Kloshe’nem: “Legendary” School Wide Cultural Experience Program
Helping Students Learn By Weaving Aboriginal Tradition, Art and Culture Into the Classroom Experience

About

Kloshe’nem: The Weave Project actively models how you can facilitate a legendary, school or classroom cultural experience that promotes literacy, personal voice, respect, learning and a strong, healthy, sustainable future by working together through unity, education, integrity and art. Expert and experienced artist educators, Anastasia Hendry and Lori Sherritt-Fleming will take you on a journey in this hands on workshop where you will learn and actively employ First Nations traditional protocol, storytelling, drama and visual art techniques which reach out to audiences of all learning styles. Participants will use drama to create a retelling of a First Nations story and construct and employ masks using the patterns of the Haida tradition, all the while learning actively about Aboriginal protocol. Handouts will be made available on line. This workshop offers great enhancements to any unit on First Nations, literacy, art or drama curriculum.

Weave brings authentic Aboriginal traditions into schools with a highly skilled team of experienced artist educators. The unique and highly effective Weave program offers a complete school immersion in Aboriginal culture, traditions, etiquette and protocol.  Students and teachers are exposed to a creative process where they learn hands on skills and acquire knowledge of many art forms including Visual Art, Drama, Storytelling, Creative Writing, Dance and Traditional Food Preparation. As in First Nations culture, these art forms will culminate in a community performance to be shared with family and friends. Weave supports a strong, healthy, sustainable future by working together through unity, integrity, education and art.

Audience: K-7

Instructors:

Lori Sherritt-Fleming: Lori comes from a line of Irish ancestors known as the Seanchai (sha-na-khee), or great storytellers. A published author, playwright and actor, she founded and produces shows with the Tickle Trunk Players, a company that is a catalyst for its audiences attaining a life long passion for greater literacy.  She has performed twice at the Vancouver International Children’s Festival. A renowned artist educator, Lori has been leading workshops and classes, fusing art and curriculum across Canada for over 14 years. Lori, along with Anastasia Hendry, is one of the founding members of Kloshe’nem or Weave Collective’s  “Legendary” School Wide Cultural experience.

Anastasia Hendry: Anastasia is a member of the Haida First Nation and was born in the territory known as Haida Gwaii. She has lived on Coast Salish territory most of her life.  Her environment, surroundings, culture and traditions are integral to her as an artist.  Her art expands beyond traditional forms and helps viewers to understand that North West Coast art is continually evolving. She has been an art educator for 15 years, increasing and elaborating on First Nations knowledge and is a founding member of the Weave or Kloshe’nem Collectives,

For more information, email kloshenem(at)gmail.com or weavevancouver(at)gmail.com

Click on the images below for the two-page brochure.

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page 2 (click to view)

Even Children’s Authors Read and Write Beyond Words Friday November 20, NCTE convention, Philadelphia, Room C16. Join a trio of children’s authors and educators as they deliver an elephantine presentation about how to use the imaginative arts – art, music, and performance – to inspire children to become life-long readers and writers. Featuring:

• Kari-Lynn Winters, author, performer, literacy researcher
• Lee Edward Fodi, author, illustrator, educator
• Lori Sherritt-Fleming, author, performer, educator

Click on the image below to view the full-size flyer (PDF). Art by Lee Edward Fodi:

Tickle Trunk Players in Vancouver

click on photos for larger image

Lori Sherritt-Fleming

Lori is an arts educator, performer, children’s author, playwright and producer who has created and implemented many programs for the Vancouver School and Parks Boards including a circus program, a film and video program, and a Harry Potter literacy program. An accomplished children’s performer, Lori founded the Tickle Trunk Players having previously traveled internationally playing such classic characters as Anne of Green Gables and the Velveteen Rabbit. A published writer, her current focus is on children’s literature with manuscripts featuring lively poetry and characters. Lori continues to be a mentor artist with the Creative Writing for Children Society and has been on the Learning Through the Arts roster as a mentor artist. She has toured with ArtStarts in BC and is on their roster as a classroom artist where she delights in doing many residencies. She is also the current president of Children’s Writers and Illustrators of BC (CWILL BC). See more at lorisherritt.com.

