Storytell Your Literate Life

A great way to start storytelling with your friends or students is to recall the memories of your literate life: stumbles and falls, triumphs and "ta-das."

Here are some possibilities to get you started. You add to the list!

• your first visit to the library, your first library card, a library "incident" (from being shhhusshed to falling in love)

• the first book you recall "reading" (even if you "just" memorized it)

• the moment you realized you could read

• a teacher, librarian, mentor who brought books or encouraged reading in your life

• a family member who in some small or big way believed in you as a reader, writer, performer, thinker

• the first time a "hard" book grabbed you

• going on a reading (or writing) binge - pulling an all-nighter or going into seclusion for a weekend

• rereading a book and finding either you or the book had (or hadn't) changed

• discovering you like a certain genre or finding a series you loved

• any experience buying a book or being given a book as a treasured gift (or not treasuring the gift)

• any experience handling books old or new (job in a book store, janitorial work in a school, etc.)

• an image from a book that has stayed with you a long time, an image from a poem or memory of learning one

• what were your reading (writing/performing, drawing, painting) gaps - times you got away and longed to return

• what started you up again after a gap in reading etc.

• what was the moment or a time when your reading and writing intersected and you became aware how connected the two were

• when did you take part in a play and just love it (or not)

• when did you ever see performing connected with your skill in reading/writing

• a time when a teacher, parent, sibling, friend, or other person affect your self-esteem as a reader, writer, speaker, listener, or learner in general

• when did your vision (need for glasses) or your dislike of wearing glasses affect your literacy

• when did you ever teach someone else to read or love reading (writing, listening, performing, speaking publicly

If you need any additional information, please feel free to contact Marni.
Marni Gillard 833 Parkside Avenue Schenectady, NY 12309 USA	(518) 381-9474 marni@marnigillard.com www.marnigillard.com
All Materials Copyright 2004-2011 by Marni Gillard. All Rights Reserved.