Professional Development

Kansas Summer Reading Workshops – Topeka, Kansas, February 22, 2011

by Dianne on February 22, 2011

2-22-11 Dianne's star cheerleaders in the front row!

Friends:

Today was the second day of my summer reading workshop tour in Kansas and today, I was in Topeka! It was a brisk 16 degrees when I was picked up from my hotel. Brrrr! But things quickly heated up once my workshop started. I had some sizzling librarians with warm hearts!

2-22-11 Librarians create a snow blizzard using a coffee filter to make a snowflake in the story, Papa's Teepee from Handmade Tales

I began with a creativity exercise in which the participants had to create a self portrait out of items from their purses, wallets or pockets. There were some very interesting self-portraits! I love this techie self-portrait. A cell phone for the hair, flash drives for the eyes… I soooo relate! Hahahaha!

2-22-11 A self-portait by a workshop participant using items from her purse

The first half of my workshop was dedicated to Handmade Tales. They learned some draw and tell tales and some cut and tell tales such as “Joseph Had an Overcoat.”

2-22-11 Librarians make Joseph's overcoat in the story, Joseph Had an Overcoat

They learned how to make a scroll story, how to create paper Russian nesting dolls, and how to cut magic stars. They learned the string story, “The Stubburn Turnip” and how to make a star string figure. A favorite is always “Bandana Man.” John and Jacob make such adorable little old women!

2-22-11 John and Jacob are old women in the story, Bandana Man, from Handmade Tales

I love how Bandana Man always makes my workshop participants sooo happy! Yes, he’s quite the cutie!

2-22-11 Workshop participants in Topeka, KS make Bandana Man

After an hour lunch, the second half of the workshop was dedicated to Tangram Tales and “Picture Book Makes and Takes.” First, they learned about Tangrams and cut out a Tangram set without a pattern. Then they began manipulating the Tangrams.

2-22-11 Workshop participants create Tangrams

Then I challenged them to a contest, requiring them to invent their own Tangram. This one was the winner – a plant in bloom by Jacob, AKA “Wonder Boy.” After he won the contest, he did a victory lap around the room and everyone did the wave for him. Hilarious!!

2-22-11 The winner of the Invent-a-Tangram contest - a blooming plant

Then it was time for the workshop participants to create their Tangram Story Theater. Everyone in the workshop performed “Tiger’s Tale, Anansi’s Stories.” It came out sooo cute!

2-22-11 Librarians perform a Tangram story theater - Tiger's Tale, Anansi's Stories from Tangram Tales

After finishing Tangram Tales, we moved on to “Picture Book Make and Takes,” where I showed them different book activities to go with all of my picture books. First, they made Cajun Cornbread Boy puppets. Ooh yeah, cher!

2-22-11 Spicy Cajun Cornbread Boy makes a librarian happy!

I told the story of Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach with the help of some great librarians with a good sense of humor!

2-22-11 Workshop participants become dead roaches in the hilarious story of Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach

My last story was There’s a Dragon in the Library. They loved all the activities that went with this story, especially the accordion dragon!

2-22-11 There's a Dragon in the Library large accordion puppet

It was a fantabulous day and I sooo enjoyed my time in Topeka! A very special thank you to my editor from ABC-Clio Libraries Unlimited, Sharon Coatney. She lives in Lawrence and made a special trip to attend my workshop. She is amazing and I love her! Thank you also to Mickey Coalwell, Teri, Brenda and all the staff of the Northeast Kansas Library System (NEKLS) for getting me from A to B and for executing a flawless workshop! You guys rock!

Thank you especially to all the wonderful librarians with whom I had the privilege of sharing my day. Keep doing the amazing work you do!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

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Kansas Summer Reading Workshops, Iola – Monday, February 21, 2011

by Dianne on February 21, 2011

2-21-11 All librarians are stars!

Friends:

Today I had the great privilege of doing a summer reading workshop for Kansas children’s librarians in Iola, Kansas. The first part of the morning was dedicated to Handmade Tales. I began the workshop with a creativity activity to warm the participants up. They had to create a self-portrait from the contents of their purses or wallets. Fun!

2-21-11 Participants create a self portrait out of items in their purses or wallets

Then we started with draw and tell tales. First, they learned how to draw “The Emperor’s Dragon” from Handmade Tales.

2-21-11 The Emperor's Dragon from Handmade Tales

After a couple of draw and tell tales, I taught them “Joseph Had a Little Overcoat.” I demonstrated some of my other Handmade Tales such as making nesting dolls out of paper, doing the “Ugly Duckling” out of towels, and showing them a scroll story, “The Boy Who Drew Cats.” We did “Papa’s Teepee,” creating snowflakes and a snow blizzard out of coffee filter. So cool!

