MORGON SCHATZ BLACKROSE

where

comments

programs

professional development

Children love Morgon. Enraptured, children lean forward and drink in every word of her tales. They talk about her stories for a long time after ward. Adults thoroughly enjoy Morgon's performances, appreciate her skill and knowledge and her incredible repetoire of stories.

Morgon has been telling stories professionally since 1988. She specialises in presenting performances that incorporate speech pathology techniques and raise children's self esteem. An accomplished musician and entertainer, Morgon incorporates raps, rhymes and songs into her storytelling sessions.

Her book, Tell Me One : storytimes, raps and rhymes for little kids is a storytelling handbook described by early childhood workers and parents as an invaluable resource for everyone with an interest in telling children stories.

She is currently developing further storytelling resources for early childhood workers, as a result of her ongoing work with Mid North Coast Community Health Speech Pathologists.

Morgon is a keynote speaker and available for professional development seminars and workshops. Her papers include:
Yes Virginia Storytelling Can Save the World: the Impact of Storytelling on Pre-school Children;
Nurturing the Nurturers : Myth as Food for the Soul;

COMMENTS

Morgon was excellent. Her stories were appropriate for our three to five year olds and she was very entertaining and educational! The children commented that they particularly loved the singing and the guitar and Morgon’s humour. We bought Morgon’s books so we will try out many stories, songs and rhymes. We recommend Morgon as we found the session to be lots of fun and a great language experience.
Teresa, Meadowie Children’s Centre

We thoroughly enjoyed Morgon’s storytelling. We thought her presentation was excellent and the stories and songs appropriate for the children attending the session. We recommend Morgon to every Library.
Carol Edmonds, Newcastle Region Library

Morgon enjoys telling stories as much as her audience loves listening to them A perfect way for children to learn.
Marjorie Underwood, Tumbarumba, Upper Murray Library Service NSW

Thank you for your contribution to our reading and writing festival. All feedback from students and staff has been very positive. We hope you will consider another visit in future.
Lyn Wood, English Co-ordinator, Koowerup Secondary College Victoria

Many thanks for your storytelling. Great fun indeed. The characters and joy remain with the children, with each child having their own 'pictures'.
Anne Jeacocke, K12 St Joseph's Culcairn

Enchanting, educational, entertaining. Storytelling at its very best.
Pia Butcher, Children's Book Council

Everyone loves a story and Morgon tells some beauties. Grade 6 children still talk about stories she told them in Prep.
Elizabeth Eeles, Early Years Co-ordinator, Upwey Primary Victoria

All the librarians and children's carers who attended your session were very enthusiastic about implementing your ideas in their programmes.
Judy Mitchell, Viclink Committee Victoria

Your storytelling was immensely enjoyable. We received lots of positive responses from the crowd.
Diana Stewart, Gasworks Arts, Vic.

Praise for tell me one!

It was with great pleasure that I reviewed tell me one! An excellent resource for childcare workers & other early childhood professionals, providing easily learnt stories & supporting programming ideas for working with young children. In a world where planning, time & money for resources are at a premium, tell me one! is great value for money with an accessible format. Bring on volume 2!
Karen Bowen, Co-ordinator Sherbrooke Children's Centre, VIC

A fantastic resource for teachers to promote oral literacy in the Early Years program.
Elizabeth Eeles, Assistant Principal Early Years Co-ordinator Upwey Primary School, VIC

tell me one! is an excellent introduction to storytelling for younger children, together with songs & rhymes guaranteed to be hits at storytime. Children's librarians, especially those just starting out, will find many useful tips to liven up their storytime sessions & enhance their storytelling skills.
Jill McCallum, Youth Services Manager Eastern Regional Libraries, VIC.

tell me one! is a friendly, little book that encourages us all to try telling a story rather than always reading it. Morgon's ideas are clear & simple & can be used by anyone who has a favourite tale to tell. Every centre should have a copy on their staff resources shelf.
Portside Pre-school Staff, Port Macquarie NSW

Morgon's storytelling experience shines through this collection: sparkling with fun for the children & reverberating with satisfying meaning for the adult teller. A treasure chest of story gems.
Gill Di Stefano, Australian Storytelling Guild VIC

tell me one! is an invaluable resource for teachers. The stories are pitched at the appropriate age level and Morgon's hints and ideas ensure successful storytelling to all K - 2 classes.
Terrie Heffernan, Assistant Principal, Port Macquarie Primary School NSW

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PROGRAMS

PRE-SCHOOLS 3-5 year olds 30 or 45 minutes

Stories to Sing Out About!
Morgon uses a variety of instruments and props to enhance songs and stories from her book Tell Me One: Storytimes, Raps and Rhymes for Little Kids

Every Animal Has a Tale
Fabulous animal stories and songs from Australia and around the world.

