Lincoln Street School Hosts Storyteller Len Cabral

Photo Courtesy of Michael Roman

An unbelievable thing happened at Lincoln Street School on Wednesday afternoon:  some 200 five- to ten-year-olds acted in unison for one whole hour.  Imagine! No wiggling from boredom, no shouting out, no talking on the side, nor poking of classmates; all eyes to the front, they listened, sang, pantomimed, and raised their hands to answer questions.  They had fun and, little did they realize, heard some important messages.

Storyteller and author, Mr. Len Cabral, was their enchanter. As a student at Rhode Island Teacher’s College in Providence, he took coursework in early childhood development, literature, children’s theater, and creative dramatics.  Then, as a teacher of 5-year-olds in the early 1970’s, he discovered the importance of storytelling as a teaching tool for making the link to reading.  He began developing his storytelling art and now performs for children from kindergarten through high school.  From his perspective though, he gets as much as he gives, “I have the best seat in the house looking out and seeing all those children’s faces.”

Made possible by a grant from the Northborough Cultural Council, his program featured poetry, and stories about Grandma Spider, why rabbits have short tails, and the little girl and the gunny wolf, all vividly characterized.  While the children climbed spider silk, screeched like the rusty hinges on a gate, and sang “oh wah kee wah”, they heard lessons about the importance of reading, persevering, using different ways to solve problems, limiting TV, and eating vegetables, subtly woven into Mr. Cabral’s performance.  Although it appeared effortless, he carefully planned every aspect of the hour to intersperse times of activity with times for sustained attention.  Even the seating was arranged so that the youngest children could learn from the behavior of the older ones.

The program was rounded out with a question and answer session.  Mr. Cabral answered question as diverse as, “What stories have you written?”—Anansi’s Narrow Waist: An African Folk Tale and Len Cabral’s Storytelling Book—to ”What happened when the mom came home in the last story?”—no, the little girl did not get in trouble for leaving the yard.  The students left the auditorium buzzing, singing, and miming memorable characters.  Mr. Cabral, you got soul!