DIVERSITY Stories, Folktales, Folklore, Fairy Tales, Legends, Myths, History, Nursery Rhymes, Fantasy & Facts Story Lovers World The Story Lovers World home page is at: http://www.story-lovers.com To add to the category below, please e-mail jackie@storyloversworld.com

DIVERSITY Stories, Folktales, Folklore, Fairy Tales, Legends, Myths, History, Nursery Rhymes, Fantasy & Facts Scroll down or click on your choice below • Online links to Stories/Info about Diversity • SOS: Searching Out Stories/Info about Diversity Advice, comments and references from storytellers, teachers and librarians

ONLINE LINKS TO STORIES AND INFORMATION ABOUT DIVERSITY

Online links are in blue and underlined. Click on them to get more stories and information.
Story titles are in quotation marks.
To retell any stories, get permission from the copyright holder if the material is not in the public domain.
In performance, always credit your sources.
Short descriptions included to save you research time.

• http://learningtogive.org/resources/folktales/trait.asp
An excellent compilation o f Myths and Folktales dealing with Character Education Traits: Caring, Courage, Civic Virtue & Citizenship, Giving, Honesty, Justice & Fairness, Perseverance, Respect, Responsibility and Trustworthiness. Dozens of full-text myths and folktales.

• http://learningtogive.org/resources/folktales/interviews/
From Fetzer Institute: Generosity of Spirit Myths and Folktales.

• http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1N1-10A9EFADE7E775CA.html
Irving students write folk tales to improve writing, diversity. Students at Irving Elementary School recently celebrated diversity and treating one another with respect by writing folk tales. From encyclopedia.com.

• http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-93211808.html
Extensive list of student activities designed to help them understand diversity and treat one another with respect. From encyclopedia.com.

• http://lms.jefferson.k12.ky.us/fdf/Lessons/Fktalrwd.pdf
Folktales Around the World. Lesson plans for Upper Primary Grades using folktales to understand cultural diversity.

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SOS: SEARCHING OUT STORIES AND INFORMATION ABOUT WHALES
Advice, comments and references from storytellers, teachers and librarians
(excerpts from Storytell posts plus original research)

Book titles and online links are in blue and underlined. Click on them to get more information.
Story titles are in quotation marks.
To retell these stories, get permission from the copyright holder if the material is not in the public domain.
In performance, always credit your sources.
Storytell posts are added chronologically as they are received by Story Lovers World.

1) Query: I received a call for a performance in February for Hebrew school kids ages 2 to 5. I'm to do 30 minutes for the 2-3 yr. olds., then 45 minutes for the 4-5 yr. olds. The contact asked me if I could do multi-cultural stuff. What in the world can I do with 2-3 yr. olds. They probably won't know about different cultures yet, so it's more for the grown-ups in the room, I think.Any songs or stories you can suggest? For the 4-5 yr. olds I'll do my version in rhyme of It Could Always Be Worse, Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock. Other suggestions?

Responses:

a) I use the following multicultural participation tales with 3 year olds:
The Squeaky Door from Puerto Rico
Gigantic Turnip, The (Tell Me a Story) (Hardcover with CD) (Book & CD) from Russia
Lion and the Rabbit from India (in "Joining In")
The Three Billy Goats Gruff (Book & CD) from Germany (I think)
The song My Aunt Came Back (First Steps in Music series) -- mentions various countries

b) Annette Harrison's Easy-To-Tell Stories for Young Children has many participatory stories from other countries.

c) For younger story-listeners, I usually open with something they can sing, and close with a lullaby from somewhere in the world--while they sing the lullaby, they rest their cheeks on their folded hands, as if they were taking a nap. It's a simple way to calm little ones down after an exciting time with stories. Look for CDs of lullabies from around the world for ideas. As for stories, always remember that "diversity' also includes the parts of Europe that are well-known, and the well-known stories that originated in that part of the world. . . The Three Bears in 24 Illustrations or Three Little Pigs (Little Golden Book), shared with some song, rhyme, and/or interaction, come to mind. There are also spider tales from all over the world--and what little one doesn't like to sing The Eensy-Weensy Spider as an opening for such stories? But you might want to talk with the program planners, in order to give yourself some leeway. Sometimes, depending on the time of day (just before a snack, just after or instead of an active play period, etc.), even thirty minutes of stories is just too much "sit-and-stay" time for 2s and 3 -I usually suggest 20 to 30 minutes rather than specifically 30 minutes to the program planner, or two 15 minute sessions with smaller groups rather than one 30-minute session for all of the little ones, and no one has objected yet.