Chantal Ethier

Chantal loves being a part of Tickle Trunk Players because they always have the best audiences. She also loves the fact that theatre for children can be educational and fun. Chantal was bitten by the acting bug at three years old and has been pursuing it ever since. She studied at a high school for the performing arts and has a BFA in theatre. She has performed in countless productions on stage over the years and while she has also pursued a film and TV career over the last few years, theatre continues to be her first love. She looks forward to many more exciting productions with The Tickle Trunk Players.

Maryse Schembri

Born in Malta, a small history-rich island located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Maryse has since lived in Canada and Europe. She has developed her multifaceted talents in a wide variety of musical settings, and hosted radio and TV programs in her native land. At age 16 she began teaching drama at a private school in Toronto, and has directed and acted in numerous Canadian stage productions. Holding degrees in Music and Drama from the Universities of Guelph and Toronto, Maryse deepened her expertise with acclaimed artists and teachers in Europe and Canada, such as Bill Vincent, Marjorie Purvey, Anton Kuerti, Anya Lawrence and Michelle George. Her repertoire today encompasses classical, pop and jazz which she performs in lounges, restaurants, clubs as well as solo dates in many community and educational institutions. Having composed and performed music for many stage productions (along with some independent film work), Maryse established her own music company and handles all related sales and copyrights. Maryse has been a performer with the Tickle Trunk Players for many years and uses story-telling, music and drama to promote literacy.

aRHYTHMetic cover

aRHYTHMetic back

Arythmétique (en français)

About

Stone, Tiffany, Winters, Kari-Lynn, and Sherritt-Fleming, Lori. (2009). aRHYTHMetic: A book and a half of poetry about math. Illustrated by Scot Ritchie. Vancouver: Tickle Trunk Publications (2011) First published by Gumboot Books in 2009. 42 pages. Ages 4-9. ISBN 978-0-987052-0-4.

Kittens plus puppies plus shapes to explore. Add bison, a princess and dragons galore. Seven math poems with a rhythmical beat equal fun that will bounce you right out of your seat!

Also published in French as aRYTHMétique, translated and adapted by Christine Jutras-Tarakdjian (Tickle Trunk Publications, 2011). First published by Gumboot Books 2009.

Un livre (et demi)de poésie sur les mathématiques! Des chats, des chiens et des formes à additionner Un bison, une princesse, des dragons en abondance Sept poèmes mathématiques qui battent la cadence Voilà autant de choses pour vous amuser!

Ideal for home or classroom use, these rollicking rhymes explore basic concepts of arithmetic in new and engaging ways. Catch the mathematical beat with the title poem, “aRHYTHMetic.” Count by two’s with “Teacup Pups” and “Kitty Chat.” Learn about ordinal numbers from a bison that loves being “Third in the Herd.” Discover “The Shape of Things” all around us. Roundup “Rot-TEN Dragons” into groups from ten to one hundred. And help “Princess Estimation” guess the number of spots on her new Dalmatian. These seven math poems by Tiffany Stone, Kari-Lynn Winters and Lori Sherritt-Fleming, illustrated playfully in full colour by Scot Ritchie, are guaranteed to equal fun that will bounce you right out of your seat! We have online videos of the first book launch, held April 2009 at Science World in Vancouver, featuring the Oscar-worthy stage performances of all three authors. Videos are 24 minutes long in QuickTime format. Download small movie (28MB) or large movie (124MB), and photos of the book launch.

Purchase

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Resource Links’ Best Books for 2009 (“Connecting classrooms, libraries and Canadian learning resources”)

Press

Brief mention in Vancouver Sun, 3/24/2009:

There are many fabulous books out there that connect early numeracy concepts with early literacy. Vancouver-based publisher Gumboot Books has a number of books that combine poetry and mathematics, including the new title “aRHYTHMetic”. For more titles, check out Pat Dickinson’s article “Choosing Books You Can Count On” available online from the Journal of the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Reviews

Crocs, Acrostics and Math. Review by Carol-Ann Hoyte, in Canadian Children’s Book News 32:4 (Fall 2009), pp. 22-23

See scan of magazine article (PDF). With a pencil, pen, computer or even a typewriter, children’s poets paint word pictures which often prompt us to think of ordinary people, places and things in surprising and refreshing ways. Tiffany Stone, Lori Sherritt-Fleming and Kari-Lynn Winters give arithmetic a rhyming and rhythmical makeover. Through the anthropomorphization of crocodiles, Robert Heidbreder removes a young child’s real-life fear of these creatures. Avis Harley discusses African wildlife in a new and markedly different format.

