July 2009

Here on the East Coast of the USA June has brought flowers, pollen, rain and continually grey skies. The good news is that the land is lush and green! We have seen very little sun so I welcome July with open arms, and hopefully the chance to wear my new sunglasses!

June was also filled with wonderful moments, memories and stories. We were blessed to eke out one sunny day for my son's party to celebrate his college graduation. Where did the years fly? If you would like to see a picture of Christopher on his special day visit my blog under the post “Roots and Wings” at http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2009/06/roots-and-wings-graduation-day_25.html

I produced three student storytelling festivals, and the children were wonderful. To watch nine and ten year old children confidently stand on stage in front of family and friends, and share their stories brought both smiles to my heart and tears to my eyes. Later in the month Bill Harley offered us a chance to hear his new show at the Story Café. As always, he was thoughtful, delightful and fun!

This month, the Story Café will host Regi Carpenter, on July 18; another multi-talented teller who will grace the stage at the National Storytelling Festival in TN this October as a “Featured New Voice.” If you would like to attend her performance for adults, Love Is War, go to http://www.artworksforyou.org/ for more information. You won’t be disappointed!

We hit a milestone this month. There are now over 700 subscribers from around the globe subscribed to Catch the Storybug newsletter! I am always amazed at the wonderful connections made through cyber space. If you are a new subscriber, don't fret, you can download previous issues at http://www.storybug.net/newsletters.html. If you have been with me for a while and have any suggestions about others types of websites you would like to see highlighted, please feel free to contact me. I would love to hear your thoughts.

I hope to see you on the storytelling road!
Karen

Image: Old French 6 - The Princess Rosette, Artist: Virginia Frances Sterrett 1920

"If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive."

                                                          - Barry Lopez, in Crow and Weasel

STORY SITES

The Princess Rosette - The French fairytale collected by Andrew Lang and depicted in the painting above. http://tinyurl.com/nros7y

American Folklore - Celebrate America’s birthday and take an armchair journey with folktales, myths, legends, Tall Tales and ghost stories from the 50 United States. Tales are clearly indexed so you won’t even need to ask for directions. http://www.americanfolklore.net/

The Baldwin Project - The Baldwin Project is a virtual page turner, a comprehensive collection of literature in the public domain. http://tinyurl.com/rhx3p

Canada’s Digital Collections - Listen to stories collected from Aboriginal, (First Nation), Metis and Inuit storytellers of Canada. http://tinyurl.com/2pephx

Fairy Tales From All Nations - July 14 is Bastille Day in France so I went in search of a French folktale to share with you. I found this free, public domain book on Google books, which contains the French tale, Prince Chaffinch and so much more. http://tinyurl.com/msd9oe

The Golden Rod Fairy Book - Stories from England, France, Poland, Bohemia, Russia, India, China, Italy, Denmark, Ireland and Spain are contained between these cyber covers. http://tinyurl.com/5n6r6a

CRAFTS

Games and activities to add some spark to your patriotic festivities.

Apples4teacher.com http://tinyurl.com/mmzcr9

Family Education.com http://tinyurl.com/lsubws

And for some extra fun, a word search and maze to celebrate our country's anniversary:
Maze: http://tinyurl.com/n7curj
Word Search: http://tinyurl.com/lss2pe

Celebrate Bastille Day!
O la la…some crafts to help you celebrate. Build an Eiffel Tower http://tinyurl.com/mzspa7
or Arc de Triomphe http://tinyurl.com/npueoq

Summertime inspired craft ideas below that will add some fun to the sun!

Danielle’s Place - A great site full of very creative, easy and inexpensive paper plate and paper cup crafts for kids. http://tinyurl.com/lyd6cy

Kids Summer Crafts and Summer Printables
http://tinyurl.com/njew6g

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS

Teaching with Historic Places - Planning a historical storytelling program? The National Park Service site offers lesson plans categorized by location, theme and time period. http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/descrip.htm

We just started slipping into summer but it will be gone before we can say, ‘lemonade!” Here are a few links to think about as we begin that slow slide towards September.