Yum Yum Stories
Food stories from different cultures.

Sounds Great To Me
Choose one of 4 interactive sessions that target specific sounds (k and l) (sh and g) (ch and f) (s and b)
Includes accompanying resource sheets.

Family Events
A chance for pre-school, school, library or the community to come together for an evening's entertainment

PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Themes will be adapted to different age levels. Maximum of 200 children per storytelling session. Maximum of 50 children per workshop. Ask about special pricing arrangement for storytelling session / workshop combinations.

Once Upon a Hat (60 minutes)
Every hat in the suitcase has a story. Whether a folk tale, fairytale, tall tale or true, children have plenty of opportunity to participate.

Beauties and Beasties (60 minutes)
Good and evil, wicked and wonderful fairytales for all.

Funky Tales (60 minutes)
Silly stories with lessons to learn. Fairytales, folktales and bush yarns.

Odyssey (60 minutes)
A mythic journey through Ancient Greece for today's travellers.

Family/Community Events (45 minutes)
A chance for school, library and senior citizen communities to come together to celebrate the joy of sharing stories across generations.

Workshops (60 minutes)
Drama, Literacy, English and Cultural themes, tailored to your requirements.

Your Choice
Storytelling and Workshops tailored to your specific needs. Just ask.

LIBRARIES
All sessions available in your library.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Morgon is committed to the principles of empowerment and will share her expertise in developing storytelling based health promotion programmes in the community. She has worked on reminiscence programmes in nursing homes, cross generation projects with schools and nursing homes, speech pathology and bone health projects with community health workers.

Tellings
30 - 45 minutes
AGMs, meetings, conferences, seminars, fund raising dinners etc.

Story as Teacher, Healer and Entertainer
2 hours
Discover the myriad of ways stories can enhance your life and work.

Storytelling with a Purpose
3 hours
A practical workshop for developing and implementing a storytelling programme in your centre or workplace

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SEMINARS

PARENT SEMINARS
Stories for Babies - 0 to 18 months
1 hour
Little stories for little ears, including poems, action rhymes, songs for bath, bed and changing nappies. Moving from listening to looking and embarking on a life of reading. Leave this session with an understanding of the role of storytelling in learning and maintaining sanity plus several poems and at least one story you can tell to tinies.

Stories for Little People - 2 to 3 years
1 hour
Leave this session with an understanding of the role of storytelling in learning and maintaining carer sanity plus rhymes to make the tired, waiting, difficult times pass and learn two stories that your little ones can be taught to tell to you.

I'm big now, I go to kinder - 3 to 5 years
1 hour
A range of stories, books and poems for "big" people, plus learn two stories you can teach your pre-schoolers to tell to siblings and other family members. Learn the skills to teach them to tell and begin to explore the transformation of family memories into told stories.

Transitional Stories - 5 to 7 years
1 hour
Moving from Kinder to Primary school can be difficult, especially as many changes can occur in families at this time - a new baby, moving house, changing jobs. These a range of stories that allow parents and children to explore the changes together.

The golden years - 6 to 10 years
1 hour
This is the time to stuff them full of the fairy tales, myths and poems that will occupy them happily for hours and help them negotiate the shoals of adolescence. Come and be reminded of the stories you already know, maybe discover some new ones and go away with a list of stories to look for.

Tell me a new story!
1 hour
Read them all? Shared telling of stories together? Got everything down pat? Yes or no, there are more stories to become familiar with, skills to learn about sharing them and fun you and your children can have extending stories into play. This seminar is full of ideas to extend your child's language literacy and imagination.

Do you hear what I hear?
3 hours
The stories we hear as children take on meaning from the days and patterns of our lives. Listen again to some of the classic stories embedded in a narrative of an ordinary life. Then, explore the stories you heard as a child and how they affected you. This session offers tools for discovering which stories are important to you and which stories may help your listeners (children or adults) make some sense of their lives.

Telling Personal Stories
3 hours
The stories within, the old tales, tales of our younger days - still so relevant for now. Sculpt your life experience into story, creating personal tales for today to share with your teens.