Math and poetry may seem like strange bedfellows, but the two converge in aRHYTHMetic, a clever collection of seven rhyming poems which introduce basic mathematical concepts.

Tiffany Stone wrote three of the book’s poems. The title poem can be read by two voices – with one child / group reading the first column and a second child / group reading the second one. This rhythmic response continues until they reach the last line of the poem which they read together. In Stone’s “Third in the Herd,” a bison ruminates on the perks of being number three: “I’m third in the herd. / It’s second to none. / Third in the herd is / NUMBER ONE!) In “Princess Estimation,” the title character wants to know how many spots her dalmatian pup sports on its fur. Using the skills of counting, estimation, and multiplication, she comes up with an answer.

Like Stone, Kari-Lynn Winters has penned three selections. Furry, four-legged housemates noshing on treats star in her “Teacup Pups” and “Kitty Chat”- two poems which introduce the concept of counting by twos. In “The Shape of Things,” she describes two-dimensional shapes found in nature: “Undersea. / There they are. / Oval shell / and five-point star.”

“If you look v-e-r-y closely, / when they think you’ve left home, / you can count rot-TEN dragons] that sneak out to roam.” In Lori Sherritt-Fleming’s “Rot-TEN Dragons,” a child left home alone spies 10 dragons as they emerge from their hiding places. The number of creatures increases by tens until there are 100 of them. The dragons retreat to their hiding places, ten by ten, when they detect the child’s parents nearing home. This 72-line poem, presented across 18 pages, is the book’s longest poem.

This lighthearted collection offers a subtle and innovative way to turn number-loving kids onto poetry and poetry-loving kids onto numbers. Youngsters will delight that animals, a perennial favourite, appear in five of the seven poems. Scot Ritchie’s playful artwork makes the poems come alive and fills the pages with action without overwhelming the eye.

Ritchie’s art has previously graced the pages of poet Robert Heidbreder’s See Saw Saskatchewan and Eenie Meenie Manitoba. In Heidbreder’s new collection Crocodiles Play! illustrated by Rae Mate, the author returns with more reptilian romp. Here, Heidbreder hosts a rhyming croc-o-block celebration of sports. His seven poems double as riddles as they each describe a sport without naming what it is.

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Marlene McLaren, teacher

Today I read your delightful book aRhythmetic to my Grade 1 students. You and your co-authors certainly know how to reach the minds of young children in such a creative and fascinating way. Not only does this book entertain, but it teaches.

At first, I thought the content would primarily focus on arithmetic; however, I am so pleased to see an emphasis, as well, on higher level vocabulary.

I often teach a special spelling unit on words that have “-ation” as an ending. Fabulous! I can now use your book as a springboard to my lesson. You include such words as “estimation, celebration, Dalmatian, information, approximation, and nation.” These higher-level words are used in such imaginative ways! I also will use your book when introducing ordinal numbers, skip counting by tens, and multiplying and dividing by ten.

Thank you for your collective energy, your creative minds, and your infectious enthusiasm for children, reading, and learning.

Author visits

Lori is available to visit schools, libraries, birthday parties, workshops … Please see more about author visits.

Spelling of title

* This book is spelled aRHYTHMmetic in English (two ‘h’s) and aRYTHMétique (one ‘h’) in French. Not arythmetic, arhithmetic, arithmetic, arythmatic, arhythmetique, arhythmétique, or arhythmatic.

