Motoko – Folktales from Asia

Program Description

Motoko offers storytelling performances, classroom workshops, and residencies. She engages children of every age with Japanese, Chinese, and Korean folktales combined with traditional songs, lyrical movement, and humor. Her performances are interactive and work best for the maximum of 200 students in age-appropriate grouping.

Topics for Motoko’s workshops and residencies include Japanese culture, Ancient China, creative writing, and origami geometry. Teachers are requested to choose a topic that works best for their curricula. In each lesson Motoko offers hands-on activities with step-by-step guidance to ensure a successful learning experience.

Motoko’s popular 5-day residency “A Year in Japan” teaches grades K-5 about everyday lives of Japanese children through folktales, songs, and art. The “Ancient China” Residency includes lessons on calligraphy, Confucius, and Qin Shi Huangdi the First Emperor. Her creative writing lessons range from haiku to folktales to personal narratives. Her origami geometry program is popular among K-8 math teachers. Residencies include an opening assembly and may culminate in an in-school student presentation or a Parents’ Night.

The recipient of the National Storytelling Network’s 2017 Circle of Excellence Award, Motoko has performed professionally across the U.S. since 1993. She was featured on PBS’ Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood and Harcourt’s Media Literacy Video, and toured Miyazaki, Japan, as part of CarnegieKids-Miyazaki sponsored by Carnegie Hall. Motoko’s arts-in-education programs have regularly been funded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the New York State BOCES. Her story CDs have won a Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Award, a Storytelling World Award, and a National Parenting Publications Award (NAPPA). She is the author of “A Year in Japan: Folktales, Songs and Art for the Classroom.”