Math and storytelling

I was so bad at math at school. So not my cup of tea. But at SXSW Education I saw a movie on how they are trying to give math a different twist and make it better fitted into the world of the students. By using storytelling.

The biggest story problem.

What a wonderful way to combine the world of stories and math. And why not, we use stories to explain something all the time, so why not math. I really hope the project will become ven more succesful.

Tell a Fairy Tale Day

A very happy Tell a Fairy Tale Day to all of you!

Yes, there is a day for telling Fairy Tales. And it is today!

I already wrote about the importance of reading to children and the history of Fairy Tales.

Fairy Tales come in all forms and sizes.
From the old tales by Grimm or Andersen.
To the newer once retold by Disney.

I'm currently looking forward to going to see Winter's Tale in the cinema.

A tale of love through the ages. With all the elements of a fairy tale: a hero, the villain and something magical happening.

When I was small I loved the story of Cinderella, even when your life isn't that great, you can still meet your Prince. And there is a Czech/German version of it; Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel (Three haselnuts for Cinderella). One of my favourite movies that is broadcasted a lot around Christmas time (probably because it has a lot of snow in it).

What is your favourite Fairy Tale, old or new, please do tell me?

Emoji

Uhm, Emoji, what?
I was thinking the same.
It are those cute emoticons you can use on Twitter or chats.
To enhance your story or to say something you can't say with words.

Here an example on how you can even put entire movie quotes or titles into Emoji.

And if you want to practice a bit.
A very famous book title:

You can find more of these here at Mashable.

As said before, an image can say more than a thousand words. Well, I guess an emoticon can do the same.

A story on

This article from TheOneRing.net just caught my attention.

A flute with the story of The Hobbit on it.

Music is of course very important in the various works of Tolkien. Remember the Misty Mountain Song from An Unexpected Journey. Or the Road goes ever On from The Fellowship of the Ring. 
So putting The Hobbit on a flute is very fitting.

And it looks amazing. 
I'm going to share one picture with you:

Just look at the detail. And those keys are about the size of your fingertip!

Here you see the three trolls. The road the company of Thorin Oakenshield has to take. A couple of the dwarves. And the good morning moment between Gandalf and Bilbo.

What an amazing way, to combine music with a story!

Every day references

Do you have those every day references that come from stories?

Today I have one.
Because it is a Blustery Day!



The wind is howling around the building, I hear the roof creaking.
But in my head, I'm humming the Blustery Day song from Pooh!

Now let's hope tonight the Heffalumps and Woozles stay calm.

Don't tell

Sometimes you want a story to be told, sometimes you don't.

In this song, a bit of a drastic way to make sure your "rumour" isn't told.
The ladies of The Pierces will make sure their secret won't be told around.

Don't be afraid, I won't be so drastic if you share this story...

Paper by Facebook

Facebook is going to introduce a new app: Paper.
An app in which you can organise your stories. The once you get from friends or official news outlets, but you can also put your own stories in it and share those.

In this short video they explain how it works
And the explain the wonderful world of storytelling. From the various shapes and sizes stories come in, like text, letters or pictures. To the importance of sharing.

The launch is February 3rd. First only in the US.
So US-friends could you please share your story about Paper with me?