The many books I have edited for CWC are not online. However, their website has a nice bio of me. From www.cwc2004.org/m2/m2_s2.php:

Lori has been known to wear many hats and can juggle any number of responsibilities. “It’s all about balance!” She can be heard to say as she smiles down at you from her perch atop her stilts. “Add a little magic, a little imagination, a little support and we all find that we can be what we dream and more!” With a wave of her wand the glittering Shamrock fairy continues down the city’s parade route, four feet above the crowd.

Lori is not only as a stilt-walker and circus ‘engineer’ but also an accomplished writer and actress. “The Second Sight”, a short story for young adults was published in the 2005 edition of “Chameleon Magazine” and “The Junkmobile” was published in 2006. As artist in residence at West Point Grey Community Centre in Vancouver she wrote a book exploring the area’s living history and designed a photo and story mural.

She worked on Portrait V2K, the City of Vancouver’s Millennium Project gathering and writing stories for “A Hurricane in the Basement”, a book celebrating life in Vancouver. Recently she celebrated Kitsilano’s 100th birthday by creating a series of public markers celebrating the people and places of the Kits community. Lori celebrates life in many ways as well. She is currently working on some poetry about skateboarders and some picture books, one about Vancouver’s Polar Bear Swim and another about a grumpy girl named Gertrude, as well as producing plays in Vancouver and Calgary.

As an actor, Lori has donned red braids to become Anne of Green Gables, has worn a rabbit head for a production of The Velveteen Rabbit and has given children a royal welcome as the Snow Queen in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Passionate about combining learning with the arts, Lori founded the Tickle Trunk Players in Vancouver and has been using theatre, storytelling and rhythm to encourage students to make active and creative connections to literature.

Their most recent accomplishment was to perform at the Vancouver International Children’s Festival in 2007.

Lori is delighted to be part of the team of engaging and talented young writers at CWC for the third year in a row. She loves looking at things from different perspectives and is enlivened by the opportunities that connecting with teachers and students brings!

From our sister site, Tickle Trunk Publications, tickle-trunk.com:

Picture Books

aRHYTHMetic

Authors: Tiffany Stone, Kari-Lynn Winters, Lori Sherritt-Fleming Illustrator: Scot Ritchie

A book (and a half) of poetry about math!

Kittens plus puppies plus shapes to explore. Add bison, a princess and dragons galore. Seven math poems with a rhythmical beat equal fun that will bounce you right out of your seat!

aRHYTHMetic is filled with dynamic poems and fanciful, funny illustrations that reinforce the teaching of early math concepts. Great for home or the classroom.

ISBN #: 987-0-9877052-0-4 / List Price: $14.99 plus tax / # of Pages: 48

aRHYTHMÉtique

Adaptation française de: Christine Jutras-Tarakdjian / Poésie de: Tiffany Stone, Kari-Lynn Winters, Lori Sherritt-Fleming Illustrations de: Scot Ritchie

Un livre (et demi) de poésie sur les mathématiques!

Des chats, des chiens et des formes à additionner Un bison, une princesse, des dragons en abondance Sept poèmes mathématiques qui battent la cadence Voilà autant de choses pour vous amuser!

ISBN: 978-0-9877052-1-1 / Prix: $14.99 plus tax / # de Pages: 48

Lelou’s Journey

Authors: Sgaan Jaada (Anastasia Hendry) and Lori Sherritt-Fleming Illustrator: Christine Mackenzie

“Some who leave camp are lost for the whole season, or even worse…forever.”

When curious Lelou who lives in the time of the ancestors wanders away from his family’s camp, he embarks on the journey of a lifetime. Lost in the forest at night, someone or something journeys with him. Follow Lelou and learn how certain places earned their names in this unique draw and tell adventure that vividly brings North West Coast culture and tradition to life right before your eyes.

Lelou’s Journey is an original draw and tell story. The draw and tell technique was used by storytellers to illustrate a tale as it was being told. In ancient times, the storyteller would use a stick and draw lines and shapes in the sand which, as the story concluded, would form a character or picture to reveal one of the story’s secrets. Lelou’s Journey invites readers to draw and tell the story of how a place may have earned its name, and by adding lines at the turn of each page, that are synchronized with the story, discover, at the story’s conclusion, the creature that tracked Lelou on his night time journey through the deepest, darkest parts of his adventure. A fantastic stand alone story or an interactive resource to teach some aspects of North West Coast culture, Lelou’s Journey is a must have bed time story or classroom resource.

