Arts and Culture United States Project #9220

Teach Literacy through the Arts in DC, MD, and VA

by Story Tapestries Inc.

Teach Literacy through the Arts in DC, MD, and VA

Project Report | May 11, 2017
Arts Partnerships Help Students Succeed in Literacy

By Yvonne Oh | Communications Volunteer

We asked our fabulous Communications Volunteer, Yvonne Oh, to tell us a little bit about what inspires her to support Story Tapestries and arts in education. Yvonne is a regular and invaluable contributor to our blog and social media. Here is her take on why Arts Partnerships Help Students Succeed, particularly in regards to literacy.

My mother is the most dedicated teacher I know. She became a teacher after we kids were almost into our teens. No longer having to watch over us gave her time and opportunity to dive into a passion which we didn't realize she had. And she was a very good teacher. In fact, she sometimes said it was a shame that she didn't get to apply her knowledge of early child development with us - how brilliant we would've been!

She’s retired now, and I thank her for the appreciation I have for teachers like her - teachers who made sure lessons were creative and imaginative so that students were inspired to learn. Mind you, she’s happy to hear that I have been volunteering with Story Tapestries and doing my bit to help create positive learning environments. Retirement never stops a good teacher.

Story Tapestries has been a creative, dynamic partner to schools, community organizations and cultural institutions. Our mission is to help introduce creativity and imagination in everyday lessons. Story Tapestries has provided teacher training programs for professional development and arts integrations, teaching artist residencies and community workshops and performances.

Story Tapestries encourages partnerships and cooperative programs between schools and arts organizations. I recently stumbled across an interesting article, The Art of Partnerships: Community Resources for Arts Education, that looks at ways to initiate and develop successful partnerships for arts integration in public academic curricula. A strong arts education has proven to benefit reading and language skills. Students also learn critical thinking and social interaction skills. Overall, there is a stronger motivation for learning.

**As our Communications Volunteer, Yvonne Oh is always on the lookout for articles and research that inform our approach to teaching literacy through the arts. Her passion and that of other members of the Story Tapestries community helps keep us inspired to continue with our mission.

If you love being part of this project please send it to a friend who can love supporting it too. Thank you again for continuing to help us bring the Arts into the lives of our communities.

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Apr 11, 2017
Weaving Tapestries of Support for Youth

By Katie Sill | Program Manager

One of the ways that the Story Tapestries team ensures that our work in literacy remains current and relevant is to stay up to date on research that can inform our model. We recently came across a Research Brief from the Center for Promise titled Defining Webs of Support: A New Framework to Advance Understanding of Relationships and Youth Development that discusses the frameworks of webs of support that are effective in positively impacting youth. This report, written by Shannon M. Varga and Jonathan F. Zaff, defines "Webs of Support" as the "intersection of a multilayered ecology filled with a network of relationships that provide social supports."

The report helpfully breaks that down for us:

Relationships with people

Relationships with institutions

Relationships with their broader environment

This concept is what drove us to shape our Ideal Program Model, which is to bring together schools, parents, and other adult community leaders like librarians, museum docents, seniors and others to build networks that support youth in ongoing, positive ways. When Story Tapestries connects with a community in need, we work together with that community to develop a strategy based on the following model:

Observe the community and working together to Assess what they Need

Come in to do a Series of Workshops culminating in some form of Community Event

Work with educators through Professional Development workshops

Work with parents and community members through Community Engagement Events

Reflect on the success of the program by Measuring the Impact

Our network of teaching artists, educators, and community leaders come together during this process to focus on literacy strategies, STEM, 21st Century Skills, and/or social development, depending on the unique needs of the school, utilizing art forms such as storytelling, hip hop/rap, poetry, theatre, dance, visual arts, and much more. We envision this collaboration forming a tapestry weaving together the needs of the community with the creativity and innovation that the arts provide.

One of the ways we've seen how the ARTS can be used to weave a tapestry of support for the children we work with is through the impact on LITERACY. The arts are languages that all people speak – they cut across racial, cultural, social, education, and economic barriers and enhance cultural appreciation and awareness. This means the arts can be used to facilitate communication between students and teachers, between parents and schools, and between community members.

We're excited to see the Center for Promise further developing and growing this idea of youth being supported by a network of relationships with the individuals, institutions, and environment that surrounds them. The more we know about the complex environments that shape the lives of youth, the more tools we have in our toolbox to support them. Research like this is integral to the success of our efforts in literacy.

Thank you again for continuing to bring the Arts into the lives of our communities.

If you love being part of this project please send it to a friend who can love supporting it too.

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Jan 12, 2017
Learning Through Stories

By Katie Sill | Program Administration Manager

Every once on in a while, we and the artists we work with like to step back and appreciate why we work so hard to help educators teach literacy through the arts. One of the wonderful artists in the Story Tapestries network, Carie Sue Ayvar, recently sat down with us to explain how she came to be so passionate about this work.

“I just love stories!” says Carrie Sue Ayvar, award-winning storyteller and longtime friend of us here at Story Tapestries. She was explaining her enthusiasm and love for storytelling. Carrie Sue remembers telling and listening to stories since she was little. Her inspiration to become a storyteller comes from her grandfather whose stories she listened to while visiting him during summers. “If I came to him with a problem or something, he always had a story to tell. That’s how he encouraged me to figure things out,” she says

She is a firm believer of using her art to educate and communicate. “My grandfather taught me that it’s hard to hate someone whose story you know,” she says.

Her stories are traditional and international folktales, with a sprinkling of her own anecdotes. She regularly incorporates other languages, especially Spanish, into her stories.

“Children easily adapt to be bilingual but adults may not be as fluent,” she says. Using familiar stories with bilingual elements helps non-native speakers grasp a new language. As these parents continue telling the stories, they can improve on their language skills through using rhyme, rhythm and repetition.

Through her stories, Carrie Sue has been able to incorporate both language and math concepts. She regularly conducts professional development classes to train teachers to integrate arts into the curriculum. “These things do work.”

In fact, according to the National Assembly of States Arts Agencies (NASAA), the overall effects of arts integration can benefit both English language learners and native English speakers through being able to communicate better. (More about the NASAA findings, here.)

“Everyone should learn one story to tell,” she explains.”Telling a story empowers a person…giving that confidence to speak in front of others.”

Ever busy, Carrie Sue is already looking ahead and preparing programs for the new year. “I’m so lucky to do the things that I love…listening and telling stories.”

With Story Tapestries, Carrie Sue has worked with students in workshops and performances to improve literacy skills, and she has also become a regular contributor with our weekly "Tuesdays with StoryTapestries" Facebook Live video series. We're thankful to have her in our artist network and look forward to bringing her to many more schools and communities in the future!

We're happy to be able to share stories like this that let you know how your dollars have made a difference. Thank you for helping us make such programs possible!

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