to get rid of his shadow, but none work. He tries hiding in a dark room, which works, but then a dragon attacks, and the king is needed. The king goes out to meet him at dusk, when his shadow is longest, and the long shadow scares the dragon off, thinking it's a giant approaching. The king returns, standing tall, no longer afraid of his shadow, since he just defeated a great dragon.

The children learn the difference between feeling small and feeling big; the king may be small, but he feels big when he defeats the dragon.

Suggested titles for Stories that Help Us Learn:
Alexander and the Wind-up Mouse, Leo Lionni
Androcles and the Lion, Janet Stevent
Animalia: Thirteen Small Tales, Barbara Berger
The Enormous Potato, Aubrey Davis
I Like Me! Nancy Carlson
King Midas, Neil Philip
King Solomon and the Bee, Dalia Renberg
Little Blue and Little Yellow, Leo Lionni
The Little Engine That Could, Watty Piper
Red Parka Mary, Peter Eyvindson
Miss Rumphius, Barbara Cooney
The Mountain that Loved a Bird, Alice McLerran
The Mud Pony, Caron Lee Cohen
The Name of the Tree, Celia Lotteridge
Rhinos for Lunch and Elephants for Supper! Tolowa Lollel
The Rough-Faced Girl, Rafe Martin
The Stonecutter, Gerald McDermot
The Strongest One of All, Mirra Ginsburg
The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Janet Stevens
The Three Brothers, Carolyn Croll
Toads and Diamonds, Robert Bender

Mary Louise Chown, Val Clancy and Laura Cowie can be contacted for more information.