ISBN 10: 1468194429, ISBN 13: 978-1468194425 / List Price: $14.99 plus tax / # of Pages: 32

When Chickens Fly

Author: Kari-Lynn Winters Illustrator: Izabela Bzymek

Esper Getz is no ordinary chicken. She dreams of being a free range aerial skier and competing in the Snow Sports Competition. Though she is prepared and talented, the rules state that barnyard animals cannot compete. But will the Arranging Committee squash her dreams because she’s JUST a chicken? Join Esper on this hilarious journey and find out what it really takes to be a winner!

This picture book resonates with the exclusion of women from the ski jumping competition in the 2010 Olympic Winter Games (Vancouver).

ISBN 13: 978-1479294169 ISBN 10:1479294160 / List Price: $12.99 plus tax / # of Pages: 34

Resource Books

Kloshe’nem Teacher Resource Volume One

Authors: Anastasia Hendry and Lori Sherritt-Fleming

“Kloshe’nem” means to honour in Chinook Jargon. Honour the artist and inspire the learner in each of your students while teaching them about Aboriginal culture, protocol and history. Make talking feathers, learn to become a great storyteller, play ancient games, use North West Coast formline to design stick puppets and much more! Authors Anastasia Hendry and Lori Sherritt-Fleming have worked as artist educators in schools for over 35 years collectively. Filled with tools that will enlighten and engage your students, this resource shares some of their best practices and techniques.

ISBN-10: 1466496282 ISBN-13: 8781466496286 / List Price: $20.00 plus tax / # of Pages: 56

About the company

Tickle Trunk Publications is dedicated to producing books that entertain, engage and educate readers young and old. We are committed to making literacy and numeracy leap to life through colourful and imaginative stories and characters that encourage us to embrace multiple ways of learning in the “theatre of life.”

Ordering information

All of our products are available through Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and other online retailers, or directly from Tickle Trunk Publications. Quantity discounts are available on bulk purchases of this book for resale, educational purposes, subscription incentives, or fundraising initiatives. For more information or to place an order, please visit us online at www.tickle-trunk.com or call 1-800-414-4077 (toll free from anywhere in North America).

Tickle Trunk Players in Calgary

For several successful years the Tickle Trunk Players were pleased to present: “The Meaning Maker”, “Poetic License”, “I’ve Got Rhythm,” a literary Variety Show and literacy workshops in schools in the Calgary area! Here is some insight into the outstandingly talented actors who helped to make this happen. While Tickle Trunk Calgary is no longer, we wish to thank and congratulate Col, Michelle and Janos on their successful run. You brought great joy and inspiration to our Alberta audiences.

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Col Cseke

Col Cseke is a Calgary-based actor and playwright and is proud to have worked with Tickle Trunk since it’s arrival in Calgary. As a performer/creator Col has been a part of Alberta Theatre Project’s playRites Festival, One Yellow Rabbit’s High Performance Rodeo, Lunchbox Theatre’s Petro-Canada Stage One Festival, and Sage Theatre’s Ignite! Festival. Col is a member of Downstage’s creation ensemble and has created a number of productions with the ensemble. Col’s plays include I Dream of Disney, Jim Forgetting, and the book and lyrics to the Celtic-musical The Ex-Pats.

Janos Zeller

When not helping out the Tickle Trunk, Janos spends the majority of his time as Vice-President of Front Row Centre Players, a community theatre group based in Calgary that focuses on musicals. He is also an ensemble member of The Shakespeare Company and works with many other groups in town. He has been on stage many times and backstage working as a producer or stage manager. Selected performing credits include: Chicago (FRC), It’s A Wonderful Life (Echo 37), Godspell (FRC), Run For Your Wife (Morpheus Theatre), Twelfth Night (TSC), The Taming of the Shrew (TSC), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (TSC). Selected stage management and producing credits: Sweeney Todd (FRC), To Kill A Mockingbird (Workshop Theatre), Fiddler on the Roof (FRC), and Romeo & Juliet (TSC). He also received Calgary’s One-Act Play Festival’s “Best Performance of a Male Actor” Award for Thirteen Stones (Live & Kicking) in 2009.

