Training Manual Format

Storytelling – The Little Girl Who Scattered The Stars - 1 of 8 Storytelling – The Little Girl Who Scattered the Stars

Brief Summary

This is an oral story from the Cochiti Pueblo people of New Mexico. It is about a little girl who loses her people and is charged with the task of carrying the stars on her journey to find her way home again.

Other oral stories should be set up and presented in a similar fashion.

Equipment Required

 Background media  Remote control to run media  Cotton bag with glitter stars  Microphone and PA  Glitter stars (in cotton bag)  Gaffer’s tape to tape down  Campfire the campfire cord

Main Teaching Points

 There is a story in Cochiti culture about how the stars got into the sky, and how they came to be associated with one another in constellations.

Educational Strategy

 Storytelling is popular with all age levels, and so allows for an intergenerational learning experience.  Stories give context to information and help people recall and apply that information more easily.  Storytelling exposes visitors to the way in which other cultures relate to the night sky as if they were a part of that culture, rather than an outside member “looking in.” Storytelling – The Little Girl Who Scattered The Stars - 2 of 8  Storytelling is a successful teaching method for all ages, but particularly for young children.

Set Up

 Tie the handles of the bag of stars in a single knot, and put the bag in an accessible place.  Put the media remote control in your pocket.  Plug in the campfire, making sure the cord is out of sight or firmly taped down.  Open the “Cochiti story” media so it projects onto the big screen, and bring up the first scene (Kiva during the day).  Switch on the microphone and PA system.

Suggested ways of presenting demo

Try this:

1. Introduction  Gather a crowd, and ask them to sit in a half circle facing the Kiva (point to image of Kiva on the screen).  Sit or kneel in front of the audience (this will help them get into the “storytelling mood” rather than the “demo mood”).  Begin by asking questions and telling the audience about the story: “ Have you ever been on a long trip before? Have you ever been away from your family? Have you ever been out on a dark night and seen the stars, and wondered how they got there? Well, this is a story that the Cochiti Pueblo people from New Mexico tell about how the stars got into the sky. It’s about a little girl named Kotchimanyako who got separated from her own family, and had to go on a very special journey to find them again.” 2. The Story  Tell the story.  Scene changes for background media are indicated in the script.

Operating Tips

Some storytelling tips:  Put some animation into it! You will hold the audience’s attention most successfully by varying your speed and inflection to fit the part of the story you are telling.  Slow, deliberate words will be most easily understood. Storytelling – The Little Girl Who Scattered The Stars - 3 of 8  Move around! For suggestions on what movements will accent the story line, see the script.  Mimic the facial expression that you think the characters would have when you are telling their words.  Give the audience time to recover when you have thrown out the stars before moving on with the story.  Try to disguise the media remote control as best you can to augment the illusion.  When you turn a page, wait a moment before beginning to speak – this will give the audience a chance to absorb the images before turning their primary attention back to you. Likewise, wait a moment after finishing a page to turn to the next page.  Believe in the story when you tell it – your audience will be transported to its world.

 For a very young audience, consider the following:  Set the guidelines at the very beginning so that questions and participation don’t get so far out of hand that the program derails. “I’m going to tell you a story about X. I’m going to need your help, but I’ll tell you when.” “I need your listening ears on right now.”  Involve adults: “Mom, Dad, I’m going to need your help to ____”

Questions and Answers

I can’t find the constellations you mentioned in the star charts/I’ve never heard of those constellations. Where can I find them? The 88 constellations we see on star charts are the ones named by the Greeks and Romans of long ago. However, almost every culture looked to the sky and had stories to tell about the stars that they saw. Demo: Open up Starry Night Pro to a summer sky, and highlight all the classical constellations.

Fast Facts

 Some examples of Cochiti constellations and their Greek/Roman equivalents are:

Cochiti Name Greek/Roman Name Arch Across the Sky The Milky Way Sling Shot Stars Delphinus Pot Rest Stars Orion’s Belt Shield Stars 7 stars of Big Dipper

Potential Problems

 Media integration and mastery of the script take time and practice! Storytelling – The Little Girl Who Scattered The Stars - 4 of 8 Background materials (websites, videos, articles, digital collections links)

. Benedict, Ruth, 1931. Tales of the Cochiti Indians. Washington: U.S. G.P.O. (Bulletin / Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology ; 98) (pp. 4-5) . http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/bios/lochner/pueblo.html – a retelling of the story

Self assessment suggestions

After doing STORYTELLING several times, complete the checklist and rubric below by highlighting the box that best describes your performance. Have your team leader observe your demo then complete an identical rubric. Discuss your presentation technique with your team leader along the lines of the rubric. Storytelling – The Little Girl Who Scattered The Stars - 5 of 8

Assessment for STORYTELLING DATE______PRESENTER______

A. Checklist of pre-requisite skills 1. Can set up and take down the props, and A-V equipment needed for this activity 2. Can field sensitive questions such as, “Did the Cochiti Pueblo people really believe that?” 3. Knows the story by heart, though not necessarily the exact wording

