Storytelling Workshop with Gerald Fierst

Reviewed by Ann Lagumina

Authority

This website is sponsored by Scholastic, the largest publisher and distributor of children’s books in the world. There is extensive information about this publishing company and plenty of ways to contact them. There is a link to their home page for those who want to know about their mission, grants, divisions, etc.

Accuracy

This is a storytelling workshop presented by the professional storyteller, Gerald Fierst. He gives information about his background including all his credentials and different places he has performed. Since he is a professional in his field, the information he presents is very accurate.

Currency

The copyright date is 2003 and all references are current.

Content/Coverage

This storytelling workshop is part of a unit on “Myths, Folktales and Fairy Tales.” The project description is as follows: “Through participation in the Folktales activities, part of the larger "Myths, Folktales, and Fairy Tales" project, students learn about folktales in their families and communities, learn to create their own folklore, and then publish their products online to share with others. They are introduced to many different kinds of folklore, and learn tips for researching, creating, and recording folklore from their own lives.” The storytelling workshop included sections on “Meet the Storyteller,” “About Storytelling,” “Listen and Watch,” “Becoming a Storyteller,” “Imagination Exercises,” “Telling Tales Together,” and “Teacher’s Guide.” It also provides opportunity for students to record their own story and submit it to Scholastic. The “Listen and Watch” section was great. He performs the story “How Monkey Stole the Drum.” His facial expressions and animal voices are fun. The intended audience is elementary age school children and also includes information for the teacher who wishes to adapt it for classroom use.

Objectivity

Obviously, Scholastic is hoping teachers will buy their products, but I don’t think this interferes with objectivity in this case. The storyteller refers to his own CDs for sale and tells how to access that information but that is not the focus of the website.

Access

In order to participate in the workshop, you must have Flash plug-in installed and it does give a link to download it for free. Otherwise, anyone can access it via the internet and you don’t have to register to do so.

Design/Appearance

This website is professionally designed and is a pleasure to navigate. Students will have no trouble getting around this one. It is attractive to look at and the story is effective the way it is presented.

I recommend this website for teachers who want to introduce the subject of storytelling to their students and also incorporate it into classroom use. I like projects that introduce storytelling to children and help teachers to use it in their teaching.