2-21-11 Creating a snow blizzard with coffee filters snowflakes from Papa's Teepee story

Then it was on to “Bandana Man,” a fun rendition of “the Gingerbread Man.”

2-21-11 Anita creates Bandana Man from Handmade Tales

I taught them “The Stubborn Turnip” out of string and they loved the string figures! I also taught them how to make stars!

2-21-11 String figure stars!

After lunch, it was time for a fun game. Since the theme is “One World, Many Stories,” I taught them a game that I learned from children in Singapore called “Pluck the Pearl.” Game players face each other and try to “pluck” the pearl from the open oyster. The oyster snaps closed and if the “plucker” gets snapped, she loses. It’s a lot of fun and takes a bit of speed and coordination.

2-21-11 Leah and her partner play Pluck the Pearl, a game from Singapore

Afterward, it was time for Tangram Tales. First, I had them create a Tangram set and work with Tangrams.

2-21-11 Amanda creates a bucking horse Tangram

Then they invented their own Tangrams. I made it a contest and here is the winner!

2-21-11 Wendy invents a humming bird feeder Tangram and wins the contest!

Then it was time for the creation of a Tangram story theater. They practiced and performed “Tiger’s Tale, Anansi’ Stories,” a tale from the West Indies. It came out so cute, especially the story chorus!

2-21-11 Participants perform Tiger's Tale, Anansi's Stories from Tangram Tales

After Tangram Tales, it was time for Picture Book Make and Takes. First, I told an excerpt of The Cajun Cornbread Boy. Then they made Cajun Cornbread Boy stick puppets.

2-21-11 Workshop participants create The Cajun Cornbread Boy puppets

Then I performed Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach with the help of the audience members. Rachel, thanks for playing the part of Monsieur Roach!

2-21-11 Dianne de Las Casas performs Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach with Rachel as Monsieur Roach

The roaches in the story were soooo funny! Love them!

2-21-11 Hilarious! Kansas children's librarians play like dead roaches in Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach

It was a spectacular day and I had a ton of fun!! Special thanks to Sandy Wilkerson for coordinating this portion of my Kansas tour. I felt so much love and sunshine from the Sunflower State!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

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Louisiana PreK/K Conference – Wednesday, January 26, 2011

by Dianne on January 29, 2011

1-26-11 Teachers do the cut and tell tale, Joseph Had a Little Overcoat at Dianne's Handmade Tales session at the Louisiana PreK-K Conference

Friends:

On Wednesday, January 26, 2011, I presented two professional development sessions at the Louisiana Pre-K/Kindergarten conference sponsored by the Louisiana Department of Education. My first session was “Handmade Tales: Stories to Make and Take” full of simple cut and tell and draw and tell tales. I began with “Joseph Had an Overcoat” (pictured above). Then I taught the teachers how to do a couple of draw and tell tales: “How to Catch a Pest in 7 steps” and “The Emperor’s Dragon.”

1-26-11 The Emperor's Dragon, a draw and tell tale from Dianne's Handmade Tales session at the Louisiana PreK-K Conference

They really loved making the snowflakes out of coffee flakes in the story, “Papa’s Teepee.”

1-26-11 A snow blizzard by PreK & K teachers in Dianne's Handmade Tales session

I ended the workshop with the story, “The Magic Star” for all of those “teaching stars” in the room.

1-26-11 Teaching stars in Dianne's Handmade Tales session

It was so much fun and the teachers really enjoyed the session. In fact, it was overfull; people were sitting on the floor and they had to close the session. My next session was just as full. There were 50 people waiting outside the door before it began! My second session was “Louisiana Picture Book Make and Takes.” I told excerpts of my books and showed them some fun accompanying book activities perfect for PreK and Kindergarten students. I featured activities for my books, Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach, Mama’s Bayou, The Gigantic Sweet Potato, and The Cajun Cornbread Boy. Holly Stone-Barker, illustrator of Mama’s Bayou was on hand to help out and sign books. She is such an amazing artist!

1-26-11 Teachers make Madame Poulet and Monsieur Roach story shakers in Dianne's Louisiana Picture Book Make and Take session

After my session, I signed books and there was quite a line. Thank you to all the patient teachers!! A special thank you to Holly and her friend, Kathy, for all their help. I would never have been able to do it by myself. Kathy was a spectacular salesperson!

1-26-11 Dianne signing books for teachers at the Louisiana PreK-K Conference in Baton Rouge

It was a fantastic day and I had a wonderful time! A special thank you to Loren Barrios, Nicholy Johnson, and all the staff from the Department of Education, Early Childhood Division. Another special thank you to some amazing teachers: Tina Champagne, Katie Tilly, Joyce Muller and Alecia Rabalais!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

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Book Update Seminar at Country Day School, Metairie, LA – Saturday, January 30, 2010

by Dianne on January 30, 2010

1-30-20 UNO Professor of Children's Literature, Pat Austin, gives a passionate book talk

1-30-20 UNO Professor of Children's Literature, Pat Austin, gives a passionate book talk

Friends:

I spent half of my Saturday at a professional development seminar hosted by the University of New Orleans (UNO) and Metairie Park Country Day School. Pat Austin, Professor of Children’s Literature at UNO, headed the program. The program began with Pat discussing this year’s ALA winners: the Newbery, the Caldecott, the Prinz, the Sibert, the Geisel, the Pura Belpre’, and the John Steptoe New Talent awards. She booktalked her favorite and not-so-favorite selections from the list. Then Pat showed us some excellent books that didn’t win awards but should have.

After Pat, the lower elementary librarian from Country Day shared how she used the Kindle with her 6th graders. It was interesting to see the school embrace and integrate new technology. The final presentation was by the high school librarian, who shared her experiences in Saudi Arabia, traveling on grant funds. It was very interesting. After a discussion of “Have the Newberys lost their way?”, it was time to eat.

1-30-10 Lunching with Librarians at Country Day's Book Update Event, including my dear friends, Ellen Miller to my left and Betty Brodtmann, to my right

1-30-10 Lunching with Librarians at Country Day's Book Update Event, including my dear friends, Ellen Miller to my left and Betty Brodtmann, to my right

We were treated to a 3 course meal of mixed greens with tomatoes and artichoke hearts, pan seared Marsala chicken, buttery Yukon gold potatoes, haricot vert, and delicious Spumoni cheesecake. Every bite was delectable. The Country Day chef, Jerome, did a phenomenal job. Thank you!

I enjoyed my morning and loved meeting new people. It’s always great to hang out with librarians because they get excited about championing books. We all have the same goal – literacy! Getting kids to read is a job we must all do together.

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

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Mississippi Library Commission Conference – Thursday, November 20, 2008

by admin on December 4, 2008

Friends:

A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of being a featured speaker at the Mississippi Library Commission conference. The conference was for children’s librarians in Mississippi public libraries. It was a fun busy conference! The conference was held at the Cabot Lodge Hotel in Jackson, Mississippi.

When I arrived, I was immediately invited to join the librarians for dinner. They had a buffet of fajitas set up. Yum! Afterwards, I joined the librarians for a YA movie night. We watched Juno. Following that, I met another client for a cocktail! It was a busy night.

I rose early Thursday morning and had breakfast with the group. Then I attended Vicki Cobb‘s presentation. Vicki is the children’s book author of many wonderful non-fiction science books, books that get kids excited about science. Vicki was a fabulous presenter, providing many hands-on science activities for the librarians, who loved every minute of it! Here is Vicki demonstrating a science principle of wind using a leaf blower and toilet paper. How fun!

Vickie Cobb demonstrating wind with leaf blower & toilet paper - 11-20-08

Vickie Cobb demonstrating wind with leaf blower & toilet paper - 11-20-08

When Vicki’s presentation was finished, there was a fun game. Each table of librarians was a team. Each team had a “sculptor.” I was the sculptor for my team. Using Play Dough, we had to sculpt for our team using clues we were handed on a small piece of paper. Can you guess what book this was supposed to be?

Play Dough Game - 11-20-08

Play Dough Game - 11-20-08

If you guessed, “Harry Potter,” you are right! See the sorting hat, golden snitch, and the Nimbus 2000 broom?

My two presentations were both scheduled after lunch. My first workshop was “Tell Along Tales,” in which I taught the librarians how to tell audience participatory stories. I also taught them important audience management techniques.

Dianne instructing MLC librarians - 11-20-08

Dianne instructing MLC librarians - 11-20-08

Here we are doing some “hands-on” audience participation, doing the chorus for my story, “Pulling Up the Sweet Potato.”

Dianne teaching audience participation - 11-20-08

Dianne teaching audience participation - 11-20-08

It was tons of fun! Thank you, Vicki, for staying for my Tell Along Tales presentation!

This is a picture of Jamie Elstrom. She worked at Jefferson Parish Library, my local library, years ago when I first got my start in storytelling. Jamie likes to say that she saw me “grow up.” It’s true! Jamie is so tech savvy that she booked me right on the spot using her laptop during a break. I’ll see you in Summer 2009, Jamie!

Jamie Elstrom, former Louisiana librarian now turned Missippi Librarian - 11-20-08

Jamie Elstrom, former Louisiana librarian now turned Mississippi Librarian - 11-20-08

After Tell-Along Tales, I did my “Story Fest” workshop, instructing the librarians how to use story theater in the library. This is a picture of a group doing some role playing warm-up exercises. They are portraying a bus driver on a bus with a group of very naughty children. OMG! The bus driver is blind-folded! Hahahaha!

Story Fest Group role-playing bus driver with bad kids on the bus - 11-20-08

Story Fest Group role-playing bus driver with bad kids on the bus - 11-20-08

This next group is role-playing a Mardi Gras parade. They had to portray a float, the parade king, and the Mardi Gras revelers. Can you tell who is who?

Story Fest role-playing Mardi Gras parade - 11-20-08

Story Fest role-playing Mardi Gras parade - 11-20-08

We had so much fun in my workshops. These librarians were enthusiastic, lively, and one of the most fun groups I’ve worked with. They even gave me a beautiful gift at the end of my presentations – a standing ovation! Wow! I was so honored. A special thank you to Kathy Buntin for inviting me to participate in the conference.

After my workshop, I went to my room to rest for a while. Then, as if the full day’s activities weren’t enough, I joined a group of librarians to see the midnight premiere of Twilight (I read all 4 books by Stephenie Meyers). We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. (Mara, I can’t sit next to you anymore! Mai Tai! still LMAO)

Mississippi Librarians, thank you so much for having me at your conference. I can’t wait to see y’all again!

Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

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Handmade Tales Workshop; Friday, April 4, 2008

by admin on April 4, 2008

Handmade Tales Workshop: Telling Bandana Man 4-4-08

Friends:

Today, I did a professional development workshop for teachers at an elementary school in the metro New Orleans area. What made the day so special was that my youngest daughter, Eliana (7), accompanied me and was my little assistant throughout the workshop. She passed out supplies and even took all the pictures (except for the one of us). (Thank you, sweetheart! Mommy loves you!)

I began the workshop with a cut and tell of “Joseph Had an Overcoat.” It was fun seeing the teachers cut out all the shapes. Next, we moved to draw and tell stories. Here is a picture of my original draw and tell tale called “Catching the Pest.”

Handmade Tales Workshop: Catching a Pest 4-4-08

“Catching a Pest” uses the numbers 1-7 to illustrate the story and at the end, becomes a mouse. The teachers loved the story. Next, we did another draw and tell story titled “The Emperor’s Dragon,” based loosely on a Chinese folktale. It’s a fun story that kids love watching and drawing themselves.

Handmade Tales Workshop: Emperor’s Dragon 4-4-08

Following that story, I told the story of “Bandana Man.” The teachers really responded to the story. It’s an adaptation of “The Gingerbread Man,” told with bandana folding. The story begins with an old woman…

Handmade Tales Workshop: Teachers being Old Woman in Bandana Man 4-4-08

Here’s my favorite old woman…

Handmade Tales Workshop: Man Old Woman in Bandana Man 4-4-08

Here are the teachers with their bandana men. “Run, run, run as fast as you can. You can’t catch me, I’m Bandana Man.”

Handmade Tales Workshop: Teachers Making Bandana Man 4-4-08

The workshop ended with the story of “The Stubborn Turnip,” a string story based on a Russian folktale. It was so much fun and the teachers loved every minute of it. Eliana helped me perform the story. She was definitely a show stopper! Here is a picture of us telling together.

Handmade Tales Workshop: The Stubborn Turnip w Eliana 4-4-08

It was a funtastic workshop full of energetic, enthusiastic teachers. I’ll get to see them again soon. Next Friday, I have  performances at their school for “Family Literacy Day.”

Eliana was such a big help that I treated her to a surprise lunch. Lunch was the show and the show was lunch! We went to a Hibachi Bar. It was a blast. The Hibachi chef really knew how to heat things up.

Hibachi Chef with fire 4-4-08

Eliana, thank you so much for all your help today. You were an absolute angel!

Handmade Tales Workshop: Eliana 4-4-08

Happy Handmade Tales to You! Until next time…

Warmly, Dianne

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