Sally Crandall Tells Her Story

Storytelling Start
I started storytelling as a school librarian. I discovered that when we all jumped into a story and didn’t take a breath until it spit us out on the other side, the experience drew us together and set the tone for the lesson to follow. During my time as a librarian, I found good readers make pictures in their heads of the story they are reading, and I knew, from my own listening experience, that good listeners do the same. I believed then, as I do now, that reading stories and listening to stories exercise many of the same faculties.

“You have a rare gift for creating the most extraordinary pictures and making them real.” - Adele Browne, coordinator for the first annual Hock Hocking Liars Contest.

Background
I have a master’s in Library Science and have worked with books and kids in a school library for eighteen years. Before that I was a Montessori kindergarten and preschool teacher. Now, in between working on stories to tell, I work on stories to write and have published several articles in AppleSeeds Magazine and an emergent reader entitled Beavers.

Memberships and Involvement
I am a member of the Greater Columbus Arts Council Artist In the School Program, Artsbridge in Marietta and Parkersburg and the Muse Machine in Dayton. I also am a member of the National Storytelling Network, the Ohio Order for the Preservation of Storytelling, and I serve on the board of the Storytellers of Central Ohio.

Recent Venues
Please take a look at some of the places I have been giving storytelling workshops and performances.

Some recent performances include:

Ohio State University 2007

Barlow Vincent Elementary, Marietta 2007

Warren Elementary, Marietta 2007

Annehurst Elementary, Columbus 2007

Logan Waste Management Camp 2007

The Dowd Center for Homeless Children 2007

Orient Men's Correctional Institution 2007

King's Mills Elementary School 2007

Amethyst -An organization for recovering substance abusers and ther families 2007

North Adams Elementary - family literacy night 2007

A sampling of recent teaching and workshop activities includes:

St. Joseph Montessori School 2007.  I worked with the entire class of 42 for an afternoon devoted to storytelling.  Twelve children and I followed up the following week.  The children learned and practiced

stories, which they performed on Friday.

National Reading Recovery Conference 2006.  I have presented at this conference several times.  Two of my topics have been "Spooky Tales in the Classroom", "Beginning Storytelling".

Thurber House Writing Program 2005 and 2006.  I gave a six week long writing workshop for k-1 and their parents.  Also, I participated in the 4th -6th grade summer writing camp.

Weeklong Storytelling Camp for 4th to 6th grade 2007.  At St. Joseph Montessori seven 4th -6th graders and I interviewed senior citizens, listened to great tellers, rode the bus, wrote in our journals about the people we saw, and prepared stories for our senior buddies based on the stories they told us.

Honors and Awards
I was one of the winners of the first National Storytelling Contest held in Hillsboro, Ohio
In 2005, I was awarded first place in the first annual Hock Hocking Liar’s Contest

Professional Development

I attended the Kennedy Center two day workshop for teaching artists on planning residencies. 2006

I attended the Greater Columbus Arts Council's two day workshop entitled Arts Integration for Teaching Artists Seminar.2006

Click on the following to read about my Services/Programs, Who I Work With and How I Work.

Click on Heads or Tales  to take a look at my storytelling blog.

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