Recently I was among 24 storytellers
who attended a storytelling workshop at the Ft. Caswell Baptist Assembly, just
south of Wilmington. Our workshop leader, Tim Lowry conducted an
educational, yet fun workshop, complete with many helpful exercises and
activities.
Tim's telling of two historical
stories was absolutely fascinating. He
explained that he incorporates them in his school residencies to teach students
the importance of history and the understanding of history. In addition, he emphasized how the two World
Wars continue to affect our lives as they are today.
As he told the stories he invited
several of us to play the parts of various world leaders. Each of us wore a different guise to signify
the specific country we represented. I
quickly saw how this activity involving students could enhance and enliven
history for the classroom. My boring
old textbooks would never have compared to learning history through lively,
exciting storytelling like this.
Another group activity involved all
workshop participants. Tim directed us
to pay attention to how we use our voice by taking part in a play. He
selected a couple of acts from three plays with enough parts for everyone. This activity demonstrated how important it
is for storytellers to understand feelings of emotion portrayed in a story when
performed on stage.
The more my group practiced we began
to perceive first hand the meaning of this exercise. After each practice session I realized how we became more and
more comfortable with our parts. Each
person’s speaking part was beginning to sound more and more real, as if the
scene was actually happening. The highlight came Sunday morning as our
three groups took turns reading, acting and feeling the emotion of our parts in
the company of the entire group. We were amazed at how powerful each play
had become.
When I returned home I was so inspired by the workshop that I selected two history topics and began to research them. I’m presently researching ‘powder monkeys’ and ‘German U-Boats along North Carolina’s Outer Banks’ during World War II.
When I returned home I was so inspired by the workshop that I selected two history topics and began to research them. I’m presently researching ‘powder monkeys’ and ‘German U-Boats along North Carolina’s Outer Banks’ during World War II.
I may decide to change the focus I
have in mind, but I’m having an exciting time as I work on this new
material. If the research leads me down an unintended path, this was
meant to be. My goal is to write and
add two engaging stories of North Carolina history to my repertoire for use in
the classroom.
