REXBURG — A good storyteller is true to themselves, trusts the audience, and trusts their story--That’s according to Mo Reynolds a professional storyteller who’s teaching lessons like this to children in the classroom.
“I really wanted to create a regular space where storytelling could be a part of a classroom or homeschool or just family routine. I think stories carry such a potent source of imagination, and connection and conversation,” Reynolds says.
Storytelling isn’t just about learning story structure and plot types. It emphasizes learning the art of narrative, folklore, or other forms of storytelling to convey a message in an emotionally compelling way. Reynolds, a master of ‘braided stories’, has been a storyteller almost her whole life. She remembers her North Carolina beginnings talking to herself in the woods. She began her storytelling YouTube channel in 2016 as Miss Mo Storyteller, and her first featured performance was in 2020 at the Florida Storytelling Festival.
“I started my YouTube channel in 2016, and I thought at the time that I was inventing storytelling, that I had just created this really cool art, and then I realized it was already in full force and there was this whole world of storytelling,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds says now more than ever, children need imagination.
“Stories are more than just these adventurous little whimsical adventures. I think they’re fire for the imagination, which then becomes how we connect, how we believe, how we create, how we show up in life,” Reynolds says. “Imagination is something that we desperately need to have empathy and respect, and faith and hope.”
Reynolds says instructors can utilize her free, online resources by subscribing to her newsletter, The Storytelling Teacher, where a weekly 15-minute episode and lesson are distributed with a lesson plan. This plan comes with discussion questions and hands-on activities. Through the newsletter, Reynolds also highlights one country a month. The lessons are standalone and don’t build on each other, so teachers can start where they are.
Subscribing to Reynolds Patreon will give members access to the full curriculum history and lesson plans, and the videos without ads.
“It’s hands-on and it’s creative and connective… but really, really simple for them to insert,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds says there are three takeaways she wants children to have when learning the art of storytelling: imagination, love, and connecting with others’ stories.
“I want children to feel loved and seen. Even though they’re looking at me up on a screen, and hopefully, I can visit a lot more classrooms through this opportunity. But, I want them to feel really loved and valued and inspired by kindness,” Reynolds says. “I want them to talk to the adults in their lives and listen to their stories.”
To access free lessons and subscribe to Mo’s newsletter go to www.moreynolds.com.