STORYTELLER WOOS CHILDREN AT SCHOOLS

"My papa was a hurricane and my mama was an earthquake," storyteller Lynn Rubright said with movement, voice inflection and facial expressions to create imagery for the children at Franklin Elementary School Friday.

Rubright, who has been storytelling for 20 years, said she started storytelling when her children were little. "I love drama," Rubright said. "I mix my love of history and drama together."

Rubright teaches storytelling at Webster University in St. Louis. She said her performance is an extension of her writing and poetry.

"I do a lot of movement," Rubright said. "I almost dance my stories."

Rubright said storytelling is for people of all ages. She said she likes best about storytelling the power it has. "I know by the faces of my audience that they are in a different world that I'm creating for them through language," Rubright said. "They aren't just sitting on the gym floor anymore."

Rubright was brought to Cape Girardeau with the help of Martha Short, a fifth-grade teacher at North Elementary School in Jackson. The Storyteller spent Friday morning at Jackson North Elementary School.

"The storyteller got the kids more excited by teaching them that there are rewards to writing," Short said, "and there is more to writing than mundane textbook exercises."

Short said the children enjoyed the storyteller so much that they wanted to come to Cape Girardeau and watch Rubright perform again.

Rubright spent the afternoon at Franklin Elementary School in Cape Girardeau storytelling to the third-through-sixth grades and teaching the fourth-grade children how to improve their writing.

Judith Gau, one of the fourth-grade teachers at Franklin, said Rubright was excellent. "She was trying to help the children see that when they write they are painting pictures with words."

Gau said that Rubright taught the children that their writing should be tight, concise, and the words they chose should be exact.

Gau's fourth-grade class gained a lot from Rubright's storytelling.

"I liked the way she explained what Davy Crockett did and what he looked like," said fourth-grader Julie Roth. "She said things clearly so I could have a picture in my mind."

Roth said she learned from Rubright that when she writes to try and use words that make a picture in your mind and to make it exciting.

Bradley Kolwyck, a fourth-grader, said he thought the storyteller was interesting. "I liked the stories with the tough words in them," he said.

"I liked listening to the different stories," said fourth-grader Cabell Gathman.

Fourth-grader Thomas Clayton said he likes folk tales and myths. "I liked the storyteller because she gets her stories from around the world."

"I liked her because of the way she expressed her feelings about the story," said fourth-grader, James Cain. "I learned how I should express what I'm trying to say more."

The Southeast Missouri Arts Council and the PTAs from Franklin and North Elementary schools funded this program.

As part of the program to get children more interested in writing, Short will teach a special workshop for teachers on where teachers can send polished pieces of writing to be published or entered in writing contests.

Anyone interested in storytelling or the writing workshop for teachers may call Short at 243-4788 or 243-5346.