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24748140899_9ecab12559_zStuart Stotts, author and storyteller, presented his workshop, Storytelling magic: enhancing children’s oral language, reading and writing to elementary education students in Lenore Peachin Wineberg Univesrity of Wisconsin Oshkosh class.

Stotts worked with students on building skills in oral narrative and folklore. He focused on how storytelling contributes to young children’s literacy development.. Each student received a copy of the book Telling Tales 14 Stories to Share with Young Children by Faye Stanley and Stotts.

The students will take the skills learned and  implement them into their 10 week 60 hour placement in early childhood classrooms in the Fox Valley.

Peachin Wineberg believes storytelling should be emphasized more in classrooms. She sites researcher Rebecca Isbell who recommends oral storytelling be given more attention because it is a more personal approach for the children. The benefits of oral storytelling have been recognized to influence imaginative development, listening skills and recall.

Stotts is an author, storyteller, Kennedy Center teaching artist, and a frequent presenter at conferences and trainings for educators around the world. He will be presenting at the Planting the Seeds of Inclusion Conference March 5 at UW Oshkosh.

The Seeds of Inclusion Conference at UWO and explores the connectedness between intentionality, inclusion and arts integration across content and curriculum in educational settings. The College of Education and Human Services will welcome Stotts back to the UWO campus for the conference.

Stotts’ newest books include Beyond Nice: 149 Ways to Nurture Kindness in Young Children and Telling Tales: 14 Stories to Share. He is also the author of We Shall Overcome: A Song That Changed the World, which was an American Library Association Honors Book in 2012. Stotts lives in Deforest.

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