ABC Teach - This link offers you a number of ideas and links for story writing prompts on a variety of subjects and age levels. http://tinyurl.com/nhxn6h

Once Upon a Time - Lessons for Teaching About Fables, Fairy Tales, Folktales, Legends, Myths, Tall Tales http://tinyurl.com/l6so6y/

The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse - At our local elementary school the third grade teachers work with the students to put on a fantastic play every year, based on a folk or fairy tale. Here is a handy script on this classic tale. http://tinyurl.com/nc7ypz

SONGS

Girl Scouts R Fun Song Page - Openings/closings, hiking/camping, traditional, echo songs and more; songs for all occasions. All you need to keep everyone in tune! http://tinyurl.com/mlov75

Jump Rope Rhymes - Remember those summer days filled with the fun of jumping rope, double dutch, and clapping games? Here is a site filled with all those songs and rhymes of old. http://tinyurl.com/mu4mgg

BUSINESS NOTES

When Someone Googles Your Name, What Do You Want to Happen?
http://tinyurl.com/krs43s

Untiny.me - You may notice that many of the URL’s in my newsletter begin with http://tinyurl.com/. This service turns very long web addresses into shorter ones. This new site, Untiny.me retrieves the original so you will be able to access it if it is blocked by your server. http://untiny.me/

"Smile. Actions speak louder than words. A smile says ….I like you – you make me happy,
I’m glad to see you, glad to hear from you."

                                                          - Dale Carnegie

EDUCATION HIGHWAY

July 7 – August 4, 2009 Rhode Island
Weekly storytelling workshop for children 8 and older with Anne-Marie Forer and Cindy Killavey (Take Two Tandem Tellers. For more info, contact Anne-Marie Forer at 401-739-4171 or info@tandemtellers.com

July 13 – 17 New Bedford, MA
Story by Story -Storytelling Workshop for children with instructor Karen Chace. Classes will include creating an art project to complement the chosen tale. For more information call (508)-984-1588 or visit http://www.artworksforyou.org/

July 16 – 20, 2009 Hawaii
First National Storytelling Talk Story Conference Hawaii’s best tellers & America's STARS plus Thailand, Japan, Australia and Canada. http://tinyurl.com/okyxhe

July 18, 2009 New Bedford, MA
Stories from Your Life: Making Meaning from Memory Maps with instructor Regi Carpenter. For more info go to http://www.artworksforyou.org/

July 18, 2009 Chicago, IL
Telling Your Story Out Loud: Storytelling for Adults. This on-your-feet workshop will help get the story off the page and organically expressed through the voice and body. https://grahamschool.uchicago.edu/ 800-997-9689; or 773-702-1722.

July 24-26, 2009 Austin, Texas
Texas Storytelling Conference: Stories in the Making at St. Edwards University. Draw inspiration from keynotes knowledge from many varied workshops. http://www.tejasstorytelling.com/

July 28 - August 1, 2009
St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada International Perspectives on the Art and Tradition of Storytelling. For more information contact Dale Jarvis at storytelling@nf.sympatico.ca

August 6-9, 2009
Massachusetts Summer Storytelling Institute Retreat with Rona Leventhal in the Rolling Hills of Western Massachusetts. Go to http://www.ronatales.com/ or call 413-586-0624

August 8, 2009 New York
9th Annual Mohegan Colony Storytelling and Music Festival. Two stages simultaneously. All venues covered. Rain or Shine. www.hvstoryall.org/mohegan Contact: Judith Heineman, juhestories@aol.com 312-925-0439; NY - 914-528-1446

August 9 – 13, 2009
Wallingford, PA The Teaching Power of Stories with Bill Harley. For more information go to: http://tinyurl.com/pndtyh

October 17, 2009 – New London, NH
1st Annual Granite State Storytelling Festival, featuring Odds Bodkin. Four venues 28 storytellers – For more information contact lphillipstale@comcast.net

SOMETHING EXTRA

"Each small task of everyday is part
of the total harmony of the universe."

                                 - St. Theresa of Lisieux

The Metropolitan Environmental Trust - Your organization or non-profit could greatly benefit from a new service being offered by various companies... They will even pay you. These companies understand that the recycling problems of the world cannot be solved immediately, but they can significantly help by offering this service. Partner with one of these companies and everyone benefits! http://www.metrecycle.com/inkcart.htm