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Storytelling sessions: Charlot Lucien, Boston MA – 617-669-0038

www.charlotlucien.com

 

Krik? Krak! Haitian Stories and Riddles

(Interactive presentation; Family audience, young audience)

  • Haitian Traditional folktales
  • Haitian riddles

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Audience:         5-12 years old

Duration           1 hour

Equipment        Overhead projector; props (storyteller provides)

 

Folktales: 3 folktales from Haiti

 

Objectives

Children will learn stories that feature familiar characters of Haitian folktales and culture in general: cats, dogs and various animals of the jungles; kings and queens and the scary great Devil, Ti-Malice the trickster and the naïve Bouki, and the scary great devil.

 

Characteristics/Expectations:

These stories illustrate particularities of Haitian storytelling: the use of mime, onomotapees, and some singing at time.  The session is interactive: children are invited to imitate the sounds, mime some scenes.  They are expected to remember at least one story.  Older children are asked to volunteer to tell the lesson(s) of the stories at the end.

 

Riddles:

10 Haitian riddles

Objectives

-Children learn how to “enter” and “receive” a Haitian riddle, how to “give up” on a riddle; they will memorize some riddles and understand how and why different countries and cultures may have different answers for similar riddles.

 

Characteristics/ expectations

The riddles offer the opportunity to go through some fun guessing games.  Because Haitian riddles heavily refer to the immediate natural environment (water, plants, mountains, oceans, rivers…) and social customs, children become aware of cultural and geographic differences in a fun and interactive way.  At the end of the session, the children are expected to remember a few riddles and practice them with the audience.

 

Format:

2-3 stories alternate with riddles

Children are asked to present the riddles they memorized at the end of the session

 

Materials

Some props (transparencies, pictures…) may be used.


PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS –1

 

Haiti’s background

 

Audience:         Mature

Duration           1h: 15mn

 

Background:

The presentation is a shorter variation of 2 1-hour Power Point presentations:

Haiti: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow* and

Haitian and Black Americans: Intriguing Connections

 

Objectives

The adapted Power Point presentation, geared toward teachers, features historical and cultural factors that shaped Haiti and presents on contemporary social and cultural practices and customs of Haitians that survived through geographic and cultural migrations.  Relevant Haitian paintings are featured to illustrate the presentation. The information shared may help teachers understand students’ familial and cultural background and facilitate their interactions with parents.

 

Format           

  • 10 minute video showing: landscapes, music, architecture, social scenes (carnival, market places, paintings…)
  • 25 minute Power Point Presentation
  • 10 minutes exercise
  • 30 minutes QA

 

 

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*

Haiti: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

(Mature audience; on Power Point)

  • Historical and cultural factors that shape Haiti
  • Social economic factors and indicators that characterize Haiti today
  • A review of the human resources, particularly in the Diaspora and among younger generations, that may shape Haiti’s future

 


PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS –1

 

Krik Krak? Haitian Stories and Riddles

(Interactive presentation; Family audience, young audience)

  • Haitian riddles

_______________________________________________________

 

Using Haitian riddles to raise cultural awareness among teachers/children

Audience:         Mature/ Teachers

Duration           1 hour

Equipment        Overhead projector; props (storyteller provide)

 

 

Riddles:

Objectives:

  • Though 15 Haitian riddles teachers learn how to “enter” and “receive” a Haitian riddle and how to “give up” on a riddle.
  • Teachers learn how to use various categories of riddles (plants, water, mother…) to understand Haiti’s cultural scene and introduce various academic topics to children: science, geography, culture…

 

Characteristics

The riddles offer the opportunity to go through some fun guessing games.  Because Haitian riddles heavily refer to the immediate tropical environment (water, plants, sea, nature…) teachers are able to use them to help the children understand the differences between two different cultures in a fun and interactive way.  At the end of the session, the teachers are expected to remember some riddles and practice them in front of the audience.

 

Format:

  • 10 minutes presentation on Haitian riddles
  • 30 minutes of “shooting/ shouting riddles” (tire kont)
  • 15 minutes practice

 

Materials

Some props (transparencies, fruits…) may be used.