B. Rubric for STORYTELLING QUALITY LEVELS  OK EXCELLENT TRAITS  Gathers an audience and Recruits a crowd and warms Expresses a genuine prepares them to listen them up with friendly questions concern for the individuals in the audience, both adults and children Gives story credits Introduces the story with the Introduces the story with story credits the story credits and provides a context to the story Engages audience During the story maintains During the story maintains contact with audience through contact with audience brief interpretive comments through brief interpretive comments or questions without digressing from the story Vocal qualities: volume Volume loud enough to be Can project voice so that heard by each visitor even a whisper can be heard by everyone Vocal qualities: Words articulated clearly Uses resonance, vowel articulation color and consonance to shape the dramatic impact of the story Vocal qualities: tempo & Tempo and phrasing are Creates a concert-like phrasing pleasing to listen to musicality with phrasing and tempo Vocal qualities: volume Uses volume modulation and Produces mystery, modulation & inflection inflection to convey feeling excitement, fear, etc with vocal interpretations Vocal qualities: vocal Changes vocal quality to Creates distinct, color indicate a distinction between appropriate and consistent the narrator a and a new vocal characterizations speaker Connects the story to Suggests other exhibits that the Asks what visitors may be other museum exhibits & story connects to interested in, and gives activities helpful guidance about Storytelling – The Little Girl Who Scattered The Stars - 6 of 8 where they can follow through on their interest. Storytelling – The Little Girl Who Scattered The Stars - 7 of 8 The Little Girl Who Scattered the Stars Retold by Jennifer Moss Logan

This is my retelling of the story from the Cochiti Pueblo People of New Mexico about how the stars got into the sky. It is written here in a format to be told aloud. You can use these words or your own to tell the story.

Media cues and action cues are in italics.

(slide 2) A long time ago, there was a great flood, and when the flood subsided, Our Mother (lift hands, palm out, above you, eyes on audience) told her children to return to the land that they had come from (slide 3). Well, in all the hustle and bustle of getting ready and leaving, one little girl got left behind. Her name was Kotchimanyako, and she was only about 6 years old, so when she found out that she was all alone, she got really scared (slide 4). She called out Mother (lift hands, palm out, above you, eyes looking upward), “Our Mother, Our Mother, I’ve been left behind! How will I find my way back to my people?”

(turn to face a slightly different direction to indicate playing a different person) “Don’t worry my child, I will look after you, but I want you to do me a favor. I want you to take this sack, and carry it with you. When you get to your village, give it to your elders. But whatever you do, do not open the sack. Can you do that?”

(turn to face a slightly different direction to indicate playing a different person) “Oh, yes!” said Kotchimanyako, “I can do that!” She took the sack (pick up the sack), put it on her back (put it on your back), and started on her journey (walk along the stage). Well, she had a long way to go and a lot of things to think about, but what she thought about most was, ‘what could be in the sack?’ One day her curiosity became too much for her. At lunchtime (sit, squat, or kneel down), she took the sack off of her back (put the bag in front of you) and began to open it up, thinking, “What could one little look hurt?” Well, as she opened up each knot (open bag slowly), the bag began to swell, until she undid the last knot (reach inside and grab some stars) and the bag burst open! Bright things came shooting out all over the place (fling some of the star confetti at the audience)(slide 5)! Quickly she grabbed as many of the bright objects as she could, stuffed them back into the sack, (tie up the bag, looking left and right, a little scared) and tied it up again. Feeling guilty, she picked up the sack (pick up the sack) and continued on her journey (walk along the stage).

When she reached her village, she gave the sack to the elders (hold the bag out in front of you and then put it on the ground) and explained what she had done. They forgave her, for they understood how curious little children can be. (Walk around to face the bag from the other side.) They took the sack, and expertly opened it up (untie the knot). They took out the stars, and put them in the places in their proper places (slowly reach into the sack and pretend to pull out some stars and place them into the sky – do this once for each of the three media images, slides 6 (first time), 7 to 8 (second time), 9 to 10 (third time)), each one in its proper season. These stars placed by the elders are the ones which make up the constellations, but the other stars, the ones which are scattered all over the sky in no particular pattern, those are the stars which Kotchimanyako let out of the sack and couldn’t put back in again. Storytelling – The Little Girl Who Scattered The Stars - 8 of 8

Media Slide 1 blank Slide 2 Kiva in daylight Slide 3 Kiva at dusk Slide 4 Kiva in dark – no stars Slide 5 Kiva in dark – with stars Slide 6 Kiva in dark – with stars – with Pot Rest Stars/Orion’s Belt Slide 7 Kiva in dark, reddish season Slide 8 Kiva in dark, reddish season – with Shield Stars/Big Dipper Slide 9 Kiva in dark, blue-ish season Side 10 Kiva in dark, blue-ish season – with Sling Shot Stars/Delphinus Slide 11 blank