A Celebration of Story, Language, and Culture
"The Old Plantation," 1790, attributed to John Rose, Beaufort County, South Carolina.This famous painting shows Gullah slaves dancing and playing musical instruments derived from Africa.
SPI’s K-3 Storytelling Learning Lab
The image above accompanies Charlotte Blake Alston’s song All Hid, which is a traditional Gullah song sung by children when they were playing Hide and Seek.
All Hid invites K-3 sing-along and serves as an introduction to students from all backgrounds to the rich history, art, and culture of the Gullah people of the Lowcountry region of South Carolina and Georgia. The Gullah are known for preserving more of their African linguistic and cultural heritage than any other African-American community in the United States.
SPI developed projects accompany the audio recording.
Story Preservation Initiative works with an ethnically, racially, and culturally diverse group of master storytellers for its K-3 project. The site introduces young people to timeless tales and helps them connect these stories to universal concepts, their own life experience, and different cultures and customs ~ but most of all, our K-3 Learning Lab is designed to instill in kids a love of story, which translates to a love of language and reading!
Carrie Sue Ayvar is one of the featured storytellers in the SPI collection. She is known for her seamless blending of Spanish and English in her telling of traditional Latin American folktales.
Included in the SPI collection: Por qué El Gallo Canta en la Mañana / Why the Rooster Crows in the Morning (click to listen to a brief excerpt) and La Mariposa / The Butterfly. Both are “Pourquoi Tales” that explain how something came to be. For the Why the Rooster Crows, Carrie Sue explains ... well ... por qué el gallo canta en la mañana ~ why roosters crow in the morning and in her story La Mariposa she explains why butterflies migrate. It's all great fun!
Carrie Sue’s stories offer teachers, caregivers, and parents alike a unique and effective way to engage and support native Spanish-speaking English Language Learners. And they make it fun for English speakers to learn a little Spanish. Related SPI developed projects include a Bi-lingual Classic Story Mash-Up: Ricitos de Oro y Los Tres Osos / Goldilocks and the Three Bears. By asking kids to fill in the blanks with whatever words and / or characters they choose, this story becomes their own original zany mash-up that’s fun to share! The only thing ~ they need to fill in the blanks using both Spanish and English words!
And there are lots of bi-lingual book recommendations.
Below: Storytellers currently in the SPI collection. Shown, left to right: Diane Ferlatte, Jay O’Callahan, Odds Bodkin, Carrie Sue Ayvar, Charlotte Blake Alston, Brenda Wong-Aoki, Dovie Thomason, and American Sign Language Storysigner Ian Sanborn. To access SPI’s collection of stories click here.
SPI makes its work available to all, free of charge.
Story Preservation Initiative has developed two Learning Lab projects: Our “Storytelling Learning Lab” is appropriate for students in grades Pre-K through 3, and our “Learning Lab” project is suited for students in grades 4-12, with an emphasis on grades 7-12.
Our Vision: Story Preservation Initiative believes in the transformative power of story to connect people around our common humanity and create a better future. We value generosity, diversity, inclusivity, and equity in our stories and in our outreach, exploring and illuminating the deepest levels of human potential.
Our Mission: Story Preservation Initiative is a leading producer and online distributor of original, content-rich stories for K-12 students. Our open-access stories and educational materials are used by educators throughout the U.S., engaging the hearts and minds of young people to foster curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking as they open doors to possible career choice.
Please consider making a donation - in any amount - to help us keep the stories coming. To make a tax-deductible donation, click here.