Baker's Dozen

Storytelling should be a part of a student’s educational experience because it is a literary activity, a listening activity, a means of transmitting values, and a means of appreciating cultural diversity. These thirteen, renowned national and local storytellers were taped in the studios of SCETV as they told their stories in front of elementary-age students who asked the storyteller questions about their story and the art of storytelling.

Grades 3-8

Storytelling should be a part of a student’s educational experience because it is a literary activity, a listening activity, a means of transmitting values, and a means of appreciating cultural diversity

The storytellers in the Baker’s Dozen lessons were influenced by Augusta Baker, a well-known librarian and storyteller who worked in the New York Public Library for many years and taught storytelling at colleges across the country. These thirteen, renowned national and local storytellers were taped in the studios of SCETV as they told their stories in front of elementary-age students who asked the storyteller questions about their story and the art of storytelling. (From our Streamline collection)

* South Carolina educators, please register for an account on KnowItAll.org to gain access to these resources.

Ann Grifalconi | Baker's Dozen

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Ann Grifalconi is an author and illustrator from New York City. She specializes in presenting realistic characters from other cultures. Her book, The Village of Round and Square Houses, is a Caldecott...
Anne Pellowski | Baker's Dozen

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Anne Pellowski is a former storytelling specialist at the New York Public Library and founder and former director or the Information Center on Children’s Cultures of the U.S. Committee for UNICEF. She...
Darion McCloud | Baker's Dozen

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Darion McCloud has also worked in South Carolina in the children’s section of a public library. He is a storyteller and also an artist who does paintings and drawings. He has always been interested in...
Dianna Young | Baker's Dozen

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Diana Young, a storyteller and puppeteer, is from Texas. She learned to tell stories with her voice and her feeling from Augusta Baker! And, she often uses puppets to tell parts of the story, which...
Ellin Greene | Baker's Dozen

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Ellin Greene has worked as a storytelling specialist in the New York Public Library system and served as a children’s literature specialists at the National College of Education. She says that telling...
Gayle Holmes | Baker's Dozen

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Gayle Holmes is a storyteller from South Carolina who has been not only telling stories, but creating stories for a long time. He favorite stories are from African and Asian cultures. Telling a story...
Hannah L. Baker | Baker's Dozen

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Hannah L. Baker is a storyteller who has worked for the South Carolina Writing Improvement Network. She believes in and has promoted the power and importance of storytelling. She says that all you...
Lyn Z. Mueller | Baker's Dozen

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Lyn Z. Mueller served as director of the state’s Writing Improvement Network and was greatly influenced as a storyteller by Augusta Baker, who gave Ms. Mueller the power to teach reading and writing...
Michael Leonard | Baker's Dozen

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Michael Leonard has taught the craft of storytelling all over the world for over 30 years and worked as head of the Chicago Public Library’s North Town branch. How does he find new stories to tell? He...
Minerva King | Baker's Dozen

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Minerva King is a native of South Carolina and just as long ago storytellers traveled from city to city, weaving tales, she continues this tradition today as an artist in residence for the South...