Michelle Brandenburg

Michelle has been excitedly performing with the Tickle Trunk Players since May of 2008. Theatre for young audiences is Michelle’s passion and she is thrilled to visit Calgary Schools and share her joy with so many students. Michelle currently has the privilege of teaching Musical Theatre at the Rocky Mountain School of Dance, is an Artistic Associate for Morpheus Theatre and sits on the board of directors for Sage Theatre. When she is not performing, directing, or producing, Michelle can be found continuing to develop her skills as an artist, creating new work, and enjoying her lovely children.

aRHYTHMetic

back

Arythmétique

Lori Sherritt-Fleming, co-author of aRHYTHMetic (Gumboot Books 2009, Tickle Trunk Publications 2011) and the French translation, aRYTHMetique (Gumboot Books 2009, Tickle Trunk Publications 2011), is available for author visits locally, nationally and internationally. For more information about Lori, see lorisherritt.com. See also her one-page author-visit brochure.

Bilingual presentations are available upon request. Having been trained as an actor, Lori’s presentations are lively, interactive and highly engaging. She specializes in large audiences and is equally adept at creating intimacy at smaller gatherings. Entertaining, energetic and educational are all descriptors audiences use in reference to her author visits. Her witty presentations are multi-modal incorporating aspects of visual art through the presentation of an original draw and tell story, music through songs she has written and recorded to enhance the text of picture books and dramatic extensions, where audience members are selected to act out some of the poetry from her book, aRHYTHMetic. Students make meaning actively, and are exposed to many genres of writing throughout. Audiences are riveted by Lori’s accounts of where she finds inspiration for her stories and are challenged by her to connect personally to the literature they read. High praise has been given to Lori for the diversity of her repertoire, and how she actively models in the presentation how inspiration can be found in art, drama and music. Students are encouraged to apply their own spin on the genres that Lori explores and are given tools throughout to strengthen their abilities to ‘write their own world.’

See also Tickle Trunk in Your School, read more about aRHYTHMetic, and contact us to set up a visit.

Kari-Lynn Winters and Tiffany Stone are also available for author visits: see www.kariwinters.com/author-visit and www.tiffanystone.ca.

click for PDF

Lori Sherritt-Fleming and co-authors including Kari-Lynn Winters, Vetta Vratulis, Lee Edward Fodi, and kc dyer have prepared various materials for National Council of Teachers of English presentations, which are available for download:

2009

• “Even Children’s Authors Read and Write Beyond Words”, prepared by Lori Sherritt-Fleming, Kari-Lynn Winters, and Lee Edward Fodi, and kc Dyer
  • Presentation notes
  • Flyer and Poster (by Lee Edward Fodi)

2008

• “Transforming Storytelling in the 21st Century”, prepared by Lori Sherritt-Fleming, Kari-Lynn Winters, and Vetta Vratulis
  • Presentation (originally in Powerpoint), 13 slides
  • Handout

2007

• “Poetry Beyond Words: Creating Poetry with Linguistically and Socio-culturally Diverse Students”
  • short version (125K)
  • Poetry Beyond Words — long version (5MB)
• Jeffrey and Sloth lesson plans

The Tickle Trunk Players is not just for schools! Our “Theatre For Literacy” project brings literacy appreciation and skills to any community event for youth. Our vibrant shows fit any budget, and some sponsored shows may also be available.

In 2006 the Tickle Trunk Players joined the Vancouver Public Library’s summer reading club, bringing Extreme Reading to life. They have also performed at festivals around Lower Mainland, the annual Word on the Street festival (see photos and radio interviews.), the Summer Dream Reading Festival, and the UBC Literary Cafe. We are also available for private presentations to families.

Please see our Performance History for a list of schools, libraries, and community events we’ve performed at. See also photos of some performances: Word on the Street, school performances, community events, and a book launch.