Southland Literacy Association: 2013

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Story Teller in Southland Schools

Photos taken from The Dream Weavers visit to New River Primary last week...

Ice - Cream and Ideas for Teachers

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Story Tellers Meet in Invercargill

Booked in for Training

Libraries open books to potential staff

Budding young librarians were treated to top tips during a student librarian training day yesterday.

Invercargill City Libraries manager of customer experience Cynthia Smith said 60 pupils, some from as far away as Balfour, attended the training day held at Invercargill Library.

Organised by the Southland Literacy Association, the day was an opportunity for pupils who volunteered as librarians in their schools to learn more about their craft, she said.

During the day, children spent time comparing Tisbury School library, which was small, with James Hargest junior campus library, which was very large, to learn how to work with different spaces.

The training also covered techniques for reading books to children, how to make displays to attract readers and information about the Dewey decimal system, Ms Smith said.

Tokanui School pupil Emma Smith, 10, attended the course yesterday and said she learned a lot, especially about making cool book displays.

She had really enjoyed her day, she said. "I liked going to other schools and looking at their libraries."

The librarian training day was likely to be held every two years, Ms Smith said.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Librarians Day 2013

CALLING ALL STUDENT LIBRARIANS

An exciting opportunity has arisen for Student Librarians from years 5-8 to attend a fun filled training day on Tuesday 11 June from 9-3 in the Activity room at the Invercargill Public Library.

A maximum of 60 students will be able to attend, so first in first served.

We need some adults to accompany these students so please indicate this on your enrolment form. Cost of enrolment is only $20 per person!

OUTLINE OF THE DAY
9.00 – 9.45: Public Library – preparation for tours
10.15 – 12.00: School visits

12.00 – 12.30: Own Lunch at the Public Library
12.30 – 1.30: How to read a story

1.00 –   1.45: Library Displays
1.45 –   2.30: Dewey Games
2.30 –   2.45: Liz tells a story

2.45 – 3.00: Questions and close– 2.4

Please bring pen, paper, camera (optional) and a short picture book you have read. 5 Dewey Games

Enrolments need to be mailed to Cynthia at the Invercargill Library by the 5^th June.

STUDENT LIBRARY ASSISTANT’S DAY ENROLMENT FORM

School Name:

Student name/s:

Accompanying Adult Name:

Please enrol by Wed 5 June by returning to:

Cynthia Smith

Private Bag 90111

Invercargill 9840

Cost of enrolment is $20 per child. Please address cheques to the Southland Literacy Association

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Entertaining Pair have a Story to Tell

GWYNETH HYNDMAN/Fairfax NZ

Storytellers Bill Harley and Geraldine Buckley at the Cheeky Llama Cafe for the Celebrating Story evening.

'We make sense of the world through our stories," Grammy Award- winning singer-songwriter Bill Harley told a small crowd on the Meet the Storytellers event on Wednesday night, as he picked up a borrowed guitar and began to play.
In the event held at the Cheeky Llama Cafe at Queens Park, Harley offered more wisdom on the art of telling a good yarn and backed it up with a few touching tales of his own, as his fingers glided over the strings, all the while explaining "a story is different from a lecture in that a person enters into it the way that they choose to".
The American performer and author followed this up with stories about running the first few kilometres of a marathon and added a touching story about a king in search of happiness.
His performance came after the humorous tales of convent girl- turned men's prison chaplain Geraldine Buckley, who described her life from Britain to the largest men's prison in Maryland, in the United States, as a series of "very odd adventures".
Warm and charming, Buckley had the crowd laughing with her descriptions of some of the inmate's reaction to her spoken work, poetry, on the first night she performed for them, describing the experience as just one example of "the incredible power of creativity" to heal and unite.
"The shortest way between two hearts is a story." The pair will be holding a storytelling concert for adults at the Repertory House tonight at 7.30 (tickets $18/$12) and a family concert tomorrow at 11am at the Invercargill Children's Public Library (free).

Celebrating Story in the News

DOUG FIELD/Fairfax NZ

Southland Celebrate Story committee chairwoman and popular storyteller Elizabeth Miller is pushing for more adults to attend storytelling shows.

Drama, Fun and Excitement for adults

A Southland storyteller group has joined the Southland Festival of the Arts this year to try to get more adults involved and help remove the stigma that listening to stories is for children.

Each year the Southland Celebrate Story group, an arm of the New Zealand Literacy Association, brings international storytellers to speak to adults in Southland.
This is the first year the guest speakers will be part of the Southland Festival of the Arts in an attempt to attract more people.
Southland Celebrate Story committee chairwoman Elizabeth Miller said storytelling was for adults as much as for children, but they were struggling with attendance at adult shows.
"We're trying to push for a greater adult uptake.
"We're hoping to get more people because it is just so exciting - we've had some amazing people out here [to speak]," she said.
The biggest adult audience was about 50 people a few years ago and she hoped to attract at least 100 people this year, Ms Miller said.
This year singer-songwriter and three-time Grammy award winner Bill Harley will blend song and story, while storyteller Geraldine Buckley will speak of her journey from a British convent school girl to a chaplain at a large prison for men in the United States.
"It will be exciting and it will be stimulating and there won't be a moment you want to go home," Ms Miller said.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand Literacy Association has been granted $8,000 by the Invercargill Licensing Trust this month for the annual storytellers' school programme.
As part of the programme, the Dreamweaver, Ms Miller, tells interactive stories with rhythm and chant to children from preschool through to year 8.
There was plenty of interest from schools and the children were engaged and responsive, but the problem was attracting more adults to the Celebrate Story events, she said.
The first of three storyteller events is called Meet the Tellers and will be held on May 8 at 7.30pm at the Cheeky Llama Cafe, in Queens Park.
Tickets cost $12 for adults and $8 for concession, and are available from the Invercargill i-SITE or at the door 30 minutes before the show.