d) There's a Wee Sing Around the World book and cassette. "Are you sleeping, Frere Jacques, Fri Filipe".....explaining people sing it differently in different countries. Sing a line and then they sing it with you. There's a song, "Hello to all of the Children of the World" in Wee Sing. Sing it at the beginning. And every story, tell where it comes from and how they say hello in that country. Count in different languages....with objects. Sing "Kookaburra." It's from Australia....tell an Australia tale or a tale about birds from a country. Show pictures of the bird. Do you speak another language...? Make a story bilingual and tell it. My hat it has 3 corners song done with motion. Sing it several times throughout the show. Only use a different language word for hat each time. Spanish before a Spanish story, etc. Last time sing "My Hat," leave out a word and do the motion for my. Next time do motion and no word for my and hat.

2) Understanding Diversity Through Novels and Picture Books goes beyond the usual multicultural book lists and looks at the wide expanse of the diversity of cultures and lifestyles impacting children's lives in America today and identifies good books to have in library collections for them to read. Grades 4-8.

3) Just the Same on the Inside: Understanding Diversity and Supporting Inclusion in Circle Time (Lucky Duck Books), with Juan Bornman's series of stories about children with disabilities, presents explanations of the nature and causes of their difficulties to help children improve understanding and relationships with their peers. This resource also provides information for adults about the disability or difference, and Circle Time activities for young people aged 6 to 8 and 8 to 11. This book can provide a term's work on inclusion or one story and set of activities can be selected to prepare a class or group for the inclusion of a new member who has a difficulty. The program also encourages reflection on difference and individuality.

4) Student Cultural Diversity: Understanding and Meeting the Challenge provides practical advice and solutions to the many K–12 teachers who ask themselves how to address an increasingly diverse student body. The book's unique framework explores the social, cognitive, and communicative roots of diversity, discussing how children learn to think and communicate within their home, community, and school environments. The responsive teacher theme found throughout the narrative empowers new teachers to take an active role in creating meaningful classroom situations for diverse students. A pertinent focus on the educational needs of linguistically diverse students provides crucial information for communicating in the classroom and teaching all content areas.

5) Query: I'm leading a project regarding racism for middle school students next Saturday. I'm looking for a short, powwerful story to share. Any ideas?
Rita P. 11/1/09

Responses:

a) Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. (1999 - Ages 9-12)
This is a folk story about a boy, a very excitable boy. One that can outrun dogs, hit a home run off the best pitcher in the neighborhood, tie a knot no one can undo. "Kid's gotta be a maniac," is what the folks in Two Mills say. It's also the story of how this boy, Jeffrey Lionel "Maniac" Magee, confronts racism in a small town, tries to find a home where there is none and attempts to soothe tensions between rival factions on the tough side of town. Presented as a folk tale, it's the stuff of storytelling. "The history of a kid," says Jerry Spinelli, "is one part fact, two parts legend, and three parts snowball." And for this kid, four parts of fun. Maniac Magee won the 1991 Newbery Medal.

b) The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes with Louis Slobodkin (illus) and Helena Estes (Introduction). (2004 - Ages 9-12)
Never out of print since its 1944 publication, this tender story offers readers of all ages a timeless message of compassion and understanding. At its heart is Wanda Petronski, an immigrant girl in an American school, who is ridiculed for wearing the same faded blue dress every day. When she tells her classmates that she has one hundred dresses at home, she unwittingly triggers a game of teasing that eventually ends in a lesson for all.

c) There is nothing better than: "Bat Hangs Upside Down" — retold by our own Allison Cox.
http://www.dancingleaves.com/allison/stories/why_bat/why_bat_hangs_upside_down.html
Donna J-S, Australia 11/1/09


d) There’s a great Dr. Seuss book called The Sneetches and Other Stories that might work… Most libraries have it.
Diane R. 11/1/09

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Created 2005; last update 11/2/09