Sherry Norfolk is an award-winning storyteller, author and teaching artist, performing and leading residencies and professional development workshops nationally and internationally.
Performing Artist: A dynamic storyteller, Sherry has appeared in the
Manitoba International Storytelling Festival, Taiwan International Storytelling Carnival,
International Art of Storytelling Festival (Miami, FL), International Storytelling Center (Jonesborough, TN), Singapore International Storytelling Festival, Manila International Storytelling Festival, and many more festivals, schools, libraries, museums and universities nationwide.
Teaching Artist: Sherry is a Kennedy Center Teaching Artist, a Wolf Trap Teaching Artist, an Arts Integration Teaching Artist with Tennessee Arts Commission’s Value Plus Schools and Arts360 programs, and is on the rosters of the Mississippi Arts Commission, Louisiana Council for the Arts, South Carolina Arts Commission, Virginia Commission on the Arts, and Springboard to Learning (Young Audiences) St. Louis. She leads residencies in preK through high school classrooms across the country and southeast Asia. An Adjunct Professor at Lesley University, Sherry is a recognized leader in integrating learning through storytelling.
Author: Sherry is co-editor and/or co-author of books that explore rigorous, standards-based storytelling strategies for learning across the curriculum), and many others:
• Supporting Diversity and Inclusion with Story: Authentic Folktales and Discussion Guides. Co-edited with Lyn Ford. (Libraries Unlimited, forthcoming 2019)
• The Promise of Peace: Words of Wisdom, Work and Wonder. Co-edited with Lyn Ford. (Parkhurst Brothers, forthcoming 2018)
• Storytelling Strategies for Reaching and Teaching Children with Special Needs. Co-authored with Lyn Ford. (Libraries Unlimited, 2017)
• Library and Community Programming through Storytelling. Co-authored with Jane Stenson. (Libraries Unlimited, 2017).
• Boo-Tickle Tales: Not-so-Scary Stories for Young Children. Co-authored with Lyn Ford. (Parkhurst Brothers, 2016).
• Science with Storytelling: Strategies for the K-5 Classroom. Co-authored with Jane Stenson and Lyn Ford. (McFarland Publishing, 2016).
• The Virginia Giant: The True Story of Peter Francisco. Co-authored with Bobby Norfolk. (The History Press, 2014).
• Social Studies in the Storytelling Classroom: The Voices of Humanity. Co-authored with Jane Stenson. (Parkhurst Brothers Publishing, 2012)
• Literacy Development in the Storytelling Classroom. Co-edited with Jane Stenson and Diane Williams. (Libraries Unlimited, 2009)
• Billy Brown and the Belly Button Beastie. Co-authored with Bobby Norfolk. (August House Little Folk, 2008)
• The Storytelling Classroom: Applications Across the Curriculum. Co-authored with Jane Stenson and Diane Williams. (Libraries Unlimited, 2006)
• Anansi series, co-authored with Bobby Norfolk. (August House StoryCove): Anansi and the Pot of Beans, 2006; Anansi and the Tug of War, 2007; Anansi Goes to Lunch, 2007; Anansi and Turtle Go to Dinner, 2008; Anansi and the Kingdom of the Sky, 2008
• The Moral of the Story: Folktales for Character Development, 2nd edition. Co-authored with Bobby Norfolk, August House Publishers, 2006.
Sample Programs Offered
Program Type: Arts Integration
Program Description:
Seeing history through the eyes of the people who lived it makes it personal, meaningful and relevant. This lesson plan introduces the Puritans from the perspective of a Puritan woman through a short narrative that includes several “informational paragraphs.” Students are then asked to choose and research a specific aspect of Puritan life and write an informational essay that includes a topic sentence, supportive details, and concluding statement. They will then choose a character from whose perspective they will share the informational orally, bringing the character life through body language, character voice and expression..
Lesson Plan Example: Download File
Program Type: Arts Integration
Program Description:
Storytelling provides a viable strategy for engaging diverse learners in the compare & contrast process, allowing even struggling readers to practice analyzing the content, successfully comparing & contrasting characters, settings and events.
Lesson Plan Example: Download File
Program Type: Arts Integration
Program Description:
Setting information writing into narrative contexts engages the imagination and attention of the students, and makes the writing more meaningful and relevant!
Lesson Plan Example: Download File
