Learning About Japan And Storytelling

By Tanjua Damon

Storytelling and writing go hand in hand. Sandy Hook School fourth graders last week were able to combine multiple curriculum skills with a visit from a professional storyteller and writer.

Motoko Dworkin is a storyteller who brings Japanese culture to students through folktales and original stories combined with songs. Motoko also provides writing workshops for students in the classroom. Sandy Hook School fourth graders were able to enjoy the stories of Motoko and her expertise on storytelling with their own writing May 21.

She first performed songs and folktales during a fourth grade assembly. Then she spent time with each class working with them on writing their own folktale. Her presentation fit into the fourth grade curriculum of learning about Japan as well as writing.

“In a good story someone must get into trouble,” Motoko said. “There has to be a transformation. Trouble is the most important ingredient in a story. You have to give your character a chance to learn a lesson and live.”

Gombe was a Japanese boy who was instructed by his grandfather to catch one goose each day to bring to the market to sell, but Gombe got an idea that he would try to catch 100 geese so that he would not have to work for awhile, Motoko told the students. Gombe went out and set up his nets to catch the geese. When the 100 geese all landed, Gombe came out from behind the bush and pulled the rope, but his plan did not work.

Instead, Gombe was lifted into the air by the scared geese. He was holding onto the rope with one hand. He was scared, Motoko said. Then he turned into a goose himself with wings, feathers, and a beak. Gombe began to worry how he was going to turn back into a human. He landed and got caught in a trap. He could not get his foot out and began to cry. His tears began to turn him back into a human. Gombe finally knew what a goose felt like when it was caught in a trap.

“She was great,” teacher David Ballerini said. “The students were very involved.”

Fourth grade teachers at Sandy Hook noted that Motoko offered the students advice and ways to build their own stories as well as learn about Japanese culture.

“She was wonderful,” teacher Nancy Handler said. “It fit in with what we have been talking about with storytelling both orally and written. She is just so animated.”

Teacher Amy Ryan felt the storytelling workshops were beneficial for the students to be able to see how a storyteller starts and finishes a story.

“The storyteller was great. The workshop she did with the students was incredible,” Miss Ryan said. “They got to ask questions about her writing. It went really well with what we have been doing, which is always nice.”

The writing workshops provided students the opportunity to write their own stories, relating them to themselves while working with a professional storyteller.

“I enjoyed her very much. It helped she had a good command of the audience,” teacher Berenice Toomey said. “The students were really involved.”

Motoko has provided writing workshops and various performances at schools along the east coast. She also appeared on Mr Rogers’ Neighborhood on PBS.