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Residencies
Addressing the Standards - Exceeding Expectations
Because every student and classroom are unique, Katie Knutson's residencies are custom-designed to meet the needs of teachers, administration and students. Katie will work with you to discuss residency goals, state standards and curriculum. Learn more about residencies here. Contact Katie to begin creating a plan to meet your academic, artistic, and social/emotional goals today!
Arts Integration Residencies
Arts Integration Residencies
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Literacy Residency with Storyteller & Teaching Artist Katie Knutson
04:18
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Katie Knutson, Storyteller & Teaching Artist at Folwell School, Performing Arts Magnet
07:18
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About these Videos
The first video provides an over-view of a school-wide Storytelling and Drama Integration residency at Neill Elementary. Goals varied from storytelling and creative writing to exercising critical thinking and learning challenging words on standardized tests.
The second video is an in-depth look at a Storytelling residency with second graders at Folwell School that concluded with a performance.
Residency Videos
Storytelling
A Storytelling Residency
While content and goals vary widely across grade levels, your students learn the Art of Storytelling. This could include research, writing, editing, retelling, drawing, games, story coaching, student feedback, public speaking, memorization techniques, a student storytelling performance, and even digital storytelling. Storytelling residencies can focus on a particular kind of story, such as folk tales, pourquoi stories, fables, personal narrative, family stories, or historical fiction.
Storytelling taps into our minds, and brings concepts to life. We can all relate to a story, and by weaving in vocabulary and other academic learning, it makes a high level connection. It's an excellent way to introduce academic concepts. It helps student engagement and they really think about the story. They not only demonstrate a greater attention to detail, they are able to make the jump to critical thinking and address higher level questions well.
I am very committed to developing the art of storytelling. Working with Katie is a reminder of the genius of this approach. It naturally taps into the curiosity and engagement of all students and is a path toward high level discussion in class. By working with Katie, it helps me see what she does first hand, to know how she specifically implements it. With an art, it is difficult to apply it after one workshop. In a residency with Katie, working alongside an expert helps me learn and make that bridge from embracing story telling to actually doing it.
Lisa Monson
Fourth Grade Teacher
Folwell School, Performing Arts Magnet
Kindergarten Digital Storytelling Videos
Kindergarten Digital Storytelling Videos
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Why Snake Can Open His Mouth so Wide
01:19
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How Jellyfish and Crab Became Friends
03:29
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How the Turtle Learned to Swim
01:55
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When kindergarteners learn a story structure, research animals, and then combine their new knowledge with an old story, something magical is created.
Four different Kindergarten classes from the Hopkins School District created incredible stories. Three classes used the Pourquoi (How and Why) Structure; the other based theirs on "The Ugly Duckling" and similar stories.
I wrote about this process in this book.
Kinder videos
Theatre
A Theatre Residency
Witness your students collaborating to tell a story. Whether we start with a script, favorite story, or historical event, we will end with a performance. These residencies often include acting instruction, memorization techniques, proper vocal use and warm ups, group retelling, theatre games, student feedback, public speaking, and prop/set/costume planning and construction.
Writing Residency
A Writing Residency
Storytelling and writing go hand-in-hand. Using games and activities, Katie will motivate your students to write fiction, personal narratives, and better speeches. By the end of a writing residency, formerly reluctant writers often beg, "Can we please write for just a few more minutes?"
Other Residencies
Customized Arts Integration Residencies
If you are required to teach it, there is a good chance Katie can find a way to make it more engaging using Storytelling and Drama. She loves the challenge of designing a program from scratch and will work with you to achieve your educational goals. Katie has integrated the arts into many diverse subject areas including music composition, insect life cycles, properties of rocks, critical literacy, social justice, immigration and migration, and standardized test